APPNDX

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SUBMISSION TO THE
JOINT STUDY COMMITTEE
ON
RETAlL ELECTRICITY SERVICE
IN ONTARIO
March 1, 1995
Toronto
CONTENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
SIZE OF ONTARIOS MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC UTILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Recommendation #l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
VARIABILITY OF O M & A COSTS WITH SIZE AND DENSITY . . . . . . . . 4
Table l- OM & A Costs Per Customer- 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
VARIABILITY OF CUSTOMER ENERGY BILLS WITH CUSTOMER SIZE
AND DENSlTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Table 2- Ontario Res. &Gen. Serv. 1992 Bill Comparisons in $ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
VARIABILITY OF RELIABILITY AND ACCIDENT FREQUENCY
WITH CUSTOMER SIZE AND DENSITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Table 3- Ontario Power System Rel. & Ace. Freq. 1992. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
VARIABILITY IN FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITY WITH CUSTOMER SIZE . . . . 7
Table 4- Functional Capability for Utilities by Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Recommendation #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . 9
GREATER TORONTO AREA
(MISSISSAUGAS PROJECT PHOENIX) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Table 5- Controllable Costs by GTA Regional Utilities -1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Table 6- Controllable Costs by GTA Regions -1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Table 7- Customer Monthly Energy Bills -1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
CONCLUSIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
GRAPHS...
1. ONTARIO & AMERICAN UTILITIES COMPARISONS
Operations & Maintenance
Billing and Collections
General Administration
2. ONTARIO RESIDENTIAL & GENERAL SERVICE
Residential Bill (1000 kWh)
General Bill (100 KW, 30,000 kWh)
3. ONTARIO POWER SYSTEM RELIABILITY
System Interruption Duration
Accident Frequency
4. CONTROLLABLE COSTS BY GTA REGIONS
Operations and Maintenance
Billing and Collections
General Administration
Total of O M & A Costs
5. CUSTOMERS MONTHLY ENERGY BILLS
Residential (1000 kWh)
General Services (100 KW, 30,000 kWh)
Submission to the Joint Study Committee
on Retail Electricity Service in Ontario 1
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This submission arrives at two recommendations, which if implemented will streamline the
retail electricity service in Ontario.
(a) That the provincial government enact legislation dissolving all MEUS with less
than 2000 customers, and
That these dissolved MEUS;
F be amalgamated with surrounding municipal service areas to form viable
units; or
E be amalgamated with Ontario Hydros Retail Utilities.
(b) That the provincial government enact legislation which will facilitate the
amalgamation of all MEUS of less than 20,000 customers, with rural service
areas or other MEUS, into units of 20,000 to 50,000 customers, where feasible.
Note: It is recognized that small remote MEUS may have to remain for practical
reasons.
2. BACKGROUND
This independent study is based on the following resource material:
Ontario Hydro Statistical Yearbook 1992
Annual Statistical Issue - American Public Power Association - January - February
1995 (VO1.53, No.1)(1992 Data)
Ontario Hydros Monthly Rates and Comparative Bills
July 1992 Issue
MEAs Performance Management Ratios Survey 1989-1993
(1992 data was used)
1
To draw the comparison with the American Public Power Association (APPA) Statistics, the
APPA customer categories were used throughout this submission.
These are:
2,000 to 5,000 customers
over 100,000 customers
No utilities were excluded because of perceived anomalies in the data.
In this submission the following will be considered:
the size distribution of Ontarios Municipal Electric Utilities
the variability of O M & A costs with size and with customer density
the variability of customer energy bills with size and with density
the variability of power system reliability with size and customer density
the variability of safety records with size
the variability in functional capability with size
We have also done an analysis of the implications of a Greater Toronto Area Utility,
including Metro Toronto, Peel Region, York Region and Durham Region.
In these studies, all utilities with 2,000 customers or less were excluded because of our
recommendation to dissolve these utilities.
2
on Retail Electricity Service in Ontario
3
3. SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF ONTARIOS MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC UTILITIES
Following are the demographics from the 1992 data:
No. of Utilities ~
7
11
36
60
81
136
175
311
more than 100,000 customers
less than 2,000 customers
total number of utilities
The majority of the municipal electric utilities (MEUS) have less than 2,000 customers, with
Priceville being the smallest with only 124 customers. Based on 1992 data the average MEU
employs 2.7 employees per thousand customers. These utilities therefore, have 5 -6
employees or less. Often these MEUS have more Commissioners (3 to 5) than employees.
Can MEUS with less than 2,000 customers:
(1) Achieve the economic benefits of scale?
(2) Provide the in house expertise to service their customers effectively?; and
(3)
What is the cost to Ontario Hydro and the MEA to provide a full range of services
to these MEUS?
We submit that many of these utilities had their place in the evolution of the retail electricity
system. Their continued viability into the 90s and beyond is doubtful however.
4
Recommendation #1
That the provincial government enact legislation dissolving all MEUS with less than
2000 customers, and
That the MEUS;
(1) be amalgamated with surrounding municipal
unit; or
(2) be amalgamated with Ontario Hydros Retail
service areas to form a viable
Utilities.
4. VARIABILITY OF O M & A COSTS WITH SIZE AND DENSITY
As already illustrated in the joint study interim report, there is quite a bit of variability in O
M & A costs.
Table 1 shows the results from Ontario and American utilities, and two conclusions can be
drawn from this data:
(1) That operation and maintenance costs increase with size
(2) That billing and collecting costs demonstrate economies of scale
From the geographic density data it can also be demonstrated that controllable expenses
increase dramatically as urban density intensifies. The two areas where costs increase the
most are in operation and maintenance and general administration.
The data in the over 100,000 customers group is partially dominated by the statistics from
Toronto Hydro.
4
5
TABLE 1
OPERATION MAINTENANCE AND ADMINISTRATION COSTS
PER CUSTOMER -1992 DATA
ONTARIO MEUS
CUST IN 000 2 - 5 5 - 1 0 10- 20 20- 50 50- 100 over 100 AVG
Observations 57 21 14 25 4 7
AMERICAN PUBLIC UTILITIES
EXIST IN 000 2 - 5 5 - 1 0 10- 20 20- 50 50- 100 over 100 AVG
observations N/A N/A NIA N/A NIA N/A
COST / CUSTOMER IN US$
Op and Maint. I 196 I 196 I 178 I 181 I 257 I 212 I 190
Bill and Coil 32 29 30 35 37 52 32
Gen Admin. 62 69 64 63 124 68 67
TOTAL 290 294 272 279 418 332 289
NOTE: Averages are based on All MEUS over 2000 customers.
5
6
5. VARIABILITY OF CUSTOMER ENERGY BILLS WITH CUSTOMER SIZE
AND DENSITY
For comparison purposes an average 1000 kWh/month residential service bill and a
10OkW/30000kWh/month general service bill were used to illustrate any observable trends
with size.
It appears from the data in Table 2 that there are economic benefits of scale for residential
customers. For general customers there is a trend toward higher bills in utilities with more
than 100,000 customers. This is dominated to some degree by Toronto Hydro.
It also appears that the 20-50 thousand customer group is able to maintain reasonable bills
despite their low geographic density.
TABLE 2
ONTARIO RESIDENTIAL AND GENERAL SERVICE
1992 BILL COMPARISONS IN $
CUSTOMERS IN 000 I 2-5 I 5-10 I 10-20 I 20-50 I 50-100 I OVER 100 ] AVG
Residential Bill
1000 kWH
79.70 79.84 79.02 78.99 76.92 77.47 78.59
General Bill
100 KW, 30000 kWH
2096 2100 2112 2127 2115 2199 2166
Customers per Sq. km. 365 255 374 319 374 712 324
NOTE: Average for all MEUS over 2000 customers.
6
7
6. VARIABILITY OF RELIABILITY AND ACCIDENT FREOUENCY WITH CUSTOMER
SIZE AND DENSITY
From Table 3 there appear to be benefits of scale in power system reliability and in safety.
This can be attributed to distribution system automation and control and more formalized
safety programs as utilities increase in size.
TABLE 3
ONTARIO POWER SYSTEM RELIABILITY & ACCIDENT FREQUENCY
1992 DATA
CUSTOMERS IN 000 ] 2-5 I 5-10 ] 10-20 I 20-50 I 50-100 I OVER 100 I AVG
I I I I I I I
System Average Interruption
Duration Index in Hours NIA 0.87 1.99 1.82 1.31 1.08 1.55
Accident Frequency
Per 200000 hrs. Worked 3.17 5.53 3.20 4.68 2.06 3.93 4.21
Customers per Sq. Km. 365 255 374 319 374 712 324
NOTE: Average based on Customers for all MEUS over 2000 customers.
7. VARIABILITY IN FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITY WITH CUSTOMER SIZE
The functionalization of utilities into key areas of expertise, is fundamental to their ultimate
success.
In the retail business, a basic level of functional expertise is available in the 20,000 to
50,000 customer range. Table 4 illustrates this by indicating when specific expertise
becomes available. It should be noted that smaller utilities than those indicated, may be
quite expert in one area or another, and that this is a generalization.
7
TABLE 4
FUNCTIONAL CAPABILITY FOR UTILITIES BY SIZE
CUST IN 000 2 - 5 5 - 1 0 10- 20 20-50 50-100 OVER 100
METERING
Technician
* B * * B
ENGINEERING
Technician
B B * * *
Engineer
* B * *
OPERATIONS
Mechanic
B * *
Scada Operator
B * *
Control Room (24 hrs)
* *
Trouble Crew (24 hrs)
*
I
FINANCE
Accountant
B * * B
Storeskeeper
* * * *
Purchasing Agent
* * *
I
I
CUSTOMER SERVICE
Mgr of Cust Serv
* B *
I
I
HUMAN RESOURCES
Mgr of Human Res
* * *
Safety Professional
* *
I
LEGAL
Solicitor
*
(
8
lt is our opinion that 20,000 to 50,000 customers is the threshold for broader
functionalization. The following is an analysis of the functional expertise in MEUS of this
size:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
The metering and engineering expertise becomes sufficient to deal with remote meter
interrogation, scada systems, and the more complex aspects of distribution system
design.
In the area of operations there will likely be a control room with operators covering
at least two shifts. This provides for more timely power system restoration and safer
operating practices.
In the area of equipment maintenance, there is likely a mechanic on staff to ensure
that vehicles are maintained in safe working order, and this individual will have the
knowledge about hydraulic systems and dielectric booms to ensure that the
equipment is safe and reliable for live line operations.
The utility will have professional accounting expertise to do detailed functionalized
budgeting, and to do cost benefit studies to ensure good decision making.
in the area of customer service there will be a trained professional staff to deal with
customer service concerns, to survey customers, and to engage them in focus groups
to ensure that customer expectations are met. Customer service staff will also
possess energy management expertise.
In human resources there will be a professional to assist in negotiations and to deal
with Iabour legislation and safety issues.
Many of these services can be purchased, but they are better when integrated in house.
Recommendation # 2
That the provincial government enact legislation which will facilitate the
amalgamation of all MEUS of less than 20,000 customers, with rural service areas
or other MEUS, into units of 20,000 to 50,000 customers, where feasible.
Note: It is recognized that small remote MEUS may have to remain for practical
reasons.
9
10
8. GREATER TORONTO AREA UTILITY (MISSISSAUGAS PROJECT PHOENIX
We have reviewed the prospect of being amalgamated into a GTA Utility. From our
analysis of the data in Tables 5 & 6 , there would be a big financial penalty for Durham
Region.
The average operation and maintenance costs in this GTA utility are $137/customer, while
in Durham Region the average costs are less than half $6 I/customer.
In billing and collecting the advantages if any would be minor, and in general administration
this GTA utilitys costs are $78/customer compared to $40/customer in Durham Region.
There will of course be savings due to the avoidance of duplication and central
procurement, but these savings are not expected to offset the high cost of utility operations
in other parts of the GTA.
A quick examination of the 1992 monthly retail bills (see Table 7) also makes it clear that
Durham Region Utilities delivered power at lower rates than other Regions in the GTA.
Residential customers pay 4.6/0 less than the average, and commercial and industrial
customers pay 8/0 less than the average.
Clearly a GTA utility is not in the interest of Durham Region. With 1,100,000 customers,
a GTA utility would have approx. 40/0 of the customers currently being served by MEUS.
This utility would clearly be too big and become a bureaucracy of its own.
9. CONCLUSIONS
There is room for rationalizing the retail electricity business in Ontario.
Clearly 311 MEUS is too many for todays environment.
These numbers could be reduced to 136 by eliminating utilities of less than
2,000 customers.
The system could further be rationalized by amalgamating utilities with less than
20,000 customers into larger units of 20,000 to 50,000 customers.
There is urgency for reform if we want to remain a competitive public utility alternative.
The time is definitely ripe for action, and we ask the committee to seriously consider these
recommendations.
10
TABLE 5
CONTROLLABLE COSTS BY GTA REGIONAL UTILITIES -1992 DATA
OVERALL COSTS IN $ PER CUSTOMER COST IN $
, ,
I Cust. I O & M I Billing
I Gen Adm I O & M I Billing I Gen Adm I Total
Toronto 218852 60367926 9210337 40735722 276 42 186 504
Balance of Metro Toronto
East York 25105 3124401 1287708 1618041 124 51 64 240
Etobicoke 93353 11023547 3896240 3360584 118 42 36 196
North York 144430 16641851 6700871 11094082 115 46 77 238
Scarborough 127384 13509217 6956629 5625419 106 55 44 205
York 35927 3111435 2515855 1897717 87 70 53 209
Totals & Average
I
426199
Peel Region
I
Caledon 2577
I
Brampton 65501
i
Mississauga 127862
1
Totals & Average 195940
47410451 21357303 23595843 111 50 55 217
I I !
285144 I 140181 142040 I 111
7525291
I
3159550 3135071
I
115
13583408 2035502 6341783 106
21393843 5335233 9618894 109
54 I 55 I 220
i I
48 48 I 211
, I
16 50 I 172
27 I 491 186
I I
York Region
Aurora 10304 618923 530380 538172 60 51 52 164
I , 1 1 I I
Markham 48435 4373466 1357607 2193551 90 28 I 45 I 164
, 1 1
Newmarket 18026 1547750 637066 525588 86 35 I 29 I 150
, 1
Richmond Hill 26986 2888635 1139078 1454020 107 42 54 I 203
Vaughan 38610 4984906 2542025 2042991 129 66 53 248
r I 1 1 i I I
Whitchurch Stouf 3006 I 362698 I 156642 I 303410 I 121 52 I 101 274
Totals & Average 145367 14776378 6362798 7057732 102 44 49 194
I
Durham Region
Ajax 18995 895050 797791 835530 47 42 44 133
Newcastle 8449 627191 306596 388527 74 36 46 157
Oshawa 43161 2785293 2029632 1167986 65 47 27 139
Pickering 23468 1558965 835388 1185688 66 36 51 153
Scugog 2068 79109 98291 138340 38 48 67 153
Whitby 20782 1138506 1063717 912250 55 51 44 150
, 1 I ! [
Totals & Average 116923 I 7084114 I 5131415 \ 4628321 61 441 40 I 144
.
. Averages are weighted averages based on customers.
11
TABLE 6
CONTROLLABLE COSTS BY GTA REGIONS -1992 DATA
OVERALL COSTS IN $ PER CUSTOMER COST IN $
Cust O & M Billing Gen Adm O&M Billing Gen Adm Total
Toronto 218852 60367926 9210337 40735722 276 42 186 504
Balance of Metro 426199 47410451 21357303 23595843 111 50 55 217
Peel Region 195940 21393843 5335233 9618894 109 27 49 186
York Region 145367 14776378 6362798 7057732 102 44 49 194
Durham Region 116923 7084114 5131415 4628321 61 44 40 144
Totals & Average 1103281 151032712 47397086 85636512 137 43 78 257
Province 2655852 277904579 106871821 148054019 105 40 56 201
NOTE: AVERAGES OTHER THAN PROVINCIAL AVERAGE ARE WEIGHTED AVERAGES BASED ON CUSTOMERS
12
TABLE 7
CUSTOMER MONTHLY ENERGY BILLS -1992
Residential General
Customer 1000 kWH 30000 kWH/100 kW
Toronto 218852 87.90 2723
,
Balance of Metro Toronto
East York 25105 77.43 2208
Etobicoke 93353 79.20 2157
z
North York I 144430 I 78.28 I 2192
Scarborough
I
127384 I 74.13
I
2191
York
I
35927 I 76.13
I
2145
Totals & Average 426199 77.01 2181
Peel Region
Caledon 2577 83.85 2195
Brampton 65501 78.88 2151
I !
Mississauga I 127862 I 76.70 I 2126
Totals & Average 195940 77.52 2135
York Region
I I I
Aurora
I
10304 | 80.30
I
2126
Markham 48435 78.85 2208
Newmarket 18026 78.40 2153
Richmond Hill I 26986 I 82.73 I 2200
Vaughan 38610 79.93 2158
Whitchurch Stouf
I
3006 I 81.00
I
2198
Totals & Average
I
145367 I 79.95
I 2180
Ourham Region
Ajax 18995 78.58 2143
I ,
Newcastle I 8449 I 83.05 I 2164
Oshawa 43161 70.30 2009
I i 1
Pickering
I
23468 I 80.13
I
2193
Scugog
I
2068 I 74.90
I
2074
Whitby 20782 77.35 2050
Totals & Average 116923 75.87 2087
13
TABLE 7 (Centd)
CUSTOMER MONTHLY ENERGY BILLS -1992
h
Customer Residential General
1000 kWH 30000 kWH/100 kW
Toronto 218852 87.90 2723
Balance of Metro 426199 77.01 2181
Peel Region 195940 77.52 2135
York Region 145367 79.95 2180
Durham Region 146923 75.87 2087
Totals & Average 1103281 79.53 2270
Province 2655852 78.59 2111
b-
Note: Averages Are Weighted Based on Customers
I
September 28, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
G.T. A. Task Force
393 University Avenue
Suite 2001
Toronto
r
Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
RE: ELECTRIC POWER DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
We appreciate this opportunity to provide input on the rationalization of
electric power distribution within the Greater Toronto Area.
On March 1, 1995, the Aj ax, Pickering and Whitby Hydro-Electric
Commissions made a submission to the Joint Ontario Hydro-Municipal
Electric Association Study Committee on Retail Electricity Service in Ontario.
Our study was comprised of a statistical analysis of public electric
distribution utilities in Ontario and the U. S. A., to determine the optimum size
for economic efficiency, and operational effectiveness (a copy is enclosed
herewith).
1. OPTIMUM SIZE UTILITIES IN GTA
The results of our study indicate the optimum utility to be in the range of
25,000 to 50,000 customers. This represents a population base from
75,000 to 150,000 people.
The Pickering Hydro-Electric Commission submits that:
Electric power distribution should be rationalized in the Greater
Toronto Area, into utilities that have a 30 year growth potential
to attain 50,000 customers.
The benefits of attaining optimal size are many, such as:
lower rates
improved reliability -
billing and
administrative costs
due to load diversity;
less outage time due to more sophisticated
system control and trouble crew dispatch
lower unit costs due to economies
of scale
...../2
Dr. Anne Golden
2
G.T.A. Task Force
Re: Electric Power Distribution within the Greater Toronto Area
> emergency response -
> cust omer ser vi ce -
and engineering
>
safety
procurement
better after hours control room support.
higher skill matrix
more professionalism in accident prevention
greater purchasing power.
2. VIABILITY OF PICKERING HYDRO- ELECTRIC COMMISSION
The Town of Pickerings 30 year planning forecast is as follows:
I POPULATION I ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS
Current 75,000 25,000
2025 1 50,000 50,000
* This includes 50,000 in Provincially held Seaton Lands.
Over the next 30 years the Pickering Hydro-Electric Commission will continue to grow
and reap the benefits of optimum size over this ideal customer range, and t he
Commission submits that:
There are no major changes required in the local electric power
distribution structure, and that the Task Force be cautioned about
recommendations which would aggregate services into organizations that
become too big to maintain organizational effectiveness.
Should your task force have any questions with regard to our submission, or should
there be public hearings, we would welcome further participation.
Yours very truly,
James 1. Mason
Chair
Enol.
c. B. Taylor, Town of Pickering
A.P. Starck, Ajax Hydro
B, T. May, Whitby Hydro
J. Tearne, District 4 MEA
1. H. Jennings, MEA
TOWN OF AJAX
in the Regional Municipality of Durham.
65 Ha r wood Aven u e Sou t h
Aja x, On t a r io, Ca n a da LIS 2H9
Teleph on e (905) 683-4550
S eptember 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Attached please find the Town of Ajax's submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
We believe that any changes to governance in the GTA should be based on a sound philosophical base
of democratic principles, and on the principle of serving our residents. We believe that statements of
economic benefit should be backed up by analysis Our investigation into economies of scale has raised
doubts that the taxpayer will save any money by creating larger governmental units. In fact, the
opposite appears to be the case -- larger governments cost the taxpayer more.
The Town of Ajax is firmly of the opinion that amalgamation is neither an acceptable, nor a
supportable outcome of GTA reform. The real issue is not one of structure but one of legislative
constraints and the appropriateness of funding activities such as education and welfare from the
property tax base.
Our other major concern is the GTA reform process. We believe that the governments of the GTA need
to be a part of the solution but they and their residents also need to be a part of the process. This
process should be done within each region and a reasonable timetable needs to be established to allow
public discussion to occur.
Our thoughts on these issues plus nine specific recommendations are contained in our submission. We
do not profess to have all of the answers, but we hope our submission contributes towards the solution.
Yours sincerely,
J ames Y. Wi t t y
Mayor
Attachment
Town of Ajax
Submission to the
Greater Toronto
Area Task Force
REPORT TO THE GREATER TORONTO TASK FORCE
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force was given a mandate to develop
an action plan to renew local government in the Greater Toronto
Area. In response to this, many local governments have made
submissions. Before the Council of The Town of Ajax offers its
opinions we would like to review some of the historical rationale
for creating local governments, to look at what the customer wants
(we are here to serve our community) and to look at some data
regarding economies of scale.
A Basis for Reform: Democratic Principles
Over 150 years ago municipal government was created in Ontario to
serve two key purposes: to provide a variety of local services and
to provide for elected Councils to represent and make decisions on
behalf of the local residents. As the years have passed the
pendulum of reform has swung from focusing on service delivery,
the efficient-expert-administrative role of government to the
political-representative-democratic role. It is the tension between
these two extremes which has kept local government dynamic and
responsive. The solution to our current problem does not lie in one
extreme or the other but in the balance between the two.
Participatory democracy is founded on the principle that the
average person can participate in, can debate and have input on the
issues and that they can become part of the system by running for
political office. This is the strength of a local government. It
is close to the people and allows them to participate directly in
issues that are important to them. It is also fair to say that the
explosion of demand from residents to the government for decisions
which are more numerous, varied, frequent and complex will
overwhelm larger governments. As the decision load increases we
have to widen the base of participation in order to keep
governments responsive and in order to keep them functioning.
We must also be careful not to erect barriers to participation and
to not make it more difficult for residents to run for office:
larger wards require more money to run for office and often lead
toward the desire for full time politicians which effectively bars
many people from running for office. Keeping governmental units
smaller will keep the communities manageable and keep participative
democracy alive.
The other aspect of local government that we must remember is the
strength of its diversity. Individual communities have
characteristics and personalities that are different from one
another. This gives people the opportunity to pick a community that
reflects their values and feels like home to them. Also it is the
friendly competition between the many local governments that leads
to the innovative breakthroughs which benefit everyone. The variety
of local municipalities with their distinct personalities is one of
the strengths of the GTA.
- 2 -
A Basis for Reform: Focus on the Customer
If we are to reinvent local government in the GTA then we should
focus on the customer and build a system to meet their needs. We
need to look at our residents, watch their behaviour, listen to
what they want and understand how they want to be treated.
The preferences of the customer have been changing as our society
goes through a transformation from a producer to a consumer society
(see table 1) . In the private sector where the customer has freedom
of choice, people are seeking greater variety, higher convenience,
virtually continuous service and seemingly endless choices. We
should recognize this shift in values and ask ourselves how can we
best design the government to serve these needs.
How has the private sector organized itself to deal with these new
customer values? We recognize that government is not a business
but we can learn from the experience of business. The private
sectors response to the societal transformation has been to keep
a small corporate umbrella which sets the large policies and
strategies and coordinates activities but then they have delegated
the authority and responsibility for implementation to smaller
business units which are closer to the customer. In other words
they have not created larger more centralized organizations but
smaller decentralized units.
There is another set of values which need to be taken into account
and that is the community values which are important to the
residents of Ajax. In the Town of Ajax over the past year we have
gone through a strategic planning exercise, a creative community
design process, and the production and publication of a 400 page
history book. The residents of Ajax clearly want that small town,
family oriented feel. Many of them moved from larger
municipalities to Ajax for these values. This is not to pass
judgement on those other municipalities as we know that there are
people who have left Ajax to go to the larger centres because of
the attractions that they offer. What we are reinforcing is the
fact that each community has a different personality, that there
are choices and that the customer is free to choose the community
that appeals to them.
The values that Ajax residents have expressed in relation to
governance are that their local government has to be accessible,
accountable and responsive.
3
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They want a local government which is accessible in that they like
knowing the members of Council and the senior staff and knowing
that they are able to talk to them about issues not only at Council
meetings but on the street or in a local store. They like to watch
the Council meetings on Monday evenings on television and then run
down to the Chambers to join in the debate (the Town Hall is that
close) . Last year the Town had 178 delegations, public meetings or
open houses where the public could discuss important issues
directly with Council (this number does not include our many
advisory committees, Council committees or our strong and varied
volunteer activities) .
They want a local government which is accountable in that they get
to vote directly for their Ward Councillor, their Regional
Councillor and the Mayor (three of the seven positions on Council).
The wards are small enough that the public know who they are voting
for and once elected they know who to contact. There is no place to
hide.
They want a local government which is responsive in that the
Council not only listens but they respond. The residents concerns
with new developments has led to the introduction of a creative
community design process. The Town has responded to concern about
taxes by freezing taxes for the last few years. Ajax has also
launched an innovative cost management program which will lower
costs without cutting services. Prior to the last election Council
voluntarily reduced the number of politicians sitting on Council.
If the public is not happy with a decision they let Council know
immediately. The public is part of the process and the members of
Council are part of the community.
The residents of Ajax are already concerned about the growth of
their Town (it will grow by 50% over the next 20 years) and they
want to take action to preserve the values and characteristics that
attracted them to this community in the first place.
A Basis for Reform: Economies of Scale
If the problem that is driving the current re-examination of the
GTA is the economic crisis, then we had better understand what is
creating the crisis.
The problem experienced by all three local governments, School
Boards, Regions and local municipalities is that the Province has
been legislating increasingly more expensive policies and
procedures, downloading responsibilities and reducing the per unit
funding that is required to maintain those services.
4
- 4 -
The solutions to the problems should focus on the source of the
malady. Complex and expensive legislation, policies and procedures
should be reviewed. Are they relevant? Do they achieve the goals
that they were designed to address? Do they create more problems
than they resolve? Can we afford this? If the answer is no, they
should be changed.
If services are going to be downloaded then discussions have to
take place with the affected parties to determine if it is
possible, if it is logical, if it is affordable and if it is in the
best interests of the taxpayer. Then the how and when need to be
negotiated. The simple transference of the responsibility from one
level of government to the other does not solve the fiscal problem
for the taxpayer.
The reduction of provincial funding to the local governments has
created a lot of the financial crisis. In relative terms,
Provincial funding to Ajax has dropped from 14.8% of total Town
revenue to 5.8% over the past 14 years. The problem is even more
acute for school boards and the Regions which provide social
services and other provincially mandated services. The property tax
is being choked by a service that it was never designed to
accommodate. The funding issue needs to be rationalized so that
services are funded by the appropriate tax source.
The overall impact of these changes can be seen by looking at the
property tax bill. Increases in the property tax bill have been
driven by education and regions, not the lower tier municipalities
(see Table 2) . This fact is also illustrated in the shift of the
percentage of the property tax bill going to each of the services
(see Table 3) . Given this information it is obvious that the lower
tier municipalities are not the problem; therefore, the
restructuring of lower tier municipalities will not solve the
fundamental financial problem.
We recognize that there is a need to reduce government
expenditures. Over three-quarters of the Provinces program
payments go to health care, social services and education. If the
Province is to balance its budget these three areas must be
tackled. The Provinces problem cannot be solved by transferring
the problem downwards. Fundamental change has to occur and we do
recognize that municipalities have to be part of the solution.
Our innovative cost management program, which will reduce costs
without cutting services, is part of that solution.
In the debate about reinventing the GTA there has been a lot of
discussion about restructuring the two tier system of government.
There are quite a few single tier municipalities in the Province
which range in size from 4,000 to 300,000 population (see Table 4) .
5
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These single tier governments manage to deliver all of the local
government functions to the residents, so it is possible. Lower
tier municipalities do have the capability to handle more
responsibilities; however, these municipalities are also facing the
same fiscal problems as the those communities in two tiered
systems.
In the GTA the regions were created to deal with growth and to
facilitate service delivery which required expensive capital
infrastructure or to provide services over a large geographical
area. Given the growth that we will continue to face in the GTA
(Ajax is projected to grow by 50% to 97,000 people and the Region
of Durham by 80% to 759,000 by the year 2011), the Town of Ajax
sees the need to retain the Region and the two tiered system of
local government. We also need to retain the system of indirect
election to the Region. This insures that members of Regional
Council are accountable to their local Council and to the voters.
We believe that some improvements can and should be made to the
existing system but the review of responsibilities and proposed
changes should be determined by the members of each region.
The arguments for consolidating regions or amalgamating
municipalities is premised on the theory of economies of scale.
The economy of scale theory states that as size increases unit
costs go down. However the theory goes on to say that at some
point the curve bottoms out and from that point onwards as size
increases then costs go up. In other words, there are diseconomies
of scale. The theory also states that there are different cost
curves for different services therefore the best economy of scale
may well be different for each service the government provides.
Different economies of scale for different service - one size does
not fit all.
A comprehensive study of local government which was undertaken in
the United States commented that:
Capacity to provide desired public services in a
productive fashion is related to scale, but a single
relationship is not common to all services. Some
services require a large scale and some a modest scale
. . . how can we determine this scale at which services can
be provided with maximum capacity? Some have suggested
that the critical feature is whether the service is
consumed directly by the consumer, and thus labour
intensive, or whether it is indirectly consumed and
capital intensive. The most efficacious scale for
services consumed directly -- like police patrol, fire
protection and education -- small. In contrast more
capital intensive services like pollution control, water
and sewer services and public transportation are more
capably provided on a larger scale."
1
- 6 -
Economies of scale has been paid lip service as a justification for
an opinion but there has been little examination of factual data,
therefore we undertook the following analysis. The analysis is not
exhaustive but it is illuminating. There does not appear to be any
bottom line economies of scale.
Are larger regions less expensive on a unit cost basis? The
analysis of total operating costs per household (see Table 5) shows
that the unit cost increases as the size of the region increases.
In fact the largest region is 110% more expensive than the smallest
region. This difference could be due to diseconomies of scale. It
may be due to a difference in services offered or it may be due to
different levels of service. If the latter point is true then the
way to reduce the cost of government may be to lower the levels of
service in the more expensive regions.
Are there diseconomies of scale? Frank Stronach of Magna
International, the autoparts manufacturer notes that when any of
his factories grow to over 200 employees that the unit costs go up.
It seems that over that size the diseconomies of bureaucracy start
to kick in. Rather than expand the plant he opens another one. A
municipality with over 200 employees serves a population of
approximately 50,000 people.
There have been statements made that smaller municipalities should
be amalgamated. We do not understand how this will solve the
financial problem in Toronto.
What constitutes a small municipality? Of the 815 municipalities in
Ontario Ajax with a population of 60,000 is one of the largest. It
is in the top 5% . Compared to the rest of the province there are
no small municipalities in the GTA.
The unstated assumption is that there will be cost savings if
municipalities amalgamate? No financial data has been presented to
back up this opinion. Previous amalgamations in Ontario such as
Sarnia-Lambton or London-Westminster did not lower costs. In fact
costs went up for both communities despite financial injections
from the Province and provincially imposed limits to property tax
increases. Amalgamations of lower tier municipalities in the GTA
will not lower the cost to the taxpayer.
- 7 -
"A study of the 799 largest cities in the [United States]
compared the size of the populations with the size of the
bureaucracy, controlling for region and services. It
found evidence of diseconomy of scale among the cities
and concluded that wholesale consolidation or
enlargement of local government jurisdictions is unlikely
to achieve economy and efficiency in municipal service'"
2
The Basis for Reform
In searching for a solution to the fiscal crisis in the GTA we
remind you that the problem is not just about money, but it is also
about participative democracy.
The search for a solution should not
seek one to the exclusion of the other.
RECOMMENDATIONS
After reviewing the submissions from other municipalities and after
discussion of the issues, the Council of the Town of Ajax makes the
following recommendations:
1. ASSESSMENT/ PROPERTY TAX REFORM
Ajax Town Council endorses the need for assessment and
taxation reform; however,
such reform should be done to
standardize assessment within regions only. Toronto and Metro
should not attempt to resolve their assessment problems to the
detriment of ratepayers in Durham and Ajax.
2. RATI ONALI ZATI ON
The Town of Ajax agrees that the Province and local
governments need to review the relationship and
responsibilities of the various levels of government.
The
previous "disentanglement"
process was a step in the right
direction but, perhaps a more suitable description at this
time is the need to "rationalize"
the responsibilities and
associated financing of the local,
regional and provincial
levels of government in Ontario.
Ajax Town Council supports
the study and negotiation of an agreement between
municipalities and the Government of Ontario based on the
appropriate delivery and financing of government services.
8
- 8 -
This agreement should be revenue neutral"! to taxpayers.
Service delivery at every level must be reviewed and changed
as necessary in order to ensure the following:
a) economies of scale are utilized to their fullest;
b) service delivery for the public is enhanced; and
c) the system is understandable so that the public can
swiftly and conveniently access the services they
need.
The study and negotiation should look at the broad spectrum of
government services and not be limited in its scope.
It is
imperative that such a study address the proper division of
responsibilities between lower and upper tier municipalities.
3 . PERMIS S IVE MUNICIPAL ACT
Ajax Town Council supports the proposal for an improved and
permissive Municipal Act which includes an enhanced range of
revenue generating options for municipalities.
4 . MUNI C I P AL S E R VI C E S / R E P R E S ENTATI O N/ B O U ND AR I E S
9
- 9 -
Town Council is also strongly opposed to the 1997 deadline for
implementation of potential reforms as this limited time
period is clearly insufficient to allow proper review and
discussion of the issues. The need for additional time is
supported by the time that would be necessary to adequately
undertake the parallel Provincial-Municipal rationalization
study and negotiations outlined in section 2 of this response.
5. SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES
Ajax Town Council supports a
in order to provide greater
the provision of services.
review of Special Purpose Bodies
accountability and efficiency in
All SPBS should be reviewed to
determine whether elimination, amalgamation, municipal council
control or some alternate method of control is recommended to
improve service and accountability.
The present watershed/eco-system determination of Conservation
Authority boundaries appears to work well; however, provincial
involvement in Conservation Authority matters should be
reduced substantially as Conservation Authorities can provide
the full regulatory services presently duplicated by MNR and
MOEE staff.
This rationale could also be applied to several other areas
where there is provincial involvement in matters that can be
handled locally. A permissive Municipal Act would assist in
this area. This savings to the province would also become
evident through the Provincial-Municipal "rationalization"
process. This process may indicate that Childrens Aid
Societies should become the responsibility of the Province,
that Hydro Commissions could become municipal departments,
etc. Most importantly, study and discussion is necessary
before changes are made.
A key consideration is the understanding that the primary
funding body should have a controlling interest in the
decision-making body overseeing a particular service. This is
most obviously necessary with respect to Police Services
Boards and Library Boards. Again, these principles would be
central components of the rationalization process.
6. GTA GOVERNANCE
Ajax Town Council is opposed to any measure that would create
an additional level of government, of any shape or form,
within the GTA. This would include the proposed GTA Co-
ordinating Forum as outlined in the GTA Mayors Action Plan.
. . . 10
- 10 -
7 . EDUCATION REFORM
Ajax Town Council agrees that the present burden on the
property tax resulting from education funding is a significant
symptom in the illnesses facing local government in the GTA.
This is particularly evident in Metro Toronto.
Any review of
local government must include a review of the education system
but this should be done by the Board of Education.
They have
the knowledge and it is their responsibility.
8. UPPER/LOWER TIER RELATIONSHIP
Ajax Town
Council believes that the Regional level of
government is necessary to address local issues that can
benefit from the economies of scale; however, the present form
of Regional governments could be streamlined.
9 . S ERVICE PROVIS ION
Ajax Town Council believes that the Province of Ontario could
remove itself from the actual delivery of various services by
using the structures, administrations and facilities already
in place in municipal government. It is accepted fact that
municipalities are the level of government that is closest to
the public and provides the greatest ease of access.
While
the province would retain the control and direction over
provincial services,
delivery would be enhanced by using
municipalities as provincial agents. This arrangement would,
of course, be accompanied by appropriate cost-sharing
agreements.
1 Beth Walter Honadle & Arnold N. Hewitt, Editors, Perspectives on
Management Capacity Building" p.29
2
ibid. p.29
Transformation from a Producer to a Consumer Society
FROM
B
Low Variety: the people can have
any colour car they want, as long
as it is black.
B
Low Convenience: money available
from banks anytime you wanted as
long as it was between 10:00 a.m.
and 3:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday.
B
Limited Access to Service: you
could mail packages anywhere in the
world as long as it was with the
post office on Monday thru Friday
or Saturday morning.
B
Few Choices: you could watch
anything on TV as long as it was
on CBC or CTV or if you were
lucky ABC, CBS or NBC.
B
Great Variety: in 1958 you could buy
21 different makes of car, today you
can choose from over 500 models.
B
High Convenience: automatic teller
machines provide money anytime and
almost anyplace.
B
Virtually Continuous Service: the
service comes to you - UPS and
Fed Ex will pick-up at your office
24 hours/day.
B
Seemingly Endless Choices: we can
watch just about anything we want on
TV, anytime through cable, pay per
view and the world of 500 channels is
upon us.
S I NGLE TI E R MUNI CI PALI TI E S
Every City within the old Counties and Districts are separated with
the exception of Sarnia and Woodstock.
These are single tier
municipalities which have responsibility for all of the work done
by Regions/Counties plus the normal municipal duties.
The following Cities and their corresponding population are
separated:
London
Windsor
Thunder Bay
Guelph
Brantford
Sault Ste. Marie
Barrie
Peterborough
Kingston
North Bay
Cornwall
Timmins
Chatham
Belleville
St. Thomas
Stratford
Orillia
Owen Sound
Trenton
Pembroke
Elliot Lake
Separated Towns
Smith Falls
St. Marys
Gananoque
Prescott
320,099
193,657
113,562
89,257
81,074
78,399
71,413
66,949
55,939
55,165
46,802
45,692
39,815
34,954
29,758
27,563
26,072
20,399
16,404
13,445
12,387
9,001
5,493
4,973
3,999
I
Lindsay Argier
1341 Victoria Park Ave.
Toronto, Ont.
M4B 2L5
September 28, 1995
Attention:
The Golden Task Force Commission
Dear Sir/Madame:
I am not a resident of the borough of East York; however, I do
attend an East York school. I do not feel that the amalgamation of
the borough of East York with the city of Toronto is in the benefit
of East York. As a student I find it hard enough competing with
other students in the borough, but by joining with Toronto the
competition will just be tougher. Moreover, it will be more
difficult to get our opinions heard and our needs attended to. I
do not see any possible benefit in joining with the city. I can
only see it negatively affecting our academic program.
I have grandparents living in the borough and I love the community,
I find it much better than many of the areas in Toronto. The
people are friendly, the streets are clean and overall its just a
beautiful place to live.
I'm not saying the area will change but
it will have the identity and reputation it has been known for
through out the course of two hundred years stripped away. Please
reconsider amalgamating East York with the city of Toronto. Thank
you.
Sincerely,
i n d s a y A r
g i e r
ARTSVOTE
SUBMISSION TO THE
GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
September 1995
ARTSVOTE SUBMISSION TO THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
Introduction to ARTSVOTE
The formation of ARTSVOTE 94 in April of 1994 marked a watershed in political cultural
activism within the Toronto arts community. The ARTSVOTE Steering Committee
constituted itself with the primary goal of mobilizing the artist vote for the November
municipal elections in Toronto. Its larger mission was to give political voice to artists of all
disciplines in Toronto, become more engaged in municipal affairs on an ongoing basis and
in so doing, counteract threats to artistic freedom, government funding and the very
existence of the arts community.
ARTSVOTE 94 was able to unify, amplify and focus the political efforts of a diverse range
of artists and arts organizations. For the first time in a political campaign, attention to arts
issues was constantly brought to the forefront of the election. It is widely believed that the
coalition helped to elect Torontos Mayor and a significant number of City and Metro
Councillors to office, not by endorsing candidates, but by increasing the level of activism in
the arts community.
The momentum created by ARTSVOTE 94 made the continuation of a post-election
coalition inevitable. The Steering Committee changed its name to ARTSVOTE and
reworked the original mission to embrace its current goals and aspirations:
As a result of ARTSVOTEs current focus on Metros funding cuts and the possible
dismantling of Metro Toronto, it became increasingly clear to ARTSVOTE that it should
make a submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
ARTSVOTE feels it imperative to remind the Task Force of the enormous contribution that
the artistic community makes to the well-being of the GTA. A healthy artistic community
enhances the GTA economically and greatly improves the quality of life. It is important to
point out that the entire structure of Metros internationally renowned and vibrant arts
community is based on a two-tiered municipal funding base. The removal of one level of
this funding will create a funding crisis of such proportion that most cultural organizations
would not survive.
ARTSVOTE requests that the Task Force consider the economic and cultural benefits a
stable and vital arts community can provide the GTA. This will meet the Task Forces
objective to maintain the economic attractiveness of the core of the GTA and the
continuing confidence and competitiveness of the single most important economic and social
component of the region.
2
Background on the Arts Sector
The GTA is home to a wide range of professional artistic activity covering all the arts
disciplines. Internationally renowned artists, institutions and arts organizations have made
Toronto an attractive destination for the cultural tourist. Anchored by the concentration of
cultural resources in the City of Toronto, the GTA is an important continental and
international cultural centre. It is:
. the second largest theatre centre in North America, and the third largest in the
english-speaking world
. the third largest film and video production centre in North America
. ranked fourth of 343 metropolitan areas for its cultural amenities and services by
Places Rated Almanac.
The GTA arts sector is a system of creators, producers and distributors spread throughout
the region numbering approximately 180,000. It is a sector which represents a range of
needs and interests, from those of the emerging new voice of a solo artist to those of the
more established arts organizations. The community is interdependent within itself and with
the commercial cultural industries (such as film, publishing and commercial theatre). To
both the individual artist and the arts organization, art is a business.
The arts community currently receives operational and project funding from a variety of
local government sources. Many municipalities and cities, including Mississauga, Oakville,
Toronto, East York and North York directly subsidize the operation of arts activities in their
jurisdictions.
Metro Toronto is the only regional government with a granting programme for arts
organizations. These subsidies, which amounted to $6.6 million in 1995, are awarded
primarily to organizations who can demonstrate that their audiences are drawn from across
the Metro region and beyond. Table 1 (attached) demonstrates that the major regional
cultural institutions draw up to 50% of their audiences from outside of Metro Toronto.
The City of Toronto is the home base for the majority of artistic activity taking place in the
GTA. While Table 1 demonstrates that audiences from across the GTA and beyond attend
cultural events in Toronto, this is not a one way street. Toronto audiences attend cultural
events and festivals in other cities and municipalities. In addition, many arts organizations
have active outreach programmed through which artists and their work are seen in
communities across the GTA. These outreach programmed take the form of school tours,
public performances, public art programmed and festivals. 18% of the cultural events
funded by Metro in 1995 took place outside of Metros borders.
Bricks and mortar also play a part in the current picture of cultural activity in the GTA.
The GTA is home to numerous municipally and regionally operated arts facilities, such as:
. Markham Theatre (Town of Markham)
Oakville Galleries (Town of Oakville)
Burlington Arts Centre (City of Burlington)
Table 1
Place of Residence of Audience for
Major Regional Cultural Institutions
Canadian Stage Company
Robert McLaughlin Gallery (City of Oshawa)
. Art Gallery of Peel (Region of Peel)
OKeefe Centre (Metro Toronto)
. Mississauga Living Arts Centre (in construction)
These cultural centres, as with many of the cultural activities taking place in the City of
Toronto, are regional in nature since they draw upon the entire GTA and beyond for their
staff, programming and audiences. They frequently present the work of artists and arts
organizations based in other GTA communities.
The Value of the Arts to the Quality of Life
It has been said that the job of the artist is to hold the world together. Art touches the
lives of everyone, not only the confirmed enthusiast but the disenchanted and the
disadvantaged. It has the power to bring hope to the lives of the confined, the sick and the
marginal as well as to the most fortunate among us. As highly skilled specialists, cultural
ambassadors, social activists, tax payers, family members and citizens, artists contribute on
all fronts to the life of their communities.
A thriving arts community provides a sense of vitality and attracts both residents and visitors
to the streets in the evening. This makes the Toronto region a safe and liveable
environment and reduces policing costs. One of most critical issues facing the GTA is the
preservation of this vibrant core and the prevention of the downward spiral of decay seen in
so many other North American cities.
The recent Barnes Exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario has been heralded as one of the
most artistically and economically successful exhibitions to ever come to Toronto. In
awarding the exhibition to Toronto, rather than to other competing North American cities,
the Barnes Foundation made it clear that its decision was based not only upon the Gallery
itself, but upon Torontos vibrancy and status as a cultural centre.
Torontos lively cultural scene makes the region a desirable destination for visitors,
conventions and investment. While Metro Toronto is currently ranked the fifth best location
in the world for international business headquarters by a US investment location consultant,
such a designation is based in large part upon the regions cultural environment and quality
of life. If the latter suffers, the GTA will lose its competitive edge in attracting new
commercial interests into the area.
Economic Issues
Culture is an economic engine of the regions economy. It is a major employer, providing
6.4% of all jobs in Metropolitan Toronto (Stats Canada, 1993). The same year, the
indirect employment generated by the sector represented 9.4% of all the jobs in Metro
Toronto. This level of indirect employment reflects the spill-over effects of culture into the
service sector, specifically restaurants, transit and hotels.
When considered in the context of spending, the figures demonstrating the economic
importance of the arts are equally as compelling. A 1992 report to the City of Torontos
4
Economic Development Committee concluded that for every $1 in direct revenue to the arts
(ticket sales, entrance fees) there is a spin-off effect of $3 in ancillary spending. In 1993,
the economic impact of Torontos theatre community alone was $1.2 billion to the economy.
More recently, the Art Gallery of Ontarios aggressive marketing campaign geared to
residents and tourists, attracted 600,000 visitors, stimulating $137 million in goods and
services across Ontario. Cultural tourism is a major factor in Torontos economy. out of
town visitors to the AGO and other cultural events in Toronto spend $1 billion annually.
The cultural sector is a clean and environmentally friendly industry. The sector is not a
drain on municipal services and the typically low wages mean that most artists are heavy
users of public transit. Jobs in the cultural sector are inexpensive to create: Stats Canada
reports that it costs $20,000 to generate a job in the arts, versus $100,000 in light industry
and $200,000 in heavy industry.
Culture is a pillar of our regional infrastructure and must be treated with the same
seriousness and approach as other regional services such as roads, ambulances and police
services. The bricks and mortar element of the infrastructure must be considered given the
number of municipally owned and operated cultural facilities. Attendees at cultural events
use regional infrastructure - highways and transit - to reach their destination. In Metro
Toronto alone, 3 million transit rides were taken by visitors attending cultural events in
1994.
Conclusion
Urban designer Joe Berrigde, in explaining to visiting American planners why Toronto still
differs from its American counterparts, said: Cities are constructed more from imagination
than steel and concrete. The test of a great city is the quality of its prose, its painting, its
music, its theatre, its dance.
In its deliberations, the Task Force cannot ignore the issue of the quality of life and the
social values upon which the GTA is grounded. The arts are central to that discussion. The
GTA Task Force must incorporate into its findings an integrated vision for the arts, which
views cultural funding in the context of overall regional policy.
While ARTSVOTE does not wish to speculate on the appropriate governance structure for
the GTA, it is essential that local government reform recognize the fundamental importance
of the cultural sector to the future of the region as a whole. The Task Forces
recommendations must ensure a mechanism is in place to maintain current funding levels for
the arts. Such funding must be allocated based on an arms-length principle, free from
political interference.
To consumers of cultural services, political boundaries be they national, provincial or local
are largely irrelevant Rather they are attracted to a destination, an event, or an experience
with little regard to who built it, who maintains it and who operates it. GTA residents
attend arts events locally, but they also flock to downtown Toronto for their cultural
pursuits. Those who benefit from cultural services, both directly and indirectly, must
contribute appropriately. It cannot be left to the taxpayers of the City of Toronto to support
a cultural infrastructure which so clearly benefits the entire GTA.
5
ARTSVOTE Steering Committee:
Tim Jones, Co-chair, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre
Susan Serran, Co-Chair, Theatre Passe Muraille
Pat Bradley, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres
Jenny Ginder, Canadian Opera Company
Rose Jacobson, Toronto Theatre Alliance
Jane Marsland, Danny Grossman Dance Theatre
David Parsons, Canadian Music Centre
Douglas Perry, Independent Musician/Toronto Musicians Association
Sandra Tulloch, Theatre Ontario
Myles Warren, Dance Umbrella of Ontario
This submission has been endorsed by the following Arts Service Organizations:
Associated Designers of Canada
Association of Canadian Orchestras
Association of Canadian Publishers
Canadian Actors Equity Association
Canadian Artists Network: Black Artists in Action
Canadian Arts Presenters Association
Canadian Artists Representation Ontario
Canadian Association of Professional Dance Organizations
Canadian Conference for the Arts
Canadian Music Centre
Canadian Resource Centre
Dance Ontario
Dancer Transition Centre
Dance Umbrella of Ontario
League of Canadian Poets
Mercer Union Gallery
Ontario Choral Federation
Organization of Book Publishers of Ontario
Ontario Association of Art Galleries
Playwrights Union of Canada
Professional Association of Canadian Theatres
Professional Opera Companies of Canada
Theatre Ontario
The National Ballet School
Toronto Blues Society
Toronto Theatre Alliance
The Writers Union of Canada
Visual Arts Ontario
V Tape
Womens Art Resource Centre
Work Place Arts Office
For further information contact Jane Marsland (416) 531-8350 or Jenny Ginder (416) 363-6671.
September 25, 1995
6
Ms. Anne Golden
Chair
Greater Toronto Area Task Force
20th Floor - Suite
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
We are pleased to
2001
September 27, 1995
submit for your information and consideration a report from the Steering
Committee of ARTSVOTE, a broad-based coalition of arts organizations, artists and arts
professionals living and working in the Greater Toronto Area. ARTSVOTES primary objective
is to politicize the 115,000 people who are directly employed in the cultural sector in
Metropolitan Toronto and whose employment is directly linked to the continued government
funding at the municipal level...As the report recently prepared by Metro Toronto stresses, the
cultural sector generated a $6.4 billion return in Metropolitan Toronto from an investment of less
than $13 million in municipal grants.
We must point out that the current situation in the arts sector is critical. The substantial
investment in the infrastructure of the cultural sector is in jeopardy as government cuts in funding
are happening faster than other revenue sources can be found or developed.
The arts and culture sector contributes enormously to the economic, aesthetic, and spiritual well-
being of the citizens of the Greater Toronto Area. It is from this perspective that we have
prepared our submission to you. While we are aware of your very tight timeline to prepare your
final report, we would be very interested to be able to meet with you to discuss this submission.
THE ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES OF ONTARIO
August 24, 1 9 9 5
RESTRUCTURING RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN ONTARIO
IMPLEMENTING-BLUEPRINT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ontario faces a crisis. In the natural resource/environment sector it has developed a
service delivery organization that has many overlaps and redundancies. The time has
come to rebuild this service delivery structure to rationalize service and reduce costs.
Ontarios Conservation Authorities proposed the adoption of a one window approach
entitled - Blueprint for Success where service delivery responsibilities would be
undertaken locally by community based agencies. They now have taken the Blueprint
concept further and shown how the new approach would work and how it can be
implemented.
One of the essential principles for successful natural resource management is the
watershed. This unit recognizes the interconnectedness of natural resources and the key
role that water plays in the ecosystem and the economy.
The new resource management approach is termed Community Based Watershed
Conservation (CBWC) and involves rationalization and migration of the Provincial service
delivery to local watershed organizations. In this approach the Province would establish
policy direction.
Policy implementation would be undertaken locally in a manner that
reduces public sector costs through productivity improvement, more involvement of
consumers of services in underwriting costs, and the elimination of services of lesser
importance.
CBWC wi l l create an effi ci ent system that hel ps i ndi vi dual s, communi ti es and
Municipalities manage their own natural resources. Conservation Authorities would
support community management with watershed information, advice and technical
services, coordinated regulatory services, and coordinated management of lands held in
the public trust.
Since the release of Blueprint CAs have gradually been assuming more service delivery
responsibilities. Review of pilot area projects clearly show that integrated local delivery
reduces costs and improves service. Implementation of CBWC across the Province would
result in major reductions in public expenditure.
IMPLEMENTING-BLUEPRINT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ontario faces a crisis. In the natural resource/environment sector it has developed a
service delivery organization that has many overlaps and redundancies. The time has
come to rebuild this service delivery structure to rationalize service and reduce costs.
Ontarios Conservation Authorities proposed the adoption of a one window approach
entitled - Blueprint for Success where service delivery responsibilities would be
undertaken locally by community based agencies. They now have taken the Blueprint
concept further and shown how the new approach would work and how it can be
implemented.
One of the essential principles for successful natural resource management is the
watershed. This unit recognizes the interconnectedness of natural resources and the key
role that water plays in the ecosystem and the economy.
The new resource management approach is termed Community Based Watershed
Conservation (CBWC) and involves rationalization and migration of the Provincial service
delivery to local watershed organizations. In this approach the Province would establish
policy direction.
Policy implementation would be undertaken locally in a manner that
reduces public sector costs through productivity improvement, more involvement of
consumers of services in underwriting costs, and the elimination of services of lesser
importance.
CBWC wi l l create an effi ci ent system that hel ps i ndi vi dual s, communi ti es and
Municipalities manage their own natural resources. Conservation Authorities would
support community management with watershed information, advice and technical
services, coordinated regulatory services, and coordinated management of lands held in
the public trust.
Since the release of Blueprint CAs have gradually been assuming more service delivery
responsibilities. Review of pilot area projects clearly show that integrated local delivery
reduces costs and improves service. Implementation of CBWC across the Province would
result in major reductions in public expenditure.
Community Based Resource Management Can:
B
Allow communities to have more control over how watershed resources are
managed;
Protect provincial interests without the need for costly direct Provincial involvement
in service delivery;
Save significant amounts of money through overlap removal, consolidation of
service delivery functions, elimination of non essential services, and utilization of
user help and pay processes;
Be implemented easily without legislation creation or amendment;
Deliver integrated services within a watershed context at the community level.
Conservation Authorities propose to undertake this transformation in a ordered fashion
through the 2-4-1 Plan. This implementation plan proposes that:
2 months be devoted to the design of transfer protocols;
4 Conservation Authorities will act as a prototypes to refine transfer operating
protocols and in;
1 year ail Conservation Authorities will commit to assuming the complete range of
service delivery responsibilities.
With prompt Provincial acceptance of CBWC the transition can begin January 1, 1996
and be completed by January 1,1997.
IMPLEMENTING - BLUEPRINT
1. INTRODUCTION
The natural resources of Ontario are the foundation of the Provinces social and
economic well-being. Every year natural resources contribute billions of dollars to the
Ontario economy and provide society with many essential services. The future
prosperity of the citizens of Ontario depends on the continuation of these economic,
environmental and social benefits.
While it is essential that the Provinces natural resources and environment are well
managed, Ontari o s current approach to management i s too expensi ve, too
complicated, too bureaucratic and too slow. Ontario faces a crisis brought about by
the following:
a lack of a coordinated public sector direction;
complicated and uncoordinated service delivery from too many agencies that
wastes money and confuses the public;
a confusing and complex regulatory system that delays approvals and
wastes both applicant and public money;
inadequate resource management in some areas, for example groundwater,
due to the lack of an integrated approach;
inadequate public/community input into decision making;
a service delivery structure and organization the public can no longer afford;
It is time to come to terms with these problems and design a resource management
structure that can meet Ontarios needs in the future at a price Ontario can afford.
Conservation Authorities have long recognized the problems that exist within the
current system. Working through the Association of Conservation Authorities of
Ontario (ACAO), we have developed a proposal and implementation plan that will
address the problems and ensure effective and efficient management of Ontarios
natural resources for the future.
Page 1
August 24, 1995
2. BACKGROUND
2.1 What is Natural Resource Conservation?
Conservation is generally defined as the management of renewable natural resources
in a way that optimizes their utilization while ensuring the long term sustainability of
the resource. Depending on the situation, conservation can range from development
of a resource, protection of a sensitive resource, or restoration of a depleted resource.
Currently, responsibilities are distributed across several Provincial and local agencies
including Conservation Authorities (CAs), Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR),
Ministry of Environment and Energy (MOEE), Ministry of Agriculture and Food and
Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Ministry of Municipal Affairs (MMA) and Municipalities. This
fractured and duplicative distribution of responsibility is to a large extent the cause of
many of the current problems.
2.2 The Watershed Management Unit
One of the fundamental pri nci pl es that must be respected i s the i nherent
interconnectedness of all natural resources. The natural system functions as a unit or
ecosystem which is not amenable to arbitrary division either geographically or by
resource type. Attempting to manage natural resources either on the basis of political
administrative units, such as municipalities, or by categories, such as fisheries, does
not respect the integrated nature of the natural resource system, An integrated
management structure based on natural system units is required to successfully
ensure the long term sustainability of natural resources and to make appropriate
management decisions.
Water, whether groundwater or surface water, is an essential component, not only of
natural systems, but of economic and social systems. Natural resource features such
as fisheries, forests, and wetlands depend on water to exist. Ontario society depends
on water for industrial processes, agricultural production, water supply and waste
treatment. Sound management of water benefits both the natural system and the
economy.
Page 2
August 24, 1995
While the existing agency responsibility structure has created numerous problems,
groundwater provides a graphic example. Recent federal studies reveal that high
percentages of wells are contaminated (Agriculture Canada, 1994). Ontario faces a
crisis of significant proportions in the management of groundwater resources brought
about by the inability of the current system to integrate all aspects of water
management.
It has long been recognized that watersheds are the logical management units for
integrating the management of the natural resources. The watershed unit was a
founding principle of Conservation Authorities 50 years ago and in recent years there
has been increased movement both nationally and internationally toward management
on a watershed basis. The Final Report of the Inquiry on Federal Water Policy
recognized the watershed as the natural unit for management.
It is logical, perhaps essential therefore, to base restructuring and integration of
natural resource conservation services on watershed units. As the only agencies
currently structured on a watershed basis, Conservation Authorities have a pivotal role
to play in the restructuring and delivery of natural resource conservation.
2.3 The Conservation Authority Initiative-Blueprint
In 1993, the Association of Conservation Authorities of Ontario (ACAO) submitted to
the government of the day a discussion paper titled Restructuring Resource
Management in Ontario - A Blueprint for Success (Blueprint). The purpose of this
document was to draw attention to the problems in natural resources management
and offer a proposal that provided a solution.
The basic premise of this report is that the fundamental problem is the multiplicity of
agencies that have a role in natural resource management and that the resulting
overlap and confusion between agency mandates and programs is wasting public
funds and delivering inadequate natural resource management. This agency/program
maze is best demonstrated by Figure 1.
The ACAO proposed that this situation could best be dealt with by redefining the roles
of the various agencies and developing an integrated natural resources management
delivery system with the watershed as the management unit. With this approach, the
provincial agencies would remove themselves from service delivery and focus on the
Page 3
August 24, 1995
Activities
Agencies
Issues
Figure 1
broad strategic issues of policy, legislation, research and performance standards.
Natural resource management services would be integrated and delivered locally by
Conservation Authorities and Municipalities in consultation with local communities.
This integrated approach is depicted in Figure 2.
2.4 Reaction to Blueprint
While Blueprint for Success was circulated widely and stimulated extensive
discussion and comment, the ACAO was unable to garner action on the proposal at
the Provincial Government level.
The Conservation Authorities have generated significant local interest in restructuring
resource conservation. The ACAO received responses from 198 (40%) of o u r
member Municipalities, providing extensive support and constructive comments.
Responses were also received from 27 community and interest groups, also providing
significant support and encouragement.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) released a report titled Municipal
Priorities in Restructuring
Resource Management: AMOS Response to the Proposals
of the Association of Conservation Authorities of Ontario, which supported, in
principle, the ACAOS proposal and stated that AMO commends ACAO for initiating
discussion to reform the delivery structure of resource conservation programs.
In their report, AMO raised a number of concerns and questions. AMOS primary
concerns relate to maintaining municipal decision making control over land use
planning, avoiding any negative financial impact on municipalities and improving the
accountability of Conservation Authorities.
ACAO and AMO are meeting and have
made considerable progress in resolving these matters.
3.0 DEVELOPING THE NEW APPROACH
3.1 Principles
Review of the ACAOS initial proposal, the responses, as well as a variety of other
information sources suggests that there is general agreement on both the need for
change and the basic characteristics of a new natural resource conservation system.
Page 4
August 24, 1995
Issues
Agencies
Activities
Figure 2
It would appear that consensus can be achieved if the new system is based on the
following five fundamental principles:
1.
2.
3.
4,
5.
integration of service delivery across the broad spectrum of natural resource
and environmental services;
Local service delivery with enhanced community control and responsibility;
A strategic Provincial role that provides policy direction and performance
standards for service delivery;
Delivery of services on a cost effective basis with increased financial self
reliance through user fees, community and private sector participation, and
an overall reduction in public funding;
Resource management units based on watersheds that are configured to
balance the need for community identity with the need for effective and
efficient program delivery.
With these principles as a basis, the following is a detailed description of a proposed
natural resource management approach which we have called Community Based
Watershed Conservation.
3.2 Community Based Watershed Conservation (CBWC)
. . . may I say most definitely that our concept of planning is

that we should make sure that the local municipal bodies, and
the voluntary organizations within municipal areas, retain and
exercise full control over their own affairs. We base this upon
the very simple, and, I hope, not misguided belief, that the closer
government is to the people the better and more economical is
that government. (Premier George Drew at a Conservation
Convention, Nov. 30, 1946 )
This statement was made shortly after the passage of the Conservation Authorities
Act and embodies one of the founding principles of CAs, local initiative. In the
decades that followed, this principle was gradually clouded as provincial agencies
Page 5
August 24, 1995
became increasingly involved in local resource and environmental issues. This has
resulted in the current situation where resource management decision making is
dominated by Provincial Ministries. CBWC will restore to local communities the
opportunity and the responsibility to have more control over their affairs.
Local communities and their watersheds are already actively involved in resource
conservation. From community activities such as stream clean ups, through
watershed scale initiatives such as the Don Watershed Task Force, to large scale
initiatives like the Environmental Farm Plan program, the public has demonstrated
both the interest and the ability to participate in resource conservation. Community
Based Watershed Conservation will build on this community initiative to create a
system where public agencies help communities manage their natural resources on
their own, instead of managing resources on their behalf.
3.3 Elements of CBWC Service Delivery
Under the CBWC model, the local delivery of resource conservation services would
occur at the community /Municipal/Conservation Authority level. The types of
conservation services required can be divided into four categories:
3.3.1 Resource Planning Services:
This category of service would develop and provide the resource conservation
knowledge base required to implement resource conservation at the local level.
This would include activities such as studies of various natural resource features,
collection and analysis of information, development of resource management
strategies and monitoring the status of natural resource features in the watershed.
These activities would be integrated with Provincial information management
frameworks. This knowledge base would be used by Municipalities in their formal
land use planning responsibilities, and by the local community in a variety of local
programs.
3.3.2. Watershed Management Services
CBWC is based on an enhanced level of community responsibility for resource
conservation. There would be a higher level of reliance placed on the management
decisions made by i ndi vi dual property owners, communi ty groups and
Page 6
August 24, 1995
Municipalities. Watershed management services would provide support to the
community to give the watershed context and help them arrive at good resource
management decisions. This would include information and education services,
advisory services, and coordination of assistance programs for the management,
rehabilitation and enhancement of natural resources.
This would require the consolidation and coordination of a variety of programs
currently being delivered by Provincial Ministries and CAs, such as private land
forestry programs, rural water quality improvement programs, fish habitat
enhancement programs and remedial flood and erosion control programs.
3.3.3. Regulatory Services:
There are currently a wide range of regulatory approvals required for activities that
have the potential to impact on natural resources. These include regulations under
many different Acts administered by several agencies. There are many activities
that require simultaneous approval under several different pieces of legislation.
While some degree of regulation is necessary to protect the public from natural
hazards and control activities that would degrade natural resources, the current
system is confusing and unduly onerous. Under CBWC these regulatory approvals
would be streamlined and consolidated by administering them at the local level.
The intent of consolidation would go beyond mere transfer of approval authority
to: include the rationalization of the various regulations to maximize the use of
voluntary compliance; ensure they are applied only when necessary; and ensure
that the approval process is simple and efficient.
This would include all water
management legislation and potentially other resource legislation such as the
Aggregates Act. Table 1 provides a proposed list of the legislation that could be
included.
3.3.4. Conservation Land Management Services:
Public ownership of conservation lands is an important tool in the overall
management of natural resources.
There are lands that, due to their importance or
sensitivity, are best held in public ownership. These lands are primarily held and
managed by CAs, Municipalities and in selected instances, the Province.
Page 7
August 24, 1995
Table 1- REGULATIONS TO BE ADMINISTERED LOCALLY
WATER MANAGEMENT PURPOSE OF REGULATION
CURRENT
LEGISLATION ADMINISTRATOR
Ontario Water - Surface and Groundwater taking
MOEE
Resources Act - Sewage Works
Environmental - Septic Systems
MOEE
Protection Act
Drainage Act - Drainage
MAFRA
Lakes and Rivers - Dams and Channelizations MNR
Improvement Act
Public Lands Act - Works on Public Lands MNR
Fisheries Act - Fish and Fish Habitat MNR
(Federal) I Protecti on
Conservation - Construction in Floodplains CAs
Authorities Act - Fill Placemet
- Alteration of Watercourses
OTHER RESOURCES
LEGISLATION I
Aggregates Act I -Aggregate extraction
With the CBWC approach, responsibility, within a Provincial framework, for the
identification of these lands and ensuring that they are protected would be at the
local level, The community, Municipalities,
and CAs would develop a local
management structure to ensure that these lands are effectively and efficiently
managed, While the primary purpose of public ownership would be to ensure long
term protection, many of these properties are presently, and should continue to be,
used to provide open space and recreational benefits to the community. It would
be the communitys responsibility to decide what uses are wanted and how they
should be provided.
3.4 Provincial Role in CBWC
The role of the Provincial Ministries in CBWC would be to provide a support structure
for service delivery at the local level. This would include:
the development of Provincial policy direction;
scientific research and support, technology development and transfer;
development of provincial level strategies;
providing direction in areas of provincial interest;
development and monitoring of service delivery standards;
monitoring and enforcement of provincial resource and environmental
regulations and legislation.
This role is consistent with the Provincial role that is already emerging for land use
planning, and, in fact, the Ministries are already beginning to move in this direction.
The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Ministry of Environment and Energy have
pursued an organizational change strategy of gradual merging of service delivery
functions with CAs through local negotiation and agreement. MNR has developed
conceptual organizational plans anticipating downsizing, proposing that many service
delivery responsibilities would migrate to the community level.
3.5 Municipal Role in CBWC
An enhanced role at the community level will require that Municipal Governments
become increasingly involved in resource conservation. As the elected government of
Page 8
August 24, 1995
the local community, formal decision making required to implement CBWC should
occur at the local level to the greatest extent possible,
The primary mechanism for Municipal resource conservation is the Iand use planning
process. This has been an area of Municipal concern with respect to watershed
planning. Through AMO-ACAO discussions, it has already been clarified that, through
the land use planning process, municipalities have approval control, and that
watershed plans or strategies are advisory and supportive documents to this planning
process.
Municipalities would participate in watershed scale decision making through direction
of their Conservation Authority representatives. Where interested and capable,
Municipalities could also become involved in delivery of a variety of resource
conservation programs. By local agreement, service delivery would be distributed
between Municipalities, community groups and CAs based on local needs and
efficiencies.
3.6 Conservation Authorities Role in CBWC
Conservation Authorities were created with the passing of the Conservation
Authorities Act in 1946. They provide services in watersheds containing 90 percent
of the population of the Province. The overall mandate of Conservation Authorities,
as stated in section 20 of the Act, is to establish and undertake, in the area over
which it has jurisdiction, a program designed to further the conservation, restoration,
development, and management of natural resources other than gas, oil, coal and
minerals. Conservation Authorities were founded on the basic principles of: local
initiative, areas of jurisdiction based on watersheds, and provincial-municipal
partnership.
A Conservati on Authori ty, i n the most basi c terms, i s a vehi cl e by whi ch
municipalities within a watershed can make collective resource conservation decisions
on a watershed basis. The fundamental responsibility of CAs within CBWC would be
to deal with issues that must be handled on a watershed basis and provide support
and advice for decisions that can be made at the Municipal level. With this approach
Conservation Authorities would become a bridge between Provincial policy and
Municipal decision making, rather than a separate administrative layer.
-
Page 9
August 24, 1995
Conservation Authorities would continue to provide a selected range of programs
directly, but would focus on becoming resource conservation service agencies that
provide Municipalities, individual landowners and the public with the information and
support they require to make good decisions on their own.
Under this model the Conservation Authorities role could include the following:
coordinate watershed scale studies, data collection, monitoring and analysis
to devel op and mai ntai n an i nformati on base for ongoi ng resource
conservation programs;
develop watershed resource management strategies such as water budgets
for groundwater taking, fisheries management plans, etc., for community
review and acceptance, and facilitate implementation;
develop the capability to deliver support programs including, information and
education services, advisory services, landowner extension services and
community based resource stewardship programs;
contract wi th vari ous Provi nci al Mi ni stri es to del i ver remedi al and
enhancement programs such as: flood and erosion control, rural water
quality improvement, fisheries habitat restoration, forest management, etc;
coordinate a rational and integrated permit system for resource management
legislation.
in cooperation with municipalities and the community, develop an efficient
system for the management of public open space and conservation lands;
provide, for the community and the public, one stop shopping access to
resource conservation services provided by the CA, municipalities and local
groups.
The specific services of each Conservation Authority would vary across the Province
as each CA, in conjunction with its Municipalities and communities and within a
provincial standard, determines local program needs and the most effective local
delivery mechanisms.
While local delivery may be distributed between community
-
Page 10
August 24, 1995
groups, Municipalities, and the CA, the Conservation Authority would be accountable
to the Province for maintaining provincial service standards.
3.7 Conservation Authority Reform
This Conservation Authority role is consistent with the intent of the Conservation
Authorities Act, and represents an evolution of the current CA role.
Significant
change would be required on the part of CAs to implement this role, primarily in the
areas of enhancing capability and efficiency, and improving openness,
While CAs have shown themselves to be capable organizations in delivering their
traditional programs, it is recognized that it will be necessary to enhance the level of
technical, administrative and political capability to ensure that it is consistent with
local and provincial needs.
Efficiency in the delivery of resource conservation services is of critical importance in
designing a new structure. Doing more with less requires that ail services be
delivered on a cost-effective basis.
This will require both an efficient administrative
structure and a flexible delivery system that can optimize the use of community,
public agency and private sector implementation techniques.
Fulfilling the requirements for capability and effectiveness will require restructuring of
the existing CA system. It is anticipated that this will result in some degree of
mergi ng among the exi sti ng CAs to opti mi ze the si ze of future watershed
management units. The objective in restructuring would be to balance the economies
of scale that would enhance capability and efficiency with the need to maintain
community control and local delivery.
Openness on the part of Conservation Authorities will be critical to the success of
CBWC. Conservation Authorities have a long history of local participation that can be
built on to ensure that community needs and values are incorporated into future CA
programs and decisions. One of the ways of improving openness is to ensure that
CAs are accountable to the local community. While Conservation Authorities are
corporate bodies, CA board members are appointed by the watershed Municipalities
and the Province and a majority of board members are municipal councillors.
Page 11
August 24, 1995
This management structure is adequate to ensure local accountability, provided that
Municipalities and the Province make their needs and expectations clear to their CA
representatives.
3.8 Financing Community Based Watershed Conservation
Funding levels are the critical issue driving the need to reform the current resource
management system, and public services in general,
While the determination of
specific funding requirements and funding formula will require discussion among all
partners, there are some basic principles that can be used in future discussions.
There are two major elements of financing resource management: How much does it
cost? and, Who pays?
The primary objective of CBWC is to minimize the total costs, while maintaining an
adequate level of service. Costs would be reduced by eliminating the waste that
exists within the current system, eliminating programs of marginal benefit, as
determined by the community and the Province, and focussing services on community
determined priorities within each watershed area,
The new system would have to function at a lower overall level of public funding and
not result in a net transfer of funding responsibility between the Provincial and
Municipal levels.
In order to determine who pays one needs to decide who benefits. There are three
basic categories of beneficiaries: individual and corporate resource users, the local
community and society as a whole. These three groups would become the funders of
resource conservation in the future and should contribute proportionally to the benefits
they receive. Resource users would pay through user fees for both resource use and
resource conservation services received. Municipalities would pay for the benefits
received by the local community, The Province would pay for the benefits to society
as a whole.
-
Page 12
August 24, 1995
4.0 IMPLEMENTING COMMUNITY BASED RESOURCE CONSERVATION
4.1 Progress to Date
Community Based Watershed Conservation is more of a work in progress than a new
initiative. Although the Conservation Authorities were unable to generate provincial
government interest in the Blueprint proposals, they have been working for the
past two years to put some of those proposals into effect at the local level.
Since the release of the Blueprint many Conservation Authorities have negotiated
bilateral agreements with other resources management agencies to remove
duplication and improve efficiency of service delivery. Table 2 provides details of the
types and extent of these agreements. Analysis of the implementation of these local
agreements has demonstrated that significant cost savings and efficiencies can be
achieved. For example, in the area of regulatory approvals, it has been shown
through the examination of pilot projects that consolidating approvals at the CA level
has saved 35% of the processing cost and reduced approval times by 30%. (Ausable
Bayfield Conservation Authority, 1995) Savings of this magnitude applied to all
service delivery functions across Ontario, would generate major cost reductions.
In order to respond to local needs, Conservation Authorities have been revising their
programs to better address emerging resource management problems. For example,
CAs are pioneering the use of subwatershed planning to facilitate urban development
and are taking up the challenge of the emerging groundwater management crisis.
Conservation Authorities have also been active in reviewing their own structures and
have taken several steps towards implementing the restructuring that CBWC will
require. These include the creation of alliances of CAs to improve efficiency and
capability, the decision to amalgamate five CAs to create a new Trent Conservation
Coalition, as well as the initiation of discussions on several other mergers. Table 3
provides details on the nature and scope of these reform initiatives.
in conjunction with the AMO, ACAO has established a Joint AMO-ACAO Task Force
on Resource Conservation to discuss restructuring. The work of this task force is
ongoing and discussions to date indicate that previous AMO concerns about land use
planning, financial downloading and CA accountability can be resolved.
Page 13
August 24, 1995
Table 2- LOCAL CA/PROVINCIAL AGREEMENTS
PARTNERS
PURPOSE
SIGNED
UNDER
NEGOTIATION
CA-MNR
Plan Review
17
8
Transferred to CA
CA-MNR
Public Lands Act
9
5
Permits Transferred
to CA
CA-MNR
Stormwater Management
12
5
Transferred To CA
CA-MNR
CA Coordinates Lakes
and Rivers Improvement
6
Act Permits
7
PROVINCIAL ELECTION 95
I I
BETTER
GOVERNMENT
IMPLEMENTATION
RECOMMENDATIONS
Association of Municipalities of Ontario
This document is part of the Association of Municipalities of Ontarios (AMO) Municipal Platform
for the 1995 Provincial election. For copies of the Municipal Platform document (Better
Government Lower Cost: The New Municipal Mandate) and news releases, or for further
information, contact AMO at Suite 701,250 Bloor St. E., Toronto, ON, M4W 1E6
Ph (416) 929-7573 (Joanne Meddaoui, ext. 314 or Kimberly Suderman, ext. 312).
Fax (416) 929-7574.
Better Government, Lower Cost
Implementation
The New Municipal Mandate
Recommendations
How can the Provincial government work to create better government at lower cost?
strategy How?
Specific Implementation
Recommendations
Cooperate Enter into a Municipal Partnership
Pages 1-6
Agreement which specifies the Provinces
commitment to work with and consult
municipalities, provide for greater
municipal decision-making autonomy and
less provincial supervision.
Legislate
Delineate
Rejuvenate
Starting with a new Municipal Act, enact
Pages 7-10
less restrictive and more simplified
legislation that allows a municipality to do
more with less. This would represent a
major step toward more responsive and
less costly municipal government.
Discontinue duplication of effort and
Pages 11-14
responsibilities in the provincial and
municipal provision of services by getting
rid of overly prescriptive and complicated
rules, regulations and redtape. This will
lead to streamlined and less costly
provincial and municipal government.
Define municipal responsibilities clearly
by untangling provincial and municipal
government roles so that government is
understandable and there is less overlap
between provincial and municipal
jurisdictions.
Bring about fundamental municipal Pages 15-24
financial reform through changes to
current municipal revenue sources and
funding responsibilities for public services
to ensure more accountable and equitable
funding responsibilities. Irnprove financial
accountability by prohibiting the transfer
or mandating of new responsibilities to
municipalities without a corresponding
transfer of funding to compensate for
additional costs. Allowing one government
to pass its fiscal problems on to another
does not lead to lower costs, nor does it
recognize that there is only one taxpayer.
Implementation
Recommendations
Integrate Promote accountable decision-making by
Pages 25-42
enabling municipal governments to
integrate the functions of local special
purpose bodies, such as library boards,
with municipal government units. In this
way, municipalities can set local spending
priorities and reduce the amount of
bureaucracy at the local level.
Facilitate Recognize that local decision-making that
Pages 43-68
is innovative, effective and efficient can
best be facilitated by provincial legislation
and policies which set broad objectives
and goals, and leave the development of
specific implementation and delivery
policies to elected and accountable
councils. This can lead to services
designed in a way that is appropriate to
different communities and in the most
cost-effective manner.
Better Government Lower Cost
Implementation
Recommendations
n II
COOPERATE
Enter into a Municipal Partnership Agreement which specifies
the Provinces commitment to work with and consult
municipalities, provide for greater
municipal decision-making
autonomy and less provincial supervision.
PROVINCIAL ELECTION 95
THE NEW MUNICIPAL MANDATE
Better Government Lower Cost Implementation
The New Municipal Mandate Recommendations
Heres how... Using AMOS Ontario Charter paper as a basis, the Province and
municipalities would jointly develop the Partnership Agreement and an
implementation plan for fundamental government reform.
Backgrounder
B
B
B
B
B
During the past forty years there have been numerous studies and volumes of reports
produced at great cost and effort. Yet, on the whole, municipal government reform has only
. .
minimally been implemented. The history of municipal government reform in Ontario has
been one provincial commitments and little action.
Municipalities are governed by provincial legislation written for another time and set of
social, political and economic conditions; the legislation is antiquated and does not address
issues that municipalities have to deal with today.
Municipalities are involved in activities not envisioned in the Baldwin Act of 1849 which
continues to be the basis for the Municipal Act, the main piece of legislation governing
municipal corporations today. For example, economic development, international relations,
strategic planning, sustainable development, housing and environmental regulation were
hardly anticipated as areas of municipal responsibility 150 years ago.
Senior levels of government state they are committed to enhancing public input and
involvement in government decision-making. Yet at the same time they are doing things to
reduce the ability of citizens to speak through their locally-elected and democratic
institutions, that is, local governments. Through many health and social services reforms
(e.g. long-term care reform) provincially-appointed special purpose bodies are being
proposed or have already been given the responsibility to speak on behalf of a vast number
of citizens yet they have no accountability to their communities. At the same, the local
people communities directly elect every three years have less and less ability to represent
their constituents on these important issues.
In 1994, AMO produced two reports on local government reform. The first, a background
research paper, Locaal Governance in the Future, documented trends and issues (economic,
political, etc.) which have significant implications for the future of local government in
Ontario. The second, a policy direction paper, Ontario Charter: A Proposed Bill of Rights for
Local Government, proposed the adoption of a Municipal Charter within which the
principles, values and rights of local governments would be enshrined. It also established a
municipal agenda for reform which, if endorsed by the Province, would be implemented
through provincial legislation, policies, programs and practices.
The agenda for reform recommended in the Ontario Charter included four main areas:
B
The establishment of a legal framework to embody the principles of local autonomy,
municipal access to provincial decision-making and local self-government.
B
The creation of permissive municipal legislation primarily through the reformulation
of the Municipal Act.
B
The reform of the provincial-municipal relationship through the clear delineation of
roles and responsibilities and the establishment of a formal structure for the
provincial-municipal partnership.
B
The re-engineering of government operations through a shift from top-down
bureaucratic approaches to a new regime which empowers citizens and local
governments to identify innovative, effective and efficient methods of providing public
services in their communities.
3
Implementation
Recommendations
B The Association distributed a copy of the Ontario Charter to municipalities, the Province and
other groups with a request for their input and response by the end of 1994.
B At the 1994 AMO Annual Conference, all three Ontario provincial party leaders debated
the Ontario Charter.
. Mike Harris, Leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, supported AMOS call for
fundamental reform through a new Municipal Act. He stated that he is committed to sitting
down with municipalities to discuss ways of reducing government entanglement and
bureaucracy with an eye to eliminating waste and duplication as well as unfair downloading
by the province.
B Lyn McLeod Leader of the Liberal Party, stated that we have to revitalize the relationship
between the provincial and municipal government; the province has to begin treating
municipalities as partners not as servants, as co-decision-makers, not as some kind of
regional office. She stated that she supports the principles in the charter proposal and agrees
that we need to enshrine the principle of local decision-making. She committed to the
following: immediately after taking office, a Liberal Government will begin discussions on a
municipal charter with a goal of signing it by the end of their first year; within a year of
taking office, will put forward a draft Municipal Act to eliminate unnecessary administration
and regulatory overload; and will begin immediately to identify, within the first 18 months,
which areas of responsibility should be untangled and in what priority.
. Bob Rae, Leader of the New Democratic Party stated that he does not intend to call a
conference on the provincial-municipal constitutional relationship and that he does not
support broad constitutional solutions such as the development of a charter. He supported
looking at practical solutions to problems to address the broad consensus as to what needs
to be done: operating costs have to be brought under control provincially and municipally.
B Minister of Municipal Affairs, Ed Philip, stated that we need to break the issues down into
smaller, manageable segments for which we can find win-win solutions and that he is
interested in working with AMO and the municipal sector to resolve the practical problems
put forward in the charter document.
4
Better Government, Lower Cost Implementation
Fast Facts
B There are 815 municipal corporations in Ontario.
B Together, the provincial and municipal governments in Ontario spend over $60 billion
dollars annually ($50 billion of this is provincial spending). If reforms could save the tax
payers of Ontario just 1% of this total provincial-municipal expenditure, then this would
mean a reduction of $600 million dollars in government spending! How?
through a better delineation of provincial-municipal roles and responsibilities
by eliminating the existing duplication in the provision of services
by streamlining decision-making
.
by eliminating costly special purpose bodies
.
by reducing the amount of bureaucratic red-tape that exists because of the existing
paternalistic provincial-municipal relationship
by having all ministries finally move into the information age and permit
municipalities to use electronic filing of information
.
by reducing the level of day-to-day supervision of local governments by recognizing
that municipalities are already the most open and accessible order of government and
dont need provincial bureaucrats looking over their shoulders
B Ontario is lagging behind other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally in the
implementation of major local government reform initiatives. Successive Ontario provincial
governments during the last twenty years have not taken a leadership role in this regard.
Examples of major reforms elsewhere:
.
Alberta: After over 120 years of having municipal legislation reflect the notion of
children of the province, local government will be treated as part of the system of
government in Canada with the realization that local government has grown-up. The
Alberta government has stated that its new Municipal Act will prepare Municipal
Government for the 21st centary.
.
New Zealand: Major government reforms have involved the establishment of a set of
statutory purposes of local government, which state, for example, that local
governments are to provide recognition of the existence of different communities in
New Zealand; recognition of the identities and values of those communities; and the
scope for communities to make choices between different kinds of local public
facilities and services.
5
LEGISLATE
Starting with a new Municipal Act, enact less restrictive and
more simplified legislation that allows a municipality to do
more with less. This would represent a major step toward
more responsive and less costly municipal government
Heres how... Replace the Municipal Act with a new simplified Act which allows a
municipality to take any action needed to carry out the purposes of municipal
government, unless specifically prohibited by the Act.
B
The new legislation should adhere to the principle that municipal
governments shall have a general right to act on their own initiative
with regard to any matter which is not exclusively assigned to any other
government or specifically excluded from the competence of municipal
government.
B
During the course of legislative reform, all other existing legislation
governing municipalities should adhere to this principle.
B
Legislation regulating municipal government should be written in such a
fashion as to permit the greatest amount of municipal discretion in the
performance of the responsibility while achieving provincial goals.
.
Provincial legislation should set out provincial objectives with the
administration of the legislation at local discretion.
Backgrounder
B
B
B
B
B
The Provincial-Municipal Task Force, better known as the Pilkey Task Force, was struck in
accordance with Section 5.1 of the Municipal Sector Framework Agreement under the
Social Contract. It was directed to examine provincial programs, policies, legislation and
regulations affecting local government with a view to eliminating duplication and overlap.
Ultimately, the goal was to recommend changes that would help reduce provincial and local
governments costs. It was comprised of both provincial and municipal representatives and
chaired by the Honorable Allan Pilkey, Minister without Portfolio.
The Task Force released its report in September 1994. One of the reports key
recommendations was that the Municipal Act should be reviewed and reformed.
AMO has argued during the past several years that new approaches to governing and
delivering services are needed to address financial and political demands, but that
municipalities are constrained by prescriptive legislation from doing things innovatively and
differently.
AMO has recommended that Ontario needs an approach like that being adopted in Alberta
which says that a municipality can do anything the municipality needs to do to carry out the
purposes of municipal government unless the ability to do so is limited by legislation.
Instead, municipalities in Ontario must continue to look through the telephone-directory
thick Municipal Act for the words telling the municipality what it can do and if something is
not explicitly stated then the municipality is not empowered to do it. The Alberta approach
is simpler, provides for greater flexibility, and allows for innovation.
A good example of how the existing Municipal Act is overly prescriptive are the
requirements for municipalities to provide notice of a pending or completed action. The Act
prescribes how the information is to be conveyed (by posting and newspaper) and does not
recognize new or emerging communication technologies or the circumstances of the notice
or a municipalitys own needs assessment (e.g. municipalities are sometimes required to post
a notice where no one lives). Another example is in the area of building inspections where
municipalities are required to send a litany of different inspectors to investigate compliance
with building, fire and plumbing codes, property standards, zoning, etc. as opposed to being
able to assign several or all of these inspection responsibilities to one municipal official.
9
The New Municipal Mandate -Recommendations
B The Municipal Act or in some cases legislation specific to a municipality, also prescribes the
composition of a council. If a municipality wants to reduce the size of its council, then it
must apply for an amendment to the Municipal Act or apply for special legislation. Both
methods are time consuming and expensive and dont allow communities, within certain
principles and without the lengthy provincial legislative process, to make the decision to
change the size and composition of their councils, or consider boundary changes and
amalgamations.
. There are a number of problems with the way the legislation regulates the municipal sector.
It is written as a single code and all councils and local boards, regardless of their abilities or
sophistication must conform whether or not the code is appropriate to them or to the issue
which they are addressing.
10
Implementation
Recommendations
DELINEATE
Discontinue duplication of effort and responsibilities in the
provincial and municipal provision of services by getting rid of
overly prescriptive and complicated rules, regulations and
redtape. This will lead to streamlined and less costly provincial
and municipal government.
Define municipal responsibilities clearly by untangling
provincial and municipal government roles so that government
is understandable and there is less overlap between provincial
and municipal jurisdictions.
Implementation
The New Municipa1 Mandate
Recommendations
Heres how... Since September 1994 the Provincial government has had in its possession 123
recommendations from the Pilkey Task Force, a group of provincial and
municipal representatives who spent a year identifying duplication, overlap and
wastefulness in the provincial-municipal delivery of services. Implementing the
Pilkey Task Force recommendations would help streamline and simplify the
delivery of government services and save the taxpayer an estimated $68
million.
B
The provincial government has at its fingertips solid recommendations
to take results-oriented action to reduce duplication in the public
sector.
B
As many of the recommendations require legislative amendments,
municipalities are powerless to make the necessary changes on their
own.
B
With calls for the elimination of duplication and overlap at both the
provincial and local government level increasing and the public
demand for more efficient use of tax dollars, the governments failure
to act on this valuable source of solutions is unacceptable. This is
compounded by the dire pronouncements on the state of Provincial
finances.
The confusion increases in view of the recent provincial endeavors
with respect to addressing the need for local government reform in the
Greater Toronto Area and eliminating the duplication within the
various layers of government in that part of the province.
Given the potential of these recommendations to help both levels of
government work better, the Pilkey Report should receive a high
profile, greater distribution and priority status with the provincial
government.
Backgrounder
B The combined effect of the Social Contract and the Expenditure Control Plan was to
remove $390 million from municipal revenues, a reduction of 22% in provincial transfers.
The provisions of the Social Contract Act allowed municipalities to cope with the reductions
in the short term by freezing salaries, suspending collective bargaining and requiring
employees to take days off without pay. It was recognized that the longer-term impacts of
the reductions needed broader solutions, and the elimination of duplication and overlap in
the delivery of services was identified as part of the solution.
B Section 5.1 of Municipal Sector Memorandum of Understanding on the Social Contract
established a provincial-municipal task force to identify those areas where duplication and
overlap exist in provincial legislation affecting municipalities. The Task Force was to
recommend ways by which the duplication could be eliminated to generate increased
revenues for municipalities or enable them to realize savings. Specifically, the Task Force
was asked to review the following:
a) existing regulations as they affect municipalities;
b) the possibility of replacing provincial staff with the municipal auditor for the purpose
of regulations;
13
B
B
B
c) development of a permissive provincial legislative framework to allow achievement of
a greater level of municipal efficiency;
d) a moratorium on the creation of new special purpose bodies or expanding the
mandate of existing ones operating in the municipal sector. The Government agrees
to pursue the integration of municipally funded local special purpose bodies, with
local government units as part of the process of rationalizing service delivery;
e) the environmental processes imposed on municipalities. Special attention will be
given to measures that can reduce the time required for the environmental
assessment process;
f)
opportunities for user pay for municipal services;
g)
reimbursement for services provided by the municipality on behalf of the Province
(e.g. vital statistics registry) and;
h) other issues as agreed upon by the government parties.
Comprised of both provincial and municipal representatives and chaired by the Honorable
Allan Pilkey, Minister without Portfolio, the Task Force received more than 80 submissions
from municipalities, ministries and associations.
The final report of the Task Force, released in September of 1994, contained over 120
comprehensive recommendations addressing provincial-municipal relationships and
functions.
Combined Provincial and municipal savings from the implementation of the reports
recommendations has been estimated to be in the range
-
of $68 million. Administrative
efficiencies realized through these changes would bring the benefit of more efficient delivery
of existing services provided by both levels of government.
Fast Facts
Task Force Recommendations include:
B
B
B
.
B
.
.
B
.
.
Principles for guiding provincial-municipal legislatio~ creating a more permissive legislative
environment and giving municipalities greater discretion in meeting their responsibilities.
More clarity and efficiency in municipal structure and responsibilities.
Changes to provincial-municipal financial arrangements, including providing greater
municipal flexibility within identified spending areas and requiring timely notification of
transfer payments.
Streamlining and improving provincial reporting requirements to allow electronic filing of
information.
Changes to municipal revenue-raising abilities, such as giving municipalities the ability to
require mandatory water conservation measures.
Legislative amendments geared toward improving tax collection practices.
Proclaimingg a moratorium on the creation of new special purpose bodies.
Eliminating duplication of service delivery in areas such as building and fire inspections,
safety inspections and fire services.
Integrating approval processes, such as planning and environmental approvals.
14
The New Municipa1 Mandate Recommendations
REJUVENATE
Bring about fundamental
municipal financial reform through
changes to current municipal revenue sources and funding
responsibilities for public services to ensure more accountable
and equitable funding responsibilities Improve financial
accountability by prohibiting the transfer or mandating of new
responsibilities to municipalities without a corresponding
transfer of funding to compensate for additional costs,
Allowing one government to pass its fiscal problems on to
another does not lead to lower costs, nor does it recognize
that there is only one taxpayer.
Implementation
Recommendations
Heres how... Begin fundamental municipal financial reform by removing education and
welfare costs from the property tax base.
B
Reform is imperative to ensure that municipal governments have
adequate financial resources distinct from those of other levels of
government and sufficient to enable them to keep pace with their
responsibilities.
B
Financial accountability must be restored by clearly delineating
municipal financial resources and responsibilities and putting an end to
provincial crowding and intrusions into the municipal property tax
base.
B
The reform of funding arrangements should be based on the principle
that income redistributive services should be primarily funded from the
income tax base, and not from the more regressive property tax base.
The time for study is over; the time for action has come. Discussions
should immediately commence on reform of the provincial-municipal
financial relationship, however, the following two reforms should be
given immediate priority for implementation:
- Social assistance allowances and benefits should be 100% funded by
senior governments. Report after report has recommended that the
property-tax base is ill-suited to fund an income redistributive program
such as welfare.
- Elementary and secondary school education costs should be fully
funded by the provincial government.
B
Both recommendations are based on the consideration that education
and social assistance contribute to the general advancement and well-
being of society. It is inappropriate to finance these costs using property
tax revenues as this type of expenditure bears no direct relationship to
the value of property. Furthermore, costs have risen dramatically over
the past years in both of these areas, placing undue pressure on the
limited municipal tax base.
Backgrounder
. The fiscal constraints imposed by the recession, the Social Contract, the Expenditure
Control Plan and numerous other direct and indirect impacts (such as provincial budget
decisions) of the past decade have highlighted the dire need for municipal fiscal reform. In
an environment of severe fiscal constrain what had become apparent to some became
obvious to all: the old solutions of more money and new programs were no longer possible.
B As the late 1980s progressed and the 1990s advanced studies, commissions and common
observation brought home the reality that if municipalities were to have the ability to meet
the demands of delivering quality services and value to the taxpayer, changes had to be
made.
B The Hopcroft Report, the Disentanglement Exercise, the Fair Tax Commission, the Ontario
Charter; all identified serious concerns with the inappropriate demands on the property tax
base. These reports all identified education and social assistance funding as the two most
important areas requiring reform.
17
On Social Assistance Funding
B AMO has been working on social assistance reform since the 1970s. Through all of the
various reform initiatives, the Association has recommended that social assistance
allowances and benefits should be funded by senior levels of government. The Association
reiterated this position most recently in its response to the federal governments discussion
paper on social security reform
. Since the mid-1980s, numerous government commissions and advisory committees have
recommended that welfare benefits and allowances should be 100% funded by the provincial
and federal governments (Report of the Social Assistance Advisory Committee (SARC),
Report of the Provincial-Municipal Social Services Review (PMSSR), Advisory Group on
Social Assistance Reform, Advisory Committee to the Minister of Municipal Affairs on the
Provincial-Municipal Financial Relationship, etc.). The NDP Government has supported this
transfer of funding responsibility.
B The federal government is currently conducting its review of Canadas social security
programs. In the next year, the Federal government is expected to announce significant
changes to social security programs and funding arrangements, including the Canada
Assistance Plan which establishes federal-provincial funding arrangements for welfare
programs.
B In 1991, AMO and the Provincial government agreed to a process for disentangling the
provincial-municipal financial relationship. A central agreement was that the costs of welfare
allowances and benefits should be transferred to the provincial level, in exchange for
municipalities assuming provincial costs in other program areas. In early 1993, a provincial-
municipal steering committee of municipal politicians and provincial cabinet ministers
reached a draft phase one agreement which was based on the principle of fiscal neutrality.
The Association consulted on the agreement with its members, and the AMO Board of
Directors, at its April 23, 1993 meeting, considered the agreement. On that day, the
Governrment, unilaterally announced a reduction in transfers to municipalities of $450
million dollars (under the Expenditure Control Plan and Social Contract). The
Governments decision to reduce transfers outside of the disentanglement discussions
seriously undermined the integrity of the process, and therefore the Association did not
support the phase one agreement. However, through its resolution on the disentanglement
draft agreement, the Association continued to express its support for removing the funding
of social assistance from the property tax base.
B During 1994, another round of provincial-municipal discussions on social assistance reform
took place. Again, it was agreed that the Province should assume 100% of the costs of
welfare allowances and benefits. However, while this was under way, the Federal
government announced its intentions to review and overhaul Canadas social security
programs. In light of this, the Province ceased its discussions on social assistance reform.
B The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto recently recommended in its report, Killing the
Golden Goose, that all welfare spending should come from the provincial tax base.
On Education Finance
B Removal of education funding from the property-tax base has been a long held position of
the Association. AMO has historically taken the view that, since the benefits of a good
education system are not directly related to property but extend throughout the province and
the nation, education costs should be entirely financed from forms of tax revenue other than
the property tax.
18
Implementation
Recommendations
B In 1987, the Association endorsed a resolution which requested that the provincial
government assume complete responsibility for funding education services in the province of
Ontario. The reasons for this resolution were that property taxes had escalated tremendously
since the inception of the larger unit school boards, the education system is for the
betterment of all society, and the costs account for over one-half of the property tax bill yet
have has no direct relationship to the worth of the property.
B In its 1988 report, Education Funding in Ontario, AMO requested that the government
determine a means for removing all education costs from the property tax base. This
sentiment was expressed in the Associations 1988 Pre-Budget submission.
B In the 1991 response to the Hopcroft Report, the 1994 response to the recommendations of
the Fair Tax Commission, and the 1995 Pre-Budget submission, the Association reiterated
its support for the removal of education from the property tax base.
Fast Facts
on Social Assistance
B In 1993-94, Municipal and First Nations social assistance costs for allowances and benefits
(program costs) were $466 million. Based on a 85%(provincial) -15% (municipal) funding
formula, total provincial social assistance costs were $2.6 billion. Provincial FBA program
costs were approximately $3.4 billion (Source: Ministry of Community and Social Services).
on Education Financing
B More than half of all property taxes (55%) are directed toward education funding.
B Ontario spent $14.5 billion on education in 1992.
B The property taxis an extremely regressive form of taxation; there is very little relationship
between ability to pay and the level of the tax. In fact, the Fair Tax Commission reported
that its studies showed that a poll tax (a flat amount per adult) on income tax filers is
almost as well related to ability to pay as a market value-based property tax (Fair Taxation
in a Changing World: Highlights, Page 81).
B The percentage of elementary and secondary education costs funded from property taxes has
climbed from about 42910 in 1970 to 60% in 1992 (Fair Taxation in a Changing World:
Highlights, Page 85).
19
Implementation
Recommendations
Heres how... Conduct a comprehensive review of the assessment function in Ontario.
B
Changes to existing funding responsibilities for the assessment function
should not take place outside of the context of a broader review.
B
The Province should therefore immediately repeal its unilateral decision
to charge for supplementary assessments.
Backgrounder
B
B
B
B
B
In 1969, the property assessment function was transferred in a two-stage process from
Ontarios municipalities to the Province of Ontario. The Province assumed the
administration of the assessment function in Northern Ontario in 1969, and the rest of the
province in 1970.
The Province assumed the delivery of this service from municipalities in order to eliminate
the variations in practice and application of property assessment across municipalities.
The underlying rationale for the provincial takeover was rooted in variations and
inequalities in local practice. Municipal inequalities in property assessment resulted in
corresponding inequities in the distribution of provincial grants to municipalities.
The provincial takeover of the assessment function resulted in a substantial increase in
municipal revenue and a corresponding reduction in provincial grants: in 1970, 1.75 million
properties were listed on municipal assessment rolls; after the provincial review of these
rolls a total of 2.6 million properties were placed on the assessment roll in 1973.
In the ensuing years, questions as to where responsibility for this function should rest
remained. In its 1990 response to Bill 156, An Act to Establish the Property Assessment
Corporation, AMO provides the following chronology:
Once the re-assessment of real property has been completed by the provincial
assessment division, serious considerations will be given to the proposal of returningg the
assessment function to municipalities (Epp, 1985, p.78).
Arguments in favour of municipal administration of property assessment emphasize that
the devolution of assessment practices to the municipal sector underscores municipal
autonomy. However, province-wide uniform property assessment practices, a split
between the function of assessment and tax collection and smaller municipalities
possible lack of resources to undertake the assessment function strongly favour locating
property assessment with the provincial government.
This support for provincial responsibility for assessment was also stated in the 1985 AMO
response to the provincial paper, Taxing Matter - an assessment of the practice of property
taxation in Ontario (1985).
By 1993, a new twist occurred in the context of the disentanglement discussions. Under the
Phase One Draft Agreement, it was suggested that property assessment charges would be
recovered from municipalities, and that a compensatory trade-off value would be attached.
The introduction of the Social Contract and Expenditure Control Plan caused the collapse
of the disentanglement talks, and municipalities considered the matter to be closed until the
1994 introduction of fees for supplementary assessments.
This review of the recent history of responsibility for property assessment in Ontario reveals
a nearly completed circle of events. On July 1, 1969, the property assessment function was
transferred from municipalities to the Province of Ontario. On July 15, 1994, almost exactly
25 years later, the Province took the first step toward completing that circle by beginning the
transfer of financial responsibility for the assessment function back to municipalities with the
introduction of fees for supplementary assessments.
21
Heres how... Incorporate a provincial commitment against downloading in the proposed
Municipal Partnership Agreement.
B
Municipalities should have legislative protection against the Province
acting unilaterally without the necessity of municipal cooperation and
agreement.
The Province should make a commitment that any transfer of new
responsibilities will be accompanied by an allocation of the financial
resources required for their provision.
Backgrounder
B The Provincial government has repeatedly expressed its concerns about the potential for
decreased Federal government funding. Those concerns are very real, and AMO has
supported the Provinces commitment to protecting its revenues. However, the Association
has pressured the Province for the same respect to municipal government by making a
commitment that it will not download any further costs or responsibilities to municipal
government.
B In 1994, the Province boasted no new taxes.
Several months later municipalities found
themselves the arbitrary recipients of a new $19 million charge for supplementary
assessments.
B In 1993, the Province decided to broaden the retail sales tax base involving extensions to
insurance premiums, parking (both metered and commercial lots) and soil, clay gravel, sand
and unfinished stone. These changes were made without prior consultation and resulted in
an estimated impact of over $70 million.
B In addition to these relatively direct impacts, municipalities are increasingly required to fund
provincially mandated programs from existing revenues. The provinces 3-Rs regulations
mandating curbside recycling programs is one recent example. AMO had argued against the
mandating of this program until such time as a funding solution was reached.
Fast Facts
B Recently, at AMOs Rural Section (ROMA) Conference in February 1995, Liberal Leader
Lyn McLeod stated that We would not cut programs midstream or implement new fees
unexpectedly - as the NDP government did with supplementary assessments. And we would
not implement any new program requirements without funding. Progressive Conservative
Leader Mike Harris stated that he is committed to A New Municipal Act which will stop
down-loading and entrench in legislation a new era of co-operation between the provincial
and municipal levels of government.
B In 1989 the Provincial government passed on the responsibility for court security to
municipalities but did not provide any additional financing. Municipal costs ranged from
$200,000 for a small municipality to about $7 million for the largest.
B The provincial and municipal fiscal years are different; the former being April 1st to March
31st and the latter January 1st to December 31st. Consequently, municipalities have often
set their own budgets and mill rates when the provincial budget is announced. If the
provincial budget contains surprise costs then municipalities are in a bind to either increase
local taxes (through supplementary tax bills) or revisit their budget to find a way of paying
for these unanticipated additional costs.
23
Implementation
Recommendations
INTEGRATE
Promote accountable decision-making by enabling municipal
governments to integrate the functions of local special purpose
bodies, such as library boards, with municipal government
units. In this way, municipalities can set local spending
priorities and reduce the amount of bureaucracy at the local
level.
Implementation
Recommendations
Heres how... Build on existing structures for planning, managing and delivering health and
social
B
B
B
B
B
services.
Reform discussions on health and social services programs should
involve the development of planning, management and delivery models
which build on existing municipal structures, as opposed to creating new
special purpose bodies. This is consistent with the position calling for a
moratorium on the creation of new special purpose bodies or the
expansion of the mandate of existing ones.
During a time of limited and declining government resources and calls
for leaner and more efficient organizations, governments should focus
on utilizing existing government structures for the provision of services
as opposed to setting up new agencies.
The coordination and integration of the delivery of services should be a
priority in order to achieve cost efficiencies and provide a high quality
of integrated services.
Consumers of services and taxpayers should be able to have easy access
to and information about the agencies making decisions on the
allocation of tax dollars, and the ability to hold the decision-maker
accountable.
In particular, discussions on social assistance, child care, employment
services, and long-term care reforms should incorporate these
principles.
Backgrounder
B In March 1993, AMO released two documents focusing on the future municipal role in
health and social services. The first paper, Establishing the Context, dealt with the
implications of demographic, economic, social and health trends and was to serve as
background to the second policy direction paper, Municipal Option.
B AMO distributed the papers to the heads of social services and health departments of
municipalities involved in the provision of these services (approximately 65). In total, AMO
received 32 municipal submissions on the paper. Many of the responses were very
favorable.
B The Province was also invited to respond to the papers, however, no formal provincial
response was received by AMO.
B Municipal Option was prepared in response to several provincial proposals to assign the
roles of health and social services planning, management and delivery to existing or new
special purposes bodies. Essentially, the paper argued that municipal governments should be
given the first option for accepting these responsibilities. AMO also argued that
municipalities should be involved in deciding who should plan, manage and deliver services
in their communities.
B Regarding the role of municipalities in health and social services, AMO has consistently
supported a strong municipally-focused planning system whether or not policy and funding
responsibilities rest with municipal governments.
. In all cases where AMO has recommended 100% provincial policy and funding
responsibility for a social service, it has taken the position that municipalities could still be
involved in delivery. In fact, AMO has argued that in some cases, such as GWA,
27
B
B
B
B
employment services, child care, homes for the aged and health and personal support
programs, municipalities may be best suited to serve as the local delivery agent.
AMO has also supported that the Province should have responsibility for policy,
management and funding of core mandatory public health programs required under the
Health Protection and Promotion Act, with continued municipal delivery of these programs.
AMO supports the transfer of health and social services planning, management and resource
allocation functions to the local level. This should not be merely the simple administrative
decentralization of provincial functions, but should involve the devolution of decision-making
authority to the local level.
Municipalities currently contribute substantial discretionary dollars to social services
programs such as social assistance, child care, and employment services.
AMO has advocated a number of principles for determining which level of government
should plan,
manage and deliver social services:
- Provide efficient and cost-effective services

- Integrate health and social services with related programs
- Integrate and coordinate social and economic policies at the local level
- Identify, and monitor local trends and needs
- Establish intergovernmental and public-private sector partnerships
- Involve community in decision-making
- Provide community-based and responsive services
- Reduce barriers to services
- Create linkages with community agencies, advocacy groups and consumer groups
B The Association has argued that in most cases municipalities are best suited to accept these
roles and meet the following objectives:
- provincial policies should be implemented at the local level in a manner that is best suited
to meet local needs;
- the delivery of services should be performed by the lowest level of government that makes
economi c and administrative sense;
- the social services system should build on existing structures towards reducing the
complexity and costs of government; and
- governments should develop the most efficient, effective. simpified, and accountable
planning, management and delivery system for
Fast Facts
. Municipalities are currently involved in a wide
the taxpayer and the consumer of services.
range of health and social services. The
degree-and form of municipal involvement varies across the province. Generally, upper-tier
(counties and regions) and separated municipalities, and cities in the north are
predominantly involved in these services.
B Municipalities are currently involved in funding the following services.
- Childrens Services: municipalities pay 20% of the costs of Childrens Aid Societies.
- Income Support Services: municipalities deliver and pay for 20% of the costs for General
Welfare Assistance and 50% of Special Assistance; municipalities pay for 50% of the costs
of administration.
- Employment Services: municipalities deliver and pay for 20% of the costs of the Municipal
Employment Program and Work Activity Projects; are involved in the delivery of
opportunity Planning pilot projects; and act as brokers for the Jobs Ontario Training Fund.
28
- Child Care: municipalities administer fee subsidies and contribute 20% of the costs.
Municipalities also directly provide centre-based, administer private home care, and provide
child/family resource centres.
- Municipal Homes for the Aged: municipalities are mandated by legislation to operate a
home for the aged, and contribute 50% of capital costs and 30% of the residential care
deficit.
- Community Support Programs and In-Home Services for the Elderly and Physically
Disabled Adults (including Elderly Persons Centres, Homemaker and Nurses Services, Home
Support Services, Placement Coordination Services): municipalities fund and/or administer
these programs.
- Other Community-Based Support Services (including Community/Family Support program,
Counselling, Information and Referral Services, Emergency Services (Hostels), Family Violence
Initiatives, etc.): Municipalities fund and/or deliver these programs.
- Public Health Programs and Services: municipalities fund 25% of the costs and deliver 20
programs and services included in the Mandatory Health Programs and Services Guidelines.
- Integrated Homemaker Programs: municipalities deliver this program which is 100% funded
by the Province.
B Municipalities currently contribute over $600 million to social services.
B Municipalities are also involved in a range of activities related to and supportive of the
objectives of health and social services:
- Recreation: municipalities provide and finance parks, open spaces, sports, fitness, arts, culture
and other leisure activities.
- Supportive housing: municipalities deliver several housing programs including the Ontario
Home Renewal Program (OHRP-D), Home Sharing, Non-profit Housing Program, etc.
- Transit for the disabled: municipalities provide transit services for the disabled; the Province
contributes 50% to capital costs and also assists in operating costs.
- Capital Assistance to Hospitals: municipalities provide significant financial contributions to
the capital funding of hospitals.
- Land use planning: through their strategic and official
planning processes, municipalities
establish broad policies for social and community needs.
29
Implementation
Recommendations
Heres how... Commit to a moratorium on new special purpose bodies and review existing ones
such as district health councils.
B
Special purpose bodies should be used as a last resort for the provision of
public services and existing government structures should be explored to
the fullest.
B
The structure and operations of special purpose bodies such as district
health councils (DHCs) do not ensure opportunities for broad public input,
access to information and decision-making, and accountability.
B
DHCs have been around for over 20 years, yet a formal, public review of
their accomplishments, effectiveness or accountability has never been
conducted.
B
However, in the absence of any such review or assessment, the Government
has been progressively adding to their responsibilities for decisions on key
health and social services funding and policy issues which greatly affect
local communities and taxpayers.
B
In response to the expansion of responsibilities for DHCs, AMO has been
calling for a formal public consultation on the accomplishments,
effectiveness and accountability of DHCs. The Association believes that
. .
cant decisions are being made on the governance of long-term care
services without adequate public consultation and input regarding the major
shift that these decisions represent.
Backgrounder
B
B
B
B
B
B
Municipalities are concerned that the proliferation of new and existing unelected and
unaccountable local authorities making decisions on the future economic and social well-being
of communities will lead to the fragmentation of local authority and representation.
The rising tide of public sentiment is now not in favour of new government organizations. The
public is demanding greater efficiency from all governments, and greater accountability.
Many municipal governments have initiated advisory-type special purpose bodies to stimulate
the consultation process, improve public input and yet not remove the decision-making authority
from councils.
Section 5.1 of the Municipal Sector Memorandum of Understanding on the Social Contract Act
established a provincial-municipal task force to identify those areas where duplication and
overlap exist in provincial legislation affecting municipalities. One of the specific issues the Task
Force was mandated to review was the establishment of a moratorium on the creation of new
special purpose bodies or expanding the mandate of existing ones operating in the municipal
sector. The Government also agreed to pursue the integration of local special purpose bodies
to which municipalities provide funding, with local government units as part of the process of
rationalizing service delivery.
DHCs were implemented as a result of a public consultation process undertaken by the Hall
Commission (1964-1965) and several reports subsequently produced by the Ontario Council of
Health (1969-1970). Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the Ministry of Health conducted
several internal reviews on the implementation of DHCs in the province; the resulting
recommendations focused mainly on changes to the operations of Councils.
This changed in 1989, when the Government began to progressively expand the role and
mandate of District Health Councils. Their original mandate was the identification of district
31
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
health needs, and the planning and coordination of a comprehensive health care program. In
1990 an enhanced role for DHCs was adopted; this expanded their mandate to now include an
advisory role in the allocating of funds, the strengthening of area wide planning, and the
integration of health and social services planning. This decision was based on a report produced
by the Provincial Association of Chairmen of DHCs and the Ministry of Health, and was not
the result of any public consultation process.
In August 1993, a joint DHC, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Community and Social
Services task force released its report, Moving Forward Strengthening Health Planning in
Ontario. The Government, without consulation, adopted the reports recommendations to
further expand the mandate and responsibilities of DHCs to include the lead planning role in
a comprehensive health care system from both the local and regional perspective, and the
mandate to advise the Minister on the allocation and reallocation of resources.
In April 1993, the Ministers of Health, Community and Social Services and Citizenship released
a policy framework document, Parterships in Long-Term Cam. This represented the
Governments response to the input on its consultation paper, Redirection of Long-Term Care
and Support Services in Ontario (which notably did not include any discussion of District Health
Councils and their possible role in long-term care reform). Essentially, the report stated the
Governments decision to assign the following responsibilities to DHCs: district wide planning
for long-term care services; advice to the Government on the allocation of long-term care
resources within the guidelines of a funding envelope; and the planning and management of the
process of establishing multi-service agencies.
In June 1994, the Government introduced Bill 173, the Long-Term Care Act. The Bill received
third reading on December 1994, and will be proclaimed on April 1, 1995. The Bill specifically
outlines in legislation the expanded role for DHCs.
Special purpose bodies such as district health councils are neither financially or politically
accountable to the communities they represent..
Under the new long-term care system, municipalities have to submit their requests for Home
Care funding to their DHC for approval. An unelected body is therefore second-guessing the
budgetary decisions of elected municipal councils.
The role of DHCs was not a major component of Bill 173s promotion In fact. it was hardly
mentioned or emphasized. The Bill focused almost entirely on the Multi-Service Agencies
(MSAs). Consequently, there has been little public attention or debate concerning the role of
this special purpose body.
In its 1991 report to the Minister of Health, Accountability and Special Purpose Bodies: The
Eample of District Health Council, AMO recommended that the Province conduct a review of
and consultation process on the role of district health councils. AMO endorsed the following
resolution:
Be it resolved that the Provincial Government put on hold the implementation
of the enhanced role for district health councils endorsed by the previous
government; and, that the Provincial Government review the role of district
health councils incorporating the concepts of financial and political
accountability.
In this report, AMO expressed its opposition to an enhanced role for DHCs which the
Government was implementing (an advisory role in the allocating of funds, the strengthening
of area wide planning, and the integration of health and social services planning). AMO stated
that the current structure of DHCs does not incorporate any accountability for policy or funding
decisions to an electorate, and that the proliferation of special purpose bodies reduces the
ability of elected officials to establish local priorities and to control municipal expenditures.
The Government never formally responded to this report and its resolution.
32
. In late 1993, AMO responded to the provincial government policy decisions concerning DHCs
in long-term care (as put forward in the Partnerships series). Although the Province did not
solicit comments on these documents, AMO felt that a response was necessary given that the
Governments policy, decisions raised numerous concerns about the future role of municipalities
in the long-term care system. In its report, Calling for a Municipal Option in Long-Term Care,
AMO critiqued the policy decisions concerning the roles of DHCs and reiterated its
recommendation that the Province conduct a public consultation and review of the
accomplishments, effectiveness, accountability and mandate of DHCs.
. At a consultation meeting with Minister of Health Ruth Grier, the Minister responded that she
believes the formal review recommended by AMO has already occurred through the work of
the joint DHC, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Community and Social Services task force
which reported in August 1993. However, the only aspect of the task forces work which could
possibly constitute a review was the development of a chronology of the history of DHCs in
Ontario. The other parts of the report focused on describing how the expanded role of DHCs
should be implemented.
B The Association indicated that it recognizes the work of the joint task force which examined
the roles and mandate of DHCs in the health system to determine what is necessary to achieve
and support their expanded role. AMO argued that this review was not an open process in that
it did not allow other stakeholder groups an opportunity to provide a critical assessment of the
performance of DHCs.
B In June 1994, the Province introduced Bill 173, the Long Term Care Act. This legislation
basically implemented the policy directions set out in the Parterships report. AMO responded
to Bill 173 in its presentation to the Standing Committee on Social Development. The
presentation expressed concern that the Province, through Bill 173, was attempting to enshrine
the roles and responsibilities of DHCs within legislation without a formal review of their
accomplishments and ability to assume new and expanded functions.
33
Fast Facts
B
B
B
B
B
DHCs are established by Order-In-Council. The first one was established in 1973, the Ottawa-
Carleton Regional DHC. There are currently 33 DHCs in Ontario (Source: Association of
District Health Councils of Ontario).
Representation on DHCs is governed by a formal nomination and selection process and
representatives are appointed to the DHC by an Order-in Council. Representatives include
individuals from the following stakeholder groups: local citizens, consumers, service providers
and nominees of local government. District Health Councils have approximately 14 to 24
members. Municipalities have roughly 20910 of the seats on a DHC, while consumers and
providers each have approximately 40%. Municipalities must submit the name of their
representatives to the DHC which then forwards the names to the Province for approval
(Source: Association of District Health Councils of Ontario).
According to the Ministry of Healths 1994-95 Estimates, the annual operating costs of DHCs
amounted to approximately $21.4 million. In April 1993, as part of the Governments
Parrtnerships reports, an additional $4 million was allocated to DHCs to cover the costs of
implementing their expanded role (Source: The Estimates, 1994-95).
Generally, thousands of people across Ontario are involved with DHCs, either through direct
participation on the councils or by providing input on health issues. On average, 240 people per
DHC are involved in committee work (Source: Association of District Health Councils of
Ontario).
When the new planning role for DHCs is implemented, these bodies will be responsible for
advising on the allocation of millions of dollars annually. The actual government expenditure
on the long term care program in 1992-93 was $1.9 billion. According to the 1994-95 Estimates,
the expenditure is approximately $2.1 billion. (The definition of community based services
used in the MOHs 1994-95 Estimates is broad-based and includes many services. Community
based services amounted to roughly $766 million in 1992-93. According to Ministry of Health
Estimates, the allocation for municipal homes for the aged is $313.5 million. (Source: The
Estimates, 1994-95)).
DHC's meet monthly. While their meetings are generally not advertised or known about and
people may not even know DHCs exist or where they are located, they are generally open to
the public (Source: Association of District Health Councils of Ontario).
34
Implementation
Heres how.. Give priority consideration to municipal sponsorship of Muti-Service Agencies.
B
Bill 173, the Long-Term Care Act, stipulates that all other approved
agencies must be considered first before a municipality or board of health
can be designated as an MSA. This should be amended to state that
existing local government structures should be given first consideration for
the sponsorship of MSAs.
B
Currently, in municipalities across the province, there are well-established
boards of health and municipal health departments which currently deliver
home care programs, are connected to other municipal services, perform
placement coordination functions, and are accountable to elected councils.
Leaving municipalities as a last resort signals that criteria such as selecting
the best qualified agency and ensuring local accountability on the spending
of government funds are not important.
.
The Long-Term Care Act should be amended to allow for the broker
model for the MSAs as opposed to the direct service delivery and
coordination model adopted by the government. This will allow for
building on existing agency structures while achieving the principle
objectives of service coordination and one-window access to services.
Backgrounder
B
B
B
B
In the spring of 1990, the then Provincial government released its report, Strategoes for Change:
Comprehensive Reform of Ontario's Long-Term Care Services. It recommended the establishment
of service access organizations to act as the point of access, referral, assessment and service
coo
rdination for the care and support service needs of individuals in their homes and to build
on the concept of a one stop shopping approach to obtain services. The government specified
that direct service providers would not be able to sponsor the SAO. This effectively meant that
a new organization would have to be formed and that municipalities could not sponsor the
SAO in their communities.
In AMOs report, Response to Strategies for Change (1992) the Association supported the
proposed service access organization which would coordinate access to long-term care services.
However, AMO did not support the recommendation that municipalities, which also serve as
direct service providers, should not be able to sponsor the SAO (the governments rationale was
that direct service providers would have a conflict of interest).
The Association took issue with the claim that there would be a conflict of interest if a service
provider also made decisions on access to services. AMO argued that municipalities are
accountable decision-makers and should not be treated the same as non-profit service delivery
agencies. AMO recommended that municipalities should be offered the first opportunity to
sponsor an SAO in their communities. If they chose not to accept that opportunity, they then
should be partners in determining how the SAO is established in their communities.
With the election of a new government, a second consultation document was released in
October 1991, Redirection of Long-Term Care and Support Services in Ontario. It essentially built
on the previous governments recommendations. The service access organizations were now
referred to as service coordination agencies but essentially were assigned the same functions:
to act as the single point of access, provide assessment information, advice and referral
services, and purchase services for consumers from service delivery agencies. The new
government continued to specify that an SCA must be a new agency and in this way help meet
35
Recommendations
B
B
B
B
a conflict-free criterion.
In response to the newly elected governments redrafted long-term care reforms contained in
the paper Redirection, the Association continued to argue against the stipulation that direct
service providers could not sponsor the now named service coordination agency (SCA). AMO
argued that the SCA functions are already in existence with the Home Care Program and
Placement Coordination Services delivered by many municipal health units or departments, and
that municipalities are best positioned to provide coordination services by building on their
existing experience and structures.
In April 1993, the Government released its policy framework document Partnerships in Long-
Term Care. The paper indicated that now multi-service agencies would be created and serve
as the basis for both coordinating and delive ring services to seniors in their homes. The paper
indicated that new boards would be created to serve as the MSA.
In response to the Governments policy directions on long-term care reform set out in the
Parterships documents, AMO argued against the switch from a broker model for the MSA
to the direct service delivery and coordination model adopted by the government. The
Association argued that the Provinces proposed model of amalgamating the numerous provider
agencies will be very disruptive to existing agencies and their staff. In turn, this disruption will
place the needs of the consumer in jeopardy. The Association recommended that the MSA be
the link or the focus of delivery for the various service providing agencies. This model would
allow for a continuum of service provision through contracts between the MSA and the various
agencies.
In June 1994, the Government introduced Bill 173, the Long-Term Care Act which received
third reading in December 1994. The Bill gives the Minister the authority to designate an
approved agency as a multi-service agency. Before designating a municipality or a board of
health as a muti-service agency, the Minister shall consider the suitability of all other approved
agencies for designation. The Bill also specifies that the MSA must directly deliver the services
(with 20% purchase permitted).
In response to Bill 173, AMO stated it continues to support the concept of creating an MSA
to coordinate access to services for consumers. However, AMO took exception to the provisions
set out in Bill 173 which give the Minister the authority to designate an approved agency as a
multi-service agency, but that before designating a municipality or a board of health as a multi-
service agency, the Minister shall consider the suitability of all other approved agencies for
designation.
Fast Facts
B
B
B
Currently, about 1200 agencies deliver in-home community support sew-ices to seniors in
Ontario communities. These agencies include a broad range of entities, from meals on wheels
to home care service providers (Ministry of Health).
Under Bill 173, a smaller number of MSAs will be established. However, the exact number of
MSAs will vary greatly by area. In Metro Toronto for example, 15-20 MSAs are expected
whereas as in other areas, there may only be one MSA (Source: Ministry of Health LTC
Division).
Agencies are currently funded from various sources including provincial contributions and local
contributions (which can include municipal contributions and user fees). The split in funding
varies according to the agency. For example, home care agencies are 100% provincially funded.
Home support agencies are 70% provincially funded and 30% locally funded (Source: Ministry
of Health LTC Division).
36
Implementation
Recommendations
B Org anizations which have opposed Bill 173 include:
*
Association of Ontario Physicians and Dentists in Public Service
*
Canadian Red Cross Society
*
Catholic Health Association, Ontario
.
Catholic Womens League
*
Council on Aging, Ottawa-Carleton
B
Federation of Non-Profit Organization Working with Seniors
*
Ontario Association of Medical Laboratories
B
Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors
*
Ontario Association of Residents Council
*
Ontario Community Support Association
*
Ontario Home Care Programs Association
*
Ontario Home Health Care Providers Association
*
Ontario Home Respiratory Services Association
B
Ontario Hospital Association
B
Ontario Medical Association
B
Ontario Nursing Home Association
B
St. Elizabeth Visiting Nurses Association
*
Victorian Order of Nurses
*
Villa Charities
B There has been no publicly released financial analysis to support the Governments claim that
administrative costs will be less with fewer delivery org
anizations. In her January 11, 1994
address to District Health Councils, Minister Grier remarked ...in keeping with our
determination to serve comsumers, it (the new system) was designed to achieve administrative
efficiencies so that we can maximize the proportion of our health care dollar going into direct
service provision.
B The fact that there will be one central organization will not reduce the number of workers who
will be required to meet a seniors service needs (e.g. meals, friendly visits, homemaking
services, nursing support, etc.). A case management approach will still be necessary which will
involve the coordination of the activities of a number of workers located in different branches
of an MSA.
. MSAS will cover large areas. In northern Ontario, for example, one MSA will be responsible
for the vast territory of the District of Kenora.
37
Heres how... Amend the Police Service Act to ensure public accountability through greater
municipal control over police budgets.
B
The Provincial Government should honour its commitments under the
Social Contract. and implement the necessary amendments to the Poke
Services Act to provide municipalities with a greater degree of control over
budgeting for police services while providing for adequate police services.
B
The operation of a police service in a municipality is supported by the
property tax base, yet the body accountable to the taxpayer - the
municipal council - has a very limited influence on the manner in which
those funds are spent.
B
When considered as a percentage of municipal own-source revenues, the
implications are considerable with police budgets representing 52% of that
figure province-wide.
Backgrounder
B
B
B
B
B
The lack of municipal control over the budgets of their Police forces has been an issue of
concern for some time, and was addressed during disentanglement discussions in 1992.
Amendments to the Police Serices Act providing municipalities with greater flexibility and
control over budgeting for police services while providing for adequate police services were
agreed to as part of the Phase 1 Draft Agreement on disentanglement.
The disentanglement talks failed at the onset of the Social Contract and Expenditure Control
Plan, however the Government committed to support those same amendments as part of the
Municipal Sector Framework Agreement under the Social Contract. The Province advised that
the necessary amendments would be introduced in the Spring Session of the Legislature in
1993.
The combined effect of the Social Contract and the Expenditure Control Plan was to remove
$390 million from municipal revenues, a reduction of 22%. The provisions of the Social
Contract Act allowed municipalities to cope with the reductions in the short term by freezing
salaries, suspending collective bargaining and requiring employees to take days off without pay.
It was recognized that the longer-term impacts of the reductions needed broader solutions, and
giving municipalities greater influence over police budgets was identified as part of the solution.
While commitments to support the changes were received from the Provincial Government and
both opposition parties, the amendments have never been introduced.
In conjunction with the February 6, 1995 announcement of the Partners in Community Safety
program and in recognition of the challenges facing all parties in the delivery of police services
in Ontario, the government reiterated its support for these amendments.
When considered as a percentage of municipal own-source revenues, the implications of
municipal control over police budgets are considerable as demonstrated by the following chart.
39
Implementation
Recommendations
Policing costs
as a Percentage of Municipal Own-Source Revenue
($Millions)
Municipal
Tax Revenue Police Percentage
Metro 1,090
545 50
Regions 1,089
540 50
County Cities 359 174 49
District Cities 84 45 54
Counties 275
66 24
Districts 65 18 27
Province Wide 2&7
52
40
Implementation
Recommendations
Heres how... Reduce costs and improve the efficiency of welfare delivery by integrating some
provincial and municipal administrative functions.
B
Improvements in the delivery of the municipally delivered welfare program
(GWA) and the provincially delivered family benefits program (FBA) do
not have to wait until the broader reform discussions have been finalized
(this could be several years away).
.
There are numerous non-legislative changes which could be implemented
to integrate FBA and GWA administrative functions such as combined
intake and standardized application forms.
Backgrounder
B Municipalities are already looking at making changes to integrate existing delivery functions in
order to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.
B Halton Region, for example, has restructured the way it delivers social assistance to clients. By
using a standardized application form which can be used by both Regional employees and
Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) employees, Halton has eliminated some
of the administrative duplications that are inherent in delivering two parallel systems under
GWA and FBA. Halton plans to extend this to include the disabled, the aged and foster
children in the near future. In addition, staff are studying other opportunities to reduce
duplication and produce administrative efficiencies. They will be looking at such things as
having an integrated intake process and a single access phone number.
B In the early 1980s, the provincial and municipal intake systems for sole-support parents were
integrated at eight sites in Ontario. This is one example of integration which could be further
pursued. The Province is currently undertaking a review of the integrated sites in order to
prepare a cost-benefit analysis.
B There are several initiatives in Ontario which demonstrate how federal-municipal cooperation
can improve the delivery and integration of services.
B The City of London has been very successful with its CLEAR project, a unique pilot project
involving the federal and municipal government. The project not only reduces administrative
duplication and overlap by integrating the movement of a well-defined group of clients between
the two systems, but it also integrates employment and training services by offering group
employment information and counseling sessions. CLEAR is targeted to GWA clients who are
either pending receipt of UI of are receiving both GWA and UI. The project was designed in
June 1994 and by September 1994, was providing services to more than 25 clients. The project
is funded 100% by the federal government under a program to achieve enhanced client service.
The project is designed to make better use of federal training dollars, to motivate clients to
pursue employment opportunities more quickly after they are out of work, thereby reducing the
number of UI recipients that will move onto welfare and reduce administrative duplication.
B The Association has also been advocating other improvements to the efficiency of social
assistance delivery such as the voluntary consolidation of part-time municipal delivery
administrations.
41
Recommendations
Fast Facts
B There are 207 municipal delivery sites for GWA and 90 provincial delivery sites for FBA.
Municipal administration costs for GWA in 1993-94 (provincial fiscal year) were approximately
. .
B The types of functions integrated involve all abled-bodied sole support parents being transferred
to the municipal intake system. Each site has a separate legal agreement covering the specific
functions integrated.
B There are 8 integrated GWA-FBA sites in Ontario: City of Windsor; the Regions of Waterloo,
Peel, Dufferin, and Durham; the County of Lanark; and the Cities of Peterborough, and
Thunder Bay.
B All integrations took place between 1982-83 and 1983-86. The last one to take place was
Durham in 1986.
42
FACILITATE
Recognize that local decision-making that is innovative,
effective and efficient can best be facilitated by provincial
legislation and policies which set broad objectives and go
and leave the development of specific implementation and
delivery policies to elected and accountable councils. This can
lead to services designed in a way that is appropriate to
different communities and in the most cost-effective manner.
Heres how.. Immediately pass guidelines for arbitrators and introduce legislation to reform the
collective bargaining process.
B
Reform of collective bargaining and interest arbitration is needed to
introduce balance in labour negotiations and to ensure that arbitration
awards reflect fiscal realities. These are necessary to address the lack of
incentive for employees to negotiate a settlement, the absence of guidelines
for arbitrators and the failure of arbitration to honour managements right
and responsibility to set service standards.
B
Current collective bargaining legislation and processes prevent
municipalities from being able to provide services in new and innovative
ways and more cost-efficiently.
B
For over a decade, municipal governments have made specific
recommendations for reform of the labour dispute resolution system in
Ontario. There is general interest in reducing the frequency of arbitrations
by relying more heavily on pre-arbitration processes.
B
The needed labour reforms will require considerable time for complete
implementation. However, some action should be taken immediately to
address the widespread concerns about the state of labour dispute
resolution. These changes could be effected through changes to policies or
regulations, or by the introduction of guidelines for arbitrators. The need
for change will be particularly pressing and important to deal effectively
with wage demands which will be inevitable after the end of the term of
the Social Contract on April 1, 1996.
B
In July 1993, the Provincial government committed, in writing and in
Regulation, to move forward with reform of interest arbitration and
collective bargaining in Ontario. This was part of a package of
commitments contained in the Municipal Sector Memorandum of
Understanding under the Social Contract. The Government committed to
this review and to establish criteria for arbitrators to require consideration
of ocal financial circumstances when awarding a decision. The review has
not been conducted.
Backgrounder
B Municipal labour relations with respect to police, fire and health services are governed by three
pieces of legislation: the Police Servicer Act, the Fire Departments Act and the Hospital Labour
Disputes Arbitration Act respectively.
B Under the Police ServicesAct, disputing parties may voluntarily request third party intervention.
Failing satisfactory resolution of the disputed issues by means of conciliation, but not before the
conciliation process is complete, matters must be settled by compulsory arbitration.
. Parties bound by the Fire DepartmentsAct have no access to mediation or arbitration, although
this is currently under review. Until this situation changes, the only option for employer and the
employees is compulsory arbitration.
B Health workers labour relations allows for mediation at the request of the parties in an impasse
position, mandatory third party assistance prior to the impasse step, and arbitration if no other
resolution is found.
B Recent data detailing arbitrated and non-arbitrated settlements for the private and public
45
B
B
B
B
B
B
sectors demonstrates that arbitrated awards during the years of 1984-85 exceeded non-arbitrated
settlements. During the latter part of the decade, awards were generally at par. This changed
beginning in 1990 when arbitrated awards exceeded non-arbitrated settlements by 1 to 2.5%.
In addition, during periods of economic downturn/recession, private sector and non-arbitrated
agreements tended to reflect restraint (early 1980s and 1990s), but arbitrated settlements did
not change accordingly (Source: Ontario Ministry of Labour, Labour Management Services,
Office of Collective Bargaining Information).
Municipalities in Ontario and across the country have long expressed concerns about arbitration
awards and procedures. These concerns relate primarily to three important areas of local
government service delivery - the essential services of police, fire and health (homes for the
aged nursing staff).
These employee groups, particularly fire and police, have traditionally enjoyed very lucrative
awards, putting upward pressure wage and benefit demands of other bargaining units in the
municipal corporation.
In the face of severe fiscal restraints, recent provincially arbitrated awards in the municipal
public sector have been particulary troubling. Arbitrated settlements in areas affecting municipal
essential services have not reflected today's fiscal realities. In some cases cited by municipalities
during the early 1990s for example, that in comparison to negotiated settlements of about 5%,
provincial arbitrators were awarding settlements as high as 15%.
One consequence of these settlements has been that municipalities, already fiscally constrained,
are forced to consider employee layoff and service reductions to afford the terms of these
agreements. Consequently, all parties, including the ratepayer, bear the cost of these
settlements.
The basis for municipal concerns rested in the perceived imbalance in risk when entering
arbitration, and the fact that arbitrators are not required to take local financial conditions into
account when making awards. In fact, employee associations are quick to quote Paul Weiler in
Reconcilable Differences (pp251) as follows:
Certainly Canadian arbitrators do not accept the principle that an award
which seems merited by normal comparisons should be cut back because the
public, employer does not have the wherewithal in its current treasury to pay
.
The normal comparators, are of course, other awards in like organizations. This attitude is of
great concern to municipal employers, and should be of grave concern to the general public
paying for the service.
The AMO Position Paper, Ensuring Mutual Risk, Reform of Conciliation and Interest Arbitration
Processes in the Municipal Sector, was submitted to the Minister of Labour in July of 1994.
While no review was formally conducted, the Minister did distribute the AMO document to a
broad audience of employee representatives and several employer organizations. The response
from labour was not positive and the NDP government was completely unwilling to move
forward with a full review, let alone give consideration to reform.
Detailed municipal recommendations
Encouraging Negotiated Settlements by Ensuing Mutual Risk
Many municipal employers believe that during the pre-arbitration negotiations, labour has little
or no incentive to commit in earnest to the process since they have little to lose and, as the
record of awards shows, much to gain from proceeding to the arbitrated process.
Employee
process, in some
groups often resort to arbitration very
cases announcing their intention to do
early in the collective bargaining
so at the outset. AMO therefore
46
recommends that legislation be amended to make it mandatory that compulsory conciliation,
or mediation must take place prior to parties proceeding to interest arbitration.
Guidelines for Arbitrators
Mandatory conciliation alone will not ensure mutual risk. Criteria for arbitrators are necessary
to ensure that both parties have an incentive to work in earnest during the first stage of
negotiations. Compulsory and binding arbitration is counterproductive if it fails to serve the
public interest and frustrates public policy.
The Provinces failure to establish, by statute, criteria for the resolution of public services
disputes, is also of concern to municipal employers. Therefore, AMO recommends that the
legislation be amended to require that arbitrators recognize financial constraints, the cost of
living, the fiscal and economic realities of local employers and the community, compensation
levels for other employees of the municipality and the differing nature of work done by
municipal employees across the province.
It is imperative that all parties involved in dispute resolution have confidence in the
neutrality of the arbitrator. The incorporation of mutual risk in the selection of arbitrators is
also therefore proposed. AMO recommends that changes must be made to the current system
of appointments of arbitrators to ensure there is mutual risk in the selection of arbitrators and
confidence in the neutrality of arbitrations. The Association also recommends reforms that will
prevent the development of real or perceived arbitrator favoritism for either party - labour or
management - in dispute resolution
Affirmation and Support for Management Rights
Arbitration often does not honour managements right and responsibility to set service
standards. Virtually all collective agreements and labour legislation recognizes and respects the
concept of Management Rights, often through the inclusion of a Management Rights clause.
AMO believes that such an assertion of the rights of management should be contained in three
acts governing municipal labour arbitration, so that interest arbitrators and employee
organizations will be obliged to respect managements right to organize the delivery of service,
determine the level of service, to deploy it, and to fund it as Management and Council
determines appropriate.
The present systems of compulsory and binding arbitration are frequently cumbersome
and in need of rationalization. There should be a recognition that the public service is one, that
collective bargaining is an entity, and that if binding arbitration is to be invoked, there should
be a single system to guide the process in the public services. This system would ensure
consistency of such things as procedure, formation, qualifications of arbitrators and payment of
costs. AMO therefore recommends the establishment of a single system of arbitration for the
public sector.
Fast Facts
B Two arbitration awards in the Town of Kapuskasing provide examples of the imbalance and
inequity of the existing system:
- A November 1994 arbitration decision in the Town of Kapuskasing has awarded severance pay
for civilian staff whose jobs were eliminated when municipal police services were contracted to
the Ontario Provincial Police. The award specified one month salary for each year of service
at a cost of $150,000 to the municipality, on top of benefits the employees received when they
left their jobs. As a comparator, hundreds of private sector employees in Kapuskasing have
47
been laid off over the past two years by a local paper mill, and received 1.5 weeks pay per year
of service. Many had been employed at the mill for 25 to 30 years.
- A 1992 arbitration decision involving the Kapuskasing Fire Fighters Association also highlights
problems with the arbitration system, particularly as it relates to the ethics and conduct of
arbitrators.
With backing by referendum of 83% of the citizens of Kapuskasing, council proceeded
with plans to move from a fire department with eight full-time firefighters earning an average
of $72,000 in the previous year, to a volunteer system. The anticipated annual savings from the
change were in the range of $500,000.
An arbitration hearing involving the fire department was required before any move could
be made to create an all-volunteer system. The arbitration board over-ruled the decision of
council and the advice of the electorate and ruled in favour of the firefighters. The change to
a volunteer system was blocked.
48
Heres how... Reform the Fire Departments Act towards removing barriers to the provision of
more
B
B
B
B
B
B
efficient fire services.
The Fire Departments Act should be reformed. Municipalities need a
progressive act that will allow flexibility in establishing and delivering fire
services. Specific changes are required if municipalities are going to be
able to deliver more effective and efficient fire services.
The delivery of fire services in Ontario is in dire need of reform The
legislation governing this essential service, the Fire Departments Act, is
completely out of date and has essentially remained unchanged since 1927.
No changes have been made since 1949.
Management exclusions, improvements to the interest arbitration process,
assertion of management rights in legislation, no discrimination against
volunteers and municipal councils prerogative to set the standard of fire
services are some of the changes needed.
The most troubling aspect of the current status of the fire service in
Ontario is the fact that municipalities, who bear the financial responsibility
for delivering this essential services have little or no flexibility in carrying
out this function. The Fire Departments Act is weighted decidedly in favour
of labour interests, causing unions to do everything possible to maintain
the status quo.
As a Toronto Star article highlighting the problems with the status of the
fire service in Metro stated, Plans to streamline Metros fire services
always turn to ashes. Why? Because fire departments are like fiefdoms.
In continuing efforts to do more with less and get the most out of the tax
dollar, the obstructions to change presented by the current Act are a source
of extreme frustration. With a full 32% of province-wide municipal
expenditures devoted to fire protection, the need to ensure an efficient and
cost-effective service is obvious.
Backgrounder
B For years, AMO representatives have been working to reform the Fire DepartmentsAct, which
has remained virtually unchanged since its introduction in 1927. No amendments at all have
been made since 1949.
B In 1989 the Solicitor General established a Fire Service Review Committee which consisted of
representatives from the Ministry, AMO, the Association of Fire Chiefs, the Professional Fire
Fighters Association, the Federation of Ontario Fire Fighters and the Fire Fighters Association
of Ontario. While consensus on change had been achieved by that group, it dissolved partly as
a result of the change in government in the last Provincial election.
B Since 1989, the examination of the fire service has taken place under the authority of the
Solicitor General through a Fire Services Review Committee. Representatives from the Office
of the Solicitor General, AMO the Association of Fire Chiefs, the Professional Fire Fighters
Association of Ontario, the Federation of Ontario Fire Fighters and the Fire Fighters
Association of Ontario had been asked to achieve a consensus for change. Responsibility for
the Committee has now transferred to the Office of the Fire Marshal.
B In 1992, it was suggested that a new review committee be struck. AMOs representatives to that
committee were Bill Mickle, Reeve of the Town of Exeter, Michael Fenn, City Manager, City
49
Implementation
Recommendations
of Burlington and Hilary Payne, City Administrator, City of Windsor. The new group was asked
to review and comment on a report which was prepared by the Ministers staff reflecting the
work of the earlier committee.
. AMO provided its comments to the Solicitor General in December of 1993. However,
subsequent discussions between the AMO representatives and the Ontario Association of Fire
Chiefs lead to the suggestion that these two groups attempt to achieve a consensus position to
put forward to the Solicitor General and other members of the Fire Services Review
Committee. The resulting consensus position was reached and submitted to the Solicitor
General in April of 1994.
B After a considerable hiatus, the Review Committee met in June of 1994 where the Solicitor
General advised of his commitment to bring legislative changes to Cabinet during 1994.
B In September of 1994, responsibility for this issue was transferred to the Office of the Fire
Marshall. In October, the Fire Marshall met with each of the stakeholders independently to
assist in his development of recommendations for legislative amendments to be presented to
the Solicitor General.
B A November 1994 proposed framework for change from the Fire Marshal has been soundly
rejected by the unions and deemed unsupportable by the municipal representatives.
Detailed municipal recommendations
"Managements Exclusions that permit a full management team outside of the union.
Currently, only the Chief and Deputy Chief operate as management, and all other exclusions must
be negotiated with the union. There are long-standing questions of whether firefighters can
effectively balance competing loyalties to the union with his or her responsibilities to the employer.
Improvements to the Interest/Rights Arbitration Process that would prevent applying for interest
arbitration until after a conciliation process has been completed. Firefighters unions often resort
to arbitration very early in the collective bargaining process. Given the generous settlements they
have received from interest arbitrations, relative to those received by unions which were compelled
to bargain, we can understand their eagerness to by-pass collective bargaining to get interest
arbitration. AMOS specific recommendations with respect to the reform of municipal collective
bargaining and interest arbitration are detailed earlier in this section.
Restrict Working Conditions that are Subject to Arbitration introducing flexibility into the
workplace to cushion the impact of revenue declines associated with the Social Contract and the
provincial fiscal situation. On both of these points, both the government and AMO made specific
commitments in the Social Contract Framework Agreement, which the two professional firefighters
associations refused to sign. Unfortunately, interest arbitration awards have, overtime, dramatically
restricted the operational and staffing options available to Fire Department management and to
Municipal Councils.
It k-entirely appropriate for interest arbitrators to make awards on the compensation issues of
wages, benefits and immediately related working conditions. However, interest awards go far
- beyond this. It is completely inappropriate for interest awards to deal with questions of operational
performance, apparatus staffing, adequate levels of fire service in the municipality, and similar
matters. Matters of fire safety and operational performance should be left to Fire Department
Management, to Municipal Councils and to the Solicitor General, rather than being decided by
labour arbitrators.
50
Implementation
Recommendations
Assertion of Management Rights to be contained in fire service legislation, so that interest
arbitrators and employee organizations will be obliged to respect managements right to organize
the delivery of the fire service, to deploy it, and to fund it, as the Management and Council
determines appropriate.
Standard of Fire Service as a Prerogative of the Municipal Council. While we support the position
that a minimum level of municipal fire service should be required in every municipality in Ontario,
that standard should be sensitive to the fiscal and resource limitations of rural communities.
Municipal Councils should be allowed discretion regarding the level of any improvements beyond
that minimum level. In addition to the setting of emergency service levels, fire prevention and
public education must be at the discretion of the municipality.
Fast Facts
B There are 750 fire departments in Ontario; 522 use volunteers.
. In 1991, province-wide, Municipalities devoted 32% of their gross operation expenditures to fire
protection. 72% of the provincial fire protection expenditures were attributable to Metro
Toronto and Regional governments.
51
Heres how... Repeal Bill 120 to restore municipal authority to determine local housing
intensification policies.
B
The Government should immediately repeal the Bill 120 Planning Act
amendments which permit as-of-right apartments-in-houses. Provincial-
municipal discussions should immediately commence to address the
regulatory, enforcement and financial issues related to accessory units.
B
Bill 120 contrasts with the directions recommended by the Sewell
Commission which supports that the Province should set broad policies for
land use planning and municipalities should identify specific implementing
policies. Municipalities should have the authority and responsibility to
define local housing intensification policies appropriate to their
communities.
B
Bill 120 represents an unwarranted intrusion and interference with
municipal zoning authority. It works contrary to the many active and
progressive housing intensification efforts already under way in
municipalities.
B
Bill 120 overrides local planning to ensure the provision of the necessary
hard and soft services in communities.
B
The need to address health and safety issues is recognized, however, this
legislation has ignored the fact that these issues exist whether or not the
. .
accessory apartment is legal or illegal
, and that in order to ensure the
health and safety of tenants in accessory units, regulatory and enforcement
changes are imperative. These have not been addressed.
B
Instead of blanket legislation, municipalities have been calling for the
authority and powers to deal with regulatory and enforcement problems
related to accessory units. For example, the authority to license and
register units; greater powers of entry to inspect units; increased fines for
offenses and speedier court system and procedures to enforce work orders;
improved ability to collect fines; and changes to the assessment of
accessory units in a manner which better represents the additional costs
of a residential unit.
Backgrounder
B Bill 120, An Act to amend certain statues concerning residential property was proclaimed into law
on July 14, 1994. The provisions of Part IV dealing with the construction and use of accessory
apartments in detached, semi-detached and row houses, severely curtail municipal powers to
control development of this kind on an area basis. The purpose of these provisions is to
encourage intensification, by giving owners a general right to have an accessory apartment in
every house.
B Municipalities and others vigorously opposed these provisions on a range of policy grounds.
B On June 20, 1994, London City Council passed a resolution to commence, in concert with other
municipalities and/or individuals, an action in the Ontario Court - General Division with
respect to the validity of Bill 120.
B The focus of the legal challenge is the risks to life, health and safety that result from
uncontrolled accessory apartments development. These include the risk of injury or death by
fire, and the risks to public health in consequence of overloading the sewer systems. The
53
anticipated effects of having more accessory apartments, are increases in the chance of fire and
sewer overload occurring, and in the likelihood of ill-health, injury and even death occurring
in particular cases.
. AMO has made a number of recommendations have been made to address the regulatory,
enforcement and financial issues related to accessory units:
- Under the Assessment Act a dwelling with an identifiable accessory unit should generate more
tax assessment than a dwelling with a finished, and unrented, basement. The municipal tax base
does not increase with the addition of accessory units which place a greater demand on
municipal services.
- Growth-related costs arising from provincially imposed exemptions from development charges
should be funded by the province.
- Municipalities should be permitted to pass by-laws licensing and regulating accessory units.
The intent is not to control or license occupancy, but rather to achieve regulatory objectives
such as property maintenance. This would also give municipalities a count of the number of the
units and assist in determining inspections and work load.
- Municipalities should have the ability to recover municipal costs as taxes.
- Speedier court system/procedures should be implemented so as to permit a Prohibition Order
to be enforced by the Court granting such an order. The establishment of a Municipal By-Law
Court should also be investigated.
- Further changes to right-of-entry should be pursued. The changes introduced in Bill 120 are
an improvement but it still will be difficult for inspectors to enter units. Changes such as
guidelines for evidence would be a good start.
54
Implementation
Recommendations
B
The Government should immediately make it explicit in the regulation that
is now being developed under Bill 163 that an approval of an official plan
or amendment, by the approval authority, that has followed the prescribed
processes, shall be deemed to have met the requirements of subsequent
processes under the Environmental Assement Act.
B
In the longer term, amendments should be made so that all development
projects involving municipal infrastructure should be subject to only one
piece of legislation. That means, when an undertaking is the responsibility
of a municipality, it should be dealt with by the municipality through a
planning process which has been amended to include mandatory
Environmental Impact Assessment.
Backgrounder
B In June 1991, the Province established the Commission on Planning and Development Reform
in Ontario (Sewell Commission) with a mandate to propose substantial reforms to the land use
planning system in the province. The Final Report of the Commission was released in June
1993; it contained 98 recommendations.
B In December 1993, the Province made available for a 90 day period of consultation a paper
called, New Approached to Land Use Planning, which contained a draft set of provincial policy
statements.
B In May 1994, the Province introduced Bill 163, the Planning and Municipd Statute Law
Amendment Act, 1994, which, among other provisions, contained major amendments to the
Planning Act, 1983. Simultaneously with Bill 163, the Province also released the final version
of the policy statements scheduled to come into effect on the day the Bill is proclaimed.
B Since June 1994, at the invitation of the Province, five AMO representatives (along with
representatives from the development and homebuilder industries, and environmental groups)
have participated on the Implementation Advisory Task Force (IATF) on planning reforms.
The Task Force has provided input into the development of guidelines and regulations that will
accompany the bill and the comprehensive set of provincial policy statements. A separate
Technical Advisory Committee, and a Rural Table have also been formed to provide the IATF
with advice. The term of the Task Force continues until December 1995.
B Since June 1991, when the Province established the Commission on Development and Planning
Reform in Ontario (Sewell Commission) AMO has been actively providing input to provincial
initiatives regarding planning reform. AMO welcomed the introduction of the reform initiative
because it has consistently maintained that improvements to the system are badly needed. The
Association advanced its fundamental principles for improving the system which it also used as
criteria for evaluating provincial initiatives. Through its principles the Association sought:
B
to ensure greater accountability for decision-making;
B
to obtain clearer roles and a strong municipal role in making plannin
g decisions;
B
to limit the provincial review of municipal decisions and place limitations on the appeal
of decisions to the OMB;
B
to ensure that citizens have access to information, and the right to notification and
hearing; and
to ensure timely decision-making.
. Also related to the above principles, and in order to streamline the approvals process, the
Association has called for better coordination and integration between the two parallel
processes of environmental assessment and plannin
g. The Association especially made this call
56
in relation to projects involving municipal infrastructure. AMO also made this recommendation
in response to the 1991 report of the Provincial Task Force, Environmental Assessment
Program Improvement Project (EAPIP). There is general agreement in principle, among
various stakeholders including municipalities, development industry, and environmental groups,
that the two processes need to be integrated.
B The following is a summary of AMOs response to the four major components of the Provinces
reform package:
1)
2)
3)
4)
ovincial Policy Statements: AMO strongly criticized the proposed policy statements for
being too directive and reducing municipal decision-making authority in planning. AMO
expressed its dissatisfaction that its major recommendations for improving the policies
were not incorporated in the final Cabinet-approved version which was released on May
18, 1994.
.
Amendments 1994. AMO did not
support the original version of the Bill. In response to pressure from AMO and other
stakeholders, the Government introduced over 100 amendments to improve the bill;
nearly half of AMOs recommendations were incorporated. While some of its key
recommendations were not adopted, the Association supported the amended bill.
.
3) In early 1995, given the unacceptable state of the draft regulations, AMO
recommended that the Government delay their introduction and urged the Government
to give priority consideration to those regulations that are absolutely necessary for
immediate implementation of Bill 163 such the ones on notice requirements and
complete applications. The Government subsequently agreed to release these two
regulations to municipalities in early February and delay their promulgation to March
28, 1995.
Impementdon Guidelines: In early 1995, AMO also found the final package of the
implementation guidelines to be unacceptable and recommended that the Province delay
their release as official documents. The Government subsequently agreed to release the
implementation guidelines as a First Edition with a commitment to review and revise
them further by 1996.
On integrating environmental assessment and planning processes
B
B
B
B
In 1991, the Province released the final report of the Environmental Assessment Program
Improvement Project (EAPIP) Task Force which was given the mandate to recommend reforms
to the environmental assessment and planning approvals processes. The recommendations of
the Task Force largely have not been adopted.
In 1993, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MOEE) released a set of
recommendations that largely centred around reforms to improve the administration of the
environmental assessment process. These recommendations did not deal with broad policy
concerns raised by AMO and others.
In 1993, the MOEE, in cooperation with the Municipal Engineers Association, produced a set
of procedures for Class EA undertakings related to road and municipal sewer systems.
Bill 163 contains a provision for an optional prescribed environmental assessment process under
the Planning Act for municipal infrastructure projects. However, it remains
unclear whether if
this process is followed, it would then be considered under any subsequent approvals process
under the Environmental Assessment Act.
However, Bill 163 on partly implemented the recommendations of the Sewell Commission
regarding the integration of the planning and environmental assessment processes.
57
B Recently, the Regional Municipality of Halton, through its urban infrastructure study, at a cost
of $4 million, has addressed many issues that could serve as a useful case study for integrating
land use planning and environmental assessment.
. Both environmental assessment and planning exercises are extremely transparent processes that
extensively use public consultation in their undertakings.
B Both of the processes are in many ways similar as they each follow a methodical procedure of
posing the problems, identifying solutions and exploring alternatives to the solutions, as well as
exploring alternative ways of implementation Many of the steps in one undertaking are
repeated in the other.
. The Consolidated Hearings Act recognizes that some undertakings maybe subject to different
statutes (i.e., the EnvironmentalAssament Act, and the PlanningAct) and provides for a joint
hearing. Admittedly, this is useful in providing a coordinated process at the hearing stage, but
it does not ensure the coordinated study, planning evaluation, and public consultation that must
precede a hearing. As confirmed by the former Royal commission on the Future of Toronto
Waterfront, this can exacerbate conflicts, add to the time and costs incurred by the proponents,
increase the amount of time and work demanded of the public, and reduce the effectiveness of
the planning process (for example, by requiring proponents to undertake studies separately
instead of integrating them).
Fast Facts
B
B
B
B
B
B
Before the Sewell Cornrnission, the last major review of the PlanningAct was completed in the
late 1970s by the Comay Commission. Some of the major recommendations of the Comay
commission were repackaged by the Sewell Commission in its 1993 Final Report.
Bill 163 received Third Reading on November 28 and Royal Assent on December 9, 1994.
The Province has indicated that the amendments to the PlanningAct under Bill 163, the policy
statements, implementation guidelines, and some of the regulations will be proclaimed on
March 28, 1995.
Bill 163 requires over 30 regulations for its implementation, adding extensive layers of
requirements on a range of planning issues from the mandatory contents of official plans to
requirements for giving notice of public hearings for severance applications. However, only a
limited number of the regulations (those dealing with notice requirements for public hearings
on official plans/amendments, zoning by-laws, plans of subdivision and consents, and
requirements for a complete application) will be ready by proclamation day.
There are a total 55 provincial policies on six major goals: Natural Heritage, Environmental
Protection and Hazard Policies; Community Development and Infrastructure Policies; Housing
Policies; Agricultural Land Policies; Conservation Policies; Mineral Aggregate Policies; as well
as policies on Interpretation and Implementation This 37 page document includes 13 pages of
definitions.
There are also a total of 28 implementation guidelines expanding on all policies. The excessive
volume of the guidelines covers nearly one thousand double sided pages. A technical manual
of potentially similar length will also accompany the guidelines.
58
Implementation
Recommendations
Heres how... Streamline the Waste Management Master Planning Process and allow all options
for disposing of wastes to be considered.
Allow all options to be considered and assessed as waste management alternatives
in municipal waste management master plans.
B
Repeal the provincial policy barming Energy-From-Waste, and amend the
Wrote Management Act to permit the transport of waste to willing host
municipalities so that both of these options can be considered in the
development of waste management master plans.
B
The Province should commit resources to compiling the technical
information and research necessary for assessing and reviewing these
options.
Establish a workable system with a clear set of rules at the front-end of the waste
management master planning process.
B
The unclear rules for waste management planning have cost municipalities,
the Province and the taxpayers of Ontario hundreds of millions of dollars
and years of delay in operationalizing effective systems and facilities.
B
There should be staged acceptance of waste management master plans, and
one-window advice from the provincial government.
9
The reformed system should require that provincial officials reviewing
various stages of plan preparation be accountable for their decisions by
giving a sign-off that the municipality has completed that stage. This
would to a large extent alleviate the problems of inconsistencies between
the line of enquiry and decision-making at the Environmental Assessment
Board and policy directed decisions of provincial staff.
B
The new Ministry of the Environment and Energy documents on Waste
Management Planning should be reviewed to evaluate how they meet the
objectives of a streamlined approvals system towards identifying further
changes.
Backgrounder
On Options
B The Environmental Assessment Act was introduced in 1976, and in 1980 all municipal
undertakings became subject to the Act. Under the Act, municipalities wanting to establish a
waste management system or facility are required to undertake an environmental assessment
of the project in order to proceed through the approvals process set out in the Act. The
assessment involves identifying reasonable alternatives, considering the environmental effects
of each, and then, after weighing the pros and cons of all the alternatives, selecting a preferred
alternative.
B
In 1991, the Province banned Energy From Waste (EFW) as a diversion option for municipal
solid waste because of potential health hazards, and as an incentive for promoting the 3Rs
hierarchy of reduction, reuse, and recycling.
B Through the introduction of Wrote Management Act in 1992, the Province prohibited
municipalities from transporting and disposing of their waste in willing host municipalities.
B Through its formal responses to Bill 143, later known as the Waste Management Act, 1992, and
the 1991 provincial ban on energy from waste facilities, AMO objected to the arbitrary and
59
Implementation
unilateral limitation on the assessment of alternatives in the development of comprehensive
waste management master plans.
B The 1992 Waste Management Act, and the ban on Energy From Waste have had major
implications for municipalities, particularly those in the Greater Toronto Area. For example,
prior to the introduction of the Act, Metropolitan Toronto was involved in negotiating an
agreement to transport Metros waste to the Adams Mine in Kirkland Lake. The introduction
of the Act prohibited that option.
B In response to the Greater Toronto Areas waste management problem, the Province formed
the Interim Waste Authority (IWA) to search for suitable landfill sites within the area.
B The IWA has encountered strong negative public reaction to the three sites it has identified.
B Another major implication of the provincial ban on considering the above alternatives, has been
the problem of the transport of waste to less expensive landfill sites in the United States which
deprive Ontario landfill sites of tipping fees. Studies prepared by the Province in 1992 reveal
that there was a total of 1.3 million tonnes of waste that was exported from Ontario to the
United States, and roughly half of the amount was generated within Metropolitan Toronto.
Today, mainly because of the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement the
Federal government has little authority to stop the flow of municipal waste across its border
with the United States.
On the Waste Management Master Planning Process
B Since the late 1980s, AMO has urged the Province to reform the waste management master
planning process in Ontario to achieve greater certainty about the rules, and more rational and
faster approvals.
B In 1992 in response to the Ministry of the Environment and Energys Initiatives Paper #2,
Waste Management Planning in Ontario, AMO called for important financial and legislative
reforms to the waste management master planning process:
- AMO maintained that financial issues must be addressed to include funding for the planning
exercise and funding for waste management facilities.
- In addition, AMO called for the creation of a new waste management act separate from the
Environmental Assessment Act to consolidate the regulatory and legislative requirements for the
master planning approvals process.
B Following a delay of at least two years, in June 1994 the MOEE released a set of documents
on waste management planning that it claimed provide a definite guide to public sector
planning for waste management. The four set volume was released on a trial basis for a period
of 18 months.
60
Recommendation.s
Fast Facts
B
B
B
The Interim Waste Authority has spent nearly $65 million in its studies to search for a suitable
landfill site in the Greater Toronto Area.
Metropolitan Toronto, Notre Development (owner of the Adams Mine site) and northern
municipalities such as Kirkland Lake have agreed to commit resources towards an
environmental assessment of the 1680 hectare Adams Mine site.
The Environmental Assessment Board recently turned down the proposal by the Ontario Waste
Management Corporation for a site to store hazardous waste in southern Ontario. The OWMC
spent nearly $80 million in its site selection process. One of the reasons the Board turned down
OWMCs proposal was because the organization had not considered all alternatives. The failure
of the OWMC (an organization established by the Province with generous resources) to
manoeuvre through the environmental assessment process is an important illustration of the
flaws in this cumbersome process.
On February 7th, 1995 the Provincial Cabinet turned down OWMCs appeal of the Joint
Hearing Boards decision.
Advances in technology have significantly reduced the health risks associated with incineration.
Studies show that it is possible to operate successful energy from waste facilities while achieving
good recycling rates:
.
Japan, Germany and the Netherlands are incinerating up to 70% of municipal solid
waste in high-tech facilities and, at the same time, achieving impressive recycling rates
(Japan is around 40%).
.
State-of-the-art incineration techniques and the pre-screening of materials can now
reduce waste volumes by up to 90% while destroying disease-causing bacteria and viral
elements, as well as harmful organic compounds found in pesticides, solvents and other
products. These harmful elements could pose great danger if landfilled.
.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency's position is that waste-to-energy
technologies are essential to municipal solid waste rnanagement, combined with source
reduction, recycling and selective-sanitary landfilling.
The recent MOEE guidelines that are supposed to provide a definitive guide to waste
management planning area set of four documents including technical appendices totalling 800
pages. They cover sectoral environmental assessment proposals for waste management planning,
administration and funding guidelines, and a users reference guide to statutes, regulations,
policies, guidelines and procedures.
61
Heres how... Further reduce waste and costs by implementing full product and packaging
stewardship.
Producers and consumers should be fully responsible for the costs of managing
product and packaging wastes
B
Appropriate regulations should be introduced requiring that all who are
responsible for introducing products to the marketplace take action to
divert these products from disposal.
B
The Waste Management hierarchy of reduce, reuse, recycle, recover
(energy), and disposal should be followed in all stewardship plans.
B
The principle of a "level playing field should be part of all stewardship
initiatives.
B
The Minister of Environment and Energy should address funding of all
packaging and paper products collected in the blue box programs by
expanding stewardship funding negotiations to include representatives of
all materials collected in municipal blue box programs.
B
Product Stewardship of Household Hazardous Wastes (HHW) should be
mandated. Although studies suggest an average household generates only
6 lbs of HHW annually, they are the most toxic substances that come out
of the home. While small in terms of weight or volume, HHW cannot
continue to be sent to landfill or poured down the sink.
All stewardship initiatives must outline a plan and commitment to achieve a $0
municipal share of efficient program costs by the year 2000.
B
This will result in cost effective, environmentally responsible and
economically viable waste management systems.
B
Market driven incentives should be used in stewardship agreements to
encourage the implementation of system efficiencies and market
development to reduce costs.
All stewardship initiatives should be presented to AMO and the municipalities
for consultation and endorsement
B
Municipalities are responsible for managing wastes within their boundaries.
Thus, municipalities should be consulted on all proposals as a primary
stakeholder and experienced operator of the various waste management
systems.
Current Provincial waste management funding programs should be conntinued until
industry product stewardship programs are in place.
B
The Province has legislated waste management 3Rs programs and should
maintain a share of the responsibility of meeting their own goals until a
long-term financial solution is implemented.
63
Governments should work in partnership with the private sector stewards to
educate the consumer.
B
Each citizen must be made aware of the proper methods for consumption,
storage and disposal of products that they consume.
B
All levels of governments must take the responsibility for educating the
consumer on the use of environmentally friendly alternatives.
Regulations should be harmonized between the provinces to reduce conflict,
improve data quality and save administration costs. Ontario should take the lead
in this initiative.
B
National stewardship programs will reduce overall system costs.
B
Criterion used for classification of waste should be uniform.
.
Regulation harmonization cart be used as the first step towards removing
restrictions on cross-border movement of hazardous waste. Greater reuse
or recovery of waste is possible with open borders.
An inventory of HHW in Ontario should be undertaken.
B
An accurate inventory of HHWwill aide in the monitoring of the successes
and failures of the stewardship programs against performance targets.
B
An inventory data base, by waste type, will help to pin-point those wastes
that are promising candidates for reduction, reuse and recycling.
The Province should commit to enforce regulation 340.
B
The soft drink industry is currently required by provincial regulation 340
under the Environmental Protection Act to sell 30 per cent of its product
in refillable containers, and also to sell 50 percent in recyclable containers.
Backgrounder on Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Any substance when used, stored, handled or disposed of improperly is hazardous, meaning that
it poses a risk to people or to the environment. Many household products such as oils, cleaners,
solvents, adhesives, polishes, detergents, paints and pesticides can be included in this category.
Such products are usually labelled corrosive, explosive, flammable or poisonous.
HHW has been subject to special disposal practices in Ontario since 1986.
The Province has been providing start-up grants to municipalities for HHW collection projects
since April 1986. On April 1, 1989, the terms of financial support provided by the ministry for
the HHW collection program were revised and reduced.
In September, 1992, a joint announcement was made with industry and MOEE about the
creation of a voluntary province-wide used oil collection program. The agreement involved a
voluntary phase-in of depots beginning in October, 1992. A regulation to require full
participation by all lubricant sellers was suppose to follow.
A 1992 study by the Canadian Battery Manufacturers Association concluded that technology for
recycling nickel cadmium rechargeable is available and is a worthwhile endeavour.
On March 31, 1992, Black and Decker unveiled a battery recovery program in Ontario whereby
spent nickel cadmium batteries in household cordless appliances are removed from the
appliance and recycled.
The Western Canada Used Oil/Container/Filter Task Force is proposing using an
Environmental Handling Charge (EHS) to apply to most sales of new oil and filters.
On September 1,1994, British Columbia mandated a post-consumer paint stewardship program.
The paint care program is based on an upfront eco-fee of about fifty cents per 4-litre can.
64
The New MunicipaI Mandate Recommendations
B The Household Hazardous Waste Task Force (HHWTF) is an industry-led multi-stakeholder
group formed under the auspices of the Hazardous Waste Minimization Committee (HWMC)
to develop strategies to reduce household hazardous waste. This group is developing a national
stewardship framework for all HHW products. The HHWTF is currently establishing a
comrnon, national set of fundamental stewardship principles.
Fast Facts on Household Hazardous Wastes (HHW)
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
9
B
Over 150,000 Ontario households participated in HHW programs in 1993, with an average
participation rate estimated at 7%.
In Ontario, it is estimated that there are 86,000 tonnes of HHW generated per year. (Sinclair
1992). Of this, only 1910 is disposed of appropriately.
Ontarios HHW programs recovered approximately 5,000 tonnes in 1993.
The mix of HHW is about 80910 paint and crank case oil. The balance is made up of batteries,
cleaners, pool chemicals and garden chemicals.
The cost of collecting, treating and disposing of HHW can be as high as $3,500-$3,800 per
tonne. (Markham and Toronto 1992 experience)
MOEE funding for HHW collection only provides 50 per cent funding up to a maximum of
$15,000 per HHW collection day. However, the typical cost for a municipality of 125,000
population is $100,000 per waste day. Large urban communities have costs which are
considerably greater.
The Canadian Petroleum Producers Institutes (CPPI) Used Oil Action Plan (1992) is intended
to collect and recycle approximately 250 million litres across Canada each year. (October 1994
Hazardous Materials Management)
To date, over 350 depots have been setup in Ontario and are voluntarily accepting used oil
from do it yourselfers. The majority of the used oil is being sent tore-refiners in the region.
(October 1994 Hazardous Materials Management)
The average American discards 15.8 household batteries per year. This is 1.2 pounds or 530
grams. (April 1994 Waste Age)
Home hardware has a pilot in London where they take back their own brand of paint at all
eight of their stores.
Mercury levels in high performance alkalines in the last few years have dropped from 1.5% to
0.025% or in some cases zero. (CBMA)
65
Backgrounder on the Blue Box Program
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
.
B
B
B
B
The Recycling Advisory Committee (RAC) was formed in 1985 to advise the Minister of
Environment on recycling.
On July 30, 1990 the Ontario Minister of the Environment James Bradley announced the
replacement of the Recycling Advisory committee by the Waste Reduction Advisory
Committee (WRAC), effective September 1, 1990. WRAC advised the Environment Minister
on the development of policies, programs, regulations and any legislation required with respect
to the 3Rs and comporting of wastes generated by municipal, commercial, institutional and
industrial sources, as well as HHW.
In February 1991, the Minister of the Environment announced two goals for Ontario in its
Waste Reduction Action Plan (WRAP): to reduce the amount of waste going to disposal in
Ontario by at least 25 per cent in 1992 and by at least 50 per cent by the year 2000, compared
to 1987 disposal. The Waste Reduction Office (WRO) was established by the MOE to help
meet this challenge.
In February 1992, WRAC released the Shared Model for the management and financing of
a new waste management system. It presented a new, equitable cost-sharing and operational
approach that would encourage an increase in 3Rs activities. It spread the responsibility from
the generators, where it has traditionally been, back to producers of products, in part. It
provided a framework for both public and private sectors to work co-operatively toward the 50
per cent goal. One of the main principles of the shared model, was that no sector should be
held responsible for the 3Rs without also being given the authority to control the manner in
which it fulfils that responsibility. MOE never commented on the model.
In November 1992 the Grocery Product Manufacturers of Canada (GPMC) proposed a
packaging stewardship model, a national industry-led program that would put in place a long
term, economically viable and affordable packaging stewardship program. The model suggested
imposing levies on packaging according to its weight. The levy would then be adjusted in stage
two to reflect the differential costs associated with the management of each packaging material
type. It also called for a back-drop regulation to be implemented in each province to ensure a
level playing field.
A comprehensive initiative paper (#5) dealing with the issue of financing of 3Rs activities and
an analysis of the various funding models presented to the MOE, was expected to be released
by the WRO in early 1993. This paper was never released.
In April 1993 the Province gave municipalities increased powers to develop and operate 3R
programs by introducing the Municipal Statute Law Amendment Act 1993. The law gave clear
municipal legislative authority for waste management activities.
In March 1994 the 3Rs Regulations became law. The regulations require municipalities with
a population over 5000 to provide recycling, back yard comporting and leaf& yard collection
After successive requests from AMO, finally, in September 1993, the MOEE indicated its
intention to focus on an incentive based product stewardship type funding proposal.
MOEE held discussions with the Canadian Industry Packaging Stewardship Initiative (CIPSI)
members in late 1993 and early 1994. On June 8, 1994, the MOEE released the CIPSI proposal
for funding packagings share of blue box costs for consultation.
Packaging or final consumption packaging is defined as all products which are intended for use
by individual consumers. In the Blue Box this includes all plastic, steel, aluminum, glass and box
board (ex. cereal boxes) containers and packages.
Paper products can be defined as newspaper, old corrugated cardboard, telephone books,
magazines, fine paper etc. that are commonly found in the Blue Box.
66
Implementation
Recommendations
B
.
B
B
9
B
.
.
Since 1990, in response to the numerous waste management reports and proposals of the
Province, AMO has called for a review and discussion of alternative funding models for
Ontarios various waste management systems.
AMO has focused on the principles that Ontario must move to implement product stewardship
systems which move financing from a reliance on the tax base to producer and consumer based
charges and which are economically and environmentally sustainable in the long-term.
AMO has urged the Province to continue all waste management funding programs while details
of new financial arrangements are worked out with the private sector.
In particular, AMO has urged that the Blue Box and HHW programs are not financially
sustainable and that more producer responsibility is required.
AMO has always taken the position that municipalities shouId have adequate opportunity to
review and comment on all stewardship proposals prior to any final government decisions.
On June 8, 1994, the MOEE released the Canadian Industry Packaging Stewardship Initiative
(CIPSI) proposal for funding packagings share of blue box costs for consultation AMO
indicated that the Association welcomes the consultation process and will be taking the lead on
the municipal review of the paper and the preparation of a municipal position.
At its November 25th meeting the AMO Board of Directors acknowledged the leadership
CIPSI has shown in proposing funding for the packaging portion of the Blue Box program.
However, the Board resolved that the Association cannot accept the CIPSI proposal in its
current form. The Board argued that numerous amendments, as outlined in AMOs position
paper, need to be made to the June 8th CIPSI proposal.
The AMO resolution requires that the CIPSI proposal be revised along the lines set out in
AMOs position paper; that the paper producers be brought into the negotiations and that a
funding proposal for paper products be developed; and that both of these items should be
brought back to AMO for endorsement.
Fast Facts on the Blue Box Program
B There are approximately 200 municipally sponsored recycling programs in Ontario.
B The Ontario Blue Box program has grown from servicing under 500,000 households in 1987 to
approximately 3,600,000 households (80% of total) in 1993. (OMMRI overview Oct. 1994 and
WRB)
B The Ontario Blue Box programs currently service approximately 9,000,000 people or about 87%
of the total population in Ontario. (RCO and OMMRI)
B Over 525 municipalities have recycling programs. (WRB)
B Approximately 460,000 tonnes were diverted by recycling programs in 1993 as summarized
below. This is a nine fold increase from the 50,000 tonnes diverted in 1987. (OMMRI and
WRB)
ONP and Magazines: 239,000 (52%)
Old Corrugated Cardboard: 37,000 ( 8%)
Metal Containers: 74,000 (16%)
Plastics: 9,000 ( 2%)
Glass: 92,000 (20%)
Other Materials: 9,000 ( 2%)
B More than 95% of all materials collected in Blue Boxes are re-manufactured into useful new
products. (OMMRI overview, Oct. 1994)
67
Better Goverment, Lower Cost Implementation
B Ontarios Blue Box programs cost approximately $83,000,000 in 1993 to operate.
B Who pays for the Blue Box costs? (RCO, WRB, and OMMRI)
Material Revenue: $16,000,000 (19%)
OMMRI (Packaging Users): $ 2,000,000( 2%)
OMMRI (Paper Users)
Province $25,000,000 (30%)
Municipal Taxes $39,000,000 (47%)
. The Ministry will sunset operating cost funding for recycling programs on March 31, 1996.
68
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) is a non-profit
organization with membership from approximately 700 of Ontarios 815
municipal governments, representing over 95 per cent of the provinces
population. The mandate of the organization is to promote, support and
enhance strong and effective municipal government in Ontario.
Towards fulfilling this mandate, AMO undertakes a range of activities
on behalf of its membership: develops policy positions and reports on issues
having an impact on, and of general interest to, municipal governments;
represents and expresses the municipal viewpoint to other levels of government
and authorities; represents the municipal sector in intergovernmental
discussions and negotiations; informs and educates governments, the media
and the public on municipal issues; markets innovative and beneficial services
to the municipal sector; and maintains a resource centre on issues of municipal
governance.
Dr. Anne Golden,
Chair,
GTA Task Force,
393 University Avenue,
20th Floor-2001,
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
BOX No. 1000
100 JOHN WEST WAY
AURORA, ONTARIO L4G 6J1
727-1375 889-3109
FAX: 727-4993
Dear Dr. Golden,
On behalf of the Council of the Town of Aurora, I am pleased to submit our document entitled
Form Must Follow Function.
Although we agree that some significant retooling is required, we do not believe that blowing up
existing structures would either be advisable or productive, until the rationale for doing so has
been comprehensively truthed out.
By reading the preamble, you will notice that although there is always room for improvement, the
Town of Aurora has a lot to be proud of. We still fundamentally believe that local municipal
government is best positioned to provide access and respond to the community. We also
understand that we have a responsibility to participate in the identification of solutions which will
allow the Greater Toronto Area to be coordinated and operated in a more cost effective and
efficient way.
We believe that our document provides a logical, orderly and common sense approach to address
this formidable mandate and we would urge you and the ]members of the Task Force to give it
serious analysis and consideration, as you continue the exercise of preparing your findings and
recommendations for the Premier of Ontario.
We have taken the liberty of attaching to our submission, the responses which were received as
input to our public meeting which was held on September 26, 1995. We hope you will find these
letters to be a refreshing reality check, since they represent a wide cross section of our Aurora
community ranging from the Aurora Chamber of Commerce to Caitlin Miller, a 7 year old
resident of our community.
G.T.A. Task Force Submission
Town of Aurora
Page 2
Finally, we want to fervently express to you that we very much want to participate in the
significant exercise which lies ahead. We very much want to be part of the solution and not part
of the problem. If we can assist the process in any way or if you require any additional
information or clarification concerning our submission, please contact me at your convenience.
p.c. GTA Municipalities and Regions
Frank Klees, M. P. P., York MacKenzie
,..
FORM
MUST
FOLLOW
FUNCTION
Th e Gold en Ta sk For ce
1 9 9 5
AURORA BELIEVES THAT
FORM MUST FOLLOW FUNCTION!
Preamble
T
he Town of Aurora is a growing and
prosperous community of 34,000 people,
which began its existence with the opening of
Yonge Street in 1796.
We are proud of the quality of life which we
are able to provide for and with our citizens.
We are proud of the levels of service we have
been able to maintain, despite economic
constraints, the Provincial Expenditure Control
Program and the Social Contract.
We are proud that we have had a 0% increase
in the mill rate for the past 4 years. (We just
dont brag about it as much as some of our
neighbors!)
We are proud that we have no debt!
We are proud of the condition of most of our
existing infrastructure and we understand the
financial challenges ahead to maintain it.
We are proud of the strong relationships we
have developed and nurtured in York Region
with the other levels of government and the
private sector.
We are proud of the way we have managed
our growth challenges, while still maintaining
our small town sense of community.
We are proud of the fact that we are able to
deliver existing levels of municipal services for
only $5.06 per resident, per week (although
there is always room for improvement).
We are proud of the quality and contributions
of the businesses in our community.
Mostly though, Aurora is a Town Which We
are Proud to Call Home!
Fundamental Principles For Change
T
he members of the Task Force might be
led to wonder why a small Town like
Aurora would feel compelled to make this
submission. First, we subscribe to the notion
that you are seeking quality not quantity.
Secondly, we are very concerned about what
we perceive to be a momentum which has been
created by the media and some of our GTA
colleagues; to alter Municipal boundaries and
political jurisdictions first, without doing a true
business case analysis.
The notion of blowing up the existing
GTA configuration and fixing the pieces
later does not sit well with us.
There needs to be a concerted and genuine
effort to analyse the functions of our existing
levels of government and services within the
GTA and measure them against some
fundamental principles, standards or
benchmarks.
Once the quality, effectiveness, efficiency and
economic competitiveness of these functions
have been comprehensively truthed out, only
then should a jurisdictional, political form be
contemplated and proposed.
We have not seen any empirical financial data
to support the perception that bigger is better
or cheaper.
We would submit to you that at the very least,
the following fundamental principles must be
tested and verified, before changes are made:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Costs to provide existing levels of service
must be proven to be less.
Any overlapping or gaps in government
responsibilities must be identified and
eliminated.
Once duplication of services has been
addressed, the taxpayers must know
clearly who is accountable and
responsible for the delivery and
performance of each of the services they
receive.
Once the who and the what have been
clearly determined, a definitive finding
mechanism should be confirmed which
allows the appropriate level of
government to deliver the service,
without being held ransom to the transfer
payment or finding whims of another
level of government.
5. Services must be provided at the
governance level which is best positioned
to nurture, enhance and respond to the
local community. Effective and efficient
dont always mean cheapest, particularly
if taxpayer access to local government is
greatly reduced or eliminated. Our view
is that our common client (the taxpayer)
wants access to government.
6. A GTA wide 20 year plus strategic plan
must be developed and GTA wide bodies
must be created and empowered to plan
and address cross municipal, area wide;
B
Waste Management
B
Transit and Transportation
.
Networks
B
Water and Sewer Infrastructure
B
Economic Development and
Competitiveness Within the Global
Marketplace.
B
Land Use Planning
B
Protection of the Environment
Recommendations -
A Potential Recipe For Success!
T
he Town of Aurora wishes to submit the
following recommended courses of action
to deal with the GTA Reform issue for
consideration, analysis and truthing out,
prior to the implementation of any
political/jurisdictional quick fix solutions.
- 2 -
A. The Province
(1) We support the notion that the province
must continue to be responsible for
setting Provincial policies, standards and
guidelines.
(2) A simplified, flexible legislative
framework must be provided by the
Province, thereby creating operating
parameters to ensure that municipalities
have the ability to get on with providing
their services to inhabitants in an
appropriate fashion.
(3) The Province must recognize and confirm
that the GTA is the economic engine of,
Ontario and Canada and therefore
requires concurrent status. The Province
must accept its responsibility to exert its
authority on a big picture, GTA wide
basis (not on an individual, municipal
basis). Instead of an Office of the
Greater Toronto Area, a Ministry of the
GTA is required to replace the multiple
Ministry bureaucracies which inhibit and
frustrate day to day municipal operations.
Although the province is reluctant to give
the GTA special status within the context
of Municipal Affairs . . . it must have the
conviction to get through and beyond this
mindset!
(4) once the province has set policy, it must
get out of the way and let municipalities
deliver the goods! Get rid of all the
(5)
checkers in Agriculture, Community and
Social Services, Education, Environment,
Government Services, Health, Housing,
Management Board, Municipal Affairs,
Natural Resources, Transportation and
Treasury. Trust municipalities to carry
out policy and only inject checkers
where policies and trust have been
compromised. This initiative alone we
believe, will save millions of dollars.
The province should create a Greater
Toronto Area Advisory Forum which
would include the Mayors and Regional
Chairs of all existing or future
municipalities. Before making any
decisions directly impacting the GTA, the
province would always formally seek the
advice and input of the GTAAF. Then,
through the Minister of the GTA, it
would make policy, standard and
guideline decisions.
(6) We suggest that the new Ministry of the
GTA establish six (6) individual GTA
Planning and Policy Commissions which
would report directly to the Cabinet
Minister of the GTA and provide advice
and recommendations for the following
GTA-wide initiatives;
B
Waste Management
B
Transit and Transportation
Networks
B
Water and Sewer Infrastructure
- 3 -
(7)
.
Economic Development
B
Land Use Planning
B
Protection of the Environment
(Conservation Authorities would
continue their mandates but link to
this GTA Commission)
Each of the GTA Planning and Policy
Commissions would be comprised of
EXISTING non-elected experts from
within the Provincial government, from
the designated service deliverers and from
the private sector. Their broad and
consultative mandate would be to
recommend GTA wide strategic game
plans, policy, standards, guidelines and
legislative solutions to the Minister of the
GTA who would then seek formal
political input from the GTAAF, before
bringing final recommendations to
Cabinet.
As a result, no new level of government
would need to be created, the 6
Commissions would be directly
accountable to elected representatives at
the province and the province would be
obligated to follow a formal GTAAF
consultation process, before enacting or
implementing new GTA initiatives.
The province must move towards a
common and consistent assessment
valuation process. It can do this most
effectively by:
a) Phasing in the new process for all
(8)
b)
GTA municipalities over a ten year
period.
Showing immediate leadership in
stopping the City of Toronto/905
communities divisive discord on this
issue. The City of Toronto is the
heart of the GTA which is at least
the economic engine of Ontario.
The solution is not solving
Torontos tax issue on the backs
of the 905 communities. Rather, a
province-wide solution must be
contemplated if Provincial
intervention and assistance are truly
required to allow the City of
Toronto to phase in the new
process successfully.
The province must comprehensively
address the cost, efficiency and
effectiveness of Ontarios education
system against the same Fundamental
Principles for Change benchmarks, and
a) If appropriate, identify potential
form linkages with municipal or
regional government, and
b) Examine alternatives to the present
system of property tax finding for
education.
B. Regional Government
We believe there is a need for a redefined
level of Regional Government within the
GTA. Although Regional Government
- 4 -
does require fine tuning today, if it is to
meet the test of The Fundamental
Principles For Change, it has served its
purpose well and has the potential to
continue to do so, particularly in York
Region.
(9) A redefined Region of York should be a
service delivery vehicle, not a big brother
to local municipalities. It should be
responsible and accountable for:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Policing.
Public Health Services.
Regional Waste Management
operations and following the
policies, standards and guidelines of
the GTA Waste Management
Commission.
Regional Transit operations and
following the policies, standards
and guidelines of the GTA Transit
and Transportation Network
Commission.
Regional Water and Sewer Supply
and Treatment Facility operations
and administration (including
billings) and following the policies,
standards and guidelines of the
GTA Water and Sewer
Infrastructure Commission.
Social Services (Subsidized
Housing, Child Care, General
Welfare Assistance, Long Term
Care) until the Regions and the
province have had an opportunity to
determine who is best positioned to
deliver social services in both a cost
effective and close to the
community manner. This will
ensure that both the real and
perceived levels of duplication are
eliminated.
g)
All property assessment
administration responsibility.
(10) In our opinion, the Region of York
should not be responsible or accountable
for the following services which it
currently provides;
a) Land Use Planning
b) Road Construction, Maintenance
and Operations
c) Local Water and Sewer Distribution
Systems (piping under local roads
should be dealt with in a seamless
way with road construction and
reconstruction).
C. Local Municipal Government
We believe that given the
recommendations we have proposed for
Provincial and regional governance, a
redefined structure and service provision
level is required for local municipal
governments in the GTA.
- 5 -
(11) A redefined Town of Aurora should
continue to be a service delivery vehicle
and should be responsibleand
accountable for:
a) Fire and Emergency Services
(pending the completion and
analysis of the functional and
structural analysis by the Region of
York Fi re Servi ces Revi ew
Committee).*
b) All Land Use Planning and
and guidelines of the GTA Land
Use Planning Commission.
c) All Road Network Infrastructure
within the municipality and
and guidelines of the GTA Transit
and Transportation Network
Commission.
d) Local Water and Sewer Distribution
Systems (watermains and sewers)
so that infrastructure life cycle
maintenance can be planned in
concert with road works.
e) All Parks and Recreation/Leisure
Services.
f) All building related matters.
advantageous and t o seeki ng
potential and viable public and
pr i vat e s e c t or j oi nt
venture/partnership opportunities.
h) All Clerks Related Functions with
the added initiative of reviewing the
f easi bi l i t y of administering
Provincial elections.
i) All Human Resources Related
Functions with a new formalized
commitment to share resources with
both public and private sector
partners, particularly in the area of
staff training and development.
j) Library Services
k) Economic Development, since the
retention of existing local business
is critical. The municipality would
work in partnership with the GTA
Commission.
New ways of delivering these services
must be explored, including increased
involvement and contributions by the
private sector, with a view to reducing
costs.
(12) In our opinion, local municipa
governments should not be accountabl
or responsible for:
g) All Treasury related functions with
new formalized commitments to
cooperative purchasing where
- 6 -
a) Water and Sewer Billings (although
physical payments could still be
made at City and Town Halls).
b) Fire and Emergency Services,
central dispatch, communications,
training, and apparatus acquisition
and maintenance.
c) Waste Management (pick up,
recycling, landfill).
d) Transit,
IMPLEMENTATION
A
urora believes that a timeframe of at least
one year is required to truth out our 12
recommendations and the many others the
GTA Task Force will receive, against the
Fundamental Principles For Change.
(2)
During this one year period, we would
recommend that:
(1) The province fully analyse and where
possible implement;
a) the enabling legislative changes
necessary
b) the creation of a GTA Cabinet
Minister and Ministry
d)
e)
f)
g)
the creation of 6 GTA Planning and
Policy commissions answerable
directly to the province, through the
Minister of the GTA (thus not
creating another level of
government)
the creation of a common and
consistent assessment valuation
process.
the elimination of all Provincial
Ministry checkers, thus redefining
the Provincial/municipal
relationship and basing it on trust.
A complete analysis of the cost,
efficiency and effetiveness of
Ontarios education system.
The regional and local municipal
governments should be given the
responsibility to analyse and test our
recommendations and the many others
the GTA Task Force will be receiving,
against the Fundamental Principles For
Change. They should be charged with
the task of bringing back a new product
to the Provincial table which best
satisfies these criteria.
c) the creation of a Greater Toronto
Area Advisory Forum (including all
Mayors and Regional Chairpersons)
- 7 -
CONCLUSION
A
urora is convinced that this one year
exercise has the potential to realize
enormous savings, without even entertaining
the negative conotations of perceived power
grabbing political boundary altering mind sets.
This negative thinking puts everyone on the
defensive and prevents the shared nurturing of
creative, entrepreneurial, flexible and
innovative solutions to what should be
financial challenges, not geographical
challenges.
At the end of one year, lets collectively (all
levels of government and the boards of
education) take stock so that we and the
public can critically analyse our progress.
Only then might it be necessary for all of us
together, to work on a potential next phase of
the exercise, which might be to truth out the
pros and cons of consolidating existing
municipalities or eliminating regions.
- 8 -
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
Greater Toronto Area
MINISTRY OF THE
SIX GREATER TORONTO AREA
POLICY COMMISSIONS
\
/
LOCAL LEVEL
WATERSHED
REGIONAL
SERVICES
SERVICES LEVEL SERVICES
I
MUNICIPALITIES
CONSERVATION
AUTHORITIES
REGIONS
\
Town of Aurora
Recommended Concept
Concept Details
Advisory Forum
(All GTA Mayors &
Regional Chairs)
Ministry of the Greater
Toronto Area
------------------------------------------------
GREATER TORONTO AREA PLANNING AND POLICY COMMISSIONS
Land Use Economic Protection of the Water & Sewer
Transit &
Transportation
Waste
Planning
Development Environment Infrastructure
Networks
Management
B
LOCAL LEVEL
WATERSHED REGIONAL
SERVICES
SERVICES LEVEL SERVICES
I
MUNICIPALITIES
CONSERVATION REGIONS
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Land Use Planning
B Watershed Planning B
Roads
Policing
B Storm Water Quality B Public Health Services
Water & Sewer Distribution
B Storm Water Quantity B Waste Management
Parks & Recreation/Leisure
B Recharge Areas
Building
B Transit
B Flood Plain Mapping B Water & Sewer Supply& Treatment
B Wetlands B Social Services
Library Services
B
B Political, Legislative &
Policy (GTA Wide)
Decisions.
B Formal Political Input &
Consultation.
Final Legislation/Policy/
Standards/ Guidelines
Formulation
(PLANNING)
B Planning and preparation of
GTA Legislation/Policy/
Standards/Guidelines
B Expert Research, Advice
and Consultation,
(Service Delivery)
B Service Level
Deliverers
121 Tyler Street
Aurora
Ontario L4G 2N4
PO Box 1000
Aurora, Ontario
L4G 6J1
MUNICIPAL RESTRUCTURING
I well remember that on the occasion of your inauguration you said that the full realiz
that you were mayor struck you when, in the very early hours of inauguration day, a
resident of the town called you to ask you what you were going to do about the brok
water main on Machell Avenue. How often do Barbara Hall or Alan Tonks pick up th
bedside phones to deal with public works problems on the Danforth, or wherever?
town life may be hard on our mayors, but it is great for the citizenry.
I would not want to see a merger of Aurora with any other municipality. No doubt ou
community could maintain some of its character even if we were part of some huge
everything-from-Steeles-to-Lake-Simcoe conglomeration: even the worlds largest c
made up of many neighbourhoods. But, in addition to maintaining all those intangib
inexplicable things which go into making a sense of community, I want to continue t
able to call up the mayorIll try to avoid the middle of the night!-- any one of ou
councillors if I have a problem. If appropriate, I would probably try a staff person fir
and I like knowing that the public works people do not have to check some massive
index to figure out where Tyler Street is, or that Sandra will let me search through old
assessment rolls because she knows me and knows that I can be trusted.
Ill leave it to others to ask those nitty-gritty questions about staffing levels, tax
implications, and increased or decrea se d services. All those matters are of concern to me,
too, but my main reaction to the notion of amalgamation is emotional, not practical. I
much want to be able to go on saying to outsiders, In Aurora, we . . . And I am will
pay for that privilege, so far as I am able. And, finally, I want the opportunity to form
register my opinion on this issue, by means of a referendum.
Jacqueline Stuart
c: Chamber of Commerce
29 August 1995
The Editor,
Era-Banner,
Newmarket, Ontario.
To the Editor of the Era-Banner:
Most people agree that government in York Region and the Greater Toronto Area
(G.T.A.) must be reformed to meet the challenges of the next century, But why are so
many of the reformers promoting the simplistic idea that bigger means cheaper? For
example, advocates of the amalgamation of Aurora and Newmarket think that their ideas are
justified by economy. Are they really? Will we need fewer employees to collect taxes in
Aurora-Newmarket? Will we need fewer employees to assess development applications in a
combined planning department? Will we need fewer employees to look after parks, arenas,
and cultural facilities in a larger community? And how much will it cost to build the new
Aurora-Newmarket municipal offices? The only people who would be sure to lose their
jobs would be elected representatives, most of whom work for far less than the average
civil servant. Many volunteers who now work on town committees would find that their
services would no longer be needed or would be less likely to offer their services in a
larger, more anonymous municipality.
If we want to see how big government really works, we need look no farther than to York
Region itself with its nonelected chairman and grossly overpriced new headquarters. York
Region began with high hopes that it could effectively co-ordinate the affairs of a large
area, but took over twenty years to develop its first Official Plan!
We could also look to many parts of England where towns, cities, and whole counties were
amalgamated over twenty years ago with disastrous results in many areas. The trend today
in many of these places is to try to recreate smaller, more manageable units of government
where elected officials are held responsible by the people they represent.
Many of our problems stem from the fact that a large part of the G.T.A, s growth has come
at the expense of the City of Toronto and parts of Metro. As jobs, industries, and
ratepayers have been lured to outlying areas by cheaper land and lower taxes, core areas
have experienced economic decline along with higher costs for social services and public
welfare. In addition, the burden of paying for roads and public transportation, enjoyed by
commuters from outlying areas, has fallen disproportionately on the shoulders of city
taxpayers.
Until we come to grips with the real costs of urban sprawl, we wont be able to solve the
problems of the G.T.A. Tinkering with the boundaries of Aurora and Newmarket will do
nothing but remove local government farther from the citizens it is supposed to serve.
15342 Yonge Street,
Aurora, Ontario. L4G 1N8
To: The Editor
Era Banner
853-4626
Caroline Rowan
841-0549
Solving the problems of the GTA
1 dont pretend to understand all the workings of local governments, nor do I
want to. However it appears to me, that the GTA needs to consider two major areas,
before going any further with its idea of amalgamating York Region.
Firstly, what is the real problem, the real cause, not the symptoms that makes the
GTA want to look at amalgamation? Are they going to solve it by the amalgamation of
smaller communities? I believe that the GTA is grabbing at straws, dealing with symptoms
and not determining or addressing the real issues. Problems do not go away by themselves,
They need to be clearly identified and a clear plan of action developed, Outcome measures
must be determined and constantly evaluated. Has that been done? I suggest it has not, If
it has, then why is no one communicating it to the people who live in York region? SO far,
no one has convinced me of the value of clumping a group of communities together, I
chose to live in Aurora, because I wanted what a small community has to offer, and after
eight years it is still surpassing my expectations, 1 dont want that to change, unless there
are some very valid, concrete reasons.
Seoondly, if you look at a number of the large companies today, they are breaking
down the larger conglomerates into smaller more manageable and, more importantly,
profitable units. Perhaps, we should consider this aspect, before jumping to conclusions,
Yes, I know Mississauga is debt free, so is Aurora. Perhaps a lot of that success has to go
to the dedicated people who run those communities and their strong visions and plans.
Just because something has worked well in one area does not automatically mean that it
will be as successful elsewhere. It scares me to think of moving forward on anything
without solid direction, Perhaps we would be better cooperating with one another and
moving slowly to consolidate services, where it makes sense. Bigger is not necessarily
better.
I urge each citizen to let their mayor and council know now how they feel and not
to wait until its too late, We can not afford the luxury of disinterest.
Caroline Rowan
39, Spence Drive,
905-841-1552
Aurora
September 8, 1995
Ti m Jones
Mayor of Aurora
Dear Mayor Jones:
Would you please bring the following to the attention of your council at your
earliest opportunity. I have released this information to the local papers in the
form of a press release. I would appreciate any comments you may have.
The current review of the GTA provides the opportunity to re-evaluate the way
civic and government services are organized, administered and delivered, We
believe that the optimal model for service effectiveness and efficiency is the
current regional policing model. And whatever government structure is adopted
for the GTA, the regional policing model should be kept for policing and applied
to fire, garbage, hydro and other municipal services,
After working with this model for more than 20 years, Ontarios regional police
departments have learned how to make the system work. It is not a stagnant
model, but one that continues to be adapted, modified and improved.
Although resisted initially and certainly not perfect today, our current model
provides the most effective and cost-efficient service to the residents of (Mario.
In fact, York Regional Police has consistently year after year, provided the lowest
cost per capita of policing in the Greater Toronto Area,
We are currently at a point where service effectiveness and macro cost
efficiencies arising from economies of scale are at or near their optimum . In
other words, the current system is the right size and the right type of organization
for the populations to be served.
Enlarging the units of organization via the Super Region plan would result in
diseconormies of scale. A return to smaller municipal departments would
eliminate many of the cost efficiencies and service improvements achieved over
the past 20 years,
We believe that the institution of a Super Region police service would inevitably
lead to prioritized policing, instead of the desired goal of community oriented
policing. Under prioritized policing high crime areas receive a disproportionate
amount of the available police resources to the detriment of other areas, which
also need a regular poIice presence to be kept safe.
**42
T
H
E
AFFILIATED 1971
CITIZENS OF AURORA PREPARE TO DEFEND YOURSELVES!!
A recent headline story m the Era Banner quotes a Markham Councillor suggesting that SMALL TOWNS MUST GO.
What are the real issues?
Too much government? Too many layers of government? Too many elected officials?
Too many municipal employees7 Too much waste? Not enough accountability?
IS the current rage for amalgamating municipalities and rationalizing government really about giving taxpayers value for
money or is it about granting increased power to some elected officia/municipal employees over the lives of others?
Too little government or government at the wrong level or with the wrong priorities may be no better than what we have
today. Isnt a more efficiently managed, independent Aurora a alignment that costs us our
independence. We need the facts about the cost of government uirements of our taxpayers.
According to Marc Neeb, CAO for the Town of Aurora the average homeowner in Aurora pays about$11 per week m
taxes for the services we receive from the Town. We pay about half that amount for the services we receive from the
Region and we pay three times that amount or $33 per week for education. The question is what level of service do we
get from eacof these sources? Its also a question of what services we should expect to receive and what those services
should cost. No doubt some services are better performed at a higher level of government; in the case of transportation
for instance GO Transit should be a Regional matter whereas local busing should be a local issue. Surely we need to
develop a matrix of required services to be funded by the public purse and decide the level at which they should be
provided. And we need to keep asking the questions -is government doing the things it should be doing? - are we getting
value for money? - is there some more efficient manner of delivering the required level of service? - can we afford all the
services were paying for today? Maybe we have to accept less of some services - like snow removal - maybe we can only
afford to remove snow twice a day rather than three times; or maybe its based on six centimetres of buildup rather than
two? But we need to be given the facts about services and their costs so we can establish priorities.
If services dont increase or taxes arent reduced then any changes proposed arent the right ones. The next few months
promise to be very exciting es the various levels of government try to stake out new ground. If you dont want decisions
about OUT Town made by people such es Alan Tonks, Mel Lastman, John Cole, or the like, get involved - learn the facts,
considering the talk to your neighbors, talk to our Town councillors, the Mayor and the Towns staff. Decide what
makes sense to you and then let others know where you stand. Make your views known. Send your comments to the
Aurora Chamber of Commerce Public Policy Committee, c/o the Chamber Office, Attention Jim McAlpine.
Council is planning a special meeting for7:O0 PM September 26 at which time the public is invited to share its views with
the Town. Council has also scheduled two further meetings to obtain staff input on the future of Aurora as an
independently governed municipality -- September 13 at 6:00 PM; September 20 at 5:00 PM. These meetings are also
open for public attendance. Watch our local newspapers for further details and plan to attend. In the meantime, if you have
any comments give mea call at 841-0800.
19 Parkland Court
Aurora, Ontario
L4G 3M5
September 21, 1995
Mayor Tim Jones
Town of Aurora
100 John West Way
Box 1000
Aurora, Ontario
L4G 6J1
Dear Mayor Jones:
Re: GTA Restructuring
I hope it is not too late to voice my opinion. on Mr. Kings idea of restructuring the GTA, in
particular, York Region.
Our region has enjoyed phenomenal growth over the last 20 years, and in many cases, the
services have struggled to keep up with the expanded growth. However, Aurora is unique -
completely different from our neighbors to the north and south, and I will fight tooth and
nail to see that it remains that way.
One of the main reasons I voted for you as Mayor was because you believed in controlled
growth. With Mr. Kings idea looming over our heads, that would no longer be possible.
I grew up North York, specifically Willowdale, and once Mel Lastman took over the helm
and North York became a city, it was never the same. Quiet family neighbourhoods were
demolished for high-rises, the crime rate rose, the beyond the glistening Mel Lastman
Square, remaining neighbourhoods were allowed to deteriorate to almost ghettos.
I will not stand idly by and see our wonderful town destroyed as we know it. Community
spirit runs high, we have excellent facilities and utilities (granted our taxes are high to pay
for it) and our streets are still safe. My forward-thinking children feel the same way. They
love Aurora the way it is, and they are our future tax-paying citizens.
Thank you for inviting the publics input in this crucial matter!
Susan
-
Miller
/sm
September 26, 1995
TO THE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF COUNCIL, TOWN OF AURORA
B !
The mission of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce is to support the development of business in
Aurora. Our chamber with more than 700 members represents in excess of 60% of the
businesses in Aurora. We are proud to be part of the Aurora community.
For several years our Chamber along with other Chambers throughout the province has been
frustrated by the unchecked expansion of government throughout Ontario and the intervention of
many government and quasi government agencies into the lives of Ontarians. Small businesses
have especially suffered as the imposition of ever increasing taxes on businesses, property
owners and consumers as well as the imposition of various legislated reporting requirements
have become such a burden that we risk killing the goose that laid the golden egg. Without
wealth creation we will not be able to fired the research innovation and education required to
maintain our competitive position in a shrinking global economy. And if we dont provide an
environment which rewards and encourages wealth creators to form new business enterprises in
our community we will force them to relocate to environments more conducive to their needs.
Our forefathers and many of todays business leaders came to this country because it represented
a new frontier without the barriers to wealth creation and class distinctions that drove them from
their native land. If fwe do not quickly embrace a return to the principles of private enterprise
and small government that existed in the first half of this century those who choose to remain in
Aurora and Ontario will be the losers.
We view the challenge to our present government structures and to todays educational system ,
that was evident in the most recent provincial, municipal and school board elections as a call to
action that must be heeded. We are encouraged that the Harris government is pursuing its
mandate of spending control and deficit reduction seriously. We view the appointment of the
Golden Commission as a positive step in re-evaluating the role of government in the GTA. It
provides the first opportunity in many, many years for citizens and local and regional
governments tore-evaluate the basis under which they have operated before the creeping growth
of government with its layers and layers of bureaucrats, like a we@ chokes the life from
Ontarios productive heartland.
The reality is that no business could have survived the bungling that has occurred generally in
governments throughout Canada for so long.
- 2 -
We hope this review is only the first step in a pervasive re-evaluation of all the chokers that
exist in our economy, like uncontrolled spending by too many school boards, like public utilities
that arent accountable to the public yet whose decisions can make or break the success of a
perfectly sound and highly beneficial business venture, like elected officials who refuse to take
advantage of the economies of scale because doing so might result in a diminution in their
personal authority.
We are pleased that Aurora Town Council has prepared a position paper for submission to the
Golden Task Force. We are also pleased that their paper appears to recognize the duplication of
effort that exists between the regional and the municipal levels of government. We applaud their
position that for many services provided by government government close to the electorate is
the most effective. On the other hand their proposal recognizes that some services can be better
provided at a different level where critical mass allows the required services to be delivered
more efficiently. The place where we believe more work needs to be done is in defining the
minimum services that the population needs to have performed by government at all. From
there, a determination can be made as to the cost of such services and how they are to be
provided. At the same time it is necessary to re-examine the way government services are
funded. We have income tax property, tax sales tax, value added tax, lotteries, betting tax,
utility users fees, development charges, unemployment insurance taxes, workmens compensation
taxes, pension taxes, health insurance taxes and many more. Many people dont have to pay for
anything anymore so theyre not concerned with what things cost and they never have to learn to
manage their limited resources. Most people can go to a doctor (public health care) or a dentist
(private health care) and never have to reach into their pocket to make payment so they dont
know and ultimately dont care what things cost. This is not a healthy situation. Its like having
a lifetime human warranty system. Our taxing structure and social safety net need to be re- ,
examined to make sure theyre not adding to the problem instead of solving the problem.
The staff submission calculates that the cost of delivering existing levels of municipal service in
Aurora is $5.06 per resident, per week. The Towns 1994 audited financial statements reveal
that a further $4.33 per resident, per week is collected on behalf of the region. Taxes collected
on behalf of school boards amounted to $15.64 per resident, per week. Thats a total of
$44,377,270 collected from Aurora residents in 1994 to fund the requirements of the town, the
region and for education. Wow! ! Education represents 60/0 and were told 50/0 of that is spent
outside the classroom! And what about the conservation authorities and local utilities, such as
Hydro? Are they structured in the most accountable and cost effective ways?
- 3 -
The staff report refers to fundamental principles. Our recommendation is that the overriding
principle must be cost reduction. More service at the same cost is not an alternative. We already
have more than enough service. Another fundamental principle would be to ensure that any
changes made increase accountability. Finally, we believe that increased private sector
employment should take precedence over increased public sector employment. Every effort
should be made to outsource service delivery to the private sector. Take a brief look at the
automotive sector. The entire recovery of the North American car companies can be linked to
their decision to focus on design engineering assembly and distribution. Today Chrysler is
more of a marketing company than a manufacturing company. In fact most of the
manufacturing is done by suppliers. And look at the diffrence in the rate of turnaround among
the big three. Chrysler has come the farthest the quickest and it outsources the most
approximately 70%. GM on the other hand only outsources about 30% so its still loaded with
bureaucracy thats slowing its recovery. Surely governments job is policy, planning program
design (maybe), communication and accountability. Outsource the remaining functions to the
private sector, like tax collection transit (remember what happened to CN and Air Canada?),
etc.
We also need to re-evaluate everything we do in light of the information age which will cause an
even more rapid rate of change in all areas of our lives, including government. In this area we
are not aware that any submission has been fully developed in terms of the impact of technology
on govemrnent, nor do we think government can or should develop the staff competence to deal
with this complex area. Here too, we believe a strong argument exists to rely on expertise that
exists profitably in the private sector to determine how government can best employ technology
in carrying out its limited functions.
In summary, we believe the Town of Aurora has benefited from having its own elected council.
Wc agree with the staff submission that there is no compelling evidence that redrawing the
boundaries within York Region Will improve government. We believe the pace of growth and
the type of development in Aurora is preferable to that which has occurred in Newmarket and
Richmond Hill to name just two of our neighbors who might have wanted to impose their
dreams on our community. We dont believe they should be given that chance, either by
changing boundaries or by further empowering the region!
Overall, we support the position taken in the Towns FORM MUST FOLLOW FUNCTION
submission, although we do not subscibe to fundamental principle number 2. We already have
more than enough services provided by government Furthermore, we believe that any changes
made must result in increased accountability. We also feel that the emphasis should be on
private sector employment versus government jobs. Wherever possible opportunities for
outsourcing should be pursued.
- 4 -
We encourage Council in the months ahead to aggressively pursue the principles enunciated in
its submission and we encourage the Golden Task Force to study the alternatives carefully and
to use the unique opportunity afforded by this review to eliminate many of the impediments to
business that have been allowed to flourish over the past several decades. Together we must re-
establish a frontier in the GTA for the 21st century.
Respectfully Submitted on Behalf of the Aurora Chamber of Commerce
To the Mayor and Council c / o The Clerk
I have tried to be a vigiliant upholder of democracy. As a
responsible citizen I have been a supporter but also
suspicious of government and a lifetime of observing with
some exceptions have found some suspicions justified.
And now with money scarcer governments are looking for
sources of money. (Could it be that the province and
Metro, will raid Auroras till.)
The proposals of amalgamation to save money maybe true
in the short run, but I find it is never in the interest of the
citizenry to increase government jurisdictions. Our
governments at all levels, but especially the senior
government, have grown out of proportion to other
growth in our society. Given more reign, governments
have grown even to indebtedness.
Though I admit to not knowing what the specifics of the
proposals are with the exception of a blanket sense of
takeover, I believe this proposal could in the long run lead
to more government.
I would therefore propose a vote for Aurora citizenry be
taken on the matter. It is very simple to conduct a vote
with electronic --voting by computer. Switzerland
conducts 6 or 7 votes a year for all its citizens. I believe
Red Deer, Alta. has the electronic machinery to allow all
its residents a vote on issues several times a year in the
true spirit of democracy rather than just to elect politicians
from term to term. And there are other communities in
Canada able to have plebiscites throughout the term.
California has had a number of general plebiscites in the
past. Therefore do inquire into obtaining the voting
machinery on loan. The provincial leadership of the PC
party was done for all its registered delegates via computer
brought to the people.
I think we, the people of Aurora should know the
specifics of the proposal by the province and then be
allowed to vote as to whether we are in favor, yes or no.
My conclusion is we are only as healthy, economically
and in otherways in relation to how our institutions serve
us and allow for innovation. I believe institutions are
presently with very few exceptions often self-serving and
because this is so epidemic and especially in government
where it is systemic, one cant blame individuals but say it
is in fact in the nature of institutions.
Therefore institutions like government must be held up to
checks and balances and one way to do this is to let the
citizenry they serve, vote on measures and issues to be
undertaken by government. I believe plebiscites should be
held often and will become standard practise. The
machinery is available to make government by frequent
plebiscite possible and efficient. The old adage,
Whoever pays the piper, calls the tune is a truism and
we the taxpayers are the ones to decide how we will be
governed and how our money will be spent.
Groo Bannerman
174 Evelyn Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M6P 2Z7
(416) 763 8765
Monday 25. September, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair, GTA Task Force
393 University Avenue, Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
CANADA M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Executive Summary:
I have examined the submission of the Metropolitan Toronto
Council to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force carefully. I
am in complete agreement with all of the proposals ideas,
barring some small qualifications of emphasis. As a political
maneuver, I consider the plan extremely clever, and I am very
impressed by such strong evidence of political competence-
More pertinently. I think this bird could fly.
Background:
Demographically, I am a single male Anglo-Saxon in my
mid-forties. I have a formal Grade 10 education and have
made it partway through Grade 11 somewhere between five and
ten times. My income level is near the lowest; I am dependent
on Canada Pension Plan disability and Family Benefit Allowance
support. I am presently trying to discover if I can earn my
living as a freelance writer. I am a rationalist, not a
humanist. Because I am a realist, I am a social and fiscal
conservative.
In my view, the Metro proposal to the GTA Task Force is
being made against a background of enormous and very dangerous
socio-political forces. The socialist mixed economy of Canada
RECEIVED
- 2 -
is an abject failure and that has been conclusively proven.
Only the provincial governments of Ontario and Alberta in all
of Canada are making any effort to bury the countrys decom-
posing economic system and truly govern.
Unfortunately, all the governments of Canada, especially
on the federal and provincial levels, have painted themselves
into a corner in which all the economic reforms so essential
to the survival of the nation are trivial in comparison to the
political reforms necessary. This is irrefutably true of the
federal government, which threw away any claim to legitimacy
in power decades ago.
For an entire generation, since the election of the
monster PET, Canada has been ruled by ex-colonists of France
and their figureheads. No other government in Canada, on any
level, has done anything to correct or even protest this inter-
national disgrace, as if the permanent ethnic-based minority
rule of a so-called democracy was normal or acceptable in any
nation of the world. Whatever the pretension towards democracy
in Canada, the practical political reality has become the
effective dictatorship of an ethnic minority- The federal
government of my birthplace is completely and totally illegit-
imate, possessing no moral authority whatsoever, and that has
been the political reality for almost thirty years. By every
fundamental principle of political science, the government of
Canada is not normal or acceptable. My homeland is the laughing-
stock of the entire world.
The women of European descent in Canada have refused for
more than twenty years to bear enough children to keep the
countrys population from falling. Because they prefer abor-
tions to children, my countrys so-called government has been
driven to an utterly indiscriminate and frantically desperate
open immigration policy just to keep the labour force of Canada
anywhere near a sustainable percentage. The federal government
has founded this policy of panic on little more than the
- 3 -
bribery of a guaranteed socialist welfare state mindlessly
eager to take absolutely anyone. Predictably, this policy in
practice has not always attracted the highest quality of new-
comers.
The illegitimate government of Canada has encouraged an
influx of peoples from more than a hundred nations with what
seems an entire absense of foresight, planning, or preparedness.
The decision-makers and their advisors appear to be simply
ignoring or denying the facts that the much greatest part of
these peoples bear with them centuries of historical and cul-
tural antipathies, not only to the European descendants of
Canada, but to many other of the peoples among their own numbers
as well.
Every level of government in the entire country seems to
have no coherent policy or practice planned or in place to
deal with the inevitable conflicts in our society except to
plead with everyone to get along with each other or else, and
then wring their hands and whimper when, of course, people do
not. The best any government has been able to come up with
is to pass legislation making it unlawful for people to say
they dislike anyone- The passing of unenforceable legislation
is a universally recognized proof of inferior and irresponsible
government.
In what may very well be a related development, the crime
rate everywhere in the nation is skyrocketing above any govern-
able level. Virtually every government in Canada seems frozen
in terror by the rising tide of populist demands that they
actually govern and do something about crime and criminals-
All the evidence demonstrates that the only solution every
government in North America has been able to imagine to prevent
their grip on power dissappearing in the public demands for
action is to order the deliberate and premeditated falsification
of their own statistical crime rate reports. The evidence is
overwhelming that the governments of the U.S. and Canada have
- 4 -
adopted a policy based on the deliberate
own citizens. Most blatantly in Canada,
deception of their
the various levels
of government have used all of their diplomatic persuasion to
convince the most influential media to report these inane and
laughably obvious absurdities as if they were straight news,
with an accompanying assault of propaganda in commentaries
and editorials to make people think their concerns about crime
are all in their minds.
This ridiculous policy and practice shows an absolute
failure of governance. It does not, will not, and cannot
have any effect whatsoever on the continuously rising crime
rate. On the contrary, it will only conceal the causes until
they are far beyond any treatable stage less than a Draconian
and desperately aggressive surgery. The exposed deception is
certain to only increase the growing disillusionment, cynicism,
and anger of the public.
The enactment of this mindless policy is the complete
abnegations of any moral authority to govern. When the only
solution to rising crime rates and public demands they do
something about it a government can imagine is a propaganda
campaign to convince their citizens the problem does not
exist, then no legimate government exists.
Aboriginal Canadians openly engage in organized operations
of civil and criminal disobedience with armed rebellion. Their
historic claims are no more just than those of any minority
ethnic group that takes a dislike to its territorys govern-
ment. Every citizen in Canada sees that aboriginal criminals
are not punished. They are held above the law by every level
of government, in a direct destruction of one of the most
primordial principles of justice. Every citizen in Canada
can see there is
should not apply
one obey the law
The numbers
no reason why the excuses made for aboriginal
equally well to themselves. Why should any-
when everyone sees some people do not need to?
and percentages of abstaining voters are
- 5 -
increasing with every election term of every level of govern-
ment, almost everywhere in the nation. On all levels, the
governments of the entire country are confronted by the hideous
and disastrous fact that an ever-growling number of the public
are simply ignoring their governments authority.
On every level, almost every government in Canada is
plainly running scared from the swelling tide of populist
demand for political reform. In a pathetically desperate
attempt to keep their hold on power, and all the accompanying
perks and privileges of power, politicians and bureaucrats are
spinning like weathercocks in winds they cannot even see, let
alone lead. They just dont get it. If a government wants
to be recognized as a legitimate moral authority, then it must
govern.
Elementary Economics:
The first and most important problem with all government
in Canada, on all levels, is that public sector unionist
employees are obscenely overpaid- That is the central problem
of the economy of the Greater Toronto Area. It is the central
problem in the economy of Canada- The amount of money involved
is not the real issue- Where the problem rests is in the
example that governments set as a standard for their citizens.
If elected and appointed officials want and intend the people
to think they are serious and sincere about governing, then
they will solve the problem of their own employees obscenely
over-inflated wages first, before they do anything else-
The Metro proposal to the GTA Task Force speaks feelingly
and repeatedly about the vital needs of competitiveness in the
GTA and a robust city core. Poor Mr. Mulroney, a sadly flawed
and cowardly leader, made many attempts to express the need for
competitiveness in the Canadian economy,
in a manner which was
much too diplomatic and over-polite.
Permit me to be tactless.
- 6 -
Competitiveness means lower wages.
Let me repeat. Being com-
petitive means deflating wages.
At the same time, productivity
must be maintained or increased, thus increasing economic
efficiency, and therefore lowering prices.
Look at Japan, and learn the lesson. Wage and price
inflation is not the way to go. Look at America, and make the
comparison. If the various governments in Canada want to keep
any moral authority to govern, then they should lead. They
must lower the pay scales of their own employees first.
Stated explicitly, I do not mean the payroll expenses of
the municipalities in the GTA are too high and that they should
therefore reduce their payroll. That may be realistic in many
cases, but it is not what I mean. My meaning is clear, and
every private citizen knows it.
Virtually every public sector
unionist employee is paid far too much for doing far too little-
1 seriously and strongly doubt more than two or three out of
every one hundred come anywhere close to earning their pay.
I doubt many more ever even try.
Public sector unionist employees in Canada are paid at
least twice the fair market value of their labour. The govern-
ments of the Greater Toronto Area must reduce the gross pay
and fringe benefits of every single one of their unionist
employees, and they must reduce those pay scales dramatically,
by at least half- They must begin doing this before they do
anything else.
Keeping wages frozen while the national economy inflates
at around 2.5 percent a year is nowhere near good enough.
That
fiscal and monetary practice may seem conservative and prudent
given the notorious stickiness of wages and prices.
In reality,
however, it is just over-cautious. Look at Japan and see where
being over-cautious will get us.
The need for wage deflation
in Canadas economy is urgent-
Public sector unionist pay scales require a sharp shock,
followed by a steady series of steps downwards over a set,
- 7 -
planned period. A first step of somewhere between 10 and 20
percent in one year, followed by reductions of between 5 and
10 percent in each succeeding year, on top of the national
inflation rate, would be reasonable and realistic. My personal
assessment is that the most important considerations are to
pick one planned sequence, implement it, and then stick to it.
No matter what happens, dont stop.
At the same time, the governments of the GTA should do
everything in their political power to persuade and influence
the provincial and federal governments to repeal every labour
law they have on their books. Most significantly, every level
of government must eradicate every piece of legislation related
to any kind of minimum wage.
Obviously, in pragmatic political and economic terms, a
legally defined minimum wage cannot be erased overnight. The
minimum wage in Ontario, at least, could only be deflated in
a series of reductions over a planned duration, probably years
in total- But it must be done starting now.
The size of each reduction should be substantial. The
bottom end of the market can absorb wage cuts with much more
elasticity than the middle or top end, because the total size
of the labour force is much larger. An initial cut of 20 per-
cent, followed by a series of 12.5 percent reductions every
six months, for instance, would have the minimum wage in Ontario
down to a more realistic level quite quickly- There should
never be any doubt, however, in the government or the people,
that the only goal is the complete and absolute elimination of
anything like a minimum wage.
Equally obvious is that the governments of the GTA and
Ontario must also cooperate simultaneously in the complete and
total elimination of every form of welfare and social assis-
tance. The reduction and elimination of a minimum wage would
clearly be pointless while everyone on welfare continued re-
ceiving more than the minimum.
- 8 -
Some people might be surprised that a person dependent
on social assistance advocates its abolishment.
Experience
has shown me that almost all such people fit into the humanist-
leftist stereotype, which is an extremely predictable type of
human behavior. Because members of this stereotype live in a
world of denial which does not recognize the existence of
facts, describing reality to them can be very difficult. They
cannot admit that any such thing as objective reality exists,
because to do so would evaporate the fantasy universe they
carry around inside their heads like a rivermist in the sun-
rise. However, 1 will try.
Being a welfare recipient does not stop my brain from
working. I can still recognize facts, whatever my emotions
about them.
Number and measure are the bases of all science. I am
one number one out of millions of ones. The measure of every
penny my society spends supporting me is completely and totally
wasted. The other members of my society receive no benefit
whatsoever from their contribution to my support. Just the
opposite. The redistribution of their income to me is a drain
on their own resources, the resources of any family they also
contribute to, the resources of every business in my national
community, and the resources of every level of my governments,
as measured by their increasing debtloads.
These facts are not some expression of subjective bias
caused by my hypothetical low self-esteem or any such psycho-
babble. My self-esteem is just fine, thank you-
Anyone who
knows me will testify that I possess an exceptionally strong
and healthy ego.
That every penny spent on me by my fellow citizens is a
waste of resources is a simple statement of fact.
Humanists
and leftists may not like the existence of someone like me,
who can look at his own place in his society with such dis-
passionate objectivity, and who is willing to tell others the
- 9 -
simple truth. After all, their entire edifice of folly and
lies is utterly dependent on no person ever being permitted
to tell the truth. When there is only one small twitch of a
reasonable doubt in public opinion, their whole house of cards
comes tumbling down.
The truth is still true, and the simple truth is never
simplistic. The rhetoric that simplicity is simplistic is
only one more humanist-leftist lie.
If I am disabled from working, then that is my problem,
no one elses. The idea that the people in my society who do
work and are successful should be taxed and burdened with
government debt to support me is not even rational, let alone
reasonable. My own governments are sinking deeper into debt
every day paying out more in social services and other foolish-
ness than they can collect from their tax base. How could any
person imagine this system is intelligent or sane?
The elected representatives of my governments are the
people who are supposed to lead me. What kind of example do
they set for their own citizens when they do not even bother
to control their own mounting debts? These are the people who
are supposed to be my leaders?
If I am cut off social assistance and I commit a crime,
then I should be thrown in jail where I would belong-
The
story that it is cheaper to keep me quiet and passive on a
guaranteed income than in prison is just arguing in circles.
If prisons were as unpleasant as they should be, then they
would cost next to nothing to operate.
If prisons were proper-
ly designed to be extremely unpleasant places, they might even
make a small profit. That is the way prisons should be de-
signed. What kind of lunatic would plan a prison to be a nice
place to live?
Additionally, my society and governments are not only
wasting the money they tax and borrow to allocate to me, plus
all the administrative expense of the redistribution.
They
- 10 -
are wasting that total sum of money twice: once in giving it
to me, and once again in the opportunity cost they throw away
by not allocating those resources somewhere else. Somewhere
useful and beneficial, such as debt payment.
Naturally, I am paying in lost opportunities also. In a
sane society under good government, that had no welfare and
no minimum wage, at least I could try to work for my living,
by my willingness to work for a lower wage than my competitors
in the labour force. In a good society, I would almost cer-
tainly still be poor, but whatever standard of living I enjoyed
I would have earned. In that kind of society, I would be
given opportunity, not a cage of charity. If I failed, so be
it. At least I would know who was responsible. But to
deliberately imprison me inside this invisible cage of internal
exile: How could anyone be sick enough to imagine
compassion?
Welfare and minimum wages woven together into
web across every door to opportunity does not even
level of deliberate cruelty; it is simple sadism.
I have tried the alternative of living on the
this is
a spiders
reach the
streets-
Several times. Integrity is a cold meal, and honour is a
thin blanket. Eventually I realized that I had nothing left
of either to defend or protect.
But I can still recognize my worth to my society.
I see
it in black and white every month in the mail. 1 will not
turn off my mind and refuse to look at facts simply because
they are painful- They remain facts, and my feelings about
them are meaningless. My emotions do not affect any fact in
the slightest.
My society is more important than I am.
That is not a
subjective opinion; it is a simple statement of fact. The
survival of my society is more important than my survival.
More important to my society, and more important to me.
Some people will always be incapable of understanding
- 11 -
something so simple and so basic.
What
animal desires while harming my society
not benefit me or anyone else.
benefits my selfish
and my government does
So long as the dual system of social assistance and
minimum wage exist, then I and any other would be a fool or a
lunatic not to use it to survive- That does not mean the
system is good or even rational. It is neither.
No words could ever portray the spiritual pollution by
guilt and shame the system causes. I could never express how
accepting charity from my fellow citizens really makes me feel,
because I could never hold my hands steady enough to write
down those words.
Economics remains a social science; its architecture is
built from the equally related hierarchies of mathematics and
biology. The fact that the laws of economics are built with
the laws of mathematics and the laws of biology is a contro-
versial subject in todays primitive society. To me, it is
only sad that I live in a society in which something so simple
as a fact is controversial.
To people so foolish that they cannot even acknowledge
that such a thing as a fact even exists, however, anything can
be controversial. They would quarrel about the colour of the
sky if they thought they could get away with it.
All their convictions are still just pagan superstitions.
Humanist-leftists are fond of saying this decade that any ideas
and facts they disagree with are not supported by any avail-
able evidence. What they always fail to say, because humanism
and leftism are founded on nothing but foolishness and deceit,
is that no evidence supports their positions either.
The hot
air of rhetoric can make any argument appear reasonable with
enough cunning rhetorical fallacies. Content is the only thing
that counts, not the fancy fashion of pre-packaged talk.
Only
objective fact is real. Emotionalism about fact is meaningless-
The fact that all the social sciences, including political
science, are based on
ably the most awkward
so I will outline the
- 12 -
the primordial laws of biology is prob-
fact for humanist-leftists to cope with,
implications of that fact first.
To a humanist-leftist, any discussion of biology related
to people smacks of completely imaginary abstracts they label
by such terms as determinism, eugenics, and fascism. The fact
that no person has any idea what any of these words mean is
irrelevant to a humanist-leftist. To a humanist-leftist, words
mean whatever they say words mean. The real meaning of facts
is something they avoid at all costs- They therefore ignore
the reality of biology, in the hopes that it will go away.
To any competent behavior geneticist, however, the biology of
human behavior is obviously undeniable.
Unfortunately for the feelings of humanist-leftists, the
facts are simple. There is no such thing as social Darwinism.
There is only Darwinism. The only significant question is
very simple: Either Darwins Theory of Evolution is true, or
it is not.
If Darwins theory of evolution is correct, then it applies
to the human species in exactly the same way it applies to
every and all species on this planet. If Darwins theory of
evolution does not apply to our species, then the theory is
false. The humanist-leftist premise that people are somehow
uniquely separated from all other species of life on this
planet is, if I can be forgiven saying so, not supported by
any available evidence.
The laws of biology apply to our species just as they do
to any other species, and to all species in our ecology- The
human species has superior members, and average members, and
inferior members, in exactly the same way any other species
does. That fact may sometimes be unpleasant, and even ugly,
but unpleasantness and ugliness does not change its factual
nature. Life is often unpleasant and ugly. Just ask any
family doctor.
The
No other
leftists
First we
- 13 -
sole source of every social science is human biology.
foundation is physically possible.What humanist-
cannot understand is the hierarchy of cause and effect.
are born animals:then we are socialized. We are
not social animals because we have a society; we have a society
because we are social animals.Biologically, genetically,
instinctively, social animals. Politics does not create
society; society creates politics.Economics does not create
societies; societies create economics.The foundation of it
all is human biology. The only rational basis of all social
science is the animal behavior, or ethology, of our particular
species. Any other imagined foundation is only fantasy.
We are born, live, and die animals.The vastly greater
part of everything we do is genetic and instinctive. Pre-
tending that is not true only prevents us from realizing the
real causes of our actions.We will never understand our
social behavior while we pretend it has no biological basis.
Economic systems which interfere with the natural ecology
of our social environment can only damage human society and
the human species. No other effect is physically possible.
Income redistribution is pollution. It is polluting waste.
Poverty must be unpleasant and ugly.There is nothing what-
soever wrong or incorrect about that; it is only unpleasant
and ugly.
Equally, whatever the consequences of skewed statistics,
the laws of mathematics do not lie.Whenever humanist-leftists
whine that a particular policy or partice will only place
another burden on the backs of the poor, for instance, I always
try and imagine where else they think a strong and stable
society could be built on,if not on the backs of the poor.
The strongest and most stable pyramid has the broadest base.
A society built on a narrow foundation extending up into the
clouds is just a tower of fools waiting to be toppled by the
slightest external force.
- 14 -
Where else would a social burden be placed, for heavens
sake, if not on the backs of the poor?
They are the greatest
number of people in any society.A load on their shoulders
is spread out most evenly and equitably, so that each person
supports the least possible amount of the total.
I will never
understand people who cannot do simple arithmetic.
I would dearly love a humanist-leftist to show me one
civilized society in all the worlds history which was not
built on the backs of the poor.Including our own present one.
The overwhelming majority of poor people are just as decent,
upstanding citizens as those of any other class in society.
There is no reason to fear and hate poor people, and there is
no reason to fear and hate poverty.There is nothing wrong
with poverty, and there is nothing wrong with the poor.They
merely have less money than other people.
The poor are perfectly capable of carrying the burdens
of society, if and when they are given the opportunity to do
so. An economic system of welfare and minimum wage which pre-
vents the poor from being given the opportunity to work for
their living cannot ever be equitable or just. It is only a
cage for people viewed as beasts-
Whatever the propaganda of humanist-leftists, and what-
ever the character weaknesses of some individuals, Canadian
society will not become any more crime-ridden over the long
term when the social assistance system is abrogated. To say
it will is a gross and unforgivable insult to almost every
poor person who has ever lived.Throughout history, people
living in poverty have been no more criminal than the people
of any other class,and it is sheer bigotry to say otherwise.
Poor criminals may be caught more often, but that is a dif-
ferent image. A temporary uptick in property crime would prob-
ably occur, especially if the social (assistance system was
eradicated quickly in large steps.These are precisely the
people, however,which society wants to catch as soon as they
- 15 -
stick their heads out from underneath their rocks.
And our
police forces would have a much easier job of catching them
if they were not so swamped with their current task of con-
stantly re-catching the same criminals over and over again-
The laws of mathematics and biology are real and immut-
able. They are not indications of ideological bias; they are
facts of objective reality. The laws of economics do not
care about me or any other single number, any more than
gravity cares about a falling body or a DNA molecule cares
what the person it built feels about it.
As the far too outspoken genius, Kim Campbell, likes
to emphasize recently, There is only one reality. The world-
view people carry around inside their heads is imaginary. It
is fantasy. We are not living in some fairy tale for silly
little girls; we live in a real world. Reality is not cruel
or kind. Reality is not some pagan animalistic deity with
animal emotionalism. Reality does not care.
Personally, I prefer reality. My experience has been
that no matter how ugly and unpleasant reality can get, it is
always better than the pragmatic implications of any humanist-
leftist fantasy world. I have no desire or inclination to
live in a world of happy-face robots. I will cheerfully con-
tinue to live in reality, thank you very much anyhow.
In the real world, so long as the Greater Toronto Area
is so severely affected by federal and provincial legislation
and policy over labour practices and social services, then
the municipal governments concerned must represent their
citizens best self-interests to the levels of government
above them. Particularity if the governments of the GTA have
any concern for the robustness of their city core and the
competiveness of their territory.
Every factor of socialist economics harms the GTA,
beginning in the core and spreading out like the infection
of a fungus. Rent control damage the GTA severely. Medicare
- 16 -
maims the GTA in every possible form of trauma.
Every kind
of social assistance, from welfare to unemployment insurance
to the Canada Pension Plan to old age security infects the GTA
with a deadly parasite. Almost every piece of labour legi-
slation of Canada and Ontario injures the GTA.
If the politicians and bureaucrats of the GTA are serious
and sincere about supporting Torontos core and the competitive-
ness of this territory,then they will do everything in their
political power to eliminate all of the above. By whatever
size and frequency of cut seems practical, leftist economic
insanities must be removed from the GTA marketplace to open
and free the market,and they must be cut out beginning now.
Personally, I would greatly enjoy seeing every piece of
labour legislation in Canada thrown back into the garbage that
it came from. I am clearly biased, however, and such an idea
is certainly wildly unrealistic and impractical- Analytically,
1 do realize that dissolving any legislation is horrendously
difficult because of the complexity of the legal ambiguities
which almost always result.That is one very good reason why
irresponsible legislation should never be written and passed
in the first place-
1 can insist and demand, in any case, as a birthright
citizen, that the basic principles of good governance be ad-
hered to and followed. Every piece of labour legislation in
Canada is completely unnecessary.What is unnecessary is
indulgence. Trying to change the economics of supply and
demand in the open market with pieces of paper and ink is like
trying to fight the weather.The only way any business could
survive while artificially raising the pay scale of women, for
instance, is by artificially lowering the pay scale of men.
And no business in the world could survive against a competitor
who held to a pay scale dictated by the natural ecology of
the open market.
If the governments of the GTA want to be competitive in
- 17 -
a global market,
then they must recognize and accept economic
reality. A person who cannot tell the difference between
fantasy and reality is not qualified to govern.
Obviously, reducing the pay scale of employees, especial-
ly unionist employees, is hugely more difficult than reducing
payroll expense by cutting staff. Governance is hard work,
probably the most difficult of all human endeavors.
If the
governments of the Greater Toronto Area cannot do it, then
they should get out of the way, and surrender power to people
who can. The idea that something should not be done because
it is too much hard work is a very poor argument.
The growing inarticulate anger of the people in North
America is serious. It is not a trivial or insignificant
political problem and it is not going away. It is not only
the fact that taxes are too high that makes people angry. It
is the fact that they are not getting what they are paying for.
One of the major reasons citizens are not getting what they
are paying for is that they are also paying for the bribes of
the obscenely over-inflated wages of public sector unionists.
Every single financial problem of every government in Canada
and the entire Canadian economy is directly related to the
fact that public sector unionists are paid too much. Solve
this problem and any government in Canada will have made a
gigantic inroad towards solving virtually every other economic
problem of its gee-political territory. The political, social,
and economic necessity is to be seen to be setting a morally
legitimate example.
Fail to solve this problem and any government in Canada
could very well be faced with the open rebellion of universal
civil disobedience- Public sector unionists are despised by
ordinary citizens, and they are despised for very good reasons.
The issue is not just the question of money, whether in bribery
or extortion. The public perception is twofold- The central
issue is the question of money contrasted with the question
- 18 -
of character.
A certain type of person is attracted to work in govern-
ment bureaucracies. The innate character of this type of
person is seldom respectable or admirable.
The premise that
public sector wages need to be high to attract highly qualified
people is silly nonsense.
Millennia of history in every area
of the world has proven conclusively that people of this char-
acter type will always gravitate to government bureaucracies,
no matter what the pay scale. If only the high pay theory was
true.
The only difference between a petty bureaucrat who needs
to be bribed face-to-face and a petty bureaucrat who needs to
be bribed by a grossly over-inflated pay scale is that in the
second case, everyone in the tax territory pays for something
they do not get.
The image of public sector unionists protesting in the
streets and media over conditions which seem trivial to private
citizens who are barely getting by is very bad public relations.
Public sector unionists only look childishly greedy and selfish.
They do not seem to be very nice people. What does that make
their employers?
The problem is not just that these people are grossly
overpaid- The major problem is the repeated images of public
sector unionists publically bragging that they do not think
hard work is a good thing, that excellence and merit are good
things, that effort and achievement are good things, that job
satisfaction and personal motivation are good things, and on
and on and on ... while they whine and snivel and bitch and
moan about how unappreciated they all are .... In the public
view, it is an issue of character. They obviously do not
deserve whatever they are paid.
The two general methods of deflating wages both have
positive and negative consequences- The shock method of large
cuts of 10 percent or more in each step,
with extended periods
- 1 9 -
of adjustment between each step, is very effective and very
traumatic. The gradualist method of about 2.5 percent cuts
every year, although much slower and politically risky in its
own way, is economically preferable. In the basic principles
of conservative economics, wage and price deflation of pre-
cisely 2.5 percent per annum is undeniably the best possible
method.
Unfortunately for everyone, the governments of Canada do
not have any time left for self-indulgence, either of them-
selves or the people. The cancer in Canadas economy is too
deep and too malignant for cosmetic surgery. The choice is
between painful operations and painful recoveries or continuing
decline and decay.
Freezing wages is clearly inadequate. If the inflation
rate continues at about 2.5 percent yearly, then the wage
reduction yearly must be at least 5 percent. That is obvious.
As unpleasant to plan and difficult to accomplish as it may
be, the pay scales of public sector unionist employees should
be less than 50 percent of their current levels within eight
years.
In my view, the only realistic method possible is a cut
of at least an averaged 10 percent per year for the next seven
years. It is crucial to understand that wage deflation in
Canada cannot and must not stop.
Once the pay levels of public
sector unionists are less than 50 percent of their present
levels, then it will be entirely reasonable to begin reducing
those wages at the more comfortable rate of 2.5 percent per
year, assuming, of course, that the inflation rate by then is
at least zero, if not a vastly preferable negative number.
As painful as it may be to plan and live through, wage
shock deflation is exactly what Canadas economy needs. That
is especially true of Ontario and the Greater Toronto Area.
Once again, the argument that something should not be done
because it is too difficult is a very bad argument.
- 2 0 -
The second, subsequent point is also unavoidable.
Dip-
lomatically, each of these economic methods breaks down into
two negotiating strategies. One is to announce when a cut is
made that future cuts are planned. The other method is to not
announce that, and if asked, to deny it-
Employees and public may not believe an employer, but the
question is, can they prove it? Each year, all employers need
to say is that they were forced to change their plans-
What
they said last year they sincerely meant at the time; it was
only circumstances since that drove them to change their policy-
1 am convinced the overwhelming majority of the electorate
would buy this story, whether they believed it or not. What-
ever the reaction of the mainstream media, as long as the line
sounded good, most people would pretend they believed it.
Dishonesty is distasteful and destructive, individually
and socially. Deliberate deception is always moving away from
the direction of good government. A certain amount of deceit,
however, is acceptable and tolerable in any relation, whether
in families, among friends, in business, or even in justice,
religion, and government. Dishonesty is most acceptable when
it is blatant, well-intentioned. and good-natured- The most
meaningful factor is the measure of deceit. Dishonesty does
not merely add up, it multiplies. Deceit is not incremental,
it is compounding. When the amount of dishonesty in a relation
becomes greater than the amount of honesty, then the relation
is destroyed. As long as dishonesty remains the exception,
and that is clearly visible and clearly deliberate, then the
exceptions can and will be accepted and tolerated.
By anyone,
including the electorate.
In regard to almost all social assistance recipients and
public sector unionists, all ordinary citizens and taxpayers
want is to see these selfish, spoiled brats dealt with as they
so richly deserve. I may be exaggerating a general view out
of my own personal bias, but in my best judgement, I am not
- 21 -
exaggerating by much. The fundamental problem with both
social assistance recipients and public sector unionists is
the issue of character-
The Toronto Transit Commission is an excellent example-
Every adult in Ontario must know by now what the resolution
of the current inquiry will be. There will be no resolution.
Three people are dead, and it is simply inconceivable that
any TTC unionist employee might have had any responsibility.
No, the bolt just climbed down and walked away. How ashamed
and humiliated Mr. Gunn appeared to be on the TV news broad-
cast. Obviously, what the authorities want more than anything
else is proof. And nothing will ever be proven. What public
sector unionist would testify against another and tell the
truth?
There is every appearance that at least one public sector
unionist has already gotten away with three counts of criminal
negligence causing death. Apparently no one will ever be
charged with these crimes, and everyone in the electorate
knows it. In the GTA, this is government as usual. Three
people are dead, and only the lawyers care.
And Metro councillors wonder why they dont get no respect.
The deaths of these three people was not a coincidence.
It was a direct, inevitable result of indulgent, careless,
irresponsible governance. Politicians can try and cover up
the obvious truth now all they want. Nobody can ever change
what did happen. No one can change reality by whitewashing
over it. No one can ever erase their responsibility.
The present Toronto Transit Commission structure is the
epitome, or nadir, of bad government. Virtually every element
of the entire hierarchy is inefficient. Top-heavy, over-
staffed, overpaid, the list goes on and on- The TTC is
irresponsible and unaccountable government at its very worst.
Every year the service gets worse, and every year the price
goes up- The mindless greediness and selfishness of TTC
- 22 -
unionists and leftist politicians and bureaucrats are killing
Toronto. I want to avoid personalities, but Im sure any
knowledgeable reader can picture the members of the TTC board
who make me grind my teeth in rage every time they make a
public statement as easily as if I just went ahead and named
them. What can possibly be the point of hiring someone as
competent as David Gunn and then deliberately preventing him
from being able to do his job?
Proposals to combine the Toronto Transit Commission and
GO Transit into one unified system, thus amalgamating all the
unions involved into one monopolistic bargaining unit, have
to take their place near the top of all the most senseless
ideas I have ever heard. The governments of the GTA should
be doing everything in their political power to decertify and
outlaw the unions they have now.Encouraging the growth of
new and more powerful unions is folly beyond comprehension.
Who controls the Greater Toronto Area?Governments
elected by citizens, or unelected, unaccountable, irresponsible
public sector unions? I think it is past time politicians
made up their minds,and did something about it, one way or
another. Who governs in the GTA?
The people and their elected
representatives, or unionists?
If TTC workers were paid anywhere near the fair market
value of their labour, which is far less than half of what
they are paid now,then TTC fares would be far less than half
the price they are now. And the TTC would have many more
riders, perhaps twice as many as it has now.
If the wages and salaries of TTC employees were at a
reasonable and sensible level,instead of the obscenely over-
inflated level they are at now,then the budgetary problems
of the Commission would seem trivial and minor in comparison
to the asinine boondoggle they are now.
The fact that the Toronto Transit Commission does not
make a profit is nonsensical.The only thing obstructing
- 2 3 -
profitability is plain stupidity.
The intricities of specific examples are best avoided,
because firstly, they are so complex no one can say whether
any are entirely wrong or correct. Secondly. and more meaning-
fully, specific examples are unnecessary. All that needs to
be done is to keep bringing the issue back to basic economic
fundamentals. The unionist employees of the TTC are grossly,
obscenely, criminally overpaid. Their pay scales are corrupt.
That is the budgetary problem of the Toronto Transit Commission.
Solve that problem, and every other will be insignificant in
comparison. Refuse to solve that problem. and kiss the GTA
city core goodbye.
What applies to the Toronto Transit Commission applies
to the Transportation (Roads) Department even more emphatically-
The Transportation department of Metro is corrupt. It has
been for decades. Elected officials should do something about
it, or stop sniveling about wanting to be seen as responsible
and accountable. One or the other. They must make up their
minds about what they really want.
On the other hand, deflating the pay scale of police
forces is an extremely high-risk action. Any analysis of the
exact elements of this risk entails a detailed description of
the character types of people attracted to police employment.
This is a subject best avoided in writing entirely.
It must be pointed out, however, that the risks of private
police forces, becoming more prevalent in the U.S. and Canada,
are even greater and more uncontrollable. History has amply
demonstrated that, sooner or later, what the highest bidder
wants mercenaries to do is get rid of the government in power.
The U.S. could very easily be headed towards a complete
breakdown of social order, unstoppable once begun. What could
any level of government do when civil wars erupt between
suburbs? How many border disputes within one urban area could
a National Guard control?
- 24 -
I dont like even the appearance of doom-saying or fear-
mongering, from myself or anyone else. I can only repeat:
look at history. Everyone everywhere has always said it cant
happen here to us. When social forces are combined in the
patterns we see today in the Canada, and most intensely within
the Greater Toronto Area, these events do occur.
They have
happened every single time.
In my view, the character of police in the public service
is very different from those of private police forces. As
difficult as it may be for ordinary citizens to understand,
virtually every police officer really means what they say: to
serve and protect.
My personal assessment is that any public police force
would accept the reduction of their pay scales if, and only
if, they were given the moral support they need for their
morale from elected and appointed officials and the public at
the same time.
No society can survive without police. If it was not for
the police, we would not even have a society, let alone a
civilization. Fence-sitting is not possible on the subject
of crime and criminals. A person is either on the side of
the police and society against crime and criminals, or the
person is on the side of crime and criminals against the
police and society.
What police forces need is to see that their actions are
effective; that they are making a difference- What they need,
like all law-abiding citizens, is to see justice done, and
criminals punished for their actions.
It is pointless to ask a criminologist, or almost any
sociologist, what they think of this fundamental standard of
human justice- Virtually all of them have been educated
under a Marxist school of thought which is founded on the
absolutist denial of any such primordial human reality as an
innate sense of justice.
- 25 -
Whether they really mean what they say or not is meaning-
less itself. If they believe what they have been taught,
then they are fools. If they do not believe the nonsense they
parrot, then they are liars. The distinction contains only
one significant difference.The words of a fool are worthless.
The words of a liar are worse than worthless.
In the case of criminologists and other sociologists,
whose so-called academic and occupational credentials are
worthless in themselves,another realistic difference can be
seen. These kinds of social scientist are not just at best
fools. At best, they are dangerous fools.
The often tragic truth is that we believe what we are
told. It is simply impossible to independently verify every
single piece of information we receive in a single day, let
alone a lifetime- Most of all, under any education system,
people are taught from their first years of schooling to
believe what they read.
Propaganda works. We have been conditioned to believe
what we read. We have been conditioned to believe the visual
images we see in television broadcasts.Visual images are
extremely powerful on an unconscious level, especially moving
visual images. We have been conditioned to believe what we
are told by academics and other authority figures.
Fools and liars destroy. The words of fools and liars
can destroy an entire society.That has happened before.
All that is necessary is for good citizens to do nothing.
The opinion of a Marxist-indoctrinated social scientist
on any subject is worthless or worse, because it is destructive.
They do nothing but damage,injury, and harm to everything
their influence touches.Most importantly, they harm the
repute of real social scientists,
such as social psychologists,
who hold their work tightly to the real world of verifiable
fact, repeatable experiment, and number and measure.
The theory of Marxist criminologists that there is nothing
- 26 -
a government and society can do about crime and criminals is
a falsehood. The premise is not true.. Whether it is the
story of a fool, or a liar, or a fool and a liar is insignif-
icant. The assumption is still false.
What a society and government can do about criminals is
kill them. Reducing the number of criminals in a society
reduces crime. Most importantly, in the long term, over
generations.
Any competent behavior geneticist can testify that the
first cause of criminality is genetic. The theory that
criminality has underlying social causes is a falsehood. The
fairy tale is a reversal of cause and effect. The social
conditions themselves have genetic causes. That is physical
reality, whether anyone likes it or not.
The best way to control crime in any society is to
execute criminals, and to execute them before they have
children. As soon as any criminal passes puberty, at fourteen,
the death sentence must be one available penalty for any
criminal act done with criminal intent. Any other sentence
than the death penalty for any felony committed with intent
is injustice.
The humanist-leftist fantasy told by the monster PET and
every federal government since that a government cannot justify
committing murder is just another humanist-leftist lie. It
is entirely typical of the monsters malignant narcissism.
The people who work in government, elected or not, are only
human. They are just citizens, like every other citizen. A
government cannot set the citizens who are its representatives
above the law. Most of all,
a government cannot set its
temporary custodians above justice.
Many criminals deserve to die.
Humanist-leftists argue
that is playing god, that no one can know whether another
person deserves death or not.
They are liars. It is humanist-
leftists who play god in saying a person does not deserve
- 27 -
death. How do they know? They do not. They are only fools
and liars. No government can hold itself so far above human
justice as to say that a criminal who deserves to die does not.
The death penalty for many crimes is just. No government
can place itself so far above the primordial principles of
human justice as to say that a just punishment is not possible.
That is only insanely unjust.
The citizens who make up a government must serve justice.
They cannot alter law to make justice serve them.
Justice is higher and greater than mercy, and compassion,
and even love. These things make up only part of justice,
and justice is above them all. Only justice is blind. The
scales, the sword, and the blindfold; and the greatest of
these is the blindfold.
The system of justice in Canada has become so diseased
that governments are losing their own citizens to a basic,
primordial, outraged sense of justice. Every citizen can see
the governance of Canada is unjust.
Criminals are not punished.
They are freed. Why but for common human decency should any-
one obey the law when everyone can see that no one needs to?
The first people this systemic injustice affects are the
police. They are people in which the sense of justice runs
strong and cold and deep. In almost all cases, the sense of
justice is their most powerful drive. When that sense of
justice becomes warped and twisted,
it can be extremely des-
tructive.
What the police force of the Greater Toronto Area needs
more than anything else is political and public support-
They
are not the enemy of society, and they should not be treated
like the enemy. Criminals are the enemy of society, and
criminals should be
other citizens, the
the police justice,
in a day.
treated like the enemy-
More than all
police need to see justice done.
Give
and they would give up half their salary
- 28 -
The problems of water supply and sewage treatment are
subjects which I have researched extensively.
I first became
intrigued by the problems of sewage treatment because it is
the lowest level of society in North America, just as it is
everywhere else in the world.I consider that fact interesting.
In my opinion, the social opprobrium attached to sewage
treatment strongly influences what people think about water
supply and water treatment,in ways they are almost entirely
unconscious of. What people think of water is extremely
animalistic. People are not rational at all about water
utility. No government can afford to ignore the intensity of
unconscious feelings which people have about water. No govern-
ment can afford to ignore the intensity of unconscious feelings
which people have about sewage.Water control is probably
the most dangerous possible form of governance.
My conclusion is that the water supply and sewage treat-
ment systems of the Greater Toronto Area must be privatized
as soon as possible- These systems must be sold to the private
sector separately. Water supply is one industry.Sewage
treatment is another industry.Each system must be the private
property of a completely seperate corporate entity, with no
legal or financial connection to each other whatsoever. Under
no circumstances can they have any social or political con-
nection, since they cannot be direct competitors.
No legal ambiguity can exist about the commercial neces-
sity that the entire water supply system running through the
public property of the roads must be the private property of
the company which owns it.Exactly the same principle applies
to the storm and sewage system and the private company which
owns it. The water supply and sewage systems must be the
private property of the companies which own them, and no legal
or political doubt can ever exist over that issue.
The only legal recourse which any government can have
outside common civil law over any malefaction of a private
- 29 -
company operating in water supply or sewage treatment must be
the seizure of the entire company in its political territory.
Anything less than a justification for that action must be
entirely out of the governments legal and political control,
other than the normal access to the courts accorded to any
corporate entity or organization.
Probably the most practical method of privatizing the
water supply and sewage systems of the GTA is by selling the
systems in each watershed to seperate companies, and letting
them work out the sharing of resources between themselves
without political interference. That method would almost
certainly be in the best public interest.
It is irrefutably not in the public interest to keep
these systems under the ownership and control of any level of
government. On the one hand, the opportunities for corruption
are too great. People ignore sewage treatment. They will go
to enormous lengths to avoid thinking about it. A government
bureaucracy can get away with too much, because virtually
everyone will deliberately refuse to look at what the bureau-
cracy is doing, especially not very closely.
On the other hand, the opportunities for indulgence are
too great as well. Based on the current wages of water treat-
ment workers, for example, the cost of water should be at
least twice the present price levels, and probably closer to
three times current pricing.
The water supply industry must be profitable. The sewage
treatment industry must be profitable. It is far better for
the public interest to have those realistic costs and profits
out in the open where everyone can see them, rather than con-
cealed beneath the supposedly benign control of a municipal
bureaucracy-
1 am persuaded that the whole field of public utilities
is directly influenced by the principle of economics which
is now termed moral hazard. Although moral hazard has become
- 30 -
a somewhat trendy buzz-phrase in recent years, I cannot shake
the conviction that these fellows are really on to something.
The idea makes such good sense.
The definition of moral hazard as it originally applied
in economics is only related to loan insurance. Moral hazard
is used to describe one of the risks which occurs during the
insurance of lending. For instance,when bankers know that
the full amount they are lending is fully insured, and there
is no risk whatsoever that they will lose any part of the loan,
then another risk develops that the bankers will become care-
less, and loan so much on such poor collateral that no amount
of insurance could possibly cover the total loss of a string
of many fast-paced defaults.That second risk is the moral
hazard of risk insurance. The collapse of a real estate
market bubble which causes domino effect bankruptcies is a
very good example of the consequences of moral hazard-
Applying the principle of a specific relation in any
science to a more generalized situation makes me very uneasy
under any circumstances. I am convinced, however, that the
concept of moral hazard is applicable to public utilities.
Ontario Hydro, for instance.When the administraters of a
corporation know that the public purse will always cover their
losses, no matter what or how many mistakes they might make,
they become careless,and encounter moral hazard.The citizens
of Ontario will be paying for the senseless errors of Ontario
Hydros administration for a generation, at least.
The potential for moral hazard in the operation of a
public water utility is so great it is almost inconceivable.
The list of things that could go wrong is virtually limitless.
The slightest possibility of carelessness is completely
unacceptable. The private sector is the only marketplace
where people would have so much to lose that they would never
forget or ignore the smallest imaginable risk.
The very last people who should be controlling any water
- 31 -
utility are public unionists, bureaucrats, and politicians.
If anyone has their water supply or sewage outflow cut off,
it must be deliberate, and it must be visibly deliberate.
The responsible and accountable administration of water
supply and sewage treatment in the Greater Toronto Area means
the sale of these systems to the private sector for a very
significant sum of money. The municipal governments of the
GTA would reap significant political benefits from this
privatization as well. It should be fairly obvious, for
example, that the municipalities outside the City of Toronto
with access to the lakefront would immediately become much
more influential in comparison.
As I have stated, the obscenely over-inflated wages of
public sector unionists is the primary, most vital problem
facing all governments in Canada today. Reducing the number
of employees is only an evasion and denial of the problem.
The gross pay and fringe benefits of every single employee
must be reduced as well, in almost every case, by at least
50 percent. That is the only action which will convince the
electorate their governments are legitimate and hold any moral
authority.
Competing in a global economy means lowering our wages,
which will lower our prices. It is the responsibility and
duty of government to lead, not follow or stand still. Leader-
ship is good government. A failure to lead is bad government.
If the governments of the Greater Toronto Area fail to
solve this problem, nothing else they can do will have any
meaning or value to private citizens- They will merely con-
tinue to ignore their governments, in ever-increasing numbers.
When elected and appointed officials do not govern, they can-
not complain that people refuse to recognize their government.
- 32 -
Intermediate Economics:
Background:
I have no hesitation in stating that my views have been
strongly influenced by the work of Nobel economics laureate
Herbert A. Simon,particularity in the areas of bounded
rationality, and, of course, public administration.
In many
respects, I am a proponent of the entire neo-classical stream
of the University of Chicagos school of economic thought.
In this perspective, naturally,it is only tragic that such a
great intellect as was given to Paul . A Samuelson was brought
so low by what is so clearly an incurable delusional illness.
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force should clearly under-
stand the overwhelming importance of a primordial tenet of
classical economics: Governance must be profitable.In other
words, the single sane goal of good government is to show a
surplus every single year,with the sole exception of a war-
time economy.
The superstitious dogma of leftists that a government
cannot be operated like a business is just one more humanist-
leftist fallacy. Humanists and leftists are always so easily
identified by their stereotypical desire for wordy arguments
that are clever and pretty,no matter how empty of content,
rather than plain-spoken arguments founded on fact. Obviously
government is more complex and complicated than commerce.
That is the whole point. Governance is greater than commerce;
it contains all aspects of business within itself. At the
very least it should,and when a territory is well-governed,
it does.
Every government from the first city-states has always
understood that knowledge is power and money is power also.
A responsible and accountable government must be more powerful
than any other single interest group inside its territory.
- 33 -
Business is one such interest group.
A good government must be more powerful than all the
businesses inside its territory put together.
Otherwise,
responsible and accountable governance becomes impossible.
That means a responsible and accountable government must be
more wealthy than all the businesses put together inside its
territory. A government must have more money than all the
businesses inside its territory put together, and that greater
amount of money held in reserve must be visible, overwhelming,
and instantly available.
If this is not the case,good government is impossible,
and, very quickly, all that is left will be corrupted.
A government is an economic entity, like any other. It
must follow and adhere to the basic physical laws of economics.
One of those cardinal laws is the vital necessity of profit.
As with any economic entity,whether an animal in the wild,
an entire ecology, a person, a family, a business, a government
has inputs and processing and outputs.In every case, the
outputs must be greater than the inputs, or the economic
entity stops growing or maturing and begins to die.
The purpose of surplus, or profit, is expansion, or
growth. The purpose of growth is maturation.The purpose of
maturity is reproduction.The purpose of reproduction is
evolution.
Profit is essential to life. Any economic entity, any
living thing which consumes inputs and produces outputs, must
produce a surplus, or die.
Government which is not profitable is bad government.
The necessity of profit branches in two directions.
One
is direct or capital investment, which I will term simply
investment. The other is often called portfolio investment
today, which I will simply call savings-The crucial factor,
sometimes confused or forgotten, is that savings and invest-
ment are not the same thing.They are two completely different
- 34 -
branches of profit, leading to entirely different goals. A
piece of one branch cannot be removed and attached to the
other branch while leaving the same economic entity with the
same evolutionary goals. A government that finds itself in
financial difficulties, for instance, cannot take funds first
allocated to savings and then reallocate those funds to invest-
ment, or vice versa, without changing all of the economic
goals of the government, and in most cases, the governments
entire tax territory.
The use of investment is the maintenance and improvement
of infrastructure and all other fixed assets. No political
territory can survive without investment. Most especially,
no territory can survive without investment against a competitor
that maintains investment.
The present, urgent investment requirements of the Greater
Toronto Area, for example, are mammoth, almost certainly
measurable in the billions of dollars, and probably measurable
in the tens of billions. If the governance of the GTA had
been sane over the past generation, those funds would be
readily available, or more accurately, completely unnecessary
today.
The use of savings is the elimination and avoidance of
debt. The second point is worth repeating again and again
and again and again and again. The primary purpose of saving
is the avoidance of debt.
What applies to investment and competitors also applies
to savings, times infinity.
Just as in the less important case of a business, the
profits of a government should never be excessive.
Precisely
the same economic fundamentals control each case.
The economy
of a territory is similar to the ecology of the territory; it
is greater than all its parts, including all governments, by
an astronomical order of magnitude.
As in an essential
business, such as retail food, a governmental profit of 2.5
- 35 -
percent is reasonable and respectable.
Equally, a profit of
3 percent is excessive.
These figures are not simply plucked out of the air.
Overwhelmingly strong and convincing evidence has accumulated,
for instance, that a GDP growth rate of 2.5 percent is stable
and sustainable, while an inflation rate of greater than 2.5
percent is extremely destructive. Developments over the past
decade in complexity theory, most especially the seminal work
of Brian W. Arthurs theory of increasing returns, has demon-
strated persuasively that the pivotal percentage of 2.7 marks
a type of phase transition point between stability and chaos.
Approaching that point is dangerous. Passing it is traumatic.
In my analysis, the natural logarithm e is directly
related to this economic fundamental.
The pragmatic political problem, of course, is that a
surplus accumulated by any government very quickly becomes an
eye-popping amount of money. Even a municipal government
maintaining an annual supplus never greater than 2.7 percent
would soon show a total sum in reserves staggering in size.
Compounding 2.5 percent of any governments revenues for very
long would be a policy in practice with a very high factor of
risk.
The public perception by interest groups of all this
money being wasted would not necessarily be the greatest
element of risk. This is a principle of political science
which politicians, bureaucrats, and private citizens can only
accept and try their best to live with, most notoriously in
municipal government. The most meaningful criterion can only
be the goal of openly responsible and accountable government.
Elected and appointed officials who want to achieve that goal
cannot afford even the appearance of cowardice.
Most of all,
they cannot afford to give even the impression that they are
most afraid of themselves.
A government that wants to be seen as responsible must
- 36 -
act responsibly. Government that does not, or cannot, govern
the factionalism of its area, including among its own members,
is irresponsible, careless, weak, and cowardly government.
The political principle involved is simply an expression
of Francis Fukuyamas most recent work exploring the theme of
what he calls social trust. Trust can only be exchanged,
with the same carefulness given to any social transaction.
Sooner or later, we must decide that the laws we have now are
good enough, and get on with the real work.
Government should be openly profitable, and only openly
profitable government can ever be entirely responsible and
accountable. A responsible and accountable government can,
and will, never be led by cowards.
The governments of the Greater Toronto Area must make a
profit in order to survive. Those profits should be reasonable
and not excessive. If the governments of the GTA are not
profitable, they will be consistently defeated by every
competitor that is. And beginning in the city core, Toronto
will die.
Currency:
Every way in which the Greater Toronto Area contributes
to the social assistance system of Canada contributes to the
continual debasement of Canadas currency.
The economic principle in action is a very simple example
of Greshams law, commonly stated as, Bad money drives out
good. Sir Thomas Gresham (ea. 1550) first observed this
basic economic law when he noted that when a government began
to debase its currency, usually by adding more and more lead
to their gold alloy coinage, people would spend the debased
currency as quickly as possible,
while they would hoard every
good coin they could get, and never spend them.
- 3 7 -
Greshams law describes a situation in which there are
two types of money. When the two types are exchanged with
each other, their value is equal, while their value for an-
other use, such as the purchase of consumables, is different.
In this situation, the bad money will be used most freely,
and the good money will be driven out of circulation.
Leftist economists say that Greshams law no longer
applies in a modern economy of printed currency. They are
wrong. Greshams law is intrinsic. So long as an economy
has any form of currency at all, Greshams law will operate.
Again, I will use myself as the most objective example.
Because I do not work for my living, my productivity is zero.
Because I am allocated funds from my governments, even though
my productivity is zero, therefore my economic efficiency is
less than zero, a negative number. In other words, my contri-
bution to the GTAs productivity is zero. My contribution to
the
and
and
GTAs economic efficiency is negative.
Every person in my position lowers the total productivity
economic efficiency of Canada. I am only one number one,
there are many number ones like me. The aggregate sum is
a huge fraction of Canadas labour force, Ontarios labour
force, and the labour force of the Greater Toronto Area.
In recent years, Stanford professor of economics Paul
Krugman has made several very public and very undiplomatic
commentaries on the importance of domestic economic efficiency
in comparison with international competitiveness. Although I
do not entirely agree with all of Prof. Krugmans points, I
am in support of his views against his critics who argue that
comparative advantage between nations is more important than
the domestic integrity of any nation. That position is mind-
less. Without a domestic economy,
no comparative advantage
could exist. The fact that most of Prof. Krugmans critics
are leftists helps clarify the issue. They are clearly only
grinding their own axes in U.S. political economics against
- 3 8 -
the bedrock granite of his argument.
Paul Krugman is right. The one best way to improve any
territorys odds in economic competition is to concentrate on
improving the domestic economy of the territory, and let com-
petitiveness take care of itself.Trying to accomplish the
same purpose the other way around will not work against a com-
petitor who uses the first method.
The money which my federal and provincial governments
gives to me every month is essentially counterfeit. I have
not earned it. The fact that one twenty dollar bill looks
exactly like any other is meaningless.If a persons produc-
tivity is zero, and the person is still paid, the amount trans-
ferred cannot possibly be good money.Every penny I receive
debases Canadas currency.
If a nations currency is bad money. where then is good
money being hoarded?
Good money is being hoarded in the financial markets.
In bonds, in stocks, in funds,in offshore direct investment.
and most of all, within the accelerating velocity of money
itself. Within this system of exchange, no nations currency
is good money, although some are less debased than others.
Only the value of the trade between currencies itself is good
money. Loans, mortgages, funds, stocks, bonds, all are debased
currencies; only the value of the exchange between them is
still a pure alloy.
How and why is this of any concern to any government?
That is very simple. Money that is hoarded cannot be taxed.
What can a government do to correct this situation and
recover these fleeing tax dollars?
Stop debasing its currency.
And let its competitors continue down the spiral.
I will restrain myself, with great effort, from commenting
at length on credit cards,
other easy credit policies, and lax
and indulgent bankruptcy laws.
I will only indicate the very
simple equation that consumer spending cannot possibly improve
- 39 -
a territorys economy while growing personal debtload means
the territorys economic integrity is falling.
The economic
fundamentals of an area must be corrected first, before more
consumer spending can have any other effect than greater
injury. This is nursery school level economics.
The governments of Canada have spent themselves into a
position that makes virtually every penny they tax, and cer-
tainly every pennyworth printed,for all intents and purposes,
counterfeit currency. The fact that it is the government
that prints and taxes the currency is meaningless. A govern-
ment performing this kind of action is only debasing itself
into counterfeit governance.
The debasement of our currency is directly related to
what Francis Fukuyama means in his work on the themes of what
he calls social trust,and what he quotes U.S. sociologist
James Coleman as terming social capital.
Unfortunately, the best example of this image in our
society today is single mothers.And their children.
According to the Statistics Canada 1991 Census, the
number of married women in Ontario increased between 1986 and
1991 by 10.9 percent- During the same period, the number of
divorced women increased by 37.9 percent.The number of
single mothers with children under 18 living at home, but
with no child under the age of six, increased at a rate
approximately double the increase in married mothers with
children in the same age categories.
The number of married mothers in Ontario with at least
one child less than six,across all other age-of-children
categories, increased by an average of 10.3 percent-
Across
the same categories,the number of single mothers with at
least one child less than six increased by 51 percent.
In other words, the number of single women with children
under six increased at a rate five times the same increase in
married mothers over the same five year period.
While the
- 40 -
increase of single mothers over married mothers without child-
ren under six only doubled.
What possible explanation could
there be for this extraordinary societal phenomenon?
Any competent child psychologist can attest that any
child under the age of five, and most critically under the
age of three, raised by only one parent.
will almost certainly
be psychologically maimed for the childs entire life.
An environment with a succession of temporary other
parent figures is even worse. The effect is most traumatic
if the absent parent figure is the female. But it has been
conclusively demonstrated that almost any child raised for
the first three years of its life without a constant female
parent figure and a constant male parent figure will be ir-
recoverably. incurably, untreatable, psychologically maimed.
For life.
How any woman could deliberately do this to her own child
is beyond my comprehension.
The individuals in various professional occupations who
have questioned this established principle in the science of
human psychology over the last few years are all noteworthy
for their gigantic vested interest in the treatment of these
children- Virtually every one of these children represents a
steady, reliable patient who can never be cured: almost every
psychotherapists dream.
Abortionists, who make 10 times what any therapist does,
must be eagerly anticipating the surge in business as more
and more of these children hit puberty.
Blaming men for this societal atrocity is merely typical
of the dishonesty and childishness of the people who are
factually responsible. We are plainly dealing with a large
and growing group of bad women. A bad woman is a bad mother.
Tolerance has crossed the line into indulgence, of people
who are already more than self-indulgent enough.
The idea
that any single mother in the Greater Toronto Area who cannot
- 41 -
support her child and herself needs any form of social assis-
tance at all is infantile silliness.Almost any single mother
could obtain gainful employment within a week by the simple
expedient of taking a bus to the suburbs and walking from
door to door, asking for work as a housekeeper in exchange
for pocket money and room and board for her child and herself.
If she took her child with her, and held her voice steady and
her head up with sincerity,she could likely obtain gainful
employment within a day.
Irrefutably, her child would be better off in the home
environment of a real family. Irrefutably, her child would
have a vastly better life. If only these women cared anything
at all about their children.
What the typical single mother wants, more than anything
else in the world, is absolute power over another human being.
They want another person they can regard as their own private
property. They make the men who think of women as property
look like archangels in comparison with themselves.
Almost every single mother is simply a bad person, a bad
woman, and a bad mother. Of course society and government
must try and help these children.But we would be better off
to save our resources,and treat the women who are responsible
for these ruined lives first.They need treatment more than
their children ever will.
The only practical solution to this societal cancer that
any government and society can accomplish is continuous
radiation treatment, at maximum dosage.Single mothers are
bad people, bad women, and bad mothers.What they need from
others is universal public condemnation; to be told exactly
what they are by everyone,as loudly and as often and as
bluntly as possible.
Tolerance is always beneficial.Indulgence is always
destructive. The continual indulgence of bad people in our
society, and especially by all our governments, is only the
- 42 -
continuing debasement of our currency in social capital and
social trust.
While more and more, good social capital, good
social trust, is being hoarded. What is hoarded cannot be
taxed. Bad money drives out good.
Property Tax:
The income
consideration.
derived from property tax
This is the major reason,
governments in Metropolitan Toronto never
is a secondary
for example, that
bothered raising
property value assessments for more than four decades. The
primary purpose of property tax is to provide a government
with a justifiable rationale for the confiscation of private
property if and when the tax is not paid.This is a very
convenient tactic against precisely those pesky and rebellious
people who tend to neglect paying their taxes in order to
irritate their governments.
In economic terms,land and time (or the interest rate
cost of capital),are the bases for all other fair market
values. The sole fair market value of real estate is the
resale value: what the highest bidder is willing to pay.
In other words, fair market value is a cyclical process.
Reasonably simplified for brevity, when the property tax of
real estate increases,the resale value decreases, and the
opposite is not the case. When the resale value of real estate
increases, the property tax does not decrease.
When the resale value and property tax of real estate
are properly adjusted through the cyclical process of fair
market value to a true and accurate value of property inside
a gee-political territory,then the fair market value of real
estate within that territory will show the true and accurate
value of that territorys government.
My evaluation is that all property tax in all of Canada
- 43 -
should be set at the permanent flat rate of 2.5 percent per
annum of the estimated resale value of the property that year.
Since there is nothing practical that can be done about Canada,
the governments of the Greater Toronto Area and Ontario should
go ahead and establish this system on their own, so that the
fair market value of real estate within this province may
accurately reflect the value of their governance.
In a hierarchy of complexity such as an economy, the
bottom level of the hierarchy is also the top level, and vice
versa, of course. The bottom and top levels of economics are
the binary elements of land and time.
The fair market value of land and the fair market value
of time create and cause the fair market values of everything
else in the entire economic system of a territory.
Like any self-organizing, hierarchical, complex system,
an economy is necessarily highly flexible and elastic. Any
intervention in such a self-organizing system, however, also
necessarily entails the binary elements of uncertainty and
risk. When an intervention is deliberately directed at the
economic bases of land or time, the factor of uncertainty-risk
is very high.
Looking at the economy of a territory from the bottom up,
the land value of a territory is the value of the territory.
Land is territory.
The fair market value of a property is intrinsic in its

resale value. The comparative value of a residential property
to a commercial property is inherent in each propertys resale
value. It does not matter whether a property is residential
or industrial or commercial or institutional, the relative
value of each property to all other properties is inherent in
its resale value.
No matter where a property is located inside a zone, no
matter what zone a property is in, or what neighbourhood, or
what municipality or county of a region, or what region of a
- 4 4 -
province, the fair market value of that property relative to
all other properties in the territory is integral to its
resale value.
It does not matter what the size or population density
of the territory is. It does not matter whether the area is
urban or rural. It does not matter whether the territory is
a village or town or city or county or region or province or
nation. It does not matter whether the property is a house
or business or cottage or farm or mine or timberland. The
fair market value of any property relative to all other
properties is inherent in its resale value.
Any difference in the property tax between one property
and another creates a difference in the resale value of both
properties. Any difference in the property tax between one
type of property and another, such as between residential and
commercial, creates a difference in the resale value of both
types of properties. Any difference in the property tax
between one zone and another creates a difference in the
resale value of property in both zones. And so on, all the
way up to the difference between one nation and another.
Anything that changes the fair market value of land
inside a territory changes the fair market value of everything
else in that territory. The difference in resale value caused
by a difference in property tax rates may be minuscule, as in
a residential property of low value. The difference may be
quite significant, as in a multimillion dollar commercial
property. The most important consideration, however, is the
aggregate sum of all the differences in resale value inside a
territory taken together, and the ultimate effect that has on
an areas entire economy.
The inevitable result will always be that the annual
budget of the territorys government will be fiendishly
difficult, if not virtually impossible to balance out correctly,
and almost everyone in that government will never understand
- 45 -
why . The smooth, stable, on-going operation of that terri-
torys government from year to year to year will be almost
impossible to ever achieve. Like a software bug, virtually
every year the government will need to alter the various
property tax rates of its territory to meet its budgetary
requirements. Every year, the changes made in property tax
rates will create new problems for the next years budget.
The government will hit its shins against every rock crossing
every stream, and probably never know why.
The property tax rate for every piece of property inside
a territory must be exactly the same before the resale value
of every property relative to all other properties can show
the fair market value of land inside the territory. Whatever
the property tax rate is, it must be exactly the same for
every lot of land, and it must be predictable years in advance
of payment. The resale value of property inside a territory
must be realistic before the stable economic governance of
the territory can be physically possible.
Looking from the top down, responsible and accountable
government is not possible when the meaning of responsible
and the meaning of accountable changes from property lot to
property lot. A government cannot change what responsibility
and accountability mean from property owner to property owner,
from citizen to citizen.
The responsibility and accountability of individuals to
their society, and therefore their government, must be exactly
equal to the responsibility and accountability of their
society and government to them. Citizenship and government
is a two-way street. Exactly two-way, with no written or
unwritten laws which apply to one side and not the other.
Whatever services citizens need or want, they must pay
for them. Property tax should be much higher than the current
normal levels and income tax should be much lower-
The tax
rate on property should accurately portray the value of living
- 46 -
and working inside a territory, and it should be worth paying.
The property tax rate of a territory should support all
of the infrastructure requirements of the territory in fixed
assets, no matter what the size or population density of the
area is. If that is not the case, then the rate is not high
enough. Under no circumstances should property tax be
allocated to services which are not a municipal responsibility,
such as education. Providing land and buildings is one thing;
staffing them is something entirely different. The fiscal
purpose of property tax is to provide support for property.
Unfortunately, property tax is directly related to the
subject of the municipal budgeting method. This system of
drawing up a preliminary budget for the year ahead and then
setting a mill rate which will cover those cost requirements
is not very sensible. It is like the lowest bid rules, an
idea which sounds good in the abstract, but which rarely works
as intended in practice. Just as with the lowest bid standard,
of course, the mill rate method is primarily intended to
reduce the opportunities for political corruption.
This is an extremely sensitive subject. I sincerely
wish I could avoid the entire issue.
That is precisely the
problem. No discussion of politics, especially municipal
politics, can be comprehensive or complete without including
the factor of corruption. I deeply regret the sensitivity of
the subject.
I must make my personal stance clear. I am a conservative
because I am a realist. Because I am a realist, I am not a
libertarian. In other words, I have absolutely nothing
against corruption per se. That is not to imply I consider
it a good thing; I simply accept that it is a fact of human
reality which can never be eradicated, only controlled.
Corruption is like waste.
Any living thing, such as a
government, which attempts to stop producing waste will very
quickly die.
- 47 -
Lubrication is necessary to all human relations.
Without
lubrication, any political machine would grind to a burnt out
halt at an astounding speed. We all need to scratch each
others backs, and if we do not,we are very soon at each
others throats.
The only meaningful questions are how much lubrication
is present, and how equitably is it distributed.Too much
lubricant can damage or destroy a machine as easily as too
little, and the differences between too much, too little, and
enough can be extremely precise and delicate.And lubricant
must be applied to all moving parts of a machine, in the
proper proportion where necessary as precisely as possible.
Lubricant applied to only one small area of a machine
will damage or destroy it as quickly and as surely as too
much or too little in total. The smaller the area to which
all lubrication is applied,the greater the long term damage
to the entire machine,and the higher the repair or replace-
ment costs when it finally grinds to a halt.
Lubricant must be applied in just the right amount in
every appropriate spot. When these conditions are met, the
machine runs as smoothly as possible for the longest time
before repair or replacement is required.
The most potent display of power is self-restraint.
For a complete and convincing analysis of the direct
relation between the exactly correct level and distribution
of corruption and political efficiency and competence, and
the entire subject of global competitiveness, I can refer
interested parties to, Venice:The Hinge of Europe 1081 - 1797.
by University of Chicago Professor Emeritus of History William
H. McNeill, still one of the worlds greatest living historians.
For a contrasting example of gross political incompetence,
it is my opinion,as a private citizen,
that the failure to
implement Market Value Assessment is conclusive and undeniable
proof of excessive, poorly distributed.,
and self-destructive
- 48 -
political corruption,particularity in the government of the
City of Toronto.
It is delightfully ironic to observe politicians resist
a rise in the property values of their gee-political territory,
when any increase in the value of their territory can only
increase the value of their status and prestige as politicians.
The principle problems with the mill rate method are
that, in the first place,it does not work for its purpose,
secondly; it is a remarkably silly system to use for any
reason, and finally; it causes more headaches than it is meant
to prevent.
The mill rate method of municipal budgeting is a dinosaur,
and it needs to be buried quickly, before the stink gets any
worse. Sooner or later,municipal politicians must learn how
to budget on the basis of what they can afford, not what they
need and want.
A flat property tax rate is apparently just what is
required to give many municipal politicians the disciplined,
adult structure they so evidently need. For reasons already
stated, the rate should be 2.5 percent of the propertys
resale value each year,and any flexibility necessary can be
channeled into raising or lowering the fixed aspect of the
rate. Political opposition should keep it fairly stable.
The reassessment process to determine an accurate resale
value for every property in the Greater Toronto Area will be
very complex and difficult. The procedure will need to be
monitored very carefully by everyone.It will take years to
accomplish and cost a fortune in lawyers fees just on appeals.
Fine, lets admit all that and get on with the job.
One more
time: the argument that governing is hard work does not
justify the failure to govern.
In this regard, the proposed method of Unit-Value-
Assessment, or UVA,is clearly economic lunacy.
The policy
option is far too cunning and duplicitous as a eco-political
- 49 -
strategy to be described as simple stupidity, but it is
obviously insanity. There is only one fair market value of
real estate, and that is the resale value.
The premise that the resale value of property can be
almost impossible to estimate accurately until someone actually
makes an offer is not as valid and powerful a point as it was
in the past. Many mathematical models are available today,
some on the open market. which can predict the resale value
of any property to within 1 percent, sometimes even several
years into the future. While a hundredth is not trivial in
real estate valued in the millions, a municipality can easily
take the loss on the amount until the models improve.
The argument that a fixed, flat rate of property tax
could be severely damaging to a municipalitys budgeting in
economic peaks and troughs of the real estate market is a
complete non sequitor. This is the kind of circular reasoning
commonly called putting the cart in front of the horse. In
short, the very simple confusion of cause and effect.
The fact that the financial resources available to a
government decline during economic troughs, most powerfully
in the real estate market, is exactly what is essential to
rational government budgeting.
When the economic foundation
of a gee-political territory lowers,
the government of the
territory had better reduce their spending.
Or else. It is
economically necessary to reduce expenditure when revenue
decreases. That is what an economic entity is supposed to do
to survive and recover from a slowdown. The fact that a
reduction in expenditures causes economic hardships is precise-
ly what should happen. Of course economic troughs are un-
pleasant. That is why it is such a good idea to get out of
them.
It should not even be necessary to say that economic
slowdowns are what saving is for- How many times do people
need to be shown the difference between a grasshopper and a
- 50 -
bee? Are we really this stupid?
Or are we just immature?
The premise that municipal governments cannot accurately
predict both their future needs and the economic waves of
greater gee-political territories is another very simple
fallacy. Correctly predicting such factors is part of their
job. Failures in budgeting caused by inaccuracies in fore-
casting are only irrefutable proof of gross political incom-
petence, nothing more.
Whining and sniveling that the job is too much hard
work is hardly conducive to any solution to the problem except
the removal of the whiners and snivelers in question.
The mathematical models currently in use are inaccurate
because they are calculated in the wrong number base. The
mathematics of economics are not decimal; they are binary.
Of course mathematical models calculated in a decimal base
will always need adjustment and remain unreliable past several
cycles. Economics is not a decimal system; it is a binary
system. Change the number base of the models with adaptions
to the formulas and equations and they will work perfectly,
without any additional correcting factors required at all.
Under the heading of property tax, the isolated case of
the parasitical squatters on the Toronto Islands is clearly
relevant. As stated, the primary political purpose of property
tax is to provide a government with a believable rationale
for the confiscation of private property, just in case that
is ever necessary. In the Toronto Islands, such confiscation
obviously is necessary, for the good of every citizen of the
Greater Toronto Area, and indeed, all of Ontario.
Coincidentally, the fair market value of the Toronto
Islands land is astronomical, especially for commercial use.
Any competent government could easily arrange the zoning of
this land to show its realistic resale value, while covering
any risk of actually losing it.
This would raise the property
tax of any real estate in the zone to levels very few private
- 51 -
citizens in Canada could ever afford to pay.
And then a res-
ponsible and accountable government would confiscate the land,
for non-payment.
The explanation for why this was not done years ago is
sadly simple. No competent government has been in power during
the pertinent period.
The most important political responsibility in the Greater
Toronto Area in which the municipal property taxation system
is most severely affected by federal and provincial policies
and practices is in the field of education.
The idea that education is a municipal responsibility is
ludicrous and asinine. Education is a national responsibility.
If there is any area of government that can be seen as compar-
able to the principle that there are no free riders in a tax
system for national defense, it is the national responsibility
of education. As when the governance of defense is properly
administered, the administration of education is essential to
a nations continuing stability and security.
A national standard of education is politically impossible
to enforce in Canada, because of the constant intransigence
of the ex-colonists of France currently occupying Canadas
territory of Quebec. This political reality does not make a
national standard of education a bad goal.
There can only be one highest standard of education
possible, and that criterion should be applied to every single
public school in Ontario, including the Greater Toronto Area.
The only way to achieve anything close to that standard is to
get rid of almost every one of the people calling themselves
educators now.
Like it or not, the ability to teach is a talent, and
talent is not democratic. It cannot be unionized. No amount
of desire, or academic credentials, or even years of experience
can give one iota of talent to a person who does not already
possess it- Either a person has some amount of the innate
- 52 -
ability to teach,
or the person does not.
What a talent needs
to be nurtured is discipline and dedication.
The very last
people who will ever be qualified to teach are people attracted
to a cushy job at high pay with a guaranteed unionist job
security. A unionist teacher is an oxymoron.
There are a precious few exceptions, and they SlOWlY
suffocate and drown in the mediocrity of unionism, where any
trace of individual merit and excellence is the greatest
possible damnation.
The municipal governments of the Greater Toronto Area
must forward the concerns of their electorate to the provincial
and federal levels of government. The public education system
of Ontario was ruined beyond repair more than a generation ago.
It must be torn down to the ground and disposed of, while the
architecture is designed all over again. Everyone in the
public education system must be fired, and interviews conducted
to find the two or three people out of every one hundred who
might still retain some tiny spark of talent buried inside
the ashes of their disillusionment and apathetic frustration.
Let the public education system of Ontario simply stop
for one, two, or even three years. The damage that would
cause could not possibly be greater than the damage the system
causes now. Rebuild the system correctly, and then start it
up all over again.
As the self-styled educators of the public school system
constantly remind us, young minds are very impressionable and
susceptible to any influence. The very last thing any sane
society or responsible parent would do is put a helpless,
innocent child into the hands of a public sector unionist.
We only need to look around us to see the consequences of
more than an entire generation of Marxist indoctrination
disguised as education.
Anyone who doubts this basic principle of responsible
and accountable government needs only one simple item of
- 53 -
objective evidence:
examine the lives of public sector
unionists children.
Overwhelming, the children of public
sector unionists do not mature into the most valuable of
citizens. To put it mildly. That is only anecdotal evidence,
and anyone who looks at it will find it convincing.
It is
proof. The central problem of civil servants is the issue
of character.
Every 12 year-old public school student knows: The words
of a fool are worthless. The words of a liar are worse than
worthless.
No responsible and accountable government would ever,
under any circumstances. leave a helpless, innocent child in
the care of a public sector unionist.
Summary:
The major economic problem affecting the competitiveness
of the Greater Toronto Area is that public sector employees
are paid at least twice what their work is worth. This
problem must be solved before the economy of the GTA can
improve enough to be competitive in the global marketplace.
Deflating the wages of public sector employees will greatly
improve the lives of every citizen of the Greater Toronto Area.
The faster public sector wages are deflated, the sooner the
lives of private citizens will be better.
All forms of social assistance and all labour laws should
be abolished, beginning with welfare and the minimum wage.
The governments of the GTA should do everything in their
political power to accomplish these goals.
Our society and governments have passed over the fine
line that constantly floats between tolerance and indulgence.
We are indulging too many bad things,
and too many bad people.
This indulgence is debasing our currency of social trust and
- 54 -
social capital, causing good social trust and capital to be
hoarded away from social circulation.
Property tax should be a fixed, flat rate which is exactly
the same for every property owner. The larger a gee-political
territory in which a fixed, flat, property tax rate is applied
to every property owner the better. The rate should be high
enough to pay for all the fixed assets needed by an area,
with enough surplus to provide savings for the avoidance of
debt during economic lean times.
The public education system of the Greater Toronto Area
and Ontario is irreparable. The entire system should be
demolished, redesigned, and rebuilt from the ground up, while
public education stops until the new system is ready. Almost
everyone now working in the public education system of Ontario
is pragmatically and realistically unemployable.
The greatest problem with government in the Greater
Toronto Area is the severe and uncorrectable character flaws
of public sector employees.
If governments make no effort to solve this problem they
will continue to lose their electorate to cynicism. anger,
and the ever-increasing populist demands for political reform.
I appreciate this opportunity to contribute to the
political process. Thank you for your time and attention.
Incidently, if you know of anyone who could use the
services of a freelance writer, I could use the work.
- 55 -
Cc. David Hutcheon, Councillor, Ward 1, Toronto
Barbara Hall. Mayor, Toronto
David Miller, Councillor, Toronto High Park, Metro Council
Alan Tonks, Chair, Metro Council
Val Meredith, Reform Chief Critic, Citizenship & Immigration
Stephen Harper, Reform Chief Critic. Finance
Jan Brown, Reform Chief Critic, Human Resources
Jack Ramsay, Reform Chief Critic, Justice
Jim Silye, Reform Chief Critic, Revenue & Customs
Ian McClelland, Reform Chief Critic, Public Service Renewal
Art Hanger, Reform Chief Critic. Solicitor General
John Williams, Reform Chief Critic, Treasury Board
Preston Manning, Leader, Reform Party of Canada
Derwyn Shea, MPP, High Park-Swansea
Allan Leach, Minister, Municipal Affairs & Housing
Al Palladini, Minister, Transportation
John Snobelen, Minister, Education & Training
David Tsubouchi, Minister, Community & Social Services
William Saunderson, Minister, Economic Development,
Trade & Tourism
Dianne Cunningham, Minister, Intergovernmental Affairs
Elizabeth Witmer, Minister, Labour
Charles Harnick, Attorney-General
David Johnson, Chairman, Management Board
Robert Runciman, Solicitor-General
Ernie Eves, Minister, Finance
Mike Harris, Premier, Ontario
Er i n Bar r
98 I nwood Ave.
East Yor k , Ont ar i o
M4J 3Y7
Sept ember 28, 1995
ATTENTION: The Gol den Task For c e Commi ssi on
Dear Si r /Madam,
I have been a r esi dent of t he Bor ough of East Yor k f or 10
year s and I have ver y st r ong f eel i ngs about t he r ec ent
pr oposal t o c ombi ne Canadas onl y bor ough w i t h t he Ci t y of
Tor ont o. I t i s my f eel i ng t hat t hi s pl an i s not i n t he best
i nt er est s of t hose l i vi ng i n East Yor k . I w i sh t o ex pr ess
my c onc er n.
Thi s pr oposal c oul d c ost t he r esi dent s of East Yor k i n many
w ays. For ex ampl e, peopl e f or mer l y empl oyed by t he Bor ough
of East Yor k st and t o l ose t hei r j obs, or f ac e st i f f
-p e t i t i o n i n t o d a y s a l r e a d y d i f f i c u l t j o b ma r k e t . Thi s
c oul d af f ec t t housands of peopl e, i nc l udi ng t eac her s, t hose
, and many ot her s. w ho w or k f or Par k s and Rec r eat i on
I n addi t i on, t hi s pl an w oul d dr ast i c al l y c hange c ommuni t y
l i f e w i t hi n East Yor k . Resi dent s w ho f or mer l y had a voi c e
i n what happened wi t hi n t hei r c ommuni t y w i l l f i nd t hemsel ves
not hi ng mor e t han smal l f i sh i n a bi g pond. Those w ho l i ve
i n t hi s f i ne bor ough c hose t o do so f or a r eason. If the
pr oposal w ent t hr ough, t hese r easons woul d be c hal l enged.
The educ at i on syst em, f or ex ampl e, w oul d see dr ast i c
c hanges, i nc l udi ng budget c ut s, t ax i nc r eases and t he l oss
of t he smal l 1 t ow n, c ar i ng appeal t hat t he East Yor k Boar d
of Educ at i on of f er s t o i t s st udent s and empl oyees. I t i S
si mpl y unf ai r f or t he r ul es t o be c hanged i n t he mi ddl e of
t he game.
If East Yor k w as j oi ned w i t h t he Ci t y of Tor ont o, 200 year s
of hi st or y i n t hi s bor ough w oul d go w i t h i t . I t i s my
si nc er e f eel i ng t hat t hi s pr oposal shoul d be r ec onsi der ed,
as i t i s does not seem t o have any benef i t s f or t hose
i nvol ved.
Si nc er el y,
PERSONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION RELATIVE TO THIS SUBJECT MATTER
Walter Beath
1579 Howden Road E.
Oshawa, Ont., LIH 8L7.
Beginning in 1950 spent 30 years in Local Politics; at the
Township, County, and Regional Levels; with a long time interest in
Planning.
Participated in all of the studies that took place prior to the
introduction of a Regional Government in Durham.
Appointed by the Province as the first Chairman of the Region
of Durham on July 31,1973 for a term to expire at the end of 1976.
Elected for two additional terms; and retiring on Dec.6
1980. In this position, was involved in the restructuring of
Local Govt. in a 1000 square mile area east of Metro
Toronto, with a population of 220,000. In this process, at
least 20 Municipalities, including parts of two Counties,
and a separated City were restructured to form 8 Local, and
one Regional Council, each with its own responsibilities.
Services such as Transportation, Policing, Provision of
Water, Sewer, and Waste Disposal, and Social Service
provision were given a broader (Regional) base to better
serve the area residents in the future. Durham was the only
Region to be given Total Planning Powers.
Durinq term as Reqional Chairman was:
--- A member of the Board of Directors of the Association of
Counties and Regions.
--- A member of the Municipal Liason Committee from 1975-80;
and Chairman in 1979-80. This group, representing all
three of the Municipal Organizations in the Province at
that time, met regularly with the their counterparts in
the Government Ministries, in an attempt to have input
into proposed Legislation affecting the Municipalities.
In 1980 the three Associations in the M.L.C.amalgamated
and became The Association of Municipalities, or A.M.O.
--- Appointed as one of two Municipal Representatives
from across Canada, as delegates to the Sept. 1980
Constitutional Conference in Ottawa.
--- Initiated the first Municipal Energy Conservation
Program in the Province of Ontario.
--- A member of T.A.T.O.A. or the
N
GO TRANSIT BOARD.
Since retiring has served two terms as a member of Durham
Regional Police Board of Commissioners.
HOW THE GOVERNMENTAL PROCESS HAS EVOLVED IN THE PAST
For decades Local Govt.
consisted of (1) Area
Municipalities (and their Second Tier the County): and (2)the
Separated Cities
- all creatures of the Province.
Following W.W.II,
the rapid rate of growth in some areas
required some long-term land use planning; as well as some method of
funding the Social needs of the the future population , that
would result from that growth. .
The creation of the Regions in the G.T.A., and elsewhere
was not an additional Level of Govt.; but a restructuring of
the County System that did not have the mandate, expertise.
or perhaps the desire to address these important issues.
Many municipalities were facing pressures for rapid growth,
never before anticipated.
The Regions were given the authority to
decide the Type, the Amount, the Location;
as well as the Staging of
any growth as well as an area with the ability to properly fund the
infrastructure necessary,
and maintain a satisfactory lifestyle.
This necessitated some possible changes to existing
Geographic boundaries and to the number, and authority of
the original Municipalities;
so that qualified Personnel
would be on staff for all to use. In most instances there
was some Common Interest ,Geographic, Economic, or Cultural
that seemed appropriate to keep in mind as these changes
took place. The transfer of Power included some degree of
Provincial Control, as well as the sharing of funding.
Another benefit to an Area Municipality was , that if they
could get the support of the Region for some project; the
larger body could have a greater influence on a Senior Level
of Government.
In the case of Durham
H
The Province said that this
action would stop any expansion eastward of Metro Toronto.
Durham included a part of 2 Counties and a separated City
(Oshawa) that had common interests and a Geographic area
with a tax base to fund the changes needed. Durham was the
only Region that was given Total Planning and Development
authority. (More about that later).
I respectfully suggest that the exercise in Durham at
least, was reasonably successful in those formative years.
The Chairpersons of all the Regions met on an informal
and somewhat regular basis to discus any mutual problems, and
share our gathered information.
We often were accompanied by the
appropriate Committee Chairperson and/or Senior Staff person
involved with the subject matter under discussion. If requested,
we were quite often able to have in attendance,
the Provincial
Minister responsible or a senior Civil Servant as his
representative.
3
THE SITUATION TO-DAY
In recent months three things have happened:
l-Metro Toronto has been having a serious debate as to its
future Economically; and how they can address this crisis
for the short and long term maintenance of their area in the
present competitive climate .
2-The previous Provincial Government established a Task Force,
chaired by Anne Golden to recommend how the present Government in
the G.T.A.should be restructured.
3-Metro Chairman Tonks has proposed a radical new Super Region,
that would include all the adjacent Regions of York, Peel,
Halton and Durham; but not necessarily all of the areas in those
Regions. This new Governmental Body would radically change the
method of Governing and administration in the whole area.
Recognizing that all the Regions in the G.T.A. may have some
problems that they should be addressing in to-days changing
times; I respectfully suggest that #3 above is neither a
practical or economic solution to the problems that now exist
in Metro alone, and certainly not beneficial to any of the
proposed partners, for a number of reasons:
1- The political power in such a large and strong economically
based area, would be a serious challenge to the Authority
of the Provincial Government itself.
2- Any spirit of common interest and co-operation achieved
since their creation in all the Regions would be lost; and much
of the old parochial attitude that existed originally would
reappear and all would suffer because of it.
3- Municipalities and Communities would become lost in such
magnitude, and access to the elected would become more difficult
and frustrating.
4- Without question, the balance of power would be concentrated
towards the Metro area; and input and/or requests from the fringes
would be lost when the final vote was taken.
5- The bureaucracy in such a system would be immense; and any
imagined efficiency of operation would be lost by the real or
imagined need. for more "supervisory" and other positions
needed to carry out the Policies and Procedures legislated.
6- Just imagine the size of the Police Force, for only one
example. It would perhaps rival the O.P.P. in the Province.
to-day.
7- Taxes would increase, at least,
in all areas outside
Metro Toronto.
8- The time, cost, and frustration of standardizing the
scores of Collective agreements would be astronomical, and
more costly than at present. In every instance the basic
starting point in any negotiations would naturally use the
highest rates prevailing to-day; and I suggest that those
rates are highest in Metro.
It is interesting to note that in the late 1970s then
Mayor John Sewell tried to establish a Metro and area
Planning Board, with some of the same ideas as in # 3
above. There was no support.
The present system of Government in the G.T.A. was
developed over a number of years;
and after much dialogue;
and no Quick Fix at this time is either practical or
appropriate.
Twenty five years ago, on May 8, 1970, then Premier John
Robarts recognized some of the growing pains in this
particular part of the Province, and announced the creation
of the Toronto Centered Region
v
T.C.R. On that occasion he
said It is every ones responsibility to participate fully;
You, your Municipalities, Agencies, and Organizations, in
conjunction with the P.of O. to make it successful. And
later identified the requirements for success as
Consultation, Co-operation, Co-ordination and Partnership.
With respect, I suggest that those statements are equally
applicable to-day.
With the greatest respect I suggest that some of the problems
in the Metro Region may also be present in one or all of the other
Regions; but I am equally sure that at least some of the issues
of concern in each Region are to some degree unique to that
particular Region, and cannot be solved by "One Solution For
All.
I also suggest that in areas of mutual concern, or cross
boundary services such as Transportation eg. G O , etc. can
be addressed by the individual Regions; and-through
consultation, and the assistance of the M.P.P.s who
represent all of the G.T.A. area, a satisfactory
arrangement can be achieved.
No one should lose sight of what the real Goal of
this
exercise is; and not destroy any of the benefits that have
been achieved as Separate Bodies until this point in time.
All of the above does not indicate that the system in place
to-day is satisfactory and should continue. To the contrary
All is not well in the G.T.A
N
.
There are a number of valid reasons that would clearly
indicate the need for a major review of both the Councils, and
their mandate; as well as the present method of administration at
all levels of Municipal Government in the G.T.A. to-day.
1- During the years since their creation; has any Region undertaken
a review of their method of operation; to find out if what
they are doing is still appropriate, or should some minor or major
modifications be made to suit to-days situation, and make the best
use of the technology available to-day?
2- When Industries and Businesses in the private sector can
reduce (sometimes drastically) the number of employees, and
still continue to serve their customers and produce and market
their product in to-day's highly competitive climate; surely
a similar approach should be expected of our Elected Bodies.
3- When the present Govt. in Ont.was elected with such a
majority, at least to some degree, because of their promise
to reduce the size and cost of Government; surely it would be a
clear indication that "A1l" Government would be expected to
co-operate in the exercise.
4- With the tremendous advances in all forms of communicating,
and technology (electronic and otherwise) in the last decade or
two; surely there should have been more evidence of its use
in our School Boards, and Municipal Governments. I am confident
that all of them are constantly installing "State of the Art"
equipment for their operations.
5- There is an ever increasing concern about the time
required, the frustration and dissatisfaction,being
expressed by those who would be willing to invest, build,
and create employment to produce a product or provide a
service, for our use or for sale elsewhere. In addition
many existing businesses, and an increasing number of just
plain residents and taxpayers are becoming more concerned
and vocal about the taxes being paid and the services
received. I am personally aware of a number of our best
corporate citizens and responsible investors who are now
moving their dollars and business to other areas of the
Province or out of Province because of their recent experiences
of negative attitudes to a proposal; or sometimes the lack
of a response to a request.
6- Their seems to be more duplication of services in and
between Departments; as well as between the different levels
of Government. The desire to maintain the present level
of departmental employees, with too much Supervisory
Personnel is very evident;
and the Councils apparently
are complacent and willing to maintain the status-quo.
6
RECOMENDATIONS TO THE G.T.A. TASK FORCE:
Stage 1- The Province of Ont. Take steps to immediately:
A- Make Market Value Assessment mandatory at least across
all of the G.T.A. to create a level playing field.
B- Announce a reasonable time frame for all Municipal (Region
and Local) Councils to undertake their own detailed and
thorough internal review; and give some general guidelines
as to the areas to be included.
Any worthwhile review must
consider the Council's mandate and its association with
all other levels of Government, and School Boards, that
presently exist; and perhaps the immediate neighbors. Such an
approach allows for consultation and co-operation among those
now actively involved; and would avoid any complaint of an
Imposition from Above without local input. If the reviews
are not undertaken seriously, or are deemed unacceptable to
the Province; then they, the Province, may take whatever action
it deems appropriate to make the System more efficient
~
limit
duplication, and be more responsive to the future needs of
this very important part of the Province of Ontario. .
C- Initiate some action to provide ONE STOP SHOPPING
H
for those people wishing to invest in the G.T.A. who
are so frustrated by the various levels of
bureaucracies that are sometimes duplications, and
the time and costs of such delays, with no assurance of
if or when an answer will be forthcoming, that they
simply walk away to some other jurisdiction.
Stage 2- The P.of O. investigate and report on the merit of:
A- Eliminating one tier of the present two tier Municipal
System. Whereas to-day the major functions such as Police,
Social Services,Transportation, and most Water and Sewer Services,
as well as a considerable input into all Planning are at the
Regional level; I respectfully suggest that the Regions (In
some form) should remain. Perhaps they could takeover the
similar departments from the Local Council; and thus eliminate
one level of Government. Those truly
Local Community Services
n
such as Parks, Recreation, etc. could be administered by a
small group of elected people on a Commission, such as presently
governs the Policing; and given an appropriate stipend or
Honorarium for their efforts.
Education, Fire, Public Utilities and Libraries could be
also given to the Regions, or amalgamated to one body for
each in the whole Region. Some of these Bodies are not very
accountable at budget and election time.
7
B- Changing the Geographic Boundaries that exist to-day
should not be undertaken without recognizing that any
radical change might interfere with whatever Common
Interest has been achieved in recent years.
C- Setting some limit to the number of Members on all
Councils. How many people can one Municipal Councillor
serve in a satisfactory manner? I realize that the
size of the Area involved might merit consideration.
SEE ADDENDUM # 1.
D- Establishing some criteria for adequate numbers on each
Departments staff; but eliminating duplication, and
preventing the creation of more levels of Senior or
Supervisory positions than is necessary. This is both
costly and frustrating to all involved.Is there merit
in a Provincial Survey of Population, Budget, and Staff
Compliments that might suggest some suitable ratio as a
guideline for all to consider?
SEE ADDENDUM # 2.
E- Controlling the costs involved in the Salaries and
Benefits that are presently in place for both the
Elected as well as the employees. Elected Councillors are
entitled to a Fair and reasonable Remuneration for
their time spent; but the present one-third tax- free
portion should be eliminated. Councillors are paid
expenses; and many are now entitled to a Financial
Severance Package
w
when they leave or are defeated- even
after a very short time in Office.
SEE ADDENDUM # 3.
Some of the benefits in to-days Contracts with the
Employees should be made to more accurately reflect
the financial load on to-days tax paying Public. Such
issues as "Sick Days" should be re defined to more
accurately describe its original intent.
F- Encouraging or Legislating even a temporary "Think
Tank
U
or other form of Association so that
representatives from the Regions, and speaking for
all Municipalities, could replace the current
parochial and self serving attitude that made
this Study necessary. the results as we see to-day
is losing investment to all the G.T.A.
IS IT REALLY THE PRESENT PROCESS OR LEGISLATED FORMAT
THAT IS AT FAULT TO-DAY: OR IS IT THE COMPLACENCY, THE
ATTITUDE, OR THE LEADERSHIP (OR LACK OF IT) REQUIRED
TO SIT AROUND A COMMON TABLE AND WORK TO ACHIEVE WHAT
IS NEEDED FOR THE FUTURE OF THE LARGER COMMUNITY-G.T.A.
ADDENDUM
# 1: When the Region of Durham was legislated there were
30 Councillors and a Chairman. . Since then because of
Local Pressure there are now 32 Councillors and a
Chairman.
Oshawa, for many years prior to the Region, had 15 on
its Council. Since then the city with considerable
less authority; and some additional area, has 16
Councillors, and a population to-day of about
130,000.
#2: When legislated,Durham was given total Planning and
Development powers. I believe the only Region so
designated. The Staff complement was 61. Within the
frame allocated an Official Plan was prepared and
adopted.
Since that time most Local Councils have fully
staffed Departments of their own. The Region still has
a staff of 47, and a budget of about $ 3,000,000. In
Oshawa in 1986 they had a staff complement of 45,
and they processed 1615 Applications. In 1994 they
had a staff of 65 and processed 875 Applications,
and also had a budget of about $ 3,000,000.
I live in Oshawa, and so pay Local and Regional
taxes. Together there is a staff complement of
112 and a budget of approaching $ 6,000,000.
#3: When the Region was legislated and for a number of
years the Agendas were such that the Council
Meetings were generally full day meetings. To-day
most Meetings are about 3 hours in length. Some of
this may be attributed to the work of the various
Committees; but how many Reports are adopted with
little or no Council Input?
All of the above is correct using the information that
was available to me; and would appear reasonably accurate.
This information is respectfully submitted and is without
prejudice
Respectfully
Sept.28, 1995
[ GTA TASK FORC
21 Orrell Avenue,
Islington, ON. , M9A 1K1,

July 14, 1995.
To: GTA TASK FORCE
The writer has been very involved with both the Islington
Ratepayers & Residents Association (IRRA) and the Etobicoke
Federation of Ratepayers & Residents Association (EFFRA) for
many years, having a special interest in governance and taxation.
AS a recipient of your news releases, I am delighted with the direction
and the vision indicated. I look forward to seeing the final report
and possibly appearing at a public meeting. In the meantime, congrat-
ulations on the excellent material released thus far.
The following submission reflects my opinions based on material that
I have gathered and discussions I have had with local residents,
politicians and civil servants. While recognizing I have been
involved with the City of Etobicoke's submission, I also wish to
express my opinions as an individual.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Governance
Eliminate the Metro level of government and move some duplicated
services down to cities (e.g. roads, parks, community policing
with investigative policing by the OPP) and move remaining services
up to the province or a revitalized GTA operation.
The proposed GTA administration would consist of Mayors with
representation by population, as in the case of the Greater
Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). The province might, if
necessary, have a maximum of 4-5 seats filled by existing MPP'S
or senior civil servants.
The above proposal reflects a need to reduce the number of elected
politicians as the GVRD has successfully achieved. (I have material
on the GVRD which I acquired when in Vancouver and which I can make
available).
2. Taxation
Develop a level playing field" as it relates to:
a) 1190511 and 41611 territories for all three categories
--
residential, commercial, industrial
2-- GTA TASK FORCE
July 14, 1995.
b) replacing MVA (an unstable system) with unit value assessment.
By switching to UVA, resulting subjectivity would be replaced
by objectivity and administration costs would be substantially
reduced.
c) transferring the tax for Education and Welfare from Property to
3.
4.
5.
General Revenues. This, alone, would alleviate much of the
property tax problem.
Transfer Payments/Provincial Grants/Subsidies
a) transfer payments require large administrative expenses,
which should be replaced by moving away from indirect
taxation to direct taxation involving more responsibility/
accountability for the providers of services (e.g. cities)
b) grants and subsidies (e.g.
Education) are based on complicated
formulae.
(These are not provided to taxpayers when requested. )
In the same way the global economy requires businesses to be
efficient and competitive, municipalities that are efficient
can be punished by subsidizing those that are not.
Grants/subsidies should be discontinued if they destroy the
level playing field.
GTA Responsibilities
As for the GVRD model, those responsibilities that are more appropriate
for a region than a city - e.g.
environmental, clean water, piped
services, transportation
Transportation
The current arrangements need to be replaced because:
a) existing services involve duplication
b) a GTA vision is required for fares, strategic planning and
clout regarding use of existing tracks owned by the private
sector, enabling public transit to develop at reduced costs as
an alternative to new subway lines
3 -- GTA TASK FORCE
July 14, 1995.
6. General
Priority should be given to:
a) the "3 D's" -- duplication/disentanglement/downsizing
b) building intensification and incentives for using
vacated industrial land
c) stronger local government
d) user fees that recognize the relative costs for
public transit versus private automobiles
SMALL BUSINESS AND JOB CREATION
BLOOR-BATHURST MADISON BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
417 Bloor St. West
Toronto, ONT M5S 1X6
Contact: David Vallance (416) 962-2786
S UBMISSION To THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE
Final draft for approval by members
September 1995
r
2
Proposals for Reform of the Property Tax System
and
Governance of the Greater Toronto Area
SMALL BUSINESS AND JOB CREATION
THE PROBLEM
The Economist, April 1, 1995 shows
Canada as one of the more heavily indebted
countries in the developed world. It points
out that, if growth rates turn out lower,
and real interest rates higher, than OECD
forecasts, debt will continue to expand.
Belgium, Canada and Italy would be hardest
hit. This is cause for concern. The Federal
government is trying to get its financial
house in order passing costs on to other
levels of government. Property taxes are on
the bottom of the pile.
Toronto is already subsidizing a substantial
portion of the province from its income
taxes. The attempt at Market Value
Assessment (MVA) by Metro revealed that
we are also providing substantial subsidies
from our property taxes as well. This has
resulted in the highest business property
taxes on the North American continent.
The result is that we do not benefit from the
economies of scale that should naturally
accrue to a city with the size and density of
Toronto. We feel that the province should
rationalize its system of subsidies to
municipalities so that Toronto can become
the economic engine of the province that it
has been in the past.
HOW IT GOT THIS WAY
It is a fundamental principle of democracy
that there should be no taxation without
representation. Property taxes were
developed primarily to pay for local services
with the money collected from local
taxpayers. If the method of calculating the
tax is consistent and reasonable, we are
prepared to pay our fair share of the cost of
the service we receive.
That cost should be determined locally
and applied locally. Why does the City
continue to transfer huge sums of money,
about $300 million annually, to the
neighboring municipalities of Metro? This
developed as a temporary sharing of tax to
help the suburbs develop their own tax base,
nearly forty (40) years ago and was
mandated by the provincial government
even though we as property tax payers
do not have any direct control over the
people who impose this requirement.
3
ALTERNATIVES TO MVA
Our experience with MVA in the last 3
years clearly demonstrated that this system
of assessment is neither consistent nor
reasonable. Intuitively we feel that a system
of assessment that uses the measurements of
the property would make the most sense for
a property tax. We make our assessments
on the profitability of the property based on
cost per square foot (meter if you prefer).
We calculate the rent per square foot, we
calculate revenue per square foot and
ultimately profit per square foot.
The advantages of a unit system are:
1. The assessment is not subjective
2. The property is assessed according to its
current size, not some arbitrary potential
size.
3. There is no penalty for making cosmetic
improvements or interior renovations,
4. Run down or neglected properties do not
get a tax break,
5. The taxes for any proposed addition can
be calculated in advance
6. The tax does not change because of
some external factor over which we have
no control.
7. Because properties will not be under
constant reassessment, there will be
substantial savings in the assessment
process. These lower costs will result in
substantial savings in the provinces
budget,
8. There will also be substantial savings in
the cost to businesses (and residents) for
appeals,
9. Any large tax changes can be managed
better because the system allows changes
to be phased in over a period of time
which allows the business a chance to
make the necessary changes to adapt.
Because of the unknown factors of this type
of system, it is important that we have some
computer modelling based on various
criteria, such as; common areas, cathedral
ceilings, parking lots and park areas in
malls; the mix between the value attributed
to the building and to the land; and the
potential shift of taxes from one area to
another.
We recognize that there will be tax shifts
among individual properties. However,
because of the potential to manage the
change gradually, we feel the premium will
be on our ability to compete, rather than on
chance factors, such as when the property
was last assessed and whether or not the
building has been upgraded. Penalizing a
business because it invests in itself seems
counter-productive.
Giving or charging a business (or resident) a
tax break because of location is not a
concern. When a property is bought, sold
or rented the price includes a reduction (or
a premium) for location. Governments are
notoriously poor at adapting to market
changes and it is better to let the market
make the adjustment. It is entirely
possible that a poorly located property
will be more expensive to service than a
property in a more desirable location. It
is self defeating to try to compensate an
owner over and above the adjustment that is
built into the negotiated price. Attempts to
adjust for value are the very reason we are
in the tax mess from which we are now
trying to extricate the City.
Rent al Val ue Assessment has been
proposed by some. To us, this is just the
other side of MVA. Rent is based on
market value and using a system that
involves a shifting and volatile measurement
defeats the purpose of making any change.
OUR TAX BILL
The Terms of Reference for the Golden
Commission state that, The Task Force
must respond to the perception that
propert y t ax and t ransfer payment
di fferent i al s . . are causing business
relocations. (our emphasis) We are
surprised that you would have the temerity
to make such a statement. Although we are
anxious that any re-assessment in Toronto
treat everyone in the same way, it does not
mean we are satisfied with the tax load.
Newspapers report almost weekly on
studies which show that businesses in
Toronto pay incredibly high taxes compared
to surrounding communities. That is a
significant problem
which must be
addressed. It is apparent to us that there is
a problem within the City of Toronto, but
we also feel there are issues that should be
dealt with by this Task Force.
Your terms of reference ask about the,
major structural and operational changes
to urban government that would increase its
cost effectiveness and responsiveness and,
How should the principles of equity,
competition and choice apply to municipal
functions across the GTA? (p. 2)
In our view the necessary structural and
operational changes would mean that
Torontos property tax revenues should
remain in Toronto, Torontos physical
plant, both public and private, is very old
and will require massive new investment to
keep it competitive, which means our taxes
4
should be allocated to that purpose, In the
last 5 years Toronto has cut investment in
capital work substantially, which is going to
have a serious long term impact if not dealt
with soon. Exhibit 1.
A study done by the Board of Trade of
Metropolitan Toronto, Killing
Goose, How High Property
Suppressing Metropolitan
Economic Recovery, October
the point in plain language.
the Golden
Taxes are
Torontos
994, makes
A report done by the Office of the
Comptroller, City of New York, Jobs on
the run: Corporate Headquarters and
the economy of New York Ci t y,
September 1992, states, In terms of the
retention of large firms in the City (of New
York), allowing the tax burden to rise
well above levels in competing localities
was an error.
lmplementing taxes that do not exist in
competing localities is an even larger
error. This is a major finding of this
study (Our emphasis)
While this study focuses on the largest
companies, there is no reason to believe
that the straightforward conclusions
would not be applicable to smaller
firms. This is our response to your
questions, Is the property tax adequate .?
and, "What are the.../disbenefits of
GTA dedicated (taxes)?, P. 6 We can also
state fairly conclusively that the conclusions
of the New York study do apply to small
firms.
The principles of equity, competition and
choice have been completely abandoned by
a provincial government that pays subsidies
from revenues generated by the City of
Toronto, with the lowest income per capita
5
in the GTA, to Markham, with the highest
income per capita. Exhibit 2
If these changes were made, and the City of
Toronto gets its own house in order, there
should be a substantial reduction in the
property tax load. This would allow
business in Toronto to get some benefit
from the economies of scale that should
come from its compact, densely populated
form.
We may then be able to start building up
employment in Toronto and regain some of
the jobs that have disappeared since 1990.
Most of our members are operating with
20% to 40% fewer employees than in 1989
- 1990 Exhibit 3. The resulting income tax
revenues paid to the federal and provincial
governments would then give them some
room to perform the role that should be
done by them.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PROPERTY TAX REFORM
1. Each municipality is to be given assessment and tax authority.
2. Unit assessment for business needs a full examination to discover the impact it would have
under various formulas.
3. All tax revenue collected in each municipality remains within that municipality.
4. All municipalities are to be required to find ways to eliminate transfers from other sources for
municipal purposes.
5. No new taxes that are not applied to every municipality can be imposed. This will apply
discipline to all municipalities to become more efficient in the use of their existing resources.
6. The school tax burden on the city of Toronto is a major problem. It cannot be altered by
changes to the assessment system. It is essential that the Provincial government change its
system of grants to eliminate the distortions this is causing.
GOVERNANCE
There is too much government in this
province and too little good administration.
It took nearly 4 years of effort to get Metro
to put a few parking meters on Avenue
Road, nort h of Bl oor, which only
acknowledged what was already happening.
Much of what is done by the Metro level of
government is duplication of what can be
more effectively and efficiently done by
local (city) government. We generally
support the removal of the Metro level of
government. Metro council is too far
removed from its constituents; its attempts
in the last 3 years to impose MVA on the
City of Toronto clearly demonstrates that it
is unable to cope with the realities of an
older, densely populated city.
At the same time many Metro councillors
are interfering with local issues to maintain
a ward presence for the next election. To
do that they have expanded the bureaucracy
at Metro by nearly 3,700, in the last 5 years,
while most municipalities have reduced
staff. For example, often the work done by
Parks and Recreation means that there are
two crews, one City and one Metro,
working not far apart with two foremen,
two trucks and four labourers with 2
working and two leaning on their shovels.
The same is true for road maintenance,
Frequently a sidestreet is closed for a day or
two while some work is completed, and
then a week later the main road is
obstructed while some maintenance is
carried out. At the same time many of
us feel the priorities are somewhat skewed.
This year major road maintenance for the
benefit of commuters was done by Metro on
Bloor Street which is in relatively good
condition compared to the sidewalks which
are a disgrace and serve a major local
business district that pays high taxes.
For these reasons we are even more
opposed to any replacement by a super
GTA government. Anything that involves
the whole GTA might better be coordinated
by the Ministry of Municipal affairs. Over
half of the funds administered by Metro are
transfers from the Province. The province
would be better to look at alternative ways
of allocating those finds, either by
contracting out, privatizing or administering
the funds themselves.
OPTIONS
When GTA wide action is needed it could
be handled by a commission using a
mediator, e.g. the Ontario Municipal Board
(OMB) to handle disputes. Funding would
be by bi-partite agreements. This would
reduce cost overruns because each
municipality would want to minimize costs.
All services administered by a GTA
commission woul d be funded wi t h
negotiated cost-sharing agreements. There
should be no pooling of tax revenues,
because this ultimately gives spending
control to people who are not responsible
for collection.
7
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GOVERNANCE
Without going into detail, these are things weve agreed on through discussion:
I.
H.
111.
IV.
v.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
Dissolution of Metro Council, not to be replaced by a GTA government
Limited and mostly ad hoc commissions to deal with inter-city or multi-city issues
Local police forces administered by a commission, composed of city appointed
councillors, with community representation.
TTC commission, composition determined by ridership proportions
A. fares based on distance
B. integration through bi-partite agreements
Transportation - all roads controlled by local municipality
Infrastructure - use current system to maximum before any expansion
Deregulation; take a look at by-laws on the books, but no longer relevant to todays
economic and social realities
Urban form post-industrial land - development by market forces only, with ecological
requirements determined by use.
Education - financed by provincial funds, not property tax system.
Exhibit 1
City of Toronto - Sources of Financing: Property taxes only
All figures are millions of dollars
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994
Actual Actual Actual Actual Actual
Taxation and user charges
Residential taxation
568.4 635.0 699.0 760.4 745.9
Commercial, industrial and business
taxation and special charges 1,011.0 1,084.1 1,190.4 1,140.0 1,121.4
TOTAL - residential & commercial taxes 1,579.4
1,719.1 1,889.4 1,900.4 1,867.3
City of Toronto - Expenditures
By Categories
All figures are millions of dollars
Current Operations
General government
Protection to Persons & Property
Transportation services
Environmental services
Health services
Social & family services
Recreation & cultural services
Planning & development
1990
Actual
146.2
106.7
87.8
61.5
39.3
1.7
121.6
35.1
1991
Actual
172.2
117.5
90,6
61.8
44
1.9
131.9
40.8
1992
Actual
171.1
120.9
81.7
71.1
43.7
1.4
135.3
43.1
1993
Actual
176.9
114.8
77.8
69.3
39.5
1.4
135.7
41.8
1994
Actual
161,4
112.8
79,9
81.3
39.1
1.3
138.6
41.8
TOTAL 599.9 660.7 668.3 657.2 656.2
Capital
General government 17.1 27.7 12.6 7.9 6.9
Protection to persons & property 4.3 2.6 2.7 2.8 3.3
Transportation services 25.3 16.2 30.2 18.6 31.3
Environmental services 12,7 11.9 10.9 7.1 10.9
Health services 0.4 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1
Recreation & cultural services 21 31.3 37.6 23.3 19.9
Planning & development 114.7 62 56.6 58.6 21
TOTAL 195.5 152.2 150.7 118.4 93.4
TOTAL - Current & Capital 795.4 812.9 819 775.6 749.6
Page 8
i
Corporate headquarters,
state and local taxes,
and the economy of
New York City
Stephen Kagann, Ph.D
chief Economist
Zheng Gu, Ph.D
Senior Economist
with the assistance of
Mary Ellen Drogalis
Table of Contents
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. Corporate Headquarters and the City Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Headquarters and
111. A.Census of
Employment in the City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Corporate Headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. .
. .
IV. The City and the Metropolitan Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A.
B.
c.
D .
E.
F.
Headquarters Leaving theCity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
State andLocal Taxes . .
New York Citys Unusual
Non-Tax Business Costs .
. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
andUniqueTaxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Quality of Life Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The National Business Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Communications Technology . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
5
6
10
12
14
17
26
28
30
31
.
i
Headquarter, FIRE and
A. Headquarters . .
B. The FIRE Sector
Non-FIRE Private Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
34
35
C. The State and Local Tax Burden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
D. The National Economy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
E. The Quality of Life Factor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
..
VII. The Model , . . .
VIII. The Data . . . . .
38
IX. Model Estimation and
40
Interpretation
A.
B.
Empirical Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
of the Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
of Headquarters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Determinants
Determinants of Non-FIRE Private Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
40
41
43
46
XL The Impact of Headquarters on producer Services and Other Industries . . . . . . . . . 48
XII. Policy Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Jobs on the Run:
.
Corporate Headquarters, State and Local Taxes,
and the Economy of New York City
I. Introduction*
Since the nineteenth century, the presence of a large number of headquarters of national
and multinational companies has been a foundation of New York Citys economy. The presence
of these headquarters helped to define the City as the business capital of the nation.
The headquarters employ many residents and commuters. The business and professional
services hired by the head offices employ an even larger number of area residents. During the
1960s and 1970s, the City lost a large number of corporate headquarters to competing
locations. Even as the local economy staged a partial recovery in the 1980s from the collapse
of 1969-77, the exodus continued. The Citys economic future is seriously threatened by
persistent departures in the 1990s.
The loss of so many headquarters should not be viewed as natural phenomenon due to
the age of the City, its congestion, its high rents or advances in communications technology.
There has been no parallel flight of business from Tokyo and London, the two other great
business capitals of the world.
In this study, we will document the decline in the number of headquarters in the City,
demonstrate the causes of the decline and show the significance of the decline for the City.
The authors thank Victor Niederhoffer, Marissa Manley, Bill McCarthy, Arthur
Rosenzweig, Leonard Lowell, David Burtis, Kenneth Millitzer and Joel Brest for helpful
comments and criticisms. The responsibility for the study remains solely with the authors.
Specifically, we will develop an econometric model
component will estimate the influence of changes in
2
that will consist of two parts. The first
local costs, state and local taxes, unique
City taxes, the quality of life in the City and the national business cycle on changes in the
number of large firms with headquarters in the City. In the second component, we will estimate
the influence of the changing number of headquarters,
insurance and real estate), the quality of life, and the
employment in the Citys non-FIRE private sector.
along with changes in FIRE (finance,
national business cycle on changes in
While we focus on the large firms because of the availability of unambiguous data, many
more smaller firms have been slipping away, largely unnoticed except by their employees,
suppliers, and customers.
. .
IL Corporate Headquarters and the City Economy
With a great natural harbor, central location on the eastern seaboard and continuous
.
waves of immigrants, the long-term growth of the City economy from the Revolutionary era to
the middle of the twentieth century was fueled by commerce and industry. Banking and finance
developed to support the Citys role as the commercial center of the United States.
As the process of industrialization accelerated after the Civil War, New York City
became the preferred headquarters location for many of the nations largest enterprises.:
Indeed, companies in industries such as oil, transportation and public utilities, with few or no
operations in the City, chose New York as their headquarters location. These firms were
Wolfgang Quante, The Exodus of Corporate Headquarters from New York City, (New
York, N. Y.: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1976), Chapter 1.
3
attracted by the presence of competitors and suppliers, the proximity to financial services and
other services such as law, accounting, advertising and the media.
Well-trained clerical workers in the local labor market also made the City an attractive
location. The best and the brightest in the national labor market were attracted to New York
to fill jobs requiring higher degrees of skill and knowledge. The presence of so many talented
and ambitious people gave the City an unmatched pace and sense of dynamism. The presence
here of international and cultural institutions added prestige to the New York location.
At the end of World War II, the City economy had four cornerstones -- finance,
manufacturing, communications and corporate headquarters.*
economy that exported goods and services to the rest of the
.
provided power, diversity and stability In 1950, 7.7 percent
These were large sectors of the
nation and the world. The mix
of all American nonagricultural
employment was located in the 5 boroughs of New York City.
.
In the 1960s, two of the cornerstones, corporate headquarters and the production and
distribution of goods,= began to decay.
In 1953, post-war employment in manufacturing
peaked at 1.066 million.
In the recession year 1960, employment in manufacturing was
947,000, falling to 766,000 in 1970, 496,000 in 1980, 338,000 in 1990 and 308,000 in
There is some overlap in these classifications.
For example, printing and publishing are
part of communications but are also part of manufacturing. Headquarters firms can be in any
industry, including finance, communications and manufacturing. In addition, tourism could be
included as a fifth cornerstone.
**Given the Citys origin as a port, it is sadly ironic that the seaports which employed an
estimated 150,000 workers in the 1950s now make only a negligible contribution to the Citys
economy.
1991. Based on numbers we will
large, publicly-owned nonfinancial
4
develop from Fortune, three-quarters of headquarters of
companies left the City since 1956. The losses in
manufacturing and headquarters have left the economy of the City more dependent on the
finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector with over 500,000 employees in 1990 and on
communications and media with over 250,000 employees in 1990. Both FIRE and
communications are cyclically volatile and their continued concentration in New York is not
assured.
From 1950 to 1992, the national economy enjoyed immense growth as the post-war and
baby-boom generations joined the labor force. National employment rose 142 percent to 109
million. During this same period, total employment in the City fell 6 percent to 3.270 million.
.
City employment, 7.7 percent of the national total in 1950, now stands at barely 3 percent.
These aggregates mask interesting compositional trends. For example, the Citys private sector
fell 13 percent while government employment rose 62 percent.**
The contraction of the goods-producing sector in the City has occurred at a time when a
growing portion of the population does not have the skills needed to play a role in the more
knowledge-intensive components of the service sector. The result is a skills mismatch and
growing social problems. See Samuel M. Ehrenhalt, The Knowledge Economy: Changing
Requirements of Making It, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 1989, mimeo. The
devastation that the loss of the manufacturing base has brought to the City and many of its
neighborhoods is chronicled by Jason Epstein, The Tragical History of New York, The
New York Review of Books, April 9, 1992, pp. 45-52.
*Data on government employment by level of government is available only since 1967.
Since 1967, federal employment fell 35,000, state employment rose 20,000 and City employment
rose 102,000 (to 463,000). Direct City employment is approximately 230,000. The other
232,0000 is at the Health and Hospitals Corporation, the Port Authority, the Transit Authority
and the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority. Some of these other agencies were created
by the state, but generate revenues and employment in the local economy.
5
Headquarters and Employment in the City
The headquarters firms have a significant impact on the Citys private sector, particularly
the service sector. The national and multinational firms that maintain headquarters purchase
support services such as law, accounting, management consulting, public relations, advertising,
marketing, architecture,
telecommunications, printing and publishing, computer services,
personnel and financial services.
These support services are known collectively as producer
services. The headquarters firms and the suppliers of producer services purchase other services
in the local economy. These include real estate,
maintenance, restaurants, retailing,
amusements, hotels, communications and transportation.
These three groups - the corporate headquarters, the corporate support services and the
other ancillary services
have been labeled the "corporate headquarters complex. In 1976,
the complex was estimated to be responsible for 586,000 City jobs, 22 percent of total private
employment. Of this total, the headquarters directly employed only 135,000 workers. The
entire complex was estimated to have contributed $8.7 billion, or 26 percent of total private
payrolls in 1976.
==
There is no regular survey of employment at the headquarter locations of large firms but
some recent information suggests that the average number of employees at the head offices in
the City is falling. We conducted an informal telephone survey of New York companies in the
Fortune directory of the largest industrial firms. The 39 companies that provided data on
Eli Ginzberg, et al., The Corporate Headquarters Complex in New York City,
Conservation of Human Resources Project, Columbia University, (New York, Columbia
University Press: 1977).
jobs
The
6
in the head office in 1991 employed a total of 20,090 persons, an average of 515 employees per
company. The employment figures at these companies ranged from 15 to 5,000. Fifteen of the
respondents were able to provide data for both 1981 and 1991. These 15 headquarters employed
an average of 625 in 1981 and 534 in 1991.
Nearly all of the respondents provided general information on the direction of change in
headquarters employment between 1981 and 1991. Eighteen reduced employment, 5 increased
employment, 8 had no change, 3 indicated that New York is listed as the location of the
company but headquarters functions were located elsewhere and 3 were in the process of moving
out of the City.
From 1963 to 1976, the City lost almost half
45 percent of its headquarters locations
of large, publicly-held industrial and non financial service firms. Even though the local economy
began an impressive recovery after 1976, by 1991 the City had lost half of the headquarters that
remained in 1976. The City appears to have no ability to reverse or even arrest these losses.
III. A Census of Corporate Headquarters
In this study, we focus on the largest, publicly-held nonfinancial corporations with
headquarters in New York City. We excluded financial services because many financial fins,
particularly in banking and securities, have been anchored in the City by history, institutional
arrangements and law. * Privately-owned, foreign and small firms were excluded due to the
*These have included state and federal restrictions on banking that, through the 1960s,
prevented City-based banks from operating branches outside the five boroughs. The presence
of two large stock exchanges helped tie the securities industry to the City. There is some
evidence that the Citys hold on financial services may be weakening. The back offices of
banks, insurance companies and securities firms have been leaving the City. Press reports
7
lack of consistent and dependable annual directories.
For our purposes, the best sources of data on the firms with headquarters in the City
were the rankings published annually in Fortune.
The Fortune 500 directory of industrial
companies is a well-kown ranking of large firms. Fortune also publishes directories of the 50
largest firms in transportation, merchandising, utilities, insurance, diversified financial services,
and the 100 largest commercial banks and 100 largest diversified service companies. *
The annual Fortune directories for the 500 industrial, 50 transportation, 50
merchandising, and 50 utility companies are available since 1956. These four directories,
totaling 650 companies, provide consistent annual data on the number of firms with headquarters
in the City from 1956 to 1991. The directory of 100 diversified service firms was not created
until 1982 and was excluded.
Figure 1 shows the number of the 650 industrial, transportation, merchandising and utility
companies with headquarters in the City during the years 1956 to 1991. In 1956, 178 of the 650
were headquartered in the City. By 1960, the number fell to 160, but rose to 170 in 1963.
Since 1963, the number of these large firms with City headquarters has fallen almost
continuously. In .1977, at the end of the 1969-77 collapse of the City economy, 89 firms
remained. Even as the City economy appeared to recover after 1982, large firms continued to
reduce their presence in the City. From 1977 to 1991, the number declined from 89 to 46. In
1956, 28 percent of the 650 companies had chosen New York for their headquarters location.
suggest that several large securities firms are considering suburban locations for their
. headquarters operations.
Nonfinancial firms are ranked by revenues.
Financial firms are ranked by asset size.
8
By 1991, only 7 percent of the 650 could be found in the City.
FIGURE 1: Companies with Headquarter in New York City
Industrial, Merchandising, Transportation, and Utilities
I ! ! 1 I I I I I I I ! I I I I I I I 1 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
1
5 5 6 0 6 5
7 0 7 5 8 0 8 5 9 0
Source: Fortune Directories, 1956-1991
These losses are even more impressive when we e
xamine the Citys role as the
headquarters location for the very largest companies.
In 1963,22 companies (44 percent) of the
largest 50 industdrial companies were headquartered in the City. In 1991, only 3 remained.
It is important to note that while the industrial group dominates the list because its base
of 500 companies out of a total of 650, all of the subgroups the industrial, the transportation,
the merchandising and utility
have a similar pattern of decline, shown in Figures 2-5. We
emphasize this point because transportation, merchandising and utilities are considered service
industries: The decline in the number of headquarters is not purely an industrial phenomenon.
9
We will build a model to explain the changes in the number of headquarters in the
City. The year-to-year change in the number of headquarters is volatile because the population
of headquarters is a small number and the decisions of a few executives may create statistical
noise. The 4-year percent change in the number of headquarters, presented in Figure 6,
smooths the time series and shows a clear cycle of acceleration and deceleration of losses.
. ,
10
Companies with Headquarters in New York City
Figure 2: Industrial Figure 3: Merchandising
l -
S6
w w 36 70 76 60 w w
Figure 4: Transportation Figure 5: Utilities
ll
9
7
5
3
14
L
J 1 1
IV. The City and the Metropolitan Region
Many firms have moved their headquarters from the City to alternative locations in the
New York region, particularly to Connecticut, New Jersey and Westchester. A large number,
260 of the 1400 largest publicly-held service and industrial firms and private firms, are still
11
FIGURE 6: Companies with Headquarters in New York City
7 0 7 5 8 5
headquartered in the New York metropolitan region.*
In this study, we are concerned with the
City. The movement of firms from the City to the suburbs means the loss of jobs in the
headquarters as well as in many support services. The long-term consequences are middle-class
flight, and erosion of the tax base and an impoverishment of the City.
surrounding region, which has built much its strength by drawing resources
center, will lose a major source of income and growth if the urban center is not
A new trend in destinations away from the region maybe emerging. From
Thierry Noyele, New York City: Economic Development Issues for the
Ultimately, the
from the urban
replenished.
1960 to 1984,
1990 s, The
Eisenhower Center for the Conservation of Human Resources, Columbia University, Working
Paper 91-09, December 1991.
12
64.4 percent of the 87 companies moving their headquarters from the City settled in the
suburban counties of New York State (12.6 percent), northern New Jersey (18.4 percent) and
Connecticut (33.3 percent).*
The residual 35.6 percent moved to other parts of the nation. Of
the 21 firms relocating from 1985 to 1991, 41.7 percent remained in the metropolitan area and
58.3 percent moved to other parts of the nation.
V. Why are Headquarters Leaving the City?
Many reasons have been given to explain the decline in the number of large firms with
head offices in the City. We e
xamined some of the earlier studies of the decline**and the
news stories on departures of individual firms that have appeared in the press. Common
explanations are high taxes, high wages, high rents, the decline in the quality of City services
(particularly the public school system), the decline in the
communications technology and the falling cost of domestic air
quality of life, advances in
transportation.
*A complete list of departing headquarters is in Appendix A and an analysis of their
destinations is in Appendix B.
*It may be a misnomer to say that a decline in the number of firms on the list from year
to year is the equivalent of a departure.
Firms may leave due to a decision to move out of the
City, a merger, a bankruptcy, or a reclassification by Fortune to another list. Firms may enter
the list because of a decision to move into the City, or a reclassification from another Fortune
directory into one of the four in our universe.
An analysis of changes in the number of firms
mmarized in appendix C. We have no theoretical reason to expect
with City headquarters is su
that a disproportionate number of City-based firms are going to be affected by changes such as
mergers and reclassification.
In addition, for every firm removed from the directories, there
will be replacements from among the smaller fins. If the City was not becoming less desirable
as a headquarters location, there is a proportionate chance that the smaller firms moving up into
the directory would be headquartered in the City.
*Wolfgang Quante, Op. Cit.; Eli Ginzberg, et al., op. cit.; A Study of the Factors Which
Led Corporations to Relocate Their Operations Away from New York City, Peat, Marwick,
Mitchell & Co., New York, July 1976.
13
In 1991, Price Waterhouse conducted a survey of 299 executives in 6 of the
industry sectors financial services, manufacturing, business services, health care, tourism and
the media.* The report indicates that the overall cost of conducting business operations was
rated as extremely important to the largest number, 74.9 percent of the respondents, in assessing
the City location. The second ranked, consideration was City-wide security, noted by 60.6
percent of the respondents. Over 80 percent of the respondents rated the City as worse than 5
years ago in both of these categories. The City takes great pride in its cultural and entertainment
complex. Of the 15 factors included, the smallest number, 18.1 percent, rated the Citys
cultural and entertainment opportunities as extremely important when choosing a business
location.
In the sections that follow, we will examine
some of the factors that may influence the
headquarters location decision, with emphasis on those for which data are available. We will
focus on the state and local tax burden, New York Citys unique and unusual taxes that affect
large firms and their managers,** the City cost inflation problem, the quality of City life and
the role of the national business cycle.
In addition, we will analyze other factors that are
believed to affect the number of companies that choose New York as a headquarters location --
*Survey of New York Citv Executives in Six Industry Sectors, Conducted for the New York
City Partnerships Growth Strategies Project, Price Waterhouse Survey Research Center
(Washington, D. C., November 5, 1991), Exhibits III-1 and III-8. These exhibits are duplicated
in Appendix D to this report.
*We will demonstra t e t hat the commercial rent B tax, the personal income tax and
corporate income tax have been powerful factors driving large firms from the City. O
taxes, such as the B nincorporated business tax and the Citys refusal to recognize
recognition by the state government) the IRS Subchapter S corporation raise the cost
location to small business, but small firms are not the central subject of this study.
14
.
recent improvements in communications technology and the decline in the cos
transportation.
A. State and Local Taxes
In an earlier study, we estimated the impact of the growing burden of state a
taxes on employment in the Citys private sector.* In that study, we defined the Citys bur
of taxation as total state and local tax revenues from levies on City taxpayers per
economic activity, measured by gross city product (GCP).** Since firms considerin
location will compare the City tax burden against the burden in competing locations, w
the tax burden for the rest of the nation as total tax revenues of all states and localitie
the New York City figures for state and local revenues) per thousand dollars of gros
product (minus GCP).
In Figure 7, we present the total state and local tax burden per $1,000 of gross
From 1951 to 1991, that tax burden in the rest of the nation grew from $56 per $
percent) of gross national product to $93 per $1,000 (9.3 percent). If taking a
percentage of gross national product defines a growth industry, state and local governm
been growth industries in terms of tax revenues. The state and local tax burden in N
City was $78 per $1,000 (7.8 percent) of GCP in 1951. The tax burden in the Cit
* Report bv the Chief Economist. Comptrollers Budget Office. on the Impact of
Tax Burden on the New York Citv Economy, Office of the New York City Compt
1991.
**Gross city product is conceptually analogous to gross national product. Gross c
is estimated by the Office of the New York State Deputy Comptroller for New York
15
$169 per $1,000 (16.9 percent) in 1991.
FIGURE 7: State and Local Tax Burden, NYC vs The Rest of US
per $1,000 of gross city/ational product
200
I I I 1 I I I I t I I I ! ! I I I I I ! I I I I ! 1 I I I I f ! I 1 ! 1 1 I ! I
1
I
5 0 55 6 0 6 5 7 0 8 0 8 5 90
sources: New York City Comptrollers Annual Report
Office of the State Deputy Comptroller to the City of New York
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
A large company searching for a headquarters location would compare the City tax
burden with competing localities. The difference between the tax burdens in New York City and
the rest of the nation is shown in Figure 8. This extra burden of state and local taxes shows the
amount that City residents, workers and employers must pay per $1,000 of gross product in
excess of the average amount other Americans must pay to support their state and local
governments. The permium that New Yorkers must pay was $22 per $1,000 (2.2 percent) of
gross city product in 1951. Except for a brief period after 1977, the Citys extra burden of state
and local taxes rose almost continuously to $76 per $1,000 (7.6 percent) of gross city product.
In dative terms, New
FIGURE 8: New York
Yorkers paid 40 percent more than other Americans
City Extra State and Local Tax Burden
16
in 1951 and 81
per $1,000 of gross city/national product
8 0
70
60
50
4 0
3 0
20
10
1 1 I I ! I I I I 1 I f t I 1 ! I t I I I ! I I I I ! 1 I ! I ! I ! ! ! ! ! ! 1 I
d
I
1
5 0 5 5 6 0 65 7 0 75 8 0 90
Sources:
percent
New York City Comptrollers Annual Report
Office of the NYS Deputy Comptroller to the City of New York
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census
more in 1991.
The effective impact may be more severe than the growth of the extra burden in Figure
8 would imply. State and local taxes are deductible from federal taxable corporate income and
federal taxable personal income. The deductibility of state and local taxes reduces the extra
burden of taxation on New York taxpayers. In the 1950s, the top personal tax rate was as high
as 92 percent, which
insignificant levels for
percent. By 1990, the
would have reduced the net after-tax state and local tax burden to
.
high-income New Yorkers. In addition, the corporate tax rate was 52
federal rate on personal income was as low as 28 percent (currently 31
percent) and federal rate on corporate income was 34 percent.
While federal personal income tax rates have fallen, social
and local taxes may not be offset against social security taxes.
security tax rates rose. State
Moreover, sales taxes were
eliminated from deductibility on federal personal income tax returns beginning in 1987.
Beginning in the tax year 1991, limitations were placed on the deductions, including the
deduction of state and local taxes, of higher income taxpayers. The result of these changes, over
a period when the Citys extra burden of state and local taxes has risen substantially, has been
an even greater rate of increase in the effective tax burden on New Yorkers.
B. New York Citys Unusu
al and Unique Taxes
In its efforts to generate revenues, the City of New York
while the State of New York has 26 separate taxes. A list of
Appendix E. New York States taxes have uncommon breadth.
.
has created 28 different taxes
these 53 taxes is included in
While most of its taxes have
been enacted in other states, few states have so many different taxes in a single jurisdiction. For
example, some states do not tax personal income, some do not tax corporate income and some
do not tax retail sales. Most states, including those that have all three of these taxes impose
their levies at lower rates.
Compared with any other locality, the scope of New York Citys tax efforts is without
parallel. Most localities are supported by one, two or three levies. Typically, these are the real
:
property tax, a school tax based on property values and perhaps a local share in a state sales tax.
Many of New York Citys taxes have been added since 1963 when the City instituted its unique
.
commercial rent tax, described as noxious in a recent report by an advisory committee task
force. * The commercial
raised to as much as 7.5
18
rent tax was initiated at 5 percent of base rents and was subsequently
percent in 1970. The levy currently stands at 6 percent of base rents
above $11,000. This tax was followed by a corporate income tax, a financial corporation tax
and an unincorporated business tax** as well as the City personal income tax. The corporate
income tax, known as the general corporation tax, was initiated in 1966 at 5.5 percent of net
income, rising to a peak of 10.05 percent in 1975. The rate is currently 8.85 percent. The
personal income tax was initiated in 1966 at a top rate of 2 percent. The rate was increased to
a peak of 4.73 percent in 1983. The rate is currently 4.46 percent.
The three taxes most likely to influence a large companys decision to locate its
headquarters in the City are the personal income tax, the commercial rent tax and the corporate
income tax. A casual comparison between the initiation or large increase in these taxes
(including the state income tax) and the changes in the population of headquarters suggests that
a causal relationship may exist. The population of headquarters from 1956 to 1991 is shown in
Figure 9. Major increases in taxes affecting the headquarters firms and their managers are also
shown in Figure 9. The first year for which data on headquarters in the City were available was
. *PlatformsforGrowth: The Final Report ofthe Mayors Management Advisorv Task Force,
Committee on Incentives and Tax Policy, April 1992, p. 25. This report is the latest calling for
the reduction or eliminati
.on of the commercial rent tax. The tax is a levy on all payments by
a commercial tenant to a landlord, including the tenants payment of real estate taxes imbedded
in the rent. If real estate taxes are raised, the increase is usually passed through to the
commercial tenant. The increase
is also subject to additional commercial rent tax - a tax on a
tax. If a commercial tenant buys the premises, it is no longer subject to the tax. The Final
Report
of the City of New York Tax Study Co
mrnission, December 1989 labels the
.
commercial rent tax inequitable, inefficient and incompatible with the Citys economic
development goals. In spite of almost universal condemnation, there has been no serious effort
repeal the tax. .
**The three business income taxes replaced a controversial gross receipts tax.
19
1956,
1959,
when 178 firms, the largest number recorded, were located in New York.
In 1955, the states top personal income tax rate was raised from 3.85 to 7 percent. In
personal income tax withholding was instituted. Also in 1959, the states Personal income ~ ----- -- -
tax rate was raised to 10 percent. From 1956 to 1959, the number of headquarters in the City
fell from 178 to 159.
A partial recovery raised the number of headquarters to secondary peak of 170 in 1963.
In 1963, the City instituted the commercial rent tax and the number of headquarters again began
to decline. A net decline of 6 occurred in 1965, the year in which the state took over the Citys
4 percent sales tax and raised the rate to 5 percent.
On July 1, 1966, the City instituted its own
personal income tax, an unicorporated business tax, a corporate income tax and a financial
corporation (bank) tax. The emphasis in this section is on the Citys taxes and the lack of space
prevents its inclusion in Figure 9, but in 1968 the state raised its top rates on personal income
from 10 to 14 percent (subsequently raised-to 15.38 percent). In 1968, the exodus of large
corporations from New York began to gather force.
From 1968 to 1977, the City lost an
average of 7 to 8 large headquarters per year.
During the fiscal crisis of 1975-77, the City asked the federal government to guarantee
its bonds to enable it to reenter the bond market. Eventually, the federal guarantee was given
conditional on the City taking steps to get its fiscal house in order. In response, the City
reduced its own payrolls by 50,000 and levied major tax increases.
In raising taxes to
unprecedented levels during an. economic collapse, the leaders of both the City and state were
.
Unanimous in expressing the belief that the City would be further devastated unless taxes were
brought down from the levels of .1975. From 1976 to 1985, .the state reduced the top rate on
20
FIGURE 9: Headquarters and Some Major Tax Increases in New York City
Industrial, Merchandising, Transportation, and Utilities
190
165
140
115
9 0
66
40
,,
.
55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90
Source;
21
personal income from 15.375 percent to 9.5 percent.
The City made some small reductions in
the commercial rent tax and the corporate income tax. Perhaps as a response, rate of loss of
headquarters slowed to 2 per year from 1978 to 1984.
The City ceased its tax reduction efforts as it began to expand its payrolls back to the
fiscal crisis levels. A surcharge on the personal income. raised the top rate to a peak of 4.73
percent in 1983.
=
In 1983, the state placed a 17 percent surcharge on the corporate income tax
on New York corporations in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority area (the City and the
New York State suburban counties). By 1984, the Citys extra burden of taxation again began
to rise, particularly as property taxes began to chase the speculative boom in real estate values.
After 1984, the outflow of headquarters again
91-92 should result in continuing departures.
began to accelerate. Large tax increases in FY
Further evidence of the negative impact of these taxes on the behavior of the managers
of these large firms is provided by an analysis of the destinations of departing headquarters.
From 1969 to 1987, 32 firms moved to southern Connecticut where there was no state personal
income tax, much less local income taxes.
==
From 1956 to 1989, 18 headquarters moved to
northern New Jersey. In 1976, New Jersey instituted its first personal income tax at a rate of
Remarkably, @is temporary surcharge was actually allowed to expire by 1988. However,
a new 3-year temporary surcharge was instituted in 1990. The temporary surcharge was
extended for an additional 3 years less than one year later. In 1991, another 3-year temporary
surcharge was added. In 1992, the City is seeking enabling legislation in Albany to extend the
second surcharge. -
*Before instituting a personal income tax in 1991, Connecticut relied on high sales taxes
and a high corporate income tax The corporate income tax rate is 13.8 percent in Connecticut
(to drop to 11.5 percent on January 1, 1993), 10.35 percent in New York State (plus the 17
percent MTA surcharge on corporations in the City and the suburbs) and 8.85 percent in New
Yor k Ci t y.
2 percent (subsequently raised to 3.5 and recently to 7 percent). Of the 18 departures
Jersey, 14 occurred before 1976. The power of the City personal income tax may
22
to New
also be
demonstrated by the 15 firms that, from 1956 to 1991, have moved to the suburban counties of
New York State, in spite of the states high tax burden. After the New York suburban region,
the largest net gainer from the Citys losses was Texas with 7 moves. Texas has no local
income tax, no state income tax and no corporate profits tax.
Most localities do not have personal income tax levies. Sixteen states allow localities to
levy a personal income tax, but these have not been typical destinations of firms departing from
the City. Of the 117 corporations that left the City from 1956 to 1991, only 14 moved to 9
different locations that had a local personal income
or others moving to the locus of their operations.
tax. Most of these companies were utilities
Detroit, Philadelphia and New York are the only cities with rates at 3 percent or more.
Only New York has a progressive personal income tax.*
The City is also unique in that it levies taxes on business income. Most localities, tax
commercial and industrial property. In addition to property taxes, the City levies taxes on the
income of corporations, banks and unincorporated businesses. In addition, the City double taxes
the income of a class of small business that are exempt from corporate taxes under federal tax
law. These are Subchapter S (Internal Revenue Code) corporations. These are small and
closely held corporations with fewer than 35 stockholders that prefer the corporate form of
23
shareholders. This form enables the firm and its owners to avoid double taxation of income --
-fret at the corporate level and then at the personal level for wages, interest and dividends paid
to the owners. New York State recognized the Subchapter S corporation in 1981. Since small
businesses are widely believed to be engines of growth,
double taxation of small business
income is a peculiar tool for economic development.
For purposes of this study, we are only interested in the unique City corporate income
tax as the other business taxes, such as the bank tax and the unincorporated business tax, do not
affect the large non finahcial corporations in our universe. However, the Citys economic
problems are not solely the result of losing large companies and their headquarters. Further
research on the impact of the Citys unique and unusual taxes on smaller firms would be
useful. *
Some might be tempted to argue that we have outlined a series of coincidences that do
not constitute proof that large firms are attracted by low-tax locations and repelled by high-tax
locations. Firms choose locations for reasons other than taxes. Indeed, a complex of factors
come into play and we will subject all of the factors for which we have quality data to statistical
analysis to attempt to estimate the degree to which each influences the decision to locate in or
*Some large financial service and law-firms are not incorporated. These firms are subject
to the Citys unincorporated business tax on proprietorships and partnerships. A report by the
New York City Department of Taxation and Finance
orated
Business Tax, January, 1992) indicates that, in 1987, the average tax liability of partnerships
was $30,660 compared to $2,416 for proprietorships. The partnerships represent more high
income taxpayers. In fact, 73 percent of the totaI tax liability is from partnerships owing
$100,000 or more. Only 3 percent of the proprietorship liabilities exceeds $100,000. Among
.the proprietors, 18 percent live outside the City. Among partnerships, 64 percent live outside
the City. By implication, the higher the individuals business income, the less likely the person
will be a resident. The non-resident avoids most double taxation of the progressive personal
income tax and pays instead the datively small flat-rate commuter tax.
24
out of New York City. With respect to taxes, we intend to demonstrate a statistical relationship
between changes in the overa11 extra burden of state and local taxes and changes in the number
of headquarters in the City. We will also show
almost unique taxes, such as the commercial rent
had particularly potent effect in weakening the
business capital of the nation.
that some of New York Citys unique and
tax and the local personal income tax, have
Citys once unquestioned
-
standing as the
Revenues from two of the Citys unusual and unique taxes that affect large corporations
and their managers, the commercial rent tax and the personal income tax revenues per $1,000
of gross city product, are shown in Figure 10.
We exclude the corporate income tax because
the corporate income is very volatile over the business cycle. For example, the corporate
FIGURE 10: New York Citys Unusual and Unique Taxes
.
local personal income tax and commercial rent tax per $1,000 of gross city product
.
2 0
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. Sources: New York City Comptrollers Annual Report
. . + .
Office of the State Special Deputy Comptroller to the City of New York
.
25
income tax revenues per $1,000 of GCP may rise because the national economy is expanding,
not because of an increase in the Citys rates.
Personal income tax and commercial rent tax revenues per $1,000 of GCP rises from
zero to $1.94 per $1,000 of GCP after the initiation of the commercial rent tax in tax in 1963.
The initiation of the City personal
the burden of these two taxes had
1991 and again in FY 92, major
income tax in 1966-67 raised the figure to $5.13. By 1990,
risen to $19.93 of per $1,000 of economic activity. In FY
increases in City personal income tax rates were enacted,
raising the top rate from 3.4 percent to 4.46 percent. In each yea, the tax increase was
retroactive for 6 months, increasing the tax burden even more than the large increase in rates
would suggest. As a result, we estimate that the total burden of these taxes wilI rise to $22.
in 1991 and to $24.47 in 1992.
We will attempt to show that changes in the Citys unusual and unique taxes over a
year period will have a particularity powerful impact on percentage change in the population
headquarters over 4 years.
14
4-
Of
While the City adheres to the belief that taxes have little effect on business locations, the
policy of the City is to offer a package of incentives, including tax reductions, to large firms that
are considering alternative locations. There is some debate as to whether the firm being courted
would stay even in the absence of incentives. Regardless of whether the incentives may be
necessary in any given case, we will show that, even in the presence of incentives offered to
these companies, these unique and unusual taxes have the power to drive large firms and jobs
from the City. -
26
C. Non-Tax Business Costs
The two largest costs of a headquarters operation are wages and rents. We attempted to
create satisfactory sets of data measuring the wage rates in the City relative to the rest of the
nation from 1956 to 1991. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the N.Y. S. Department of
Labor provide data that enable us to provide an index of relative wage from 1975 to 1990.
Model-based attempts to extend the index back to 1956 did not provide satisfactory results. In
addition, we have data on asking rents in commercial office buildings in the City from 1960 to
1990 from Landauer Associates that enabled us to estimate actual City and relative City rents
but, again, the results were too crude to be entirely satisfactory. *
New Yorks relative costs are high and cyclical.. When the Iocal economy is growing,
local inflation builds a substantial momentum and local costs soar relative to national costs. This
is true for wages, rents and other expenses.
The momentum continues for several years even
after the City economy has hit a peak and begins to decline. The high City costs and prices
weaken City businesses and exaggerate the decline in the local economy. Ultimately, costs will
fall sufficiently to enable the City to regain some competitive advantage.=
The City inflation cycle is best demonstrated
with the New York City area consumer
B City actual rents were obtained by adjusting asking rents by the vacancy rate to estimate
actual rents. The estimated actual rents were divided by the gross domestic product price
deflator for new non-residential construction, the national replacement cost of non-residential
buildings, to derive an estimate of relative rents.
We strongly suspect that the persistence of high relative costs of living and of doing
business in the City is related to City and state taxes which are, to some extent, embedded in
the cost structure of the private economy as firms try to pass on their tax costs to their
customers. For a clear example of how this process works in commercial real estate, see the
testimony of Marisa . Manley, New York City Comptrollers Hearings on the City Economy,
October 23, 1991, pp. 59-70.
27
price index relative to the U.S. consumer price index. The relationship is demonstrated in
Figure 11. The rate of inflation in the City was significantly greater than the national rate from
1962 to 1972-73. The collapse of
of relative inflation from 1973 to
raced ahead after 1982, helping to
the Citys economy of 1969-77 sharply reversed the course
1982, enabling the recovery of 1977 to 1988. City prices
set the stage for the current decline.
FIGURE 11: Relative Consumer Price Index, NYC Area vs. US
/
Source: U.S. Bu r ea u of Labor Statistics
In this study, the relative consumer price index is a proxy for relative business costs,
between which there is a high correlation. Rises
and ~ declines would either, reduce the rate of
headquarters.
in the index should lead to some departures
28
D. The Quality of Life Factor
Corporate decisionmakers who have a choice whether to locate in or out of the City will
examine two sides of the ledger the tax burden and the level and quality of services delivered
by local government. There is a growing perception at least among decision makers that even
as the tax burden has
declined. Some of the
grown, the quality of
more obvious concerns
City services and the quality of City life has
to business are public safety, the quality of the
public school system, the quality of entry-level labor and cleanliness of the streets and public
facilities. * There are no data available that would adequately describe the quality of the output
of the public school system.
=
Therefore, we will focus on the problem of personal safety.
The fear of crime has a negative impact on the location decision.*** Published time
series data document the incidence of crime in the City. We use as a crime rate the number for
murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft per 1,000
*The important issue is not whether the quality of life or the quality of City services is
actually declining. It is sufficient that decision-makers believe that it is declining. The recent
survey of 299 executives (Price Waterhouse, op. cit.) revealed that, compared to 5 years ago,
most respondents rated the City as worse in public safety, the quality of the entry level labor
force and City-wide cleanliness.
*The quality of the public school system affects the relocation decision in two important
ways. First, graduates of the school system are candidates for employment. Second, company
employees who reject the public school system and send their children to private or parochial
schools must carry the burden of the related expenses in addition to the cost of the public school
system paid for with taxes. These additional personal costs of the City location may be
translated into compensatory wage demands.
B
**Research has substantiated the role of the concern for employees personal safety in
contributing to departures from the City. For example, see Eli Ginzberg, et al., op. cit., p.
xviii, Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., op. cit., p. 3; Wolfgang Quante, op. cit., p. 153.
29
residents.* Figure 12 shows that the crime rate rose from 22.1 per 1,000 in 1960 to 95.5 per
1,000 in 1981. This trend was reversed between 1980 and 1985 when the rate dropped to 71.8.
From 1985 to 1990 the crime rate surged to a new record of 112.8 per 1,000.
FIGURE 12: New York City Crime Rate
In our model a rise in the crime rate in the City maylead to the departure of corporate
*Crime rate statistics are sometimes distorted by changes in the classification of crimes and
by changes in the proportion of crimes a ct u a lly r epor t ed. Both of these shortcomings are
reduced in, statistics on homicides (murder and n on -n egligen t ma n s la u gh t er ). TO address the
problem in the crime rate data, we regressed the total crime index per 1,000 inhabitants on the
number of homicides per 1,000 inhabitants. The estimated values of the crime index from the
regression were substituted for the actual values.
:
This technique is destributed in Robert S.
Pindyck and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, Econometric Models and Economic Forecasts,Third Edition,
NewYork: McGraw~Hill, 1991),p. 159-160.
30
offices in the City. * Other things remaining equal, an increase in the crime rate over a 3-year
period should be accompanied by a loss of headquarters over a 4-year period.
E. The National Business Cycle
In our April 1991 study of the impact of taxes on the level of employment in the private
sector, we argued that when business conditions are good, firms might tend to ignore rising
costs. However, during a recession, firms look to cut costs. If the cost of a City location is
out of line, the City location itself may become a target for cost-cutting. In an environment of
intense competition, large firms may also find it beneficial to examin
. e closely the benefits and
costs of its City headquarters location. For most of the 35 years for which we have data, large
firms have been leaving the City. Specifically, the rate of loss should accelerate when the
national economy is in recession and decelerate when the national economy is growing.
Most of the headquarters in our universe are industrial. The national business cycle can
be represented by the Federal Reserves index of industrial production. Figure 13 shows the
index of industrial production as a 4-year percent change to coincide with a 4-year percent
change in the headquarters population in the City.
Other things remaining equal, we will
demonstrate that increases in the 4-year percent change in industrial production should be
accompanied by a slowdown in the rate of loss of headquarters and decreases should be
, .
*We tried two approaches to measure the influence of the crime rate changes in the Citys
crime rate and changes in the Citys crime rate relative to changes in the national crime rate.
. In regression models, both variables provided satisfactory results but the City crime rate alone
provided better results.
The superior performance of the City crime rate may be due to the
tendency of firms to choose only low-crime alternatives. If the decisionmakers do not consider
relocating to high-crime locations, a ratio of City crime to U.S. crime where the latter figure
includes other high-crirne areas may not be appropriate.
31
FIGURE 13: Total Industrial Production
percent change from four years ago
5 0
4 0
3 0
o
u
source: Federal Reserve Board
accompanied by an acceleration of losses.
F. Communications Technology
Communications and information technology does not enter explicitly as a variable in the
model that we developed. However, a study of the decline in the number of headquarters in the
City would not be complete without a discussion of the dramatic improvement in the ability to
communicate voice, images and data that began in the 1970s.
The huge scale of the business presence in New York has always been a magnet for new
firms and for relocations into the City. The proximity
competitors and customers facilitated information flow
to suppliers, financial
and decision-making.
institutions,
- However,
improvement in communications
control over information flows in
32
and information technology has made it easier to maintain
an organization without the necessity of a physical presence
in the City.
Backoffice operations can be moved to the suburbs or even to more distant parts of the
nation with no loss of control. Indeed, the downsizing or relocation of corporate headquarters
frequently begnis with the exit of backoffice operations. In addition, due to the improvement
in technology and the related decline in the cost of communication, other headquarters functions
or the headquarters itself may no longer need to be in the City.
After 1973, increases in productivity in telephone communications began accelerate, both
in absolute terms and relative to other industries. * The factors that led to the improvement
were economic and technological. The economic factor was the introduction of competition into
-
the industry. Competition spurs productivity. Some of the technological factors were
improvements in the capabilities of communications satellites, the blending of computer and
communications technology and the introduction of fiber optics. .
Improvement in communications technology is different from changes in other variables
like rents, wages and taxes. If these latter costs rise too much, firms will be driven from the
City Better communications technology at lower cost does not drive out the headquarters
because the benefits of a location near competitors, suppliers and customers are substantial.
Rather; the improvement in
locations. -
communications technology enables firms to consider distant
*The telephone communications industry includes voice telephone communications, long-
distance telephone communications, beeper communications, radiotelephone communications and
data telephone communications.
33
Some evidence indicates that improving communications technology is not to any
significant degree responsible
revolution in communications
of absolute numbers, the City
for the exodus of headquarters from New York City. First, the
technology appears to begin after 1973. By that time, in terms
had already lost most of the base of headquarters that existed in
1956-63. Second, the two other major world headquarters cities are Tokyo and London, both
very expensive cities in terms of rents. However, in spite of the parallel improvements in
communications technology, there has been no parallel migration by large business out of these
great cities. The loss of headquarters on a large scale is a New York phenomenon.
VI. Headquarters. FIRE and Non-FIRE Private Employrnent
In this section, we will analyze the impact that the corporate headquarters in the City
have on private employment outside the FIRE sector. * We exclude the FIRE sector because
it also has an independent and powerful influence on the rest of the local economy.
=
To
complete this study, we will attempt to show how changes in non-FIRE private employment are
affected by changes in the number of headquarters, FIRE employment, the extra burden of City
taxation, the crime rate and the national business cycle.
Figure 14 shows non-FIRE private employment in the City. Non~FIRE private
employment fell by 500,000 jobs from 1969 to 1977. During the recovery from 1977 to 1989,
Non-FIRE private employment consists of construction, manufacturing, wholesale and retail
trade, transportation and public utilities and services.
B %e number of headquarters appears to have little net impact on financial services. While
a relocating corporations occasional underwriting needs -will continue to be serviced by New
York firms, the company and its workers will move Iocal banking requirements from New York.
34
FIGURE 14: New York City Non-FIRE. Private Employment
Source: New York State Department of Labor
non-FIRE employment gains amounted to only 217,000
private sector employment fell back to the 1977 trough.
jobs. From 1989 to 1991, non-FIRE
For purposes of statistical analysis, the dependent variable will be the 3-year percent
change in non-FIRE private employment, presented in Figure 15.
A. Headquarters
Each headquarters firm that relocates from the City removes its own employees. Each
departure also affects employment among producer services (business, legal engineering and
management services) services. The reduction in the number of headquarters workers as well
: . ., .
-
as business and professional services workers reduces employment in the local consumer service
., . , ;,, ..
35
Source: New York State Department of labor .
industries. We will attempt to estimate the aggregate impact of the loss of each large head office
on non-FIRE private employment. In this part of the model,
by a four-year percent change.
headquarters
will be represented
B. The FIRE Sector
The FIRE sector exerts an independent influence on the rest of the City economy due to
its formidable
earning powerand national client base. Figure 16 shows the remarkable recovery
of FIRE employment after 1977. FIRE employment surpassed its 1969 peak of 464,000 in
and continued to grow to 550,000 until the crash of the stock market in October 1987.
rapid expansion of the FIRE sector from 1977 to 1987 helped to fuel the City economy.
1981
The
The
36
5 7 0
5 2 0
.
4 7 0
4 2 0
3 7 0
3 2 0
60 65 7 0 75 80 90
Source: New York State Department of Labor
loss of 53,000 jobs in the FIRE sector from 1987 to 1991, together with cuts in other local
spending by the financial firms and their employees, severely curtailed employment in other
sectors of the Citys private economy. In the model, FIRE employment will be represented by
a four-year percent change.
C. The state and Local Tax Burden .
In our April 1991 study of the impact of the state and local tax burden on private sector
employment in the City, we demonstrated that non-FIRE employment was more sensitive to the
1 7
a l
extra burden of state and local taxes than total private employment.* This is likely due to the
high proportion of firms with low profit margins in the non-FIRE sectors. Firms with low profit
margins find it difficult to carry the extra burden of state and local taxation that comes with
doing business in the City. Changes in the local tax burden should exert an independent impact
on non-FIRE private employment.
state and local taxes to estimate the
City.
D. The National Economy .
We will use the four-year difference in the extra burden of
impact of changes in taxes on non-FIRE employment in the
To estimate the impact of the national economy on the Citys non-FIRE private sector,
we will use the three-year percent change in industrial production index for durable goods (with
. .
a one-year lag), even though durable goods manufacturing is not an important component of the
. .
City economy. Both the City economy and the production of durable goods demonstrates greater
Cyclical variability
goods combined).
than the aggregate index of industrial production (durable and non-durable
E. The Oualitv of Life Factor
In section V, we argued that the managers of headquarters firms were influenced by the
perception that the quality of life and the quality of City services were declining. These factors
also influence other fins. We will again utilize the crime rate to explain changes in non-FIRE
~.
Report bv the Chief Economist. Comptrollers Budget Office. on the Impact of the Local
Tax Burden on the Citv Economv, Office of the New York City Comptroller, April 1991.
38
employment. We use a 4-year percent change in the City crime rate with a two-year lag.
VII The Model
In the preceding sections,
we present an analysis of factors that may affect location
decisions of corporate headquarters.
set of factors influence non-FIRE
econometric model to estimate these
In turn, the number of headquarters, along with another
employment.
In this section, we specfiy a two-part
two sets of relationships.
The model consists of two equations.
One equation explains the 4-year percent
change in the number of headquarters in New York City shown in Figure 6. The explanatory
factors or variables are the City extra burden of taxation per $1,000 of gross product, the 4-year
difference in the City personal income tax plus commercial rent tax divided by the 4-year
.
difference in gross city product, the 3-year difference in the City crime rate, the relative CPI,
and the 4-year percent change in industrial production.
The second equation explains changes in non-FIRE private employment by the 4-year
percent change in headquarters, the 4-year difference in the City extra burden of taxation, the
4-year percent change in FIRE employment, a 4-year percent change in the crime rate and a 3-
year percent change in industrial production of durable goods.
The two equations are
determined simultaneously.
Where
HQ %CHG,:
TAX, :
PIT-CRT, :
CRIME-DIFF,:
REL_CPL:
IP%CHGt:
NON-FRE%CHG,:
FIRE %CHGt:
CRIME% CHGt:
IPD%CHG;
A 4-year percent change in the number of companies with
headquarters in New York City
New York City extra tax burden per $1,000 of gross product
A 4-year difference in New York City personal income tax and
commercial rent tax divided by a 4-year difference in gross city
product
A 3-year difference in New York City crime rate per 1,000 residents
New York City area relative consumer price index to U.S. city
average
A 4-year percent change in total industrial production index
A 3-year percent change in New York City non-FIRE private
employment
A 4-year difference in New York City extra tax burden per $1,000 of
gross product
A 4-year percent change in
residents
New York City FIRE employment
New York City crime rate per 1,000
industrial production index of
manufacturing durable goods
as and Bs are coefficients, and are the disturbance terms of the two structural equations,
respectively.
In the equation that determines the number of headquarters, there
These are the extra burden of taxation and changes in the commercial
income
income
tax as a share of GCP. AS
taxpayers has declined since
are two tax variables.
rent tax and personal
we noted, the federal personal income tax rate on high-
1950, increasing the after-federal tax impact of personal
40
taxes. As an experiment, we ran two versions of the model. The first one includes the changes
in the commercial rent tax and City personal income tax share of GCP. The second is identical
except that the City personal income tax component of this variable is
the top rate on federal income taxes to reflect the true burden to
companies who, presumably, are in the high tax brackets.
multiplied by one minus
the executives of large
The idea is that a good model containing this adjustment would be expected to show a
higher relationship between the more steeply sloped City adjusted tax variable. If the model
behaves as expected, the second version would show that the estimated relationship between the
City tax variable and headquarters is higher and that the estimated impact of the overall tax
burden is lower.
VIII. The Data
All of the data sources are noted at the bottom of the Figures presented in this study.
All the values in those Figures are presented in Appendix F.
IX. Model Estimation and Empirical Results
The system of equations is a recursive simultaneous equation system. The regression
results were achieved by using the technique of three-stage least squares (3 SLS).* The
regression period is from 1960 to 1990. The model results for the first version and the second
B 3SLS was used because the technique incorporates all available information in the
estimation procedure. In the absence of specification error, 3SLS provides more efficient
estimators than two-stage least square (2SLS). These techniques are described in Robert S.
- Pindyck and Daniel L. Rubinfeld, op. cit., Chapters 7 and 11.
41
version (the City personal income tax burden is adjusted for the top federal tax rate) are
presented in Table 1.
III either version, the estimated coefficients have the expected sign and the t-statistics (in
parentheses) indicate that all are statistically significant.
The Durbin-Watson statistic in each
equation in each version is at acceptable levels.
Additional tests were performed. Specifically,
a series of ordinary least squares regressions were run adding one variable. With each additional
variable, the standard error declined and the adjusted R-Squared improved.
The adjustment of the City personal income tax by one minus the top federal income tax
rate in version 2 had the expected effect. The coefficient of the commercial rent and personal
income tax variable increased from -.28972 to -,41369. The coefficient of the extra burden of
taxation fell from -.26732 to -.22089. An unexpected result was the large increase in the
coefficient of the relative CPI from -.54922 to 11.12151. Investigation reveals that inclusion of
the t op federal rate adjustment on the City personal income tax increased the conflation between
the City commercial rent and personal income tax variable and the relative CPI This increase
in the cmss-correction was apparently enough to raise the Iikeilhood that colinearity between
these two variables brings into question the coefficient of the weaker of the two variables, the
relative CPI. Version 1 is the better model, but the results concerning the impact of taxes when
combined with the top rate for federal income taxes in version 2 appear valid.
X. The Interpretation of the Results
. .
For purposes of presentation, all of the values that entered the regression as a percent
. .
. .. .
Intuitively, a good Durbin-Watson statistic implies that there are no missing variables.
.
42
Table 1: Th r ee State Least Square Estirnates (t-statistics in parenthesis)
Equation I Coefficients
(HQ%CHG)
Version 1 Version 2
CONSTANT 58.7882
(2.07882)
T A X -0.26732
-
(4.64620)
PIT-CRT,.
l
-0.28972
(4.07250)
CRIME DIFF, -0.26944
(3.98055)
REL-CPI. -0.54922
(1.95019)
IP%CHG +0.27444
(3. 10872)
114.868
(3.32980)
-0.~22089
(3.27169)
-0.41369
(3.83172)
-0.26763
(3.82742)
-1.12151
(3.24608)
+0.30419
(3.31395)
Standard Error 4.6135 4.7982
LHS Mean -13.5570 -13.5570
Adj ust ed R* 0.7835 0.7658
D.W. Statistic 1. 5136 1.4403
Equation lI Coefficients
(NON-FIRE%CHG) version 1 version 2
CONSTANT +0.32914 +0.19544
(0.35211) (0.20907)
HQ%CHG +0.09115 +0.08799
( 2 . 8 5 5 8 3 ) (2.71849)
TAX-DIFF, -0.08748 -0.08240
(2.09822) (1.99228)
FiRE%CHG
t
+0.13188 +0.14287
(2.69547) (2.95129)
CRIME%CHG,-
2
-0.07699 -0.07661
(5.97424) (5. 99125)
IPD %CHG,
I
+0.12580 +0.12540
(5.26826)
(5.27046) .
Standard Error 1.6462 1 . 6 4 7 4
LHS Mean -0.9496 -0.9496 -
Adjusted R* 0.8405 ., 0.8403
L
D.W. Statistic 1 . 6 8 3 1 1.6940
43
change or difference will be converted back to levels. In Table 1, we present the estimated
impact, other things being equal, of a given change in the independent variable on the number
of headquarters over 4 years (the dependent variable). The figures under the second equation
show the impact of each independent variable in that equation on non-FIRE employment over
,3 years (the dependent variable).
Because the variables employed in the model are in ratios, percent changes and
differences, with three and four year lags, a simple
possible. Therefore, we have recalculated the model
interpretation of the model results is not
results in terms of the impact of one unit
changes in the level of the independent variable on the number of headquarters and the number
of non-FIRE jobs. These estimated impacts, presented in Table 2, permit us to see more clearly
the relative power of each of the independent variables.
The model results support the hypotheses concerning the impact of the extra burden of
taxes, the Citys commercial rent tax and the personal income tax, the crime rate, the relative
CPI and the national business cycle --
as measured by changes in industrial production -- on the
number of headquarters in the City. The hypotheses concerning the impact of headquarters,
FIRE employment, taxes,
sustained. The following
crime and the quality of life on the non-FIRE city economy are also
two sections will provide a description of the impact of a change in
each of the independent variables on the number of headquarters and on non-FIRE employment.
A. Determinants of Headquarters
Theestimates in Table 2 indicate that an increase in the extra burden of state and local
taxes of $1 billion would lead to the loss of.8 headquarters over 4 years. The same $1 billion
44
Table 2: The Impacts of the Changes in the Independent Variables
1.
Version 1 Versions 2
Changes in Independent Variables
Impacts on Headquarters
$1 billion of New Taxes -0.79 I -0.66
$1 billion of PIT & Commercial Rent Tax -4.64 -6.63
Combined Impact -5.43 -7.29
One Crime per 1,000 Residents -0.13 -0.13
1 % Increase in Relative Consumer Prince Index -0.26 -0.54
1 % Increase in Industrial Production 0.13 0.15
II
Impacts on Non-FIRE Employment
One Additional Headquarter I 4.631.7 I 4,471.2
Additional 1,000 FIRE jobs
619.1 670.7
One Crime per 1,000 Residents
-1,665.1 -1,656.8
1 % Increase in Industrial Production Durables
3,068.4 3,058.6
$1 billion of New Taxes
-13,203.7 -12,437.0
levied in commercial rent and personal income tax would cost the City 4.6 headquarters, over
5 times the impact of increases in other state and local taxes. Suppose City tax policy
emphasizes the personal income tax or the commercial rent tax over other types of taxes. In the
context of this particular model, the effect is captured twice through the increase in the overall
extra tax burden and through the increase in thepersonal income tax variable. The sum of the
two impacts is .8 plus 4.6 equal to 5.4. This is the number of headquarters lost over 4 years
if the personal income tax were to rise by $1 billion, all other things being equal.
In version 2 (the City personal income tax is adjusted to show the impact of federal
deductibility) the $1 billion increase in the extra burden of state and local taxes would cost the
City .7 headquarters. A $1 billion increase concentrated in commercial rent taxes or personal
income taxes in the presence of the federal income tax rate adjustment would lead to the loss of
45
6.6 headquarters. In this case the personal income and commercial rent taxes are 10 tim
devastating. The combined effect of taxes rises from 5.4 to 7.3.
While we do not want to impute too much to the apparent precision of these n
the magnitude of the difference is suggestive. In terms of the retention of large firms in t
City, allowing the tax burden to rise well above the levels in competing localities was
Implementing taxes that do not exist in competing localities is an even larger error. T
major finding of this study.
While this study focuses on the largest companies,
straightforward conclusions would not be applicable to
there is no reason to believe that th
smaller fins. In particular, it is
suggestive that the Citys unincorporated business tax, its corporate income tax, its r
recognize Subchapter S corporations, and the double taxation of the same income by
personal income tax, share responsibility for the long term decline of the City econo
Recall that the crime rate was a proxy for all of the elements of the quality of
City service that appear to be driving headquarters and jobs from the City. A one uni
in the crime rate (for example, a rise from 112 crimes per 1,000 residents to 113 cr
1,000) over 3 years is associated with the departure of .13 headquarters over 4 ye
actual average rate of growth in the number of crimes per 1,000 has been enough to a
the loss of 2.4h e eadquarters per year. The crime problem is clearly hurting the econom
of the City.
. . .
In fy 1991 and fy 1992, the City implemented back-to-back increases in the
income tax designed to raise, after retroactivity features in added in, an estimated $840
The top marginal tax rate rose by 31 percent from 3.40 to 4.46 percent. The mod
, suggest that, as a result, the City will, lose 4.6 (version 1) to 6.1 (version 2) .
headquarters at a cost, the next section will show,of 4,632 jobs for each headquar
46
The cost of doing business in the City is also associated with the decision of he
to remain or relocate. A 1 percent increase in the Citys dative price may lead to th
.26 headquarters over the next 4 years.
.
Finally, the model results suggest that the Citys hold on corporate headquarters is related
to the national business cycle. A increase or decrease in industrial production of 1 percent is
associated with a increase or decrease of. 13 headquarters over 4 years. This result confirms
our belief that when the national economy is growing, firms are willing to pay the extra cost of
a City location, but when the national economy weakens, these firms are likely to view the New
York location as an excessive cost burden.
.
B. Determinants of Non-FIRE Private Employment
B
Another major premise of this study is that each large company that locates its
headquarters in the City is also responsible for a significant number of jobs in support services
and in the consumer economy.** The model results support this argument. The second
equation estimates that the loss of one headquarters firm should be accompanied by the loss of
4,632 jobs in the non-FIRE component of private sector. This figure includes both employees
in the headquarters and employees in the support industries. **
=
*Historically, a 1 percent change in industrial production over a 4-year period is very small.
It would be more realistic to suggest that a 10 percent increase or decrease in industrial
production over 4 years might lead to an increase or decrease of 1.3 headquarters over 4 years.
*Eli Ginzberg, et al., The Corporate Headquarters Complex in New York Citv. op. cit.,
p. 9, found that in the year 1976, the headquarters firms employed 135,000 but were responsible
for an additional 451,000 support and service workers.
*
==
The 4,632 figure may also include the employees of smaller fins, not on a Fortune
directory, that are also moving from the City for similar reasons, but without press coverage.
4/
Some aggregation puts this estimate in a more telling perspective. From 1969 to 1991,
the City has lost 470,000 or 14.5 percent of its private-sector jobs. Over that same period, the
nation added 32 million private-sector jobs, an increase of 56 percent. If the model results are
reasonable, the net loss of 103 corporate headquarters from 1969 to 1991 pared New York City
non-FIRE private payrolls by some 477,000 jobs (103 times 4,632). If the City had managed
.
to maintain its headquarters at the 1969 level, total employment, rather than falling by 470,000,
might have increased 7,000 from 1969 to 1991. Clearly, the loss of so many headquarters has
radically altered the size and structure of the City economy, leaving fewer jobs and career
opportunities for New Yorkers.
Headquarters are not the only influence on non-FIRE private employment. The model
results presented in the bottom half of Table 2 show that each additional 1,000 FIRE jobs leads
to an increase of 619 non-FIRE jobs over 3 years, conf
irming the importance of financial
services to the rest of the local economy.
An increase in the crime rate, independent of the effect of crime on headquarters, of one
unit (say, from 112 per 1,000 to 113 per 1,000) is associated with the loss of 1,665 non-FIRE
jobs over 3 years.
The national business cycle, measured by changes in industrial production of durable
goods, has an impact on non-FIRE employment. A small increase or decrease in industrial
production of durable goods of 1 percent over 3 years is associated with increases or decreases
of non-FIRE employment of 3,068 jobs.
The direct impact of a $1 billion increase in the extra burden of state and City taxes,
would be the loss of 13,204 non-FIRE jobs over 3 years. There is also an indirect impact -- the
4 8
number of non-FIRE jobs lost due to the loss of headquarters. Recall that a .$1 billion increase
in the tax burden costs .79 headquarters, or 5.43 if the tax increased was either the personal
income tax or the commercial rent tax. This, in turn, costs 25,200 jobs. In sum, each $1
billion increase in the City personal income tax or commercial rent tax could lead to the loss of
38,400 non-FIRE private sector jobs. In version 2, where we account for the impact of federal
deductibility of local taxes, the equivalent job loss figure would be 47,000.
XL The Impact of Headquarters on Producer Services and Other Industries
In the Section II of this report we noted that the headquarters complex includes the
headquarters and their employees, the producer services firms and their emploees, and the
elements of the local economy, such as real estate and retailing, which service the first two
groups. Our model demonstrated that each headquarter gained or lost was associated with a total
gain or loss of 4,632 jobs in the non-Fire economy.
While we did not separately estimate the
impact of headquarters on producer services, it is clearly substantial.
producer service in the City is due to the concentration of client firms --
The concentration of
in the headquarters, in
finance and in the media -- concentrated in the City. When a client firms departs, the City also
*In our previous study, Report by the Chief Economist. Comptrollers Budget Office. on the
Impact of the Local Tax Burden on the Citv Economy, Office of the New York City
Comptroller, April 1991, we estimated that $1 billion in additional state and local taxes would
lead to the loss of 108,000 private sector jobs. The difference between the two loss estimates
is primarily the result, in the earlier study, of estimating the impact of new taxes during a City
recession. The results in this study would have shown much higher tax-related non-FIRE job
losses during a recession. In addition, the earlier study includes FIRE employment.
49
loses some of the high-pay employment in producer services.
A 1991 report by the Citys Deputy Mayor of Finance and Economic Development
presented the Citys position with respect to the headquarters firms and the producer service
industries.** This report argues that the City, particularly Manhattan, is an incubator of
business activity where many new firms are created. The headquarters of industrial firms with
the exception of the very largest are the most likely to be concerned
therefore subject to pressures to leave the City. With respect to
with cost pressures and
large firms the report
concludes, that attempts to attract or retain mature companies may be misguided unless there
are overriding benefits to the firm of a location. The prime beneficiaries of the Citys economic
development would be small firms and start-ups, with a particular emphasis on producer
services.
This report is seriously flawed. First, a good many of the headquarters firmswere not
incubated in the City. Rather, as we note in Section II, many grew in other parts of the
country but moved to New York after reaching a substantial size. Second, industrial companies
are not the only headquarters firms relocating from New York since the 1960s. As Figures 2-5
show, the Citys loss of service firms in merchandising, transportation and public utilities has.
For example, the City proportion
and had fallen to 39.6 percent in 1989.
of national advertising volume was 60 percent in 1948
Employment at advertising agencies in the City was 35
percent of the national-total in 1989. As clients have left the City, advertising agencies have
expanded in the new locations. See the testimony of Harry Paster, Executive Vice President of
the American Association of Advertising Agencies, in Appendix: Transcripts of Economic
Hearings, December 4 and 5, 1990, Office of the New York City Comptroller, pp. 36-39
New York Citv 1991: The Worlds Capital in Transition, Office of Sally Hernandez-
Pinero, Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development, City of New York, Principal
Author: Pierre Vilain, August 29, 1991. See particularly pp. 5, 53, 55, 108.
50
.
been at least equally devastating. Third, the very largest domestic and international firms are
not less vulnerable to relocation pressures. As we illustrate in Section III, it is precisely the
largest multinational firms that have led the exodus out of the City. This impression is
strengthened by examining the list, in Appendix A, of firms from the Fortune directory that have
left since 1956. Fourth, we have no reason to believe that international firms are not subject
to the same pressures, be they related to costs or to quality of life, that lead American
companies to leave
economic incentive
simply not rational.
the City. Fifth, a policy of support for firms which have a pressing
to remain in the City, while neglecting those which do not have one is
The belief that there is something natural about mature or large firms leaving the City
defies logic. The high costs of business operations in the City, are not in any sense natural.
Rather, they are, too some large extent, the reflection of state and local policies since the
1950s. It should come as no surprise that the mass flight by large business is a post-1963
phenomenon. Moreover, the loss of so many firms and jobs is not
mirrored in the two other
great world business centers London and Tokyo.
Finally, we must question the belief that producer services area natural Manhattan-based
growth sector. The producer services are concentrated in the City because their client industries
-- headquarters, finance and communications -- are concentrated in the City. While the
headquarters firms continued to leave the City during the expansion of 1977-89, financial
services and communications grew rapidly. The negative impact of the loss of headquarters was
more than offset by the powerful growth of financial services and communications. From 1977
to 1989, employment in business and professional services, defined as business services, legal
51
services, engineering and management services, grew 56 percent from 284,000 to a peak of
444,000.
All three client sectors headquarters, financial services and media are now
contracting in the City. Employment in business and professional services declined to 431,000
in 1990 and 383,000 in 1991.
XII. Policy Conclusions
The loss of over two-thirds of its corporate headquarters since 1963 has placed the City
i n a precarious position. As headquarters and manufacturers continue the exodus, the City
becomes vitally dependent on its two remaining major sources of export activity -- finance and
communications. Both of these sectors are volatile. Both are currently under pressure to
reduce costs. There is no guarantee that finance and communications
increases in tax burdens and other negative forces that headquarters
will continue to bear the
and manufacturers have
fled.
=
The large headquarters firms, the financial firms and communications firms are clients
of the important non-financial producer services companies. As their clients leave New York
or cut expenditures, there is little likelihood that producer services will become a source of
*Ingo Walter and Anthony Saunders, state in a recent study, National and Global
Competitiveness of New York City as a Financial Center: Report to the Mayors Committee on
Financial Services Competitiveness, New York University Salomon Center, 1991, It (financial
services) is an industry that cannot be taken for granted... The report recommends that the
City secure its relationship to this industry by supporting the industrys regulatory and tax
agenda in Washington and by maintaining a reasonable balance between local taxes and the
perceived benefits of those taxes, including the perception of New York as a desirable place to
live and work.
52
growth. Indeed, producer services are more likely to be a source of decline.
Under these circumstances, there is an urgent need for a policy response to these threats
to the Citys economic stability. The loss of so many headquarters has reduced the mass and
diversity of the Citys business environment. In addition, improvements in communications and
transportation have further reduced the Citys competitiveness.
Business and jobs have been
part of the economic landscape that
Those private sector decisionrnakers
fleeing the City since the 1960s. Flight is such a normal
the loss of another largef irm has lost its power to shock.
who decide whether jobs will remain in the City or migrate
are analyzing the Citys future. If their vision of the Citys future includes continuing increases
in the local tax burdens, declining quality of life and further erosion of the economic base, the
downward spiral will continue.
We cannot assume that recent departures such as J.C,
Penney, Mobil, Exxon and American Home Products will be replaced by new growth companies
or by immigration.
In the context of the model developed in this study, two of the factors are, to some
extent, subject to the City and state influence or control. These are the crime rate and state and
City taxes. In the model, the crime rate was used as a proxy for all of the quality of life issues
that concern New Yorkers including the conditions of the streets and highways and public
transportation and the quality of public education.
The model results show that the rise in the
crime rate has been in part responsible for the decline in the Citys role as the business capital
of the nation. This is an issue of the effectiveness of the management of public resources. To
preserve business and jobs in the City, managerial effectiveness should become a top priority.
The model enables us to estimate the result of changes in tax policy. In particular, what
53
might happen if the commercial rent tax were eliminated or if the most recent temporary
fourteen percent surcharge on the personal income tax were actually allowed to expire. In order
to estimate these effects, it was first necessary
hcadqarters non-FIRE jobs. The independent
to create a baseline forecast of the outlook for
variables were forecast extending recent trends
or using a consensus outlook. The baseline forecast is that, compared with 1991, the City will
lose 11 corporate headquarters and 198,000 non-FIRE jobs by 1995.
The Citys
million in fy 94,
elimination of the
commercial rent tax is expected to generate $710 million in fy 93, $728
and $751 million in fy 95.
Compared with the baseline, the complete
tax will save 5 corporate headquarters and 30,000 non-FIRE jobs by 1995.
The most recent temporary surcharge on the personal income tax was designed to
generate $410 million per year and is due to expire on December 31, 1993. Allowing this
surcharge to expire as scheduled could save 3 corporate headquarters and 19,000 non-FIRE jobs.
In addition to the impacts estimated by using the model, the elimination or reduction of
some of these unique and unusual taxes would, in a tangible way, show that the City was serious
about economic development. The City needs to improve its relationship with its private sector.
The Price Waterhouse survey of City executives demonstrated that, except in the fast-growing
health care industry, virtually none of the respondents rated the City governments relationship
with business as better than it was five years ago.*
Any perception that City government has
not shown serious concern for economic development needs to be reversed if any plan to
preserve the Citys remaining assets or to restore the primacy of the City as the economic center
of the nation is to succeed.
Survev of New York City Executives in Six Industrv Sectors, op. cit., Exhibit HI-9,
reproduced in Appendix D.
City-States and Civil Societies:
A Perspective on GTA Reform
Scot B1ythe & Fiona Nelson
RECEIVED
1
Contents
I. What is Toronto? 2
Il. The Context of Local Government Reform 3
HI. The Economy and Society of Toronto 5
A. The Village Economy 5
B. The Village Economy in a Global Society Economy 8
IV. Local Government Finance 9
A. The Provincial Role 9
B. Property Tax Assessment 10
C. Provincial Grants 12
V. Governance
13
A. School Board Governance
15
B. The School Board and the Village 16
VI The Provision of Services
17
VII Urban Form
18
Concision: Principles of GTA Reform
20
Recommendations
21
Scot Blythe is an urban affairs writer. Fiona Nelson is a trustee on the Toronto Board of Education
and its representative on the Assessment Reform Working Group at Toronto City Hall. Both can
be reached at the Toronto Board of Education, 155 College Street, Toronto, 397-3071.
Several Toronto Board of Education Trustees have endorsed this submission:
Peter Chown, Ward 1 Luz Bascunan, Wards 11&12
John Campey, Wards 5&6 Alison Pearce, Wards 13&14
Tam Goosen, Wards 5&6 Linda Sparling, Ward 15
2
I. What is Toronto?
All politics is local
Tip ONeill
Everyone lives in a neighbourhood. In each city, there is a neighbourhood that somehow
encompasses the panorama of the city: its strengths and weaknesses, its successes and failures, the sheer
diversity and promise of its communities. Here is one panorama. As you stand at the conjunction of
College and Dundas Streets, just past the point where the streetcar tracks converge to form a single
line-in the middle of the bridge over the railway, in factthere is an extraordinary vista.
To the north, on the site of a former lumberyard that lies beyond the tiny wooded close on a dead-
end residential street, are the well-tended grounds of West Toronto Secondary School, one of the last
schools Toronto built while the baby-boomers were still passing through the school system. It bears the
marks of its time, the faith we had in modem architectural forms, and in the people who inhabited those
forms. With walls topped by windows that span the space between the orange-brown brick turrets, West
Toronto resembles a community college more than a community school. It is the major public building
in this neighbourhood.
To the west, on the other side of the railway tracks, lies the Sorauren industrial district. Once a
tract of first-world-war munitions factories, later converted to other manufacturing uses, it is now a street
of buildings in the midst of an uneasy colonization by artists and creative types driven westwards by the
high rents of the downtown. Its nothing great, at least not yet, just an agglomeration of sturdy, sometimes
even pretty structures-but then Queen Street West in the 1970s wasnt much either. Beyond Sorauren,
just over the bridge, can be found the Halal butchers of Dundas West, not far from the Polish restaurants
of Roncesvalles. An old immigrant community, and a new one, too, they are both products of the restless.
migration and resurgence within cities promoted by newcomers who spot the potential of unregarded and
ignored neighbourhoods.
To the south, right at the comer of Lansdowne and Dundas, is the Knob
Terminal. With its Art Deco motifs, Knob Hill actually looks more like an airport
Hill Farms Food
terminal. For the
thousands of New Canadians-and old Canadians, too-who travel up and down Lansdowne Avenue, it
is a godsend, a mainstay in feeding their growing families. It is also the public space in this
neighborhood. It lies at the tip of a secret neighbourhood, one that doesnt really have a name. No lurid
headlines mark this neighbourhood, even if enough to fill a tabloid can be found a short distance away.
Instead, there is Fern Avenue, and Fern Avenue School, a quiet school on a quiet street.
The view to the east, from the top on the bridge, is particularly inspiring, especially frost thing in
the morning. As the fog lifts, you can spot the pinkish-brown cladding of the Bank of Nova Scotia tower,
standing out amidst the hubbub of bank towers in the downtown core. For many Torontonians, this is the
destination, whether as a place to work, or as a means to satisfy an overarching ambition. At this junction,
the streetcars seem to ride through traffic like the clippers of yore; they are Torontos Bluenoses. Take
one clipper, and you follow College Street downtown, passing through the northern reaches of Brockton
and the old Denisen estate-now denominated RusholmeLittle Italy and the Kensington market, until,
fifteen minutes later, you meet the institutions of modem government: the University of Toronto, Queens
Park, the Toronto Hospital, the Ontario College of Art (Stewart Building), and the Toronto Board of
Education. If you hesitate a moment, you can take the Dundas streetcar. Then you must traverse the
village of Brockton, Rua Acores, Portugal Village, Scadding Court, Alexandra Park, and Chinatown,
before you reach the Eaton Centre. Welcome to Toronto.
II The Context of Local Government Reform.
A nation may establish a free government,
have the spirit of liberty.
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force is
but without municipal institutions it cannot
Alexis de Tocqueville
the most recent in a series of inquiries into local
government municipal councils and school boards. In Ontario, local government has never left the
discussion table. From the Beckett Select Committee in 1963, through the Ontario Committee on Taxation,
the Hall-Dennis Committee Report and Design for Development in the late 1960s, past the Commission
on Declining Enrollments, the Provincial-Local Committee on Property Taxation, and the Comay
Commission on the Planning Act in the late 1970s, right up to the Sewell Commission on New Planning
in Ontario, the Hopcroft Committee on the Provincial-Local Financial Relationship and the Sweeney Task
Force on School Board Reduction, local government affairs have occupied a considerable portion of
Ontarios attention, and absorbed a great deal of the provincial bureaucracys time and energy.
There is a reason for this; in the words of one commentator, local governments are creatures (of
4
the provincial government, since they have no constitutional status), chameleons (according to the policy
imperatives of the day), and consorts (since all services, and indeed, as Tip ONeill would say, all politics,
are local). What this conjunction of characteristics means is demonstrated by the history of provincial
reform attempts: there is no magical solution, at least not one that will cut the Gordian knot in every
locality and every region in the province.
Why have provincial reforms failed? In the past five years, the Fair Tax Commission and the
Royal Commission Learning have reported. In both instances, the recommendations by far aimed at greater
I
centralization as the solution to troublesome disparities in local revenues or local services. In the interests
of equity, both commissions proposed to strip local governments of some of their historic functions, while
taking control of parts of the local tax base. They assumed (as they could not but, given that they were
provincial efforts) that a uniform solution, which became the working definition of equity, would fit every
local circumstance, or at least the important ones. In a word, they slighted local know-how, and local
initiative. There are reservoirs of local wisdom that have never been contained in any provincial act, and
so, they have never been tapped.
We live now in a changed climate, with the two constitutional levels of government intent on
scaling back the operations of their bureaucracies. The federal governments abandonment of Harbourfront
is one example; the provinces withdrawal from CityHome non-profit housing projects is another. This
is the way of the world in the last decade of the 20th century; big government, like big business, is
downsizing and contracting-out. One may lament the barbarous epithets that mark the passing of an age.
But the conclusion is inescapable: the torch has been passed to the nimble, to people who can spot niches.
This is the definition of local government. It is far quicker to act than elephantine bureaucracies
elsewhere. People wait for six weeks, at minimum, for their income tax refunds to be processed; they do
not tolerate garbage that is not collected or schools that are closed. And, in this world of globalization,
where Stakhanovite currency traders work the London shift, the New York shift and then the Tokyo shift,
the opportunities in this daily round of virtually homogeneous trillion-dollar transactions are to be found
locally, in the details, in what deviates from the standard expectation: in a neighbourhood that is
underserved, a skilled workforce that is underutilized, a vibrant city-state that is overlooked. Before the
great European industrial revolution, the economy, such as it was, was driven by city-states: the Hanseatic
traders, the Flemish wool centres, the bourses of northern Italy. After an era that culminated in the
5
domination of conglomerates and multinational corporations, the world economy is turning back to its
roots in the trading city-states.
Forced on by economic circumstances that are reinforced by the powerlessness of national
governments against global capital flows, we are devolving responsibility for economic growth and social
well-being back to city-states. The current argument is that companies choose to locate in healthy city-
states with skilled labour forces, a robust infrastructure and a superior quality of life. Before the emergence
of the modem welfare state, it was cities that took in hand the education, health and social well-being of
their residents. If economic preference is pushing city-states to the fore, then surely it is time for provinces
and national governments to give cities the tools to do the job. And that means the tools not merely to
boost productivity, but to maintain, improve and replenish human capital.
It is time for the province to return effective government back to its roots, in locaI communities.
There may well be economies of scale in the manufacture of goods; there are no economies of scale in
providing services to people, precisely because people are not manufactured objects, subject to quality
controls. There is no way that the province can craft a solution to fit everyones needs; provincial control
cannot replace nor can it harness the local initiative that flows from the diversity to be found in any
community. We need a new set of principles to define the provincial-local relationship. A useful starting
point can be found in the 1967 Report of the Ontario Committee on Taxation:
Local autonomy has ever been a cornerstone of municipal institutions in this province. We
consider ourselves second to none in our espousal of this principle which has served so
long and so well in promoting democratic values within a framework of decentralization.
But if local autonomy is to remain a reality, the institutions it fosters must be worthy of
the challenge. Local autonomy, precisely because it stresses the importance of strong
municipal institutions, is not a haven for municipalities and school boards so small and
weakly organized that they cannot discharge their functions in acceptable fashion. Again
local autonomy, which is a bastion of responsive and responsible government, cannot
condone the multiplication of ad hoc special service authorities removed from the
immediate arena of the political process ....The Province has a constitutional responsibility
for the structure of municipal and school authorities. It has an even deeper responsibility
to foster, through local institutions, the democratic values we cherish. [Smith, II: 550]
III. The Economy and Society of Modern City-States
[I]t was cities, not rural areas, that, since the dawn of history, have instigated most of the
worlds economic invention and growth. To that she [Jane Jacobs] added the modern
corollary: it is cities, not nations, that are the chief generators of wealth on earth. Cities
power stems from the creative power of humans challenging each other in the close,
shared society of urban settings.
Neil Peirce, Citistates
A. The Village
There was a time when Big Steel, Big Auto, Big Banks and Big Capital defined the economic
world from expansive citadels located in specific cities that sent products, agents and emissaries into the
hinterlands; Detroit, Pittsburgh, Wall Street, even St. James Street and Hogtown were synonymous with
power. Globalization spells the doom of the big, and returns power to the hinterlands, to the villages, to
neighbourhoods, whether rich or poor. Borderless commerce, capital and communication redouble the need
for a sense of placea place to stand, live, earn and thrive.
Toronto, too, had big manufacturing establishments, like the Massey-Ferguson complex, whose
wares went around the world, and big department stores, like Eatons, whose goods, sold by catalogue,
helped to knit the country together. One late 1950s commentator reckonedwithout ironythat Toronto
was on its way to becoming Canadas Detroit. While big establishments still exist in the Toronto area it
is the human services provided by governments, schools, hospitals, colleges and universities, retailers,
banks and insurance companies that provide the bulk of the jobs. (Of the Board of Trades top 63
employers in the GTA, 29 are public employers and 13 are retailers, while 6 are financial institutions.)
These services, more often than not, and especially in the City of Toronto, are provided or purveyed in
neighbourhoods rather than large complexes. Schools and banks are the most visible form of
decentralisation, but there are dry-goods merchants and medical clinics, day-care centres and greengrocers
and restaurants-with cuisine from every land the sun visitsspread through all of Torontos
neighbourhoods. A quarter of Torontos workers ply their trade and their skills in neighborhood
establishments.
There are still manufacturing establishments in Toronto, but they are getting smaller; in an odd
way, they are returning to their
production shop, the local printer
roots in the crafts and trades. It is the emerging software or film
or brew-pub, the small-time entrepreneur who increasingly define the
7
future of manufacturing in Toronto. They are reclaiming the old industrial spaces, while simultaneously
moving into shops on the mainstreets. Similarly, larger retailers are finding it more difficult to compete
against niche retailers, discount stores (many of which do not belong to a chain), and neighbourhood
merchants. The economic buzzwords of downsizing, flexible manufacturing and such like conceal
something very important about the life of great cities: people are increasingly returning to a
neighbourhood scale of things.
To the visitor, the City of Toronto is defined by its international tourist attractions: the CN Tower,
Exhibition Place, the SkyDome, Maple Leaf Gardens, and the Eaton Centre. But when Torontonians do
their day-to-day shopping and entertaining, they tend to do it on Bloor Street West and the Danforth, on
the long Yonge Street merchant strip between Lawrence and Davisville, in the Kensington and St.
Lawrence Markets, and on innumerable small, often ethnic, sections of the mainstreets, such as Corso
Italia, Portugal Village, Chinatown, Gerrard and Coxwell, Roncesvalles and Queen St. East. They might
own cars, but they prefer to get around on foot or by public transit. Few Torontonians are more than a
fifteen-minute walk from streetcar or the subway. It is along those streetcar and subway routes that you
will find Torontos high schools. The lifeblood of Toronto flows through its mainstreets, most of which
are still vital commercial and residential districts rather than the sterile and sometimes aesthetically
criminal arterial roads that ravage other cities. Those mainstreets, thanks to the transit system, also take
Torontonians downtown for special occasions in the theatre district or at the ball game, for exhibitions in
the galleries and museums and even demonstrations in the precincts of power.
Toronto is, in fact, a collection of villages, united by a transit system and a shared political culture.
These villages can be remarkably dissimilar. Forest Hill and Rosedale serve as shorthand in the national
media for wealth, just as Bay Street is a synecdoche for financial capital. These, however, are not Toronto,
or at least not all of it. The old symbols of industrial might are gonethe stockyards, Heintzmanns,
Inglis, Molsons, those establishments have disappeared from Toronto-but along the railways that served
as the countrys veins and arteries can be found clustered some of the poorest neighbourhoods in the
country. Torontos crescent of deprivation describes the same path it always has, the path the railways
traverse, from the old Stockyards through the Junction Triangle down to Exhibition Place and Fort York,
and up again along the Don Valley, through Cabbagetown and Riverdale and Don Mount.
That these disparate neighbourhoods cohere into something like a city is something of a miracle.
Perhaps it is because there are no walled neighbourhoods in Toronto yet. Or perhaps it is because we have
never allowed our poorest areas to pass completely under the dominion of hopelessness, a fact that never
ceases to surprise American social scientists who are escorted to our own ghettos, only to find there is
no ghetto there.
By contrast, it is not difficult for the intrepid Toronto pedestrian or cyclist to know what is
Toronto and what is not. The traffic is faster, the stores, set back on strip malls, less welcoming, and the
houses have their backs to the street. There are fewer sidewalks; traffic signals have been designed for the
convenience of cars, and even the non-automobile entrances to the major public buildings are hard to get
to for a pedestrian. Beyond Torontos borders, Yorkdale is a subway stop and a parking lot, the premier
Canadian shopping mall, perhaps, and doubtless an important workplace, but it is not a place to live. It
is not a neighbourhood.
B. Village Economies in a Global Society
The GTA is a hard-working region; with 40 per cent of the provinces population, it is responsible
for 47 per cent of the provinces tax revenues. Metro Toronto has 22 per cent of the provinces people;
it has 25 per cent of the work force. In the City of Toronto, there are almost as many workers as there
are residents, and in Metro as a whole, the labour force participation is 64 per cent, five percentage points
higher than in the next closest GTA municipality. The City of Toronto is the productive core of a
productive region. Toronto, as they used to say, is a city that works, quite literally. But this collective
labouring and productivity does not come without a cost. As free-market economists would point out, there
is no free lunch.
Whos minding the children? As we push 64 per cent of the adult population into the workforce,
who has time to be a mother or father, grandmother or grandfather? Even those who dont have careers
are working at the local fast-food restaurant or warehouse depot. Teachers, on the other hand, complain
of being overburdened with social work, while child-care subsidies are in such short supply that 20,000
Metro Toronto families are waiting for a subsidized space. If no one has the time to look after the
children, where does a reliable, self-motivated and entrepreneurial workforce come from?
Who is providing the housing? Metro Toronto is a destination for immigrants from across the
country, and across the world. Partly it is because, on a world scale, Toronto is a relatively wealthy city,
9
with more job opportunities than elsewhere. Those jobs may not pay very much, and the minimum wage
will not support a family of four in Torontos rental market. Yet, any city requires an openness to new
workers, and an ability to house them, whatever their income. Where are the workers to live?
Who is teaching the ways of the city to new immigrants? Toronto is the worlds most multicultural
city. The federal government does not begin to compensate local schools for English as a Second
Language classes. A major urban area has special needs; the sheer size of the population overshadows the
difficulties other localities might face. Who will help new Canadians play their part in this citys
tremendously productive economic apparatus?
Torontos tax monies also contribute to the well-being of the rest of the provinceaccording to
the Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee, up to $3.7 billion more flows into provincial coffers then
is returned to the GTA. While Metro Toronto may be the provinces wealthiest area, it is also poorest by
virtue of the concentration of needs in specific neighbourhoods. Provincial equalization grants take money
from Torontos wealthy and moderately well-off so that the rest of Ontario may share in Torontos relative
prosperity. Unfortunately, this places an extra burden on Toronto because it must fund its own needs
through higher property taxes to make up for the provincial grants it does not receive for, for example
transportation, public health and education.
IV. Local Government Finance
In our view, the primary responsibility for financing education must continue to rest
with local education authorities. We believe this is necessary to ensure any measure
of real local control. The responsibility of the central authority must be to assist
them financially through legislative grants and to distribute those grants in such a
manner that the financial burden of providing education. . . is equalized, the fullest
extent possible....
Royal Commission on Education, 1950
A. The Provincial Role
Urban sociologist Gardner Church has remarked that if Confederation were to take place all over
again, then it is local governments to whom the major taxing powers would be assigned, with the
provinces and the federal government receiving the residuum. It is easy to forget that, a century ago, not
only did local governments provide most of the services, local governments accounted for most of the
10
taxes. Until quite late in the day, the federal and provincial governments relied on customs and excise
taxes. Not only property taxes, but also income taxes, both corporate and personal, were considered the
rightful jurisdiction of local governments. Most people are comforted by the misbelief that income taxes
were only a temporary expedient the federal government resorted to in time .of war. Actually, income
taxes were considered a provincial-municipal domain, and Ontario had to negotiate with municipalities
to take over personal income taxes in 1936 (in return for unconditional provincial grants), while the federal
government appropriated corporate income taxes in the middle of WWII.
There are good reasons for federal or provincial government control of some tax bases. They have
much longer arms, and so can ensure that each resident, company and offshore shareholder pays a fair
share of the public expenses. But, this is only an argument for utility: the constitutional levels of
government are clearly more efficient at raising taxes. That does not mean they are the most efficient at
spending them, nor at delivering the services people count on. Federal-provincial programmed often
acknowledge that, by awarding provinces tax points, a share, that is, of federal revenues, to be applied
to provincial services.
When it comes to local services, the Province, with rare exceptions relating to infrastructure, has
only two roles: to ensure that local services meet minimum standards of accessibility and quality, and to
ensure that local communities have the wherewithal to meet those standards. There must be a middle way
between the threat of local bankruptcy and total centralization in funding and providing services. The
province should return to its role of enabling local governments to deliver services, by providing the grants
its superior taxation powers allow it to raise, while refraining from tampering with the local tax base.
B. Property Tax Assessment
There are two sources of revenue for local government: user fees and property taxes. User fees
are limited in their application; if they are too high, people will not use the service, and if full cost-
recovery is impossible, then the service must be discontinued. A pure user-fee regime would, for example,
defeat the purpose of having a public library system.
As the Fair Tax Commission has freely admitted, the property assessment system is a mess.
Property taxes were once assessed by a method called actual value, at a time, one supposes, when people
were naively confident that a hard and fast economic value could be assigned to a property (consider: the
11
four-year-old Confederation Life headquarters on Jarvis Street was built for $100 million; its value in
todays marketplace is no more than $35 million). The logic of the system long ago succumbed, to the
dizzying succession of postwar real estate booms and bustsmany of them fuelled, by the way, by
speculation and the peculiar demographic pressures exerted by baby -boomer economicsto local
economic development decisions, and to the perversity that results when the subjective decisions of
assessors are deemed to form a scientific system. As a result, any form of market value assessment will
see massive tax shifts, whether from the commercial to the residential sector, or from neighborhood to
neighborhood, or even house to house. At a future date, taxes might shift back again. This is no way to
run a tax system.
Local governments and local taxpayers need a stable revenue system. The revenue base cannot
expand and contract as if according to the phases of the moon. That would have been the effect had
market value been implemented in 1988 or 1992, as the City of Torontos submission shows. An
assessment system must be easily explicable. That is often the case put forward by market value
proponents. But existing market values are diffuse, slippery things since there is no single market.
Market values are not based on actual sales, since it is usually the same starter homes changing hands
year after year. Most houses remain off the market for decades, that is, if they are not passed from
generation to generation of the same family.
Thus, the values of industrial properties, commercial properties and residential properties are each
estimated by a different method. Apartments and houses are also estimated by different methods. Beyond
that, is the GTA a single market? Should Toronto houses be compared to Mississauga houses, and
Oshawa auto plants to Brampton or Oakville auto plants? At present, these comparisons are not made.
Instead, there is a congeries of methods and comparative standards to estimate market value.
Would it help to use the GTA market as the standard? It is illusory to speak of a provincial
economy, let alone a national economy. It is greater folly to think of city or city-regions as unified
economic regions. While the different neighbourhoods of a city do add up to something like a local
economy, at least for statistical purposes, the reality is that each neighbourhood is a micro-economy, much
like the micro-climates that permit some farmers to grow fruit, while others must rely on hardier crops.
Were it possible to seal off a city economy or a city-region from the world economy, one might then think
of a market value assessment system, since locational preferences would be purely subjective, purely local
12
decisions: one would buy an expensive house in a blue-ribbon neighbourhood and pay the price, fully
aware of the present and most of the future tax consequences. But it is not possible to seal off a city from
what the economists call externalities. That means an assessment system must somehow hit a moving
target as neighbourhood micro-economies, each experiencing its own upward and downward pressures,
rise and fall according to their own distinct rhythms.
Taxation is always contentious thing; there is no fair tax. What fairness there is inheres in the
way decisions about taxation are made. Tax changes should be made in public, by duly elected
representatives, who have been empowered to make decisions on behalf of the community. That will never
be without conflict; the point, however, is that the will of the majority has been served, and the procedure
has been clear, and if it hasnt the rascals will be thrown out at the next election.
Market value reassessment, whether it occurs by statute or through appeals, is a profoundly
undemocratic process. It changes taxes without submitting them to a vote. It is taxation by stealth. Some
people win tax reductions by appeal; as a result, other ratepayers must pay more to make up the
difference. With a city-wide or regional reassessment, there are no cogent reasons for tax increases and
decreases: no correlation with use of services, no correlation with wealth or income, no pressing urban
needs that must now be paid for. Instead, tax increases and decreases are decreed by some transcendental
market, whose workings are as predictable as
C. Provincial Grants
In many instances, provincial grants are
a roll of the dice.
based on local assessment. However, assessment wealth
does not relate to household income. Nor is the median income in a community a proper measure. A true
picture of need would start with household income by decile. Only then can the true costs of urban
services be comprehended. At present, the province is in the perverse position of assigning grants
according to perceived assessment wealth of the entire community, a wealth that has no liquidity, while
cross checking the targeting of grants according to median income, without giving municipalities the
capacity to redistribute that local wealth and income. The only way for a municipality to compensate is
through higher local taxes than may exacerbate existing problems.
13
V. Governance
The establishment of a good system of municipal institutions throughout this province is
a matter of vital importance.
Lord Durham
The conventional economic view holds that the welfare state developed to compensate for
problems created by the market. Government supplements the market. It provides public goods because,
among other things, the market may not provide them (e.g. public health), or, alternatively, public
provision may be more efficient or more equitable than private provision (e.g. public education). But this
rather desiccated perspective does not go far enough. It reeks of an after-the-fact justification for why
governments do what they do. It does not get at the dynamic living organism of society that governments
are supposed to govern. Governments are not simply economic or regulatory instruments. They reflect,
and in turn shape, quite specific communities.
A broader perspective would note that the welfare state was instigated by a basic political and
moral conviction: that every person should share in the fruits of society; those who lacked the means to
participate were to be subsidized until they could participate fully and on the basis of their own labours.
In an earlier time, we would have called this concern for the common weal. Some may now speak of this
as charity. A more appropriate way to put it would be to speak of the civic impulse.
The notion of a civic impulse has seen a resurgence thanks to the struggle of ordinary citizens in
Eastern Bloc countries to organize and govern themselves against the crushing dead weight of faraway
centralized bureaucracies. The notion has been taken up quite readily in the United States, as part of the
cornmunitarian movement, which seeks to rebuild the communities in which the twin addictions to
television and automobilesto withdrawal or flight-have encouraged the evasion of personal and civic
responsibility. An American sociologist, Robert Putnam, has concluded that the Italian regions that work
work because they are heirs to a long and powerful tradition of civic responsibility. The economy is a
reflection of civic virtues, not their creator.
If government must shore up our communities, than we have made a fatal error. Either our
communities are too small to be self-sustaining, or we have allowed control to slip out of our hands and
14
be passed on to another authority. That is why the questions about the size and the boundaries of a
government are doubly significnt. If a local government is too small, it has little power to act. It lacks
the tax base and the critical mass of expertise, ingenuity and capacity to work. There are less than a dozen
neighbourhoods in the GTA that could organize themselves and provide all the services they required
through their own resources. On the other hand, if a government is too large, it may well have the capacity
to act, but it does not have the will. It is too distant from the people. It becomes like the constitutional
levels of government which, for all their size and income, appear from the local vantage point to be
nothing more than standards associations.
The Borough of East York, in its submission, has made an interesting case for expansion of its
own boundaries on the basis of neighbourhoods that have a common culture. This is one of the intangible
facts of political life. Adjoining neighbourhoods will share a common view thanks to common needs and
experience and a common history.
Torontonians, too, are bound together by a unique common culture. There is, in Toronto both a
willingness to do it yourself, and an ethos of looking after ones neighbors. One example of this is
CityHome; where the province provides subsidized housing in most communities (or at least in the
communities that want it), Torontonians have decided to supplement provincial efforts, and, in fact, to
create a different kind of public housing. Another example, perhaps the most obvious one, is Torontos
enduring hostility to expressways. A final example is provided by the Toronto Board of Education. Where
most school boards, faced with declining enrollments in the late 1970s, either sold or rented their surplus
schools, Toronto never closed a school in that era. (It did in fact close two schools earlier, St. Clair Public
School around the stockyards, and Wellesley Public School, on which now stands the Sutton Place Hotel;
as a result, today there are school shortages in both these neighbourhoods.)
It would have been folly to close schools, and this for two reasons. First of all, it is not a wise
use of public money to close down developed public infrastructure and rebuild it elsewhere. Secondly,
who is to make a judgement about the vitality of a neighbourhood, or indeed, a city. That decision is
properly left to residents themselves, who have an uncanny knack for spotting undervalued community
assets. This much is vouched for by the resurgence of Cabbagetown in the 1970s, and more recently,
Riverdale. The popular expression is: if you build it, they will come. A more realistic rephrasing would
say: if it is there, people will use it. More broadly, while enrollment in Toronto has never recovered to
15
its 1970s peak, it is increasing. The schools the Toronto Board did not close turned out to be needed after
all. This is how a community works: with a responsive, and even far-sighted government.
A. School Board Governance
School boards seem an anomaly in the urban universe. In the United States, schools in many urban
areas are under the direct control of the Mayor. The trend in educational administration in large cities has
been towards greater centralization; this trend reached its pinnacle in London, with the Inner London
Education Authority. Yet, the loss in democratic control centralization wreaks has brought forth a
countervailing tendency. Now, in the U. K., schools have reverted to the old private school model of boards
of governors--even those schools nominally under the control of the local education authority, itself a
committee of the local council. New Zealand has abolished school boards altogether in favour of school
councils. In Britain and New Zealand, countries without a strong federal tradition, the devolution of daily
operations to school councils has been accompanied by the creation of a strict national curriculum. The
locus of real decision-making has shifted to national state. A community without the power to manage its
own affairs is a community destined to subservience and dependence.
Interestingly, the United States is witnessing contrary sentiments in favour of decentralization. In
both New York and Los Angeles, there are proposals to breakup the school boards (serving 1 million and
750,000 students respectively) into smaller, more responsive units. Outside the major urban areas, school
boards consisting of elected rather than appointed trustees are still the norm. In fact, there the principle
of devolution has perhaps been taken to its limit: in New York State and in Texas, states with roughly
twice the population of Ontario, there are more than 800 school districts: more than four times the number
of school boards in Ontario.
These divergent models of school governance reflect the distinct historical origins of the school
system in each region. Ontarios school boards trace their history back to 1816. Beforeand well after
that date, government support for education was directed to Anglican grammar schools on the English line.
The express aim of these schools, along with the nascent Kings College (later the University of Toronto),
was to educate an elite whose first loyalty would be to Britain, rather than to the republicanism south of
the border. The Province then permitted parents to band together to create their own common schools,
providing they raised the money to build or rent a school, set a tuition fee, and ran the school under the
supervision of three-person boards of trustees. In a sparsely populated province deeply riven by competing
16
religious allegiances, the decision to allow communities to proceed by their own lights made communities,
rather than the Province, the promoters of education for all. Within a short time, the majority of students
were enrolled in the common schools.
When school boards were restored, after an unsuccessful attempt to place then under municipal
council control from 1847-1850, there was one difference. In large urban areas, the schools were
consolidated and placed under one city-wide board of education. In rural areas, the rule remained one
school, one school board, and this pattern of school governance remained intact until the great school
board consolidations of the 1960s, driven forward by the slogans of centralization and economies of scale,
created county boards of education. Until these consolidations, the attitude of the province was that
communities knew best how to provide and manage the education system. In fact, schools were often the
focal point of the community, a substitute for town halls in villages without them.
B. The School Board and the Village
Community input is the strongest reason for having school boards. In retrospect, the Toronto
Board of Educations decision not to close schools was a wise one. It would be difficult to account for
the reasons behind it, except to say that trustees knew their community, and they had faith in it. That is
not something that registers on the policy instruments the province has at its disposal. And yet, it is
something that has contributed to the enduring liveability of Toronto.
There are other decisions that local trustees have taken at the behest of the combined
neighbourhoods they represent. One of them was heritage languages (now called international languages).
If Toronto is today lauded as the most multicultural city in the world, (and, by implication, a desirable
place to invest in by foreign capital), then surely the Toronto Boards decision to acclimate immigrant
children to Torontos anglophone culture while maintaining the linguistic and cultural capacities they
derived from their own families through a heritage-language programme must have had something to do
with Torontos extraordinary multicultural success.
Another decision, one vital to the preservation of an appropriate urban fabric, and one which
foreshadows Mayor Crombies 45-foot bylaw, was to forgo expropriation either to create new schools or
new parking lots. Indeed, in the late 1960s, the Toronto Board was contemplating expropriation to expand
its parking garage. Trustees, a little ahead of their time, took the initiative to halt what was then an
17
everyday practice, a practice engaged in by the federal government, the provincial governmen
and every other public authority. Once again, it is the decision a decision made possible by having
neighborhood representatives of all the people residing in the cityto fit into neighborhoods
to remake them according to the full powers of the law that public authorities are entitled to ap
has contributed to Torontos liveability.
VI. Provision of Services
[W]e must go back to the decades when policies for consolidation and amalgamation of
schools and boards, and for the substitution of great fleets of yellow buses for scattered
small school operations, were justified by reference to studies arguing for economies of
scale. Countless contract studies and hosts of masters and doctoral theses in education,
plus some in economics and management sciences, purported to show that larger school
and board operations afforded lower unit costs while holding constant the cost of quality,
or higher quality education.... Much of the history of the increasing scale of operation has
coincided with decades of remarkable increases in education costs....More importantly,
declining enrollments would now be expected to bring about markedly higher unit costs.
Indeed, if one is convinced that there are strong economies of scale in our system of
education, there is an ominous conclusion to be drawn from observations about
expenditure-enrolment relations that were registered so often in the briefs to this
Commission
R.W.B. Jackson, Commission on Declining Enrollments, 1978
The thinking of the province, for a long time has been, if it doesnt work on a smaller sc
increase the scale. This kind of thinking was forged in an era in which vertical integra
conglomeration were thought to be the most efficient means of organizing business. We have
through an era of corporate raiding and junk-bond trading whose logic was the opposite; the sy
economies of scale that were supposed to exist did not, and many companies had more value in
than in the sum. Regionalization of municipal governments and school board consolidation h
the same thing. Bigger is not better, nor more efficient, nor more responsive. Bigger is simply
In both instances, the province was attempting to create mini-provinces; yet limited their
success, since these were mini-provinces without the taxing powers of a province. Besides, th
economies of scale in dealing with unique human needs. What economies exist are to be fou
18
provision of hard services.
What the province should have done is to create Education Service Agencies on the American
model: bodies that provide non-instructional services such as capital funding or computer services, while
leaving the daily operations of the school to community school boards. If there are any great savings to
be found in education today, it will be through an agency like an Education Service Agency.
VII. Urban Form
If municipalities are to continue to grow, much of this growth will probably occur within
existing built-up areas. One assumption commonly made by municipalities is that
development should be approved because it it enlarges the tax base and brings in more
revenue, which lightens the load for everyone. But development is often approved without
adequate consideration of the additional expenses incurred for such services as schools
and health facilities,
new s e rv ic es
challenged.
With limited provincial subsidies and municipal finds available for
and i nf rast ruct ure, t hi s as s umpt i on i s bei ng
Sewell Commission
It would be of considerable benefit to the Province were the City of Toronto to grow larger.
Toronto certainly has the capacity, were land uses intensified on mainstreets and old industrial lands
cleaned up, to absorb another 200,000 or 300,000 residents. From a provincial perspective, this would
obviate the need for new 400-series highways (whether they were tollways or not), while taking advantage
of existing infrastructure. Toronto is well served by transit lines, for example. In an ideal Toronto,
everyone would carry a MetroPass, including provincial, city and school board employees.
Intensification is generally to the public good; but one has to be careful about how it proceeds.
The Toronto Mainstreets proposal had two problems. One of them was superfluous, and that was the
dispute over parking. In the interests of good urban form, it would be better to have fewer parking spaces
in the City of Toronto, rather than more. After all, any resident knows that driving into the city is an
absurd proposition; the only point to having a car is to drive out of the city. But this is a relatively minor
issue. At some point, the laws of the market will prevail, and scarce road and parking resources will be
reallocated more efficiently. Not only have European cities such as Amsterdam, Bremen and Freiburg
adopted car-unfriendly policies, but even that bastion of the free market, London, is considering ways to
19
halt traffic in the inner precincts of the city. (And, it is interesting to note, before you can buy a car in
Tokyo, the police have to measure your parking space to make sure the car will fit.)
However, it is different when development proceeds without consideration for schools. The
Toronto Board of Education is short some 450 classrooms. Had the big projects of the late 1980s: Ataritiri
and the Railway Lands, been built, 30 more schools would have been needed: the same number of schools
the City of Barrie has. Developers may have in mind sewer and water hook-up fees owing to the
municipality, and they include those in the cost of the project. But in failing to make provision for a
school, they, in effect pass the charges onto all residents or onto the province. In Torontos case, there are
no provincial capital grants: so, where do schools come from?
For years, provincial capital grants to municipalities and school boards, usually predicated on new
development, have had the perverse effect of encouraging settlement away from built-up areas. Because
of the size of its tax base, Toronto is generally ineligible for capital grants, except when it comes to
provincial blue-ribbon projects such as SkyDome or Exhibition Place, or new subways. Since theres only
one taxpayer, it has been Metropolitan Toronto taxpayers paying, through their income taxes and foregone
provincial grants, for GTA residents to move around as if the province were a gigantic checkerboard.
Some suburban residents have finally grasped the notion of full-cost accounting: there is no free lunch.
They may have gotten a cheap house, the price reduction subsidized by provincial infrastructure grants,
but they are paying in higher transportation costs, and, when the local micro-economy falls into a bust,
through the absence of accessible social services. Whatever changes the Province contemplates to The
Planning Act, it must insist that developers and new residents meet the full cost of new construction, by
setting aside space and funds for new schools and social services.
Conclusion: Principles of GTA Reform
A.
B.
c .
D.
[E]ach time we say, in a local communityand its especially true in a low-income
community-we need more services, we need more agencies, we need more outreach, we
are making a decision that the neighbourhoods indigenous associations, leadership and
capacities are inadequate to solve the problem,
diminishing the communitys powers by investing
and in that trade-off, we are always
in the system powers.
John McKnight, Ideas, CBC Radio
The recommendations that follow this report are based on the following principles:
The Province should set standards; local governments should be empowered to find ways
to meet them
The Province should ensure local governments have the fiscal capacity to meet standards,
not by invading local tax bases, but by equalization grants drawn from its general
revenues.
Instead of setting up regional agencies, the Province should promote the local delivery of
services, if necessary, by bodies accountable to local governments.
The Province should seek to strengthen already built-up areas, rather than allow new
development to be governed by the laws of chaos.
21
Recommendations
Tax Reform
1. Residential property assessment should be based on a stable and intelligible measure, not
the current market value method. Unit value, modified by some locational factor such as
zoning, as proposed by the City of Toronto is an option that should be considered.
2. All residential properties should be assessed on the same basis.
3. Commercial, industrial and provincial properties should be assessed according to their
rental value.
4. Local taxes should not be used to equalize wealth; it is the provincial governments role
to provide equalization payments to assessment-poor regions.
5. Local taxes should not be pooled, beyond the region in which they are collected, for the
same reason.
6. The provincial government should revise the education grant formula to reflect the actual
costs of education in urban areas.
7. School boards should have unrestricted access to the residential tax base, subject, of
course, to the discipline of the ballot box.
Governance
8. Local government should follow historic cultural and neighbourhood boundaries, natural
features, and contemporary communities of interest.
9. School board boundaries should reflect existing municipal boundaries.
10. Electoral representation should be based on the historical tradition of representation by
population.
Local Services
11. Day-to-day school operations should continue to be governed by school boards.
12 Should it prove more economical to provide non-instructional services on a larger scale
than the local school board, such services should be provided by regional Education
Services Authorities.
13. School social and health services should be separated from the education budget and
funded by a separate authority. Wherever possible, they, and other community services
should be provided through the neighbourhood school.
22
Urban Form
14. New developments and conversions must make provision, whether in funds or space or
both, for new school and community facilities.
15. The province should review its capital grants in the interest of promoting compact urban
form and making maximum use of existing infrastructure.
23
5650 Hurrrntario Stree[. Mississauga. Ormrio L5R IC6 Fax: (905) 890-6747 Tel: (905) 890-1099 1-800-668-1146
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chairperson
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1F1
Dear Dr. Anne Golden:
Attached please find a statement of position that has been supported by the four
regional public boards in the Greater Toronto Area.
The statement contains a number of recommendations which have been discussed at
length among the Chairs and Directors of the GTA public regional boards, and represent
a consensus of views shared by Trustees of the four boards. These recommendations
will also be included in statements of positions that may be forwarded to you by
individual boards.
I thank you for your attention and cooperation, and again assure you of our willingness
to meet with you to clarify any issues relating to school boards that may arise as you
carry out your mandate.
Yours sincerely,
Patty Bowman
Chair,
Durham Board of Education
Beryl Ford
Chair,
PeeI Board of Education
Diane Leblovic
Chair,
Halton Board of Education
Bill Crothers
Chair,
York Region Board of Education
TRUSTEES Wendy Davies Joan Parker DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION ASSOCIAT
Beryl Ford Chw Dian Gray Norma Prior & SECRETARY David Leed
Janel McDougald (Vice-Chair) Cliff Gyles Sired! Ransom Harold Brathwaite
Tom Billard Gary Heighington Rosemary Taylor
Karen Carstensen
ASSOCIAT
Paul Mercer Ruth Thompson Harinder Tak
Laurie Cashmore Elaine Moore
THE PEEL BOARD OF EDUCATION
STATEMENT OF POSITION
GREATER TORONTO AREA (GTA) TASK FORCE
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the Peel Board support the following positions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
that Provincial Pooling is not deemed as an appropriate direction for
education finance since direct responsibility and accountability would be
lost.
that a rational assessment and valuation methodology be implemented in
Metro Toronto as a precondition to any pooling of assessment within the
GTA.
that Boards of Education continue to maintain responsibility for local
school governance, finance, and facilities.
that prior to any final report on Educational Finance Reform, the
Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Education and Training
define the specific roles and responsibilities of Boards of Education vis a
vis primary providers in such areas as social services, day care, health
care, and transportation.
Government of Ontario consult with school boards to determine
appropriate expenditure levels that reflect an agreed range of services
required to meet students needs.
that the Planning Act be amended to
i) require consultation with school boards in the planning of land use
development;
ii) contain a provision to require the phasing in of new development in
accordance with the availability of adequate school
accommodation, as with other necessary infrastructure;
that each board in the GTA develop and implement an Education
Development Charges (EDC) bylaw
BACKGROUND
In February 1995 the Provincial Government established a Task Force chaired
by Anne Golden (popularly referred to as the Golden Commission or Task Force)
to study issues pertaining to the Greater Toronto Area comprising the regions of
2
Durham, York, Peel, Halton and Metropolitan Toronto. According to the terms of
reference the objective is to provide direction for the future governance of the
GTA, including the potential restructuring of the responsibilities and practices of
municipal and provincial governments. The Task Force must define a system
and a style of governance, appropriate to the Toronto of the next century, that
promotes economic health and competitiveness, community well-being and a
high quality urban environment. The first concern of the Task Force is that of
developing Confidence in the Central City. (Appendix A)
To date the Task Force has received many reports and submissions, including
submissions from mayors, regional chairpersons and cities in the GTA. The
Task Force will continue to receive submissions to September 30, 1995.
SERVICES, ASSESSMENT & FUNDING ISSUES
In June 1995 the Chairs and Directors of the four regional public school boards
in the GTA met with Anne Golden and conveyed the following concerns:
1. Metropolitan Toronto boards because of their pooled tax base currently have
the capacity to provide levels of services and administration well beyond what
the regional boards can provide for comparable needs;
Il. There is no agreed base level of services, and therefore no ability to
determine appropriate expenditure levels;
Ill. In any arrangement that brought regional and metropolitan funding together,
the regional boards of education could not/would not raise their per pupil
expenditure levels to those of the boards in Metro.
IV. Regional school boards, given that there is no agreed base level of services,
are not prepared to raise taxes in order to allow boards in Metro to maintain
their current levels of expenditures.
V. Metro Toronto must be urged to revise its valuation methodology for
assessment to bring it in line with the rest of the province.
At the June meeting with Anne Golden the Chairs and Directors agreed to
provide some details of comparative expenditures. Subsequently Barbara
Moore, formerly Superintendent of Business and Finance with the Halton Board
and recently retired Superintendent of Business and Finance in the Central
Ontario Regional Office of the Ministry of Education and Training, prepared a
draft paper on behalf of the four regional GTA boards (Appendix B).
Barbara Moores draft paper provides useful information in gross terms of the
relative wealth and expenditures of the regional and Metro boards. On page 6
3
under Financial Information, she states It is extremely difficult to draw
conclusions when comparing the financial operation of school boards unless an
in-depth analysis of their expenditures is performed. This caution is particularly
relevant when, for example, administrative and classroom costs are examined.
The data (based on 1994 MET statistics) are not readily comparable because
different boards group expenditures differently e.g. Human Resources, Academic
Computing are categorized under Instruction in some boards and under
Administration in others. In Peel, both are categorized as Administration. What
is significant in this report however, are the differences in assessment base, mill
rate effort and per pupil operating costs. In the case of per pupil expenditure for
example, the average of the GTA regional boards is $6,804 versus $8,674 for
the Metro Boards.
The draft paper also raises the issue of the potential benefits of the pooling of
industrial/commercial assessment within the GTA. The suggestion that this
could be to the benefit of the GTA regional boards is based on the assumption
that, in a reconfigured GTA arrangement, assessment ratios in Metro (i.e.
industrial/commercial to residential) would remain at their current levels. It is
highly unlikely that in a pooled GTA environment, the assessment rates in Metro
would remain at their present levels. The lowering of industrial/commercial levels
in Metro, coupled with successful appeals could lead to a significant reduction in
assessment, unless it was offset by market valuation on residential property. It is
debateable, therefore, whether the GTA regional boards have anything to gain
from the pooling of assessment. In any event a rational valuation and
assessment methodology in Metro should precede any structural changes to the
GTA.
The quality of education and the knowledge and skills of Ontarios workforce are
seen by government and business as major factors in Ontarios strategic
competitive advantage, as well as in human development planning. The Ontario
Government has recognized that these factors will be even more critical in the
future. The Ontario Ministry of Finances Ontario Economic Outlook. 1994-1995
states With population growing by 1.6 percent a year, the need for public sector
services will continue to expand. The demand for education is increasing even
faster, as students seek to upgrade their qualifications to ensure good jobs in a
more competitive world. Given this prognostication, it is imperative that the
Ontario Government demonstrate its commitment in a tangible fashion. The
Provincial share of funding for school boards went from 61 percent in 1975 to 34
percent in 1993. This is not acceptable, since in spite of the best efforts of this
Board to be financially responsible, growth and reduced provincial grants result
annually in local tax increases. If this trend continues it will place an inordinate
burden on the local ratepayer.
GOVERNANCE AND PLANNING ISSUES
4
In reviewing some of the submissions to the Golden Task Force from
municipalities and mayors, senior staff have noted recommendations that either
municipalities take over responsibility for education from boards of education or
that education funding be removed from property tax and become a direct
responsibility of the province. Recommendation 3 allows the Peel Board to
reassert its position on the issue of school board jurisdiction.
It is worth repeating that school boards are among the earliest forms of
democratic local government in this province, preceding the establishment of
regional and municipal boards. There is a long history and tradition of elected
trustees sensitive to the educational needs of young people as well as the
concerns and interests of the local community. The Peel Board does not believe
that the interests and expertise of regional and municipal councils, as well as
their other competing responsibilities, would allow them to offer the quality of
service and accountability that school boards currently provide.
Proposals that the regions take over responsibility for building schools and
capital projects are predicated in most instances on the jurisdiction for education
passing to the municipalities and regions. Not only does the Peel Board reaffirm
its position that school boards retain jurisdiction for facilities, it believes that
many of the issues that relate to the acquisition of school sites and the building
of schools can be addressed in a timely fashion if school boards were legislated
partners in the planning of land use development. Currently school boards
usually only become aware when plans are already well developed. This does
not allow school boards to plan, and imposes a hardship on growing boards to
provide schools at significant cost. This matter was addressed in a report on
School Accommodation and Financing in Peel (September 15, 1994), prepared
for the Honorable Dave Cooke: It is the position of the school boards in Peel
that the Planning Act contain a provision to require the phasing of a new
development in accordance with the availability of adequate school
accommodation, as with other necessary infrastructure. MET supports this,
recommending that schools be recognized in the funding and planning
processes similar to other community infrastructure.
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that planning and zoning decisions,
including those made by the local Committees of Adjustments, that permit
multiple families in one dwelling and basement apartments have a direct impact
on school boards. In the case of the Peel Board, it has resulted in one of the
highest student to household (.49 FTE per household) ratios among public
boards in the province, a factor which is not adequately compensated for in
Ministry of Education grant formulae.
The phasing of development, legislated school board participation in land use
development planning, and the funding for new schools via educational
development charges (EDCS) would facilitate the total planning process, provide
5
revenues to assist the acquisition of school facilities, and eliminate much of the
frustration felt by developers, home buyers and school boards.
The Chairs and Directors of the GTA regional public school boards are united in
the view that school boards are prepared to work cooperatively with
municipalities and developers to achieve rational, fiscally equitable and
responsible development plans.
..
P O BOX 60, 1 FIRST CANADIAN PLACE, TORONTO, ONTARIO M5X IC1 (416) 366-6811 FAx 366-4906
May 18, 1995
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
Since releasing its report/action plan on Metropolitan Torontos high commercial and
has presented it in a series of meetings with the provincial government, the two opposition
parties, the Metro government, all the area municipalities and most of the school boards.
The purpose of this letter is to summarize the points of common agreement, to highlight the
areas of concern and to give an account of how our position has been modified to
accommodate some of these views. We feel it is important to let you know how each party
has reacted to various components of The Boards reform strategy, in the hope that an
mutually acceptable strategy for
Points of General Agreement
tax and assessment reform in Metro can be developed.
.
Metropolitan Torontos assessment system is antiquated, inequitable, rife with
distortions and long overdue for replacement. It is the basis upon which stabilization
of the revenue base for municipalities and school boards depends, as well as
restoration of fairness to both residential and non-residential taxpayers.
.
Failure to rectify problems relating to the burden of property taxation on commercial
and industrial property will likely lead to further assessment losses in Metropolitan
Toronto, causing upward pressure on taxes for the remaining residential and business
taxpayers--a self-perpetuating cycle which will continue to plague the local budgeting
process until such time as appropriate reforms are introduced.
.
The provincial-municipal and education grants structure needs to be carefully
examined to determine the degree to which it discriminates by design--if at all-
against Metropolitan Toronto. In some instances the demographic and socio-
economic profile of the population may not be being fully recognized for grant
purposes, most notably in education.
- 2 -
The determination of an appropriate assessment methodology for Metro will
probably have to be made by the province, given that previous attempts at achieving
consensus at the local level have not succeeded.
Some local services currently financed through the property tax would be more
appropriately financed from other tax bases--social services in particular.
Governance design changes in the GTA are not essential to the resolution of
commercial/industrial tax problems in Metro.
Key Areas of Concern
Both the provincial government and the provincial opposition parties are generally
unreceptive to reforms premised on significant increases in current levels of
provincial taxation--as would be entailed, for example, by the Fair Tax Commissions
recommendation that the share of current education costs raised by residential
tax-payers in Ontario be shifted primarily to income taxes.
Many municipal officials remain concerned by the potential implications of a section
63 full market value reassessment in Metropolitan Toronto, in view of the large,
unpredictable and irrevocable tax shifts which would occur from the multi-unit
residential, commercial and industrial classes to the 1-2 unit residential class. Some
expressed a strong desire to investigate other bases for assessment such as unit
assessment (a system based on objective measurements of land and building
dimensions), or unit assessment weighted by local rental values and neighbourhood
factors (as recommended by the Fair Tax Commission).
School boards are not conceptually opposed to the principle of a uniform, province-
wide effective rate of tax on commercial and industrial property in support of public
education, as was recommended by the Fair Tax Commission and is supported by
The Board of Trade. However, Metro public school board officials remain suspicious
of the principle of province-wide pooling of such taxes, as was also recommended by
the Fair Tax Commission--in the concern that there is little assurance that the
province would recognize the particular needs of the Metro student population in the
subsequent disbursement of these pooled revenues, or even that they would be
devoted to education at all.
- 3 -
The Board of Trade has weighed these various concerns and has subsequently refined and
modified its position on assessment tax and local government finance reform as follows:
First, assessed property values in Metro must be modernized. This must be done
using whichever method of valuation best meets the test of comprehensibility,
objectivity and administerability. In all likelihood, the appropriate assessment
methodology will be a hybrid one which combines the best features of market value
with unit assessment. This will have to be tested extensively before introduction.
Secondly, following assessment reform, the fixed residential/non-residential mill rate
relationship must be abolished and replaced with a variable mill rate system, under
which area municipal governments would have the right to set a different mill rate
in each property class for the municipal share of the tax burden. The endorsement
of a variable mill rate system is the key change from The Board's original position.
The current provincially-dictated relationship (which requires a fixed, 15% mill rate
discount for the residential sector) precludes municipal governments from having any
discretion over the distribution of the residential vs. non-residential property tax
burden--except, as noted above, through the cumbersome mechanism of a section 63
reassessment which would cause significant, unpredictable and irreversible tax shifts
between classes. The responsibility for determining the residential/non-residential tax
relationship properly resides at the area municipal level and should not be decided,
as it currently is, by the arbitrary result of a reassessment.
Decoupling mill rates from the assessment system will allow local councils to
determine the residential vs. non-residential tax relationship for themselves, rather
than have it dictated by a rigid and indiscriminate assessment system and mill rate
structure. It would be a sensible devolution of provincial authority which would
increase the autonomy and accountability of local governments, and help stimulate
their competitive instincts. It should be emphasized that variable mill rates do not
guarantee a more competitivepropaty tax environment for businesses in Metro; itsimply
gives local councillors the means to establish one.
It should be noted that the Fair Tax Commission also recommended variable mill
rates, and that such systems currently exist in British Columbia and Alberta.
Thirdly, the province must establish a uniform rate of property tax on non-residential
property across Ontario for the support of public education, a policy which would
- 4 -
reflect the equal benefit all Ontario businesses derive from the education system.
This will produce tax reductions in Metro, but need not lead to significant tax
increases on business anywhere in the GTA (or any reduction in resources for the
classroom) if administrative reduction targets, such as have been adopted in other
provinces, are introduced by the government and enforced through the grants system.
The question of province-wide pooling of non-residential taxes for education
purposes will not be resolved to the satisfaction of school boards unless the province
is prepared to commit to disbursing these revenues on the basis of actual student
population characteristics (e.g., relative measures of poverty, unemployment,
immigration share, etc.) rather than as an assessment-tested residual grant, as is
currently the basis of the basic legislative grant for education.
Fourthly, the province and municipalities must resume negotiations for the
disentanglement of certain funding and program delivery responsibilities, chiefly
social assistance, which have a disproportionate impact on Metropolitan Toronto.
Ideally, the province should assume the full cost of social assistance benefits so as to
reduce the current unwarranted dependence on the property tax for financing a share
of this service. This will entail provincial tax increases, but of an order of magnitude
less than would be entailed by a provincial assumption of education financing
responsibility. Alternatively, human services costs should be exchanged for other
services for which funding responsibility could be devolved to the local level.
Fifthly, the provincial-municipal transfer payment system has little role to play in
addressing the commercial/industrial tax problem. The Board has demonstrated
that within the GTA, municipal transfers do not discriminate against Metro when
compared on an objective, per-capita basis. As to the broader issue of tax revenue
outflows from the GTA to the rest of the province, these appear largely to be the
incidental impact of a geographically indiscriminate progressive income and
corporate tax structure--and of a geographically indiscriminate income redistribution
system--on a region which has high average earnings and the preponderance of the
provinces corporate activity.
Some systematic discrimination clearly does occur in some areas, e.g., fees charged
for vehicle licence renewals. But the elimination of net tax transfers out of the GTA
would require the introduction of geographically-segregated tax structures, such as
a lower personal or corporate tax rate within the GTA--an unrealistic proposition.
The foregoing are by no means the only potential approaches to reform. However, we view
all of them as reasonable and pragmatic approaches to resolving some very difficult
problems in Metro. Most can be implemented without any reference to the future
governance design of the GTA--indeed, several of them may provide direction as to a
- 5 -
reformed tax, assessment and municipal finance system applicable to the whole of the GTA,
if not the entire province.
We understand that you have recently assembled a working group to deal with property tax
and finance reform in the GTA, which includes a wide range of municipal and provincial
officials as well as academic experts in property taxation. Conspicuous by its absence from
this working group--in view of its detailed work on property taxation and its extensive efforts
to consult on the matter with local governments, school boards and the province--is The
Board of Trade. While we appreciate your concerns about the need for balance in
stakeholder representation on this group, we would submit that municipalities and school
boards are anything if not major stakeholders themselves.
For this reason, we feel deserving of a formal place on this working group. We await your
response to this request.
Respectfully submitted,
Stephens B. Lowden, FCA
President
cc: The Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto; Chairs of the Metropolitan Public, Separate,
and French School Boards; Mayors and Public School Board Chairs of the City of
Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, York and the Borough of East York
The Hon. Bob Rae, MPP
Premier of Ontario
The Hon. Ed Philip, MPP
Minister of Municipal Affairs
Ms. Lyn Mc Le od MPP
Leader of the Official Opposition
Mr. Mike Harris, MPP
Leader of the Progressive Conservative
Party of Ontario
Mayor Hazel McCallion Chair
GTA Mayors Committee
Description of The Board of Trade
of Metropolitan Toronto
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto is the largest community
Board of Trade or Chamber of Commerce in the country. We are an
independent, non-profit organization, voluntarily funded entirely by the
private sector.
The Metro Toronto Board of Trade provides a vehicle for people in every
kind of business to come together and make a contribution to the
economic and social well-being of this community. The Boards policy
development work, networking events and seminar activities are initiated
through a network of over 30 standing and special committees,
comprised of nearly 500 Board members.
Through this volunteer committee structure, The Board lobbies
proactively on behalf of its members - debating policy and program
directions with government, and assisting in the development of
government initiatives which will lead to an economic environment
conducive to the development, growth and competitiveness of local
business.
The Board produces numerous briefs and submissions for presentation
to municipal, provincial and federal governments on an ongoing basis.
In recent years, The Board has annually compiled an average of 75 such
documents in support of its lobbying activities.
The Boards membership comprises abroad cross-section of the greater
Metropolitan Toronto business community, from self-employed
businesspersons to major corporations, both domestic and foreign-
owned, private and publicly traded, engaged in all manner of business
from service to financial and manufacturing activities. We have served
Metro Toronto for over 150 years, and our members continue to help
build one of the most attractive communities with one of the strongest
economies in Canada.
THE COUNCIL OF THE BOARD OF TRADE
OF METROPOLI TAN TORONTO 1994/1995
Executive Committee
STEPHENS R LOWDEN, FCA
PRESIDENT
Executivc Partner
Ernst & Young and
ViccChairman
Sobeco Esnst & Young
MURRAY BEYNON
VICE PRESIDENT
Partner
Brisbin Brook Bcynon, Architects
R MICHAEL LAUBER, FCA
VICE PRESIDENT
Partner
KPMG Peat Marwick Thome
A. ROGER CREASOR
VICE PRESIDENT&
HONORARY TREASURER
Senior Vii President
& General Manager
Met r opol i t an Toronto
Royal Bank of Canada
DONALD L BROWN
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Honorary Cbairman
Johnson & Higgins Ltd.
Members of Council
NUALA BECK
Prcsident
Nuala Beck&Associates Inc.
TREVOR CARNAHOFF
President
NAPA Airport Development Associates
R.W. (BOB) CHISHOLM, FCA
senior Exccutivc Vice Prcsident, Finance
and Administration
The Bank of Nova Scotia and
President and Cbief Exccutive Officcr,
The Mont r eal Trust Company
W. ROSS DEGEER
Prcsident
Tribune Consultants Inc.
R ROSS DUNSMORE
Partner
Hicks Mor l ey Hamilton Stewart Storie
GEORGE A. FIERHELLER
Vice Chairman
Rogers Communication Inc.
JOHN O. HAAPALA
President
The Haapala Group
GEORGE 13 HARVEY
Cbairman
Unitel Communication Inc.
FRANK N. HEAPS
President
The Upper Canada Brewing Company
DEZSO J. HORVATH
Dean, Faculty of Administrativc Studies
York Univcrsity
DONALD J. McIVER
Chief Economist
Sun Life Assurancc Co. of Canada Ltd.
A. BRUCE McKELVEY
Prcsidcnt & Chi ef Ex ec ut i vc Officer
CDI Career Development Institutcs Ltd.
MARALYNNE A. MONTEI TH
Partner
Morris/Rosc/Ledgctt
RONALD D. MUNKLEY
President & Chief Executive Officer
The Consumers' Gas Company Ltd.
GAIL PAECH
Prcsident & Chief Executive Officer
Toronto East Gcncral Hospital
H. GAIL REGAN
Vice Chair
Cara Opcrations
CHRIS RIDABOCK
Senior Vice President
JJ Barnicke Ltd.
MICHAEL H. WILLIAMS
Senior Vice President
Polk Canada Ltd.
DARYL WOODS
President
Public Image Design
RONALD H. YAMADA
Senior Vice Prcsident
New Technologies & Corpnrate Affairs
MDS Health Group Ltd.
DAVID J. McFADDEN, Q.C.
Partner
Smith Lyons Torrance Stcvenson & Mayer
THE BOARD OF TRADE OF METROPOLITAN TORONTO
SURVEY ON BUSINESS PROPERTY TAXES IN METROPOLITAN TORONTO
O 20% No, I do n ot think it is a significant factor
(If not, to what factors would you attribute the severity of t he recession's impact in Metro?)
O 58% No
4. Would (or did) your relocation or expansion involve moving to another location within the Greater Toronto Area (i.e.. Halton,
Durham, York or Peel Regions), or out of the area entirely?
5. If you wer e to consider relocating or expanding elsewhere (or if yau did), which fa ct or s Would be (or were) the main
detcrminants of this move? (Please check no more than five factors)
Other.
6. If you would never consider rclocating or expanding your bussiness elsewhere,
is it bccause: (Please Check no more than five if
yOU answered "Yes" to Qucstion 2, please skip this question).
We simply couldn't afford to relocate
It would be itmpractical for us to relocate a central urban location is essential for the success
of our business
Our customer and/or client base is totally local; we would have to establish an cntirely new market if wc movcd
Metro is the designatcd market area/territory served by our(local branch, outlet, or office); moving out is not an issue
as the parent firm already has other (branches, outlets, offices) outside Metro
We simply pass on thc cost of high property taxes onto our customcrs
Inadequate/substandard housing schools roads, trains, utilities elsewhere
Too much municipal bureaucracy, red tape' elsewhere
Local service costs would bc too high elsewhere (eg., phone, hydro, courier)
Propcrty taxes not much lowcr elsewhere
Other.
7. lf you were starting an entirely new business yourself and had the optiom locating it
wherever you liked in tbc Greatercr Toronto
Area (GTA), where do you think you would find the most hospital busi ness environment
?
Sec ondar y educ at i on (25.2%) 65% 3% 32%
Policc (10.7%) 28% 2%
72%
soc i al & family ser vi c es (5.7%)
Publ i c w or k s (5.2%) 4% 15% 8 1 %
Transit (4A%) 17%
12%
71%
Fi r e
pr ot ec t i on (2.8%) 5 % 3%
I
9. Considering how you just ranked the distribution of bcncfits between residents/homeowners and businesses in Metro, do you
believe businesses in Mctro sbould pay property tax rates which are, for every dollar of real property value...
10. Mctro Toronto has the one of tbc highest lcvels of per-pupil public school board spending in Ontario. Do you think Metro bas
a more competitive labour force because of this?
11. Which statement most accurately r ef l ec t s your beliefs:
Metro busincsscs bcncfit directly from the level of pcr-student public education spending in Metro, and should
tberefore be expected to pay property taxes at a levcl commcnsurate with tbat bencfit.
der i ve a mor e gener al benef i t f i r m education spcnding in the province as a whole; therefore, Metro
employers should be cxpectcd to pay property taxes that arc comparable to those paid by employers elsewhere in the
provincc for tbc bcnefits of public education.
JUN 14 95 08 : 4 2 4 1 6 3 6 6 4 9 0 6 PAGE . 004
Do you own a home in Metro?
Are you...
owned or leased property in Metro
Nei t her an ow ner nor an empl oyee of a busi ness w i t h ow ned or l eased pr oper t y m Met r o (e.g. w or k out si dc Met r o,
publ i c ser vant r et i r ed, sclf-employcd uncmployed)
If applicable, please check your type of business:
BOARD OF TRADE OF METROPOLITAN TORONTO
TABULATED RESULTS OF
SURVEY ON
BUSINESS PROPERTY TAXES
IN METROPOLITAN TORONTO
(This survey was mailed in October 1994 to 520 Chief Financial Officers
of Metro firms listed in The Boards 1995 "Toronto Region Top
Employers Guide", covering all major SIC categories in firms
with employment of 75 or more
Results are compiled from 103 responses.)
to:
re:
Task Force on the Greater Toronto Area
Attached Brief, dated October 2
I faxed you my Brief last Friday, dated September 28.
Please replace it with the attached version, dated October 2.
enc.: Brief, Oct. 2/95 -2 pages
55 John Street, Suite 214. Stn. 1020 Toronto, Canada M5V 3C6
Telephone: (416) 392-4094 Fax: (416) 3924121
Brief to the Greater Toronto
Grown-up cities:
Funding and governance
Area Task Force
reform proposals
October 2, 1995
for the GTA
1. Define a vision for the GTA: Environmentally and fiscally sustainable land use and
growth .
2.
3.
4.
5. Allocate the maximum number of responsibilities to the cities: grown-up cities.
6. Identify GTA-wide services, keeping the list as short as possible: Expressways,
garbage, poking, environment (conservation authorities), emergency, Zoo, Metro
Reference Library (one of the top public Libraries on the Continent).
Plan rail transit (GO, subways possibly LRTs) GTA-wide; leave bus and streetcar transit
to the cities - they know best whats needed, what they can afford.
(please turn over)
staff 392-4095 Mary Louise Sabetti 3924096
7.
8.
9.
Conservation authorities have long functioned along these lines: money for their
budget is brought to the table by councillors from their city/regional members. Mission
identification is strong, the budgets considerable, debate healthy, spending sober.
10. Give cities the power to tax in innovative ways, to impose user fees and to engage in
public-private partnerships.
Having to ask their own taxpayers for all operating and capital funds will encourage
city councillors to spend soberly.
11. Do not establish special-purpose bodies (SPBS) to manage the GTA.
SPBS are unaccountable to the taxpayer. Theyre bureaucrats delight. For every
good reason, today SPBS are not the norm in Ontario. If an existing SPB depends
partly on citizen-members expertise leave it alone.
DRAFT
This is a preliminary version. Numbers are still being checked. Please
do not quote or circulate without checking with author (phone: 964-3584).
Comments would be greatly appreciated.
SOLVING THE GTA PROPERTY TAX MESS:
SOME PROPOSALS FOR
THE BUSINESS PROPERTY TAX
A submission to the Task Force on the Future of the GTA
by
John Bossons
University of Toronto
June 6, 1995
The subject of this paper is the business property tax problem in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The paper provides a brief overview of the magnitude of the problem and then goes on to propose a
three-part solution:
B a quick fix aimed at providing an immediate partial solution
B a new provincial business property tax that could be implemented by 1998
a reformed education finance system that would go into effect when the new provincial
business property tax is implemented
Each element of this three-part solution can stand on its own. In particular, the quick fix is meant to
be implemented through legislation in the summer or fall of 1995 without waiting for a thorough
review of the long-term solutions. Its purpose is to provide immediate relief in the most extreme cases
of overtaxation and to provide credible evidence to the business community that the province is
committed to business property tax reduction.
The fiscal crisis in Metro is caused by several factors, notably a property tax system which has
become ossified and which has not been adapted to the economic reality of the depression in the real
estate market which has occurred in the Greater Toronto Area. If not addressed, the fiscal crisis in
Metro Toronto will worsen as businesses leave and are not replaced, assessments decline, and welfare
responsibilities become more onerous. The knife-edge nature of the current temporary equilibrium
could easily slip into serious crisis if Ontario moves into another serious recession. Indeed, there is a
strong provincial interest in addressing the local fiscal crisis quickly, so that a worsened fiscal crisis in
Metro does not drag the rest of the provincial economy down more deeply when the next recession
comes.
Property taxation is in serious need of repair both for business taxation and for taxing households. In
this paper, I concentrate on the business property tax because its reform is the most urgent. I will deal
with reform of the residential property tax in a subsequent paper for the Task Force.
The paper is written in the form of a question-answer dialogue so that it can easily be modified to deal
with additional issues and/or detail. Please send me additional questions that need to be answered and
I will respond. Questions or comments can be faxed to me at 964-0061 or 978-6713. Alternatively,
please call meat 964-3584.
Contents
Foreword
Page
1
A.
B.
c .
D.
E.
F.
G.
Introduction and overview 3
The GTA business property tax problem 10
A quick fix for the business property tax 13
Longer-term reform of the business property tax 16
A new system of business assessment 22
Reforming education finance 26
implications for Iocal finance
30
3
A. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
This section deals with alternative approaches to reforming property taxation at a very general level.
It attempts to provide some perspective on what is achievable.
1. What is the problem to be solved?
One of the problems in discussing the property tax mess in the Greater Toronto Area is that different
observers focus on differing aspects of the problem. It is like the parable of a group of blind men
feeling different parts of an elephant and describing what they sense. All of their different statements
may be true. But their individual statements focus on particular aspects, reflect tiering assumptions,
and do not describe the totality.
There are three principal aspects of the property tax problem on which different observers focus. They
can be Summarized by the following sets of statements:
The property tax system is broken. From a municipal officials viewpoint: Appeals are
out of hand. The assessment base is seriously declining. From a taxpayers viewpoint:
Assessments are unfair and arbitrary. And taxpayers do not have a fair chance in appeals.
Officials hold all the cards.
Property taxes are hollowing out Toronto. From a businessmans viewpoint: Taxes on
business property are higher in Metro than anywhere else in North America. And they stay
high even when recessions reduce businesses ability to pay. Its no wonder that businesses
are fleeing.
Property taxes shouldnt be funding education. From a taxpayers viewpoint: It is unfair
to fund education by taxes which are poorly related to ability-to pay. Why should
Ontarians with the same incomes pay different amounts of tax just because of where they
live?
All these issues are both relevant and important. They all need to be reflected in policies designed to
solve the property tax problem in the GTA. But the aspects of the problem which they reflect are
different. Solving any one of them separately will not necessarily contribute to solutions of the others.
In this paper, I will discuss each one of these separate issues and propose interim and long-run
solutions. The discussion will necessarily proceed sequentially, dealing with each problem separated
and then subsequently discussing how they are interrelated.
4
2. Can the problem be solved?
Not easily. The difficulty of solving any one of the problems described above in a zero-sum context
is summarized by the following statements:
B The property tax problem in Metro shouldnt be solved by increasing taxes in the
communities outside Metro. From the viewpoint of suburban taxpayers and politicians:
Dont tread on me! Let Toronto solve its own problems.
The property tax problem in Metro cant be solved by increasing taxes on Metro
residents. To quote from a Conservative election brochure: My party will never impose
MVA on Toronto homeowners. Or, from a Toronto taxpayer: Metro residents already
pay a higher fraction of their incomes in property taxes to finance education than do most
Ontarians. Why should we be singled out to pay even more?
Property tax reform can be made easier if accompanied by overall reductions in property taxes, as
proposed by the Fair Tax Commission in 1993. But, in the current political context, it is unrealistic to
propose that income taxes be increased to pay for property tax reductions. And, given the imperatives
of deficit reduction for the province, other sources of money will be difficult to find.
I believe that, in this context, the only source of a solution is a province-wide reform which can be
justified on systemic grounds. Taxpayers generally must come to recognize that the current property
tax system is both unfair and unsustainable before it will be possible for politicians to implement
reforms. And they will have to be convinced that the new property tax system implemented by such
reforms is itself fair.
This means that all of the defects of the current property tax
Taxpayers will not believe that a new property tax system is
not addressed.
3. What are examples of zero-sum solutions?
Two have been proposed:
system are going to have to be dealt with.
fair if the major perceived problems are
B Making business taxes a uniform fraction of market value throughout the GTA. This
would reduce business property taxes in Metro but increase them in the outer GTA. Taxes
would go up by 35 percent on commercial property in Peel.
Imposing a made in Metro solution by moving to full market value assessment for ail
properties in Metro. This would reduce business property taxes in Metro but increase taxes
on homeowners throughout Metro by an average of 85 percent.
It does not take rocket science to realize that neither of these so-called solutions is politically
feasible.
5
4. But isnt the overtaxation of business properties in Metro the result of undertaxation of
homeowners?
Not if residential property taxes are compared to household incomes. The ratio of residential property
taxes to household incomes is well above the provincial average throughout the GTA, as is shown by
the following (data is percent of aggregate household incomes paid in residential property taxes in
1992):
Metro 2.1 percent
Peel 2.2 percent
Rest of outer GTA
Provincial average 2.0 percent
It is true generally, both in Metro and in the outer GTA, that homeowners pay less tax as a fraction of
incomes than do apartment dwellers. But rectifying this wouldnt change the fact that all GTA
residents taken together already pay above-average property taxes, whether inside or outside Metro.
5. Can transitional provisions make reform acceptable?
No. Transitional provisions that mitigate tax increases during the initial impact of tax reform are
absolutely essential. But they will not overcome the deep resistance to tax increases in a zero-sum
context. Taxpayers, like businessmen, can do present value calculations. They know that phased-in
property tax increases will be immediately reflected in lower values of their properties.
Taxpayers will accept tax increases only if convinced that the alternative is worse. The only way tax
reform can be made politically feasible is to demonstrate that all Ontarians are going to have to pay in
some form to reduce property taxes on business in Ontario in order to keep jobs and incomes from
moving elsewhere. That means theyre going to have to be convinced that expenditures now financed
by property taxes have been reduced as much as they can be. And theyre also going to have to be
convinced that the method of payment is fair.
6. Then how do we find solutions?
By looking for province-wide solutions which arent just ad hoc.
The problems of the property tax in the GTA reflect systemic problems in the Ontario property tax.
They happen to be particularly bad within the the GTA because of history and the traumatic effects on
the real estate market of the 1990-93 recession.
I believe that it is pointless to recommend ad hoc tax changes that are confined to Metro or to the
GTA. While it is possible to devise local tax changes that would, if implemented, solve particular
aspects of the GTA property tax problem, it will be very difficult to persuade taxpayers and politicians
that such changes are anything other than zero-sum redistribution that are motivated by an attempt to
gouge some taxpayers merely in order to benefit others.
The only tax changes that have any chance of being implemented are, I believe, tax reforms that apply
throughout the province and improve the perceived equity-of the system. Reform must be systemic,
not local, to be convincingly directed to improving equity.
7. Can tax reform be
Probably not. There is
6
separated from governance reform?
a widespread belief among taxpayers that two-tiered municipal governments
and school boards are inefficient and insufficiently accountable. It is probably not possible to
persuade taxpayers to accept the tax increases inherent in tax reform without at the same time
addressing these beliefs.
8. So much is interconnected: tax reform, municipal governance, education finance, the health of
the GTA and Ontario economies. How can property tax reform be made manageable?
By simplifying and by focussing on fundamentals.
We can simplify by restricting ourselves to what is inherently of provincial interest, ignoring issues
that can be dealt with by local politicians. And we can cut through to the core issues by looking first
at principles and objectives. Solutions derive from the fundamentals.
9. What are the fundamentals?
They differ for education finance and for financing local services.
There is, I believe, very widespread concensus on the following principles and objectives of education
finance:
Education is and should be a provincial responsibility. AU Ontarians share a common

commitment to an education system that is equally accessible to all children in the
province. All Ontarians, regardless of location, benefit from the effects of a well-educated
and socially integrated labour force. And all Ontarians should collectively contribute to
the costs of providing this education.
Reflecting this, the system of financing education should come as close as possible to
taxing in accordance with ability to pay. Ideally, education should be paid for by income
taxes. Since we currently cant do this directly, we should make our second best system
of education funding come as close to this as possible.
This means that education taxes on business should be based on a tax base which measures
businesses current ability to pay. This base should be taxed at a uniform effective rate
throughout the province, regardless of where business are locatecd, reflecting the fact that
businesses benefit equally from a skilled workforce regardless of where those workers were
educated.
It also means that education taxes on residents within a municipality should at least in the
aggregate, reflect the aggregate current incomes of individuals in that municipality.
7
There is a widespread concensus that property taxes are far more appropriate in their role of financing
local municipal services:
B Property taxes levied to pay for municipal services are analogous to user fees. They should
ideally distribute the costs of those services in accordance with the distribution of benefits.
Like user fees, property taxes should reflect the costs of the benefits obtained by each
taxpayer from the services financed by the taxes.
B This means that, where services are provided by an upper-tier municipality, the total costs
of those services should be allocated to the taxpayers of lower-tier local municipalities in
proportion to the total costs of providing those services to them.
The foregoing principles and objectives relate to how taxes financing different types of government
services should be designed. But the way in which a tax is administered is also of key importance in
determinin g its public acceptance. The most frequent criticisms of taxes in Ontario heard by members
of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission related to the process by which the current property tax is
administered:
Regardless of how tax burdens are distributed, the administration of taxes must be
transparent and fair. The tax base must be measurable by taxpayer as well as tax
administrator. Taxpayers must be able to understand and replicate the determination of tax
by a tax administrator.
B The appeals process must provide a taxpayer with an effective ability to challenge
administrative decisions.
All of these principals and objectives -both design and process- were set out in much fuller detail in
the report of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission and have received widespread public support in the
eighteen months since the Commissions report was released.
10. How do these objectives differ from what market-value-based taxation is supposed to
achieve?
Market-value-based taxation is a technique, not an objective. It is one possible alternative method of
implementing property taxation. More precisely, it is a conceptual approach to property taxation
which can be implemented in a number of different ways.
Market-value-based taxation would satisfy the principles and objectives set out above only if the
following empirical statements were valid:
if market values of properties were individually and in the aggregate reasonably closely
related to the taxpaying abilities (incomes) of the individuals or businesses paying
. education property taxes
if market values of properties were individually and in the aggregate reasonably closely
related to the costs of providing municipal services to those properties
if the administrative system of determining market values were easily understood by
taxpayers, capable of being replicated by taxpayers, and adjudicated fairly in appeals
tribunals
8
A quick summary of how well market-value-based taxation techniques do on these three tests would
be as follows: poorly on the first, much better on the second, and often poorly on the third.
But we cant evaluate market-value-based taxation by looking at in isolation. Were dealing in a
second best world where no form of property taxation will ever be ideal. We have to examine
market-value-based taxation by comparing it to alternatives and evaluating which alternative comes
closest to satisfying the principles and objectives set out above.
11. What are the key provincial interests in all this?
Education funding and business taxation. Education finding because education is predominantly a
provincial responsibility. Business taxation because the economic health of the province depends on
business and because business taxes imposed by localities are inevitably paid in part by workers and
consumers who live in other parts of the province.
12. Isnt there a provincial interest in local taxation of residents?
Not a strong one. Provided that local governance ensures accountability to local electorates, how a
local government taxes its residents to pay for local municipal services is primarily of local interest.
The province has traditionally arrogated to itself a responsibility to ensure that local governments live
up to a reasonable standard of probity. And there are clearly advantages in achieving a standard form
of property taxation across the province. But, fundamentally, these are not key provincial interests.
A provincial government that believed in local accountability could appropriately leave it up to local
electorates to determine for themselves how they wish to tax themselves to pay for locally-determined
municipal services.
The key question, here as elsewhere, is whether local decisions have only a local impact. Where they
do --or can be made to do so- there is no compelling reason for a higher level of government to
intervene.
13. But how could we possibly leave it up to local politicians to decide on local assessment?
Dont we need market-value-based assessments to compute provincial education grants to school
boards?
No. We have historically used equalized assessments (a proxy for market-value-based assessments) to
determine provincial education grants, but the only merit in doing so is tradition. Local aggregate
ability to pay of municipal residents is better measured by aggregate household incomes.
14. Shouldnt we use market-value-based assessments to apportion upper-tier municipal costs
among the lower-tier municipalities which collect property taxes?
Not unless they are a good proxy for the distribution of costs of upper-tier services. There are other
ways in which upper-tier costs can be apportioned. This is discussed in section G below.
9
15. So what% the bottom line?
The key point is that it is possible to simplify the property tax reform problem in the GTA if we get
away from the mistaken notion that all intergovernmental fiscal relationships must be closely linked to
differences in market values of properties in a municipality. This notion that the same solution must
be applied to every problem has been the Gordian knot of municipal fiscal reform in Ontario.
Cutting this knot means looking at each issue separately:
determining an equitable and non-distortionary means of imposing property taxes on
businesses which reflects their taxpaying capacity
B obtaining an equitable basis for funding education which sets targets for property-based
education taxes on local residents that reflects their collective ability to pay
B detertnining a formula and/or process for allocating upper-tier costs among lower-tier
municipalities
reforming property assessment to make it credible and transparent
16. AU this is very general. Can we get down to specifics and talk about solutions?
Yes. I will do so in the following sections.
Since the problem of business tax differentials within the GTA is the Task Forces top priority, I will
turn to that problem fret. In section B, I discuss why this problem is critical. In section C, I propose
an province-wide interim solution that could be implemented in fall legislation and made effective for
the 1996 tax year.
A long term solution to the GTA business tax problem requires a new system of business property
taxation and a new system of education finance. I turn to the first issue in section D, proposing that
the education component of all local business property taxes be replaced by a new provincial business
property tax. The new tax would be based on before-tax rental values of business property and
implemented uniformly across the province. Its revenues would become part of provincial general
revenues. The overall design of the proposed new tax is outlined in Section D. How rent-based
assessment should be implemented and administered is dealt with in section E.
In section F, I turn to the education finance problem, which is primarily concerned with how grants to
local school boards are determined The education finance system is in need of reform, even in the
absence of other changes. But reform becomes mandatory in a context in which no locally determined
education taxes are levied on business properties. The system I propose starts off from the principles
set out in the Ontario Fair Tax Commission report but modifies the FTC recommendations to reflect
current political reality.
In section G, I turn to issues of local municipal finance and deal with the implications for local
taxation of provincializing the business property tax.
10
B. THE GTA BUSINESS PROPERTY TAX PROBLEM
This section describes the problem. Solutions are proposed in the two following sections.
17. How serious is the GTA business tax problem?
Serious. Property taxes on older commercial office properties in Torontos downtown financial district
are, in many cases, close to or in excess of the before-tax net rents out of which property taxes are
paid. The same situation exists for many industrial properties in the outer portion of Metro.
These very high property taxes have potentially serious effects. When effective tax rates become this
close to 100 percent, taxpayers are under strong pressure to take evasive action. In the case of
property taxes, the traditional assumption has always been that buildings cant move and that property
taxes consequently cant be avoided. But buildings can be demolished.
18. How bad is the situation for downtown office properties?
Its not yet having irreversible effects. But its on the edge of doing so.
At the present time (May 1995), most owners of downtown commercial properties facing tax rates of
100 percent or more do not expect this situation to last indefinitely. Effective tax rates are currently
so high because taxes have stayed freed while before-tax rents have declined. Most property owners
are currently hanging on, absorbing losses in the short term in the hope that future property taxes will
be reduced and/or rents increase.
The 1994 upturn in the downtown office leasing market (due almost entirely to a temporary expansion
of the financial industry) has encouraged optimism. So has the attention being paid to property tax
reform by provincial politicians. But this optimism will fade if property taxes are not brought more
into line with rents before the advent of the next recession.
19. How bad is the situation for industrial properties in outer Metro?
More serious than for commercial office properties downtown.
In the downtown core, most owners of commercial office properties believe that the intrinsic scarcity
value of downtown land will eventually yield higher before-tax rents. The downtown core has unique
advantages as a location for high-human-capital financial and professional activities that distinguish it
from competing suburban locations. By contrast, suburban properties on either side of the Metro
boundary are almost perfect substitutes for one another.
So long as there continues to be a large excess supply of built industrial space in the GTA market,
there is a significant danger of widespread demolition of industrial buildings in outer Metro if a
credible process of business property tax reduction is not commenced in the near future.
11
20. Are business property taxes really that much higher in Metro?
Yes. Measured relative to 1992 equalized assessment, commercial and industrial property taxes are
approximately 50 percent higher in Metro than in the outer GTA. Measured relative to current (1995)
rental values, Metros business property taxes are even higher. For industrial properties, taxes per
square foot are approximately 70 percent higher.
21. Why wasnt this a problem five years ago?
Because before-tax rents were higher. It is the combination of high inflexible property taxes per
square foot and massive declines in before-tax rents which has resulted high effective tax rates on
rental incomes. In Torontos downtown financial district, net before-tax rents on new Class A space
have fallen by almost two-thirds because of the combined effects of overbuilding in the late 1980s and
a recession-induced drop in demand.
Representative numbers (all figures in dollars per square foot) for Class A space:
1985 1989 1995
Before-tax net rents 32 46 16
Property taxes 12 14 14
After-tax net rents 20 32 2
For older office buildings, all numbers are lower and after-tax net rents are now zero or negative.
Note that in all cases before-tax net rents are what the market is (or was) currently willing to pay for
newly-rented space. In many buildings, 1995 cash flows are better than shown in the table because of
long-term contracts entered into several years ago. But current cash flows will quickly converge on
the numbers shown above as contracts expire and are renegotiated at current market rents.
22. Why hasnt the same thing happened in the outer GTA?
It has in part. Rental values have declined there too. And, as in Metro, property taxes havent
adjusted to reflect this. But because the level of business property taxes wasnt as high to start with,
effective tax rates have not risen as much. In addition, the swing in the suburban rental market wasnt
as extreme as in the downtown core.
Representative numbers for suburban Class A office space (again, dollars per square fret):
1985 1989 1995
Before-tax net rents 22 27 16
Property taxes 7 8 8
After-tax net rents 15 19 8
Note that before-tax net rents in the outer suburbs and the downtown core are now virtually identical.
The premium paid for downtown location in the late 1980s has virtually disappeared.
12
23. So whats the
answer?
That depends on whether you want a one-time quick fix or want a systemic change that avoids further
recurrences of the same problem. Since a systemic change will take longer to implement, I think
need both.
A quick fix that can be implemented in the fall of 1995 is described in the following section. A
longer-term solution is a fundamental reform of business property taxation, which is described in
sections D and E.
we
13
C. A QUICK FIX FOR THE BUSINESS PROPERTY TAX
In this section, I describe actions that can be implemented immediately to take effect starting in 1996.
They are not meant to be a complete solution. However, as will be seen, they not only can be done
quickly but, more important, move towards the effects of the more complete and thorough reform
proposed in sections D and E. They are a step in the right direction and, hopefully, would represent a
commitment to reform.
24. Whats the quick fix?
A cap on business property taxes
This would require amending the
following:
m
B
B
(inclusive of business occupancy tax) relative to before-tax net rents.
Assessment Act to add a notwithstanding clause that would do the
specify that, notwithstanding other provisions of the Act, the sum of realty and business
assessments on an occupied commercial or industrial property shall not exceed an amount
which, when multiplied by the combined mill rate for the municipality in the previous year,
results in a total property-based tax that exceeds 60 percent of the current fair market
before-property-tax rental value of newly-rented similar property in the vicinity or such
lower fraction as may be established by regulation
provide that this provision will be reflected in assessment rolls delivered to municipalities
specified by regulation (including all those within Metropolitan Toronto) for the 1997
taxation year and in all other Ontario municipalities for the 1998 taxation year
provide that, for the 1996 and 1997 taxation years, assessments for occupied business
properties shall, where justified on appeal, be reduced to an amount that caps property-
based tax at 90 percent of before-tax current rental value in 1996 and 75 percent in 1997
provide that assessments of vacant commercial and industrial buildings be reduced
proportionately
Note that this is structured to do three things:
B provide immediate relief in the most extreme cases through the appeals process
B provide two years for full administrative implementation of the cap for all properties in the
province
provide for a phased-in impact of the business tax reductions on municipal revenues
Note also that current is meant to mean values prevalent in the previous year. This accords with
practice in B.C., where values established for each taxation year in assessment rolls delivered each
January are updated to reflect market values prevalent as of the preceding September.
14
25. This doesnt change taxes on vacant land. Is this a deliberate omission?
Yes. One intent of the quick fix is to reduce the incentives for demolition.
26. Can municipalities and school boards cope with the resultant loss of assessment?
The facile answer would be that theyll have to anyway. Either the most extreme assessments are
reduced to reasonable levels by legislation or they will be reduced through building demolition.
Current revenues from the business property tax are unsustainable at current market rental values. The
issue is not whether current revenues from the business property tax should be sustained. They cant.
The only issue is whether provincial and municipal politicians face up to the reality of the problems
created by the inevitable reduction of revenues from the business property tax in Metro.
27. What can the province do to ease the transition for municipalities?
Implement a disentanglement of overlapping expenditure responsibilities by doing the following:
Eliminate ail local responsibility for funding social assistance, including day care, effective
July 1, 1996
Transfer responsibility for administration of social assistance to the province, effective
January 1, 1997
B Compensate in part for this by eliminating a number of provincial grants to municipalities
for other purposes, as proposed in the abortive 1993 attempt at provincial/municipal
disentanglement
Note that the proposed dates for the transfer of funding and administrative responsibilities are meant to
provide a crudely-matched phase-in of financial benefits to municipalities as well as to allow time for
an orderly implementation of transfers of staff from municipal to provincial payrolls.
28. Will the proposed expenditure reductions exactly match reductions in tax revenues?
No. The purpose of the proposed transfer of responsibilities is twofold:
B to provide a rough and partial offset to the effect of the loss of municipal tax revenues
B to implement a disentanglement of expenditure responsibilities that currently diminishes
political accountability
The 1993 disentanglement exercise was abortive precisely because it tried too hard to leave every
government (including the provincial government) no worse off than before. Offsets can only be
rough. And in this case, with the proposed transfer of administrative responsibilities and no change in
responsibility for assessment costs, virtually all municipalities will benefit financially from the
disentanglement.
15
29. Doesnt this mean that municipalities outside the GTA will benefit from the
while not being severely affected by the cap on business property taxes?
disentanglement
Yes. This benefit can be used to smooth the way for the province-wide change in business taxation
proposed below in sections D and E.
30. How will financial benefits be distributed among regional and local municipalities?
This obviously depends on whether upper-tier municipalities continue to exist. If they are collapsed to
a single tier, then this distribution problem becomes academic. If not, two approaches are possible:
B Mandate tax reductions for upper-tier municipalities in 1996 and 1997 that equals one-half
of the budgetary effect of the elimination of municipal funding for social assistance, thus
leaving room for a tax increase of the same amount by lower-tier municipalities.
Require municipalities to explain the budgetary effects of the changes to taxpayers in
notices accompanying tax bills.
Either or both would help make clear to taxpayers what is happening. My own preference is for the
second alone, relying on taxpayers and the media to publicize inappropriate municipal responses prior
to municipal elections in the fall of 1997.
31. What can be done for school boards?
Assuming for the moment that there is no change in the current system of financing education,
provincial grants to school boards will continue to be based on equalized assessments. If this is the
case, then it is imperative that the definition of equalized assessment be modified to reflect reductions
in business assessment resulting from the rent-based cap.
Because of defects in the current system of education funding (notably in the definition of recognized
expenditures), this modification of the definition of equalized assessment will only partly compensate
school boards for the decline in assessment caused by the rent-based cap.
A better solution is to implement a complete reform of the education funding system, as proposed in
section F.
16
D. LONGER-TERM REFORM OF THE BUSINESS PROPERTY TAX
This section proposes that the business property tax be reformed to make it more uniformly consistent
with business ability to pay and less distorting in its impact on business decisions regarding where
they locate. A key element of this proposal is that the business property tax be provincialized, so that
it is uniformly implemented throughout Ontario. A new provincial business property tax could be
implemented effective January 1, 1998.
32. Whats the justification for a tax on business property?
Pragmatic. It exists, both in Ontario and elsewhere in North America. So long as it is not excessive,
it is a practical way of raising money from business that, for any given level of government
expenditures, permits other taxes to be lower than they otherwise would.
Since we cant increase corporate income tax rates beyond current levels set by competing tax
jurisdictions and cant increase payroll taxes without risking job losses, a tax on business-occupied
property allows other distorting taxes such as personal income taxes to be reduced.
33. This makes it seem as if the business property tax is a provincial tax Isnt there also
justification for a local business property tax?
Yes, to the extent that a locally varying business property tax is levied by municipalities to pay for
local services that increase the value of business properties. But the business property tax is used to
raise much more than what can be justified on the basis of services that benefit business properties.
34. If a business property tax is largely a substitute for other provincial taxes on businesses,
shouldnt it be a levied by the province?
Yes, or at least largely so. Differential tax rates on business properties in different parts of the
province distort location decisions, except where such differences reflect differential benefits from
locally-provided municipal services provided by the tax.
To the extent that business property taxes directly or indirectly are used to finance provincially
determined expenditures such as on education, the business property tax should be treated as one
component of the provinces portfolio of taxes on business activity. As such, the tax should be
implemented uniformly across the province.
Having said this, it is useful to retain a local tax on business property to permit municipalities to use
the tax to provide services that increase the rental value of such property. But such local taxation
should be levied on a base that is provincially determined, in effect piggy-backing on the provincial
use of the tax. And there is a provincial interest in limiting the extent to which local municipalities
are able to use the local business property tax to export taxes otherwise paid by local residents to
residents of other parts of the province.
17
35. For the education component of the business property
pooling?
Of course. There is no justification for taxing businesses in a
tax, doesnt this in effect mean
non-uniform way to finance education.
The education component of the business property tax should be provincialized, made entirely a
provincial responsibility, and imposed uniformly across the province.
This means that moneys raised from the education component of the business property tax would
become part of provincial general revenues. As noted above, this is appropriate, since they are in
effect a substitute for other provincial taxes that contribute to general revenues.
This means in turn that the education funding system would have to be modified to reflect this change.
What this implies is described below in section F.
36. What defines ability to pay for a business property?
Ultimately, what consumers pay for the products of the business and what building use is efficient in
the production and distribution of those products. This is reflected in the value in use of business
property. It is the market for the use of business property which determines the total value in use
that is available to be shared between government and property owner through the property tax.
Business property taxes are paid out of before-tax net rents. The before-tax net rental value of a
business property thus defines the ability to pay property tax associated with that property. The
current business property tax problem in the GTA results from the fact that business property taxes are
an excessive fraction of current before-tax net rental values.
37. But isnt the property tax a tax on property values? Why should it be related to rent?
Because rent is the source of cash flow out of which property taxes can be paid. Any annual tax must
bear a reasonable relation to the annual income or cash flow out of which it is paid.
The semantics of taxation are often a major impediment to correct thinking. For example, an annual
wealth tax is often categorized as a wealth tax. But if levied annually, it must be paid out of income
generated by that wealth. Accordingly, any jurisdiction which imposes an annual wealth tax (such as
Switzerland) levies the tax at rates which are a reasonable fraction of the potential income from such
wealth. Similarly, a tax on real property must bear a reasonable relationship to the rental income
generated by the property.
38. Is before-tax net rental value the equivalent of profits on real estate investment?
No. It is net of operating expenses (normally the responsibility of the tenant) but gross of interest on
capital borrowed to finance a property investment and of some other expenses borne by property
owners (e.g. legal expenses and leasing costs).
The proposed tax base is really a measure of the service value of the land and buildings making up a
property. As a tax on this service value, the business property tax is more akin to a sales tax, albeit
levied at a high rate.
18
39. How can the business property tax be made to reflect this definition of ability to pay?
By basing the business property tax on the current fair market before-tax net rental value of the
property.
40. Is this administratively feasible?
Yes. The implications for business assessment are described in the next section.
41. How quickly?
It would take time to change the administration of business assessment, so a new provincial business
property tax could not be implemented immediately.
The administrative implications are discussed in the next section. As noted there, 1998 is a reasonable
target date for beginning the new provincial business property tax. It may be necessary to phase in its
administration; methods of doing so are discussed in section E.
42. How should this tax base be taxed at the provincial level?
At a uniform rate throughout the province. There is no more justification for locally-varying
provincial tax rates on business property than on business payrolls.
43. How would the provincial tax rate on business property be determined?
In the same way as any other provincial tax rate. The provincial tax rate on assessed rental values of
business properties would be set by provincial legislation.
As with other taxes, a major factor in determiningg the provincial tax rate on business assessment
would be comparable effective tax rates in competing tax jurisdictions, notably neighboring provinces
and states.
44. How do Ontario business property taxes stack up compared to taxes in competing U.S. and
Canadian jurisdictions?
Theyre high. Indeed theyre world class, at the top of any list of effective tax rates.
45. Does this matter?
Yes. But their impact on business location decisions is offset in part by lower payroll taxes.
Ontario taxes on business are, in total, reasonably competitive relative to competing U.S. jurisdictions
when the much higher U.S. costs of employee medical benefit plans are taken into consideration.
However, the mix of taxes is very different, with much higher property taxes in Ontario offset by
higher payroll taxes in the U.S.
19
46. Whats the economic effect of the different tax mix?
There are two effects, both of which reduce business investment in Ontario relative to what would
otherwise occur holding other factors constant.
The first effect is perceptual. The level of business property taxes in Ontario stands out so
dramatically that some business investors dont look further.
The second effect is more fundamental. The unusually high reliance on property taxes in Ontario
increases the relative importance of business taxes which are inflexible and hence do not go down (as
do payroll or income taxes) when business sales revenues decline in a recession. This enhances the
magnitude of the impact of recessions on business profits and, by so doing, increases the risk of
investments in Ontario.
This latter effect is magnified by the way in which property taxes are administered in Ontario. In
competing jurisdictions, assessments are revised more frequently and so adjust more quickly to
recession-induced reductions in rents and property values. In Ontario, property taxes are effectively
frozen and so completely inflexible.
47. Does this mean that there is an identifiable economic cost associated with the extent of
Ontarios reliance on business property taxes?
Yes. High business property taxes reduce business investment and therefore result in slower growth of
jobs and incomes.
This effect occurs through a number of complex channels and is therefore not easy to identify in
macroeconometric models. Its major effect is to make it necessary for labour costs measured in U.S.
dollars to be lower than would otherwise be the case. This means that the long-term effect of the
investment disincentive implicit in Ontarios reliance on the business property tax is primarily reflected
in lower employee real incomes than would otherwise be the case. The channels through which this
occurs include effects on the value of the Canadian dollar and on the speed with which jobs expand in
recovery periods.
48. So business property taxes should be reduced throughout Ontario?
Yes. From an economic viewpoint, reducing business property taxes would rank high as a means of
promoting job-creating investment and economic growth.
49. By how much should business property taxes eventually be reduced?
Long-term targets for bringing business property taxes should be set to bring tax rates down to
competitive levels. These targets could be specified as follows:
bringing the total effective rate of tax on before-tax net rents at least down to the median
effective rate in Canada outside Ontario
bringing property taxes per square foot on downtown commercial office buildings down
below what they are in the two highest-taxed U.S. cities (New York and Chicago)
20
Even after reaching these targets, Ontario business property taxes would still be at the high end of the
North American spectrum. But Ontario business property tax rates would at least no longer stand out
as exceptional.
50. Can these targets be reached right away?
Probably not. Effective tax rates on before-tax net rental values are so high because of the meltdown
in rental values that it will probably be necessary to wait for rental values to recover
attaining these long-term targets.
51. So what should the provincial tax rate be when the new tax is introduced?
before fully
A provincial rate of tax on before-tax net rents that raises the same amount of revenue from
commercial and industrial properties in the outer GTA as does the current education component of all
local business property taxes (including both business and realty taxes).
This target would mean the following:
B
B
a significant reduction in business property taxes when the new tax is introduced
almost no cases where businesses would face property tax increases as a result of
implementing the new tax
Effectively, the proposed tax rate would mean levelling down to the outer GTA level throughout
Ontario. This levelling down is appropriate because of the extent to which business properties are
now overtaxed.
52. How can the longer-term targets subsequently be reached?
By ploughing back some of the revenue growth that will occur as markets recover back into lower tax
rates, reducing provincial and municipal tax rates on net rental values as those values grow.
Net rental values of commercial and industrial property will eventually recover as demand grows
and/or supply is reduced. Putting part of the resultant growth in revenue from the business property
tax back into lower tax rates on net rental values would allow those tax rates to be gradually brought
down to accord with the long-run targets set out above.
53. By how much would total revenues from the business property tax be reduced when the new
tax is implemented?
Across the province, by about $700 million, relative to the current total revenue yield in Ontario of the
education component of the business property tax.
This is a preliminary estimate based on 1992 data. It is rough because it is based on 1992 equalized
assessments rather than net rental values, assuming the latter to bear an approximately proportional
relationship to the former. Errors introduced by this assumption probably do not exceed 10 percent.
54. Could this reduction be phased in?
Of course. It would be partly phased in anyway through implementation of the quick fix proposed
in section C. The remaining reduction could either be implemented fully in 1998 or phased in over a
couple of years.
55. What about municipal tax rates on business property?
At least for several years, they should be limited by provincial legislation to prevent municipalities
from taking advantage of the provincial tax reduction to raise local taxes on business properties. In
the longer term, the provincial tax rate on net rental values should become a ceiling on total municipal
tax rates.
This issue is discussed in section G below.
56. What are the implications of the new provincial business property tax for education finance?
Theyre discussed in section F.
57. What about the business occupancy tax?
Its history.
The business occupancy tax is a surtax on business property tax at varying rates designed to keep the
distribution of the total business property tax burden across differing business types unchanged from
what it was prior to 1904. It was introduced at that time as a replacement for a previous tax on
moveable business property.
The business occupancy tax was a useful transitional device back in 1904. It has long outlived its
usefulness.
58. So it should be eliminated now?
Completely.
The proposed provincial rate of business property tax would, as already noted, be designed to raise the
same total revenue from business properties in the outer GTA as does the education component of all
current business property taxes, including the business occupancy tax. The revenue cost of eliminating
the business occupancy tax is included in the $700 million estimate stated above in the answer to
question 53.
22
E. A NEW SYSTEM OF BUSINESS ASSESSMENT
This section deals with the administrative implications of basing business assessment on before-tax net
rental values.
59. How can the before-tax net rental value of a property be measured?
By basing the measure on the average fair-market current rental value per square foot (inclusive of
current property taxes) of similar property in the vicinity.
60. Is there any precedent for assessing property in this way?
Yes. For certain classes of commercial and industrial properties, rental values are already calculated in
a similar way by assessors in the Ontario Ministry of Revenue as an intermediate step in determining
market values, with the rental values subsequently being capitalized in estimates of property market
values. The major classes of commercial and industrial properties now assessed in this way include:
B large commercial retail stores and shopping malls
B standard general-purpose industrial buildings
B most commercial office buildings
The major classes of commercial and industrial buildings for which rental values are not now
estimated are:
street-related retail stores
special-purpose industrial buildings and sites
For the first of these, estimating rental values is not difficult because of the frequency of rental
transactions. The administrative problem arises in determiningg rents for special-purpose owner-
occupied business properties.
61. If rental values are used now in estimating market values of properties, what is the benefit
of using rental values as the basis for assessment?
There are
m
B
two primary benefits:
It is not necessary to estimate capitalization rates for most properties.
Inconsistency between rental capitalization for some property classes and
valuation for other property classes is avoided
transaction-based
23
One of the major reasons for the dramatic redistribution of property taxes within the commercial
property class in the Metro Toronto 1988 reassessment study was that the capitalization rate used to
capitalize rents for downtown commercial properties was not consistent with the capitalization rate
implicit in observed sales transactions in small retail properties on arterials. As a result, the
speculative binge that drove up commercial property values in 1988 was reflected in the retail strips
but not in the large commercial complexes downtown. The effect was a massive redistribution of
taxes from large commercial properties to the retail strips.
To my mind, the primary argument in favour of using rental values as the basis for commercial and
industrial property assessment is that it is easier to obtain empirically verifiable consistency of rent-
based assessments across property types for all properties other than the special-purpose industrial
properties which cannot easily be assessed using either rent-based or transaction-based methods. A
secondary (but also important) argument is that a rental-based assessment focusses on the appraisal of
value in current use, explicitly excluding components of sales value that reflect volatile fluctuations in
speculative expectations.
62. How can special-purpose properties be
assessed?
With difficulty, whether determining market value or rental value. The problem is the lack of
transactions data for comparable properties, whether for rental or sales transactions.
Rental values for special-purpose properties would typically have to be derived from the cost-based
value determinations now used in assessing market values, using estimates of average market
capitalization rates on commercial and industrial properties of all types to derive rental values from
capital values. In this case, capitalization rates relating rents to capital costs would have to be
estimated. Such rates would inherently tend to be more stable (reflecting longer-term supply price
relationships) than fluctuating value-rent relationships in the speculative property market.
Note that special-purpose business properties are difficult to assess in any assessment system. The
adjustment required to derive rental values from estimated capital values is easier than the basic
determination of capital value from estimated replacement costs. As a practical matter, property
assessments on large special-purpose industrial properties are unavoidably arbitrary and hence
effectively determined by negotiation.
63. How current should rental assessment be?
Current should mean up-to-date in reflecting the most recent available data. Assessments should be
updated yearly.
Note that this does not mean that rental assessments should be based only on market rents in the most
recent year. In order to reduce short-term volatility, rental assessments should be based on average
rental values over the previous three to five years.
64. Is it feasible to change assessments every year?
Yes, provided that greater reliance is placed on using computer-assisted mass appraisal techniques.
Most North American jurisdictions do so.
24
65. How do computer-assisted mass appraisal techniques work?
Computer-assisted mass appraisal techniques depend on a concept of assessment which is more like
modified unit value assessment than traditional Ontario property-by-property assessments.
Such techniques require use of a computerized econometric model of measurable property
characteristics affecting values. The econometric analysis is used to determine average relationships
between values and measurable physical characteristics of properties of differing types. These average
relationships are then applied to observed values of those characteristics for a particular property to
derive the estimated value of that property. Since the application is totally mechanical, it is easily
automated.
In its simplest form, this corresponds to estimating average rental values per square foot of properties
of a given class and then applying that estimated per-square-foot value to the measured gross floor
area of each property in the class.
66. Could computer-assisted mass appraisal techniques be implemented quickly?
Reasonably quickly, provided that additional resources are provided to update existing computer
system. Assuming that is done, there is no reason why computer-based rental value assessments could
not be returned for most Ontario municipalities within two years of passing the necessary legislation.
67. So what is a reasonable target date for implementation of the new provincial business
property tax?
1998.
Assuming the necessary legislation is introduced and passed early in 1996, the rent-based
computerized assessment system could be fully implemented in the 1998 tax roils.
68. What if the Assessment Division of the Ministry of Finance cannot implement the new
business property assessment system in all Ontario municipalities for the 1998 tax rolls? Does
this mean that introduction of the new provincial tax would have to be delayed?
No. The new provincial tax should go into effect in 1998 even if rent-based assessment is only
implemented in part of the province. To allow for this possibility, it may be prudent for legislation to
provide the Cabinet with authority to pass an order-in-council implementing a staged implementation
of rent-based assessment along the following lines:
B in the GTA and selected other municipalities specified by regulation for the 1998 tax rolls
in the rest of the province by 1999
25
69. How would a tax reduction be implemented for business properties in 1998 in municipalities
in which rent-based assessment is not implemented?
By specifying the 1998 provincial tax rates in those municipalities by regulation, allowing for a
different provincial tax rate on 1998 business property assessment in each municipality in which a
reassessment to rental values has not occurred.
70. How would these ad hoc provincial tax rates be calculated?
By basing them on the average ratio of equalized rental-value assessment to current assessment
computing the provincial tax rate for the municipality by multiplying the provincial tax rate on rent-
based assessment by the municipal value of this ratio.
71. How would this average ratio be calculated for each municipality?
In the same way as equalized market-value-based assessment is now calculated,
properties in each municipality.
based on a sample of
72. So computerized rental value assessments for business properties could be implemented as
Phase Two of a program of business property tax reform?
Yes. It would be the logical extension to the rent-based cap on assessments proposed as a quick fix
in the preceding section.
73. How would the quick fix be integrated into the new provincial tax?
For municipalities in which rent-based assessment is fully implemented in 1998, the new system would
replace the quick fix. The quick fix should remain in place for municipalities which are not
reassessed.
26
F. REFORMING EDUCATION FINANCE
Education finance reform is necessary for two reasons. The current system of provincial education
grants does not fairly distribute the burden of financing education and so should be reformed even in
the absence of business tax reform. But this desideratum becomes a requirement given business tax
reform.
74. Why does business tax reform make education finance reform mandatory?
Because the current revenue now obtained by school boards from its share of the business property tax
would be eliminated by provincializing the business property tax. Unless that revenue is replaced by
provincial grants, school boards would face the necessity of imposing massive tax increases on
residents and/or cutting expenditures dramatically.
75. Couldnt local school boards continue to collect business property taxes?
No. The entire point of the business tax reform is to equalize and lower the education component of
business property taxation across Ontario.
Residents should be permitted through their elected representatives on local school boards to raise
taxes on residential property to supplement school board budgets. But local school boards should not
be permitted to tax commercial and industrial property.
76. How are education grants now calculated?
By calculating target expenditures for each school board and then subtracting target revenues fbm a
market-value based property tax.
77. How are target expenditures calculated?
By speci@ng recognized expenditures per pupil and then multiplying this standard per pupil
expenditure by school enrollments. IMs target expenditure is then modified to reflect special
expenditure requirements (e.g. school bus costs in northern schwl districts).
78. How are target revenues calculated?
By using an estimate of equalized assessment to measure what total market-value based assessment
would be in a school district. A standard uniform provincial tax rate is then applied to total equalized
assessment to determine the taxing capacity of the school board.
27
79. How is equalized assessment estimated?
By estimating the average ratio of market value to assessment for a sample of properties within a
district and then applying this ratio to the total current assessment taxable by a school board
80. Whats wrong with the definition of target expenditures?
There are two principal problems:
As currently defined by the Ministry of Education, recognized expenditures do not
include approximately 40 percent of total school board expenditures.
B The definition of per pupil recognized expenditures does not take into account factors
which cause education to be more costly, such as whether the child speaks English or
whether the child comes from an economically or educationally deprived home.
The failure of the current definition to take childrens background into account means that the grant
formula is systemically biasses against urban areas with high proportions of immigrant or low-income
households.
81. How could this be rectified?
A number of studies have been undertaken to identify factors measurable from independent data
sources such as the national census which can be used as proxies for cost-increasing factors. These
studies can be used to define a new formula for target expenditures per pupil which does reflect the
higher costs of education in urban areas.
82. Whats wrong with the definition of target revenues?
It doesnt take into account taxpayers ability to pay. which for residential taxpayers is best measured
by their aggregate household incomes.
83. How should education grants be calculated if the education component of the business
property tax is provincialized?
By calculating target expenditures as proposed in the answer to question 81 and then subtracting a
formula-based revenue target for the residential property tax.
84. How should the revenue target be calculated?
By first calculating a target tax per household and then multiplying this target by the estimated number
of households in the school district.
The target tax per household should be calculated by applying a uniform implicit income tax rate to
average household income in the school district. The implicit income tax rate should be uniform
throughout the province.
28
85. What if we want to make this system more progressive?
Then define the implicit tax rate as a uniform function of average household incomes. The important
thing is that, however defined, the tax rate should only depend on average household incomes in each
district.
86. How should average household incomes be estimated?
From quinquennial census data.
87. Is this a sufficiently frequent updating of income estimates?
Probably. This update frequency is not dissimilar to the current updating of equalized assessment
every four years. If desired, Statistics Canada survey data could be applied to the more geographically
disaggregate Census data to provide more up-to-date estimates.
88. How would the number of households in
From Census and municipal enumeration data.
each school district be estimated?
89. What happens if the province refuses to reflect the higher costs of schooling immigrant and
low-income children in target expenditures?
Then the quality of urban schools will decline, particularly in Metro, and there will be an exodus of
middle-class families into the outer suburbs of the GTA where education quality will continue. This is
the prime motor of the vicious circle which has brought about inner-city decay in many U.S. cities.
90. Why should the quality of urban schools decline? Why wouldnt taxpayers finance the
necessary expenditures by raising residential property taxes?
Residential property taxes probably would go up. But taxpayer resistance to the large property tax
increases that would be necessary would make it very difficult to maintain school budgets.
91. Isnt there a lot of waste in school budgets? Couldnt school boards become more efficient
and so obviate the need for tax increases?
Over the entire Ontario education system, there are undoubtedly opportunities for reducing
administrative costs. And the provincial government is committed to intervening so as to obtain such
cost reductions.
The savings obtained from the entire system should be used to maintain the quality of the school
system everywhere in Ontario in the face of the lower revenues that will be obtained from the
education component of the business property tax if it is reformed as proposed in the preceding two
sections.
29
Without education finance reform along the lines set out here, there is no way that the quality of the
school system can be maintained within Metro in the face of the disproportionate reduction in the
education component of the business property tax that must occur within Metro.
Savings obtainable within Metro from more efficient administration can contribute along with similar
savings in other parts of the province to offsetting the province-wide reduction in revenues from the
business property tax. But they are unlikely to be much different proportionately than savings outside
Metro.
92. So education finance reform is vital?
Yes. Its vital to maintaining a school system that integrates immigrant children into Ontario society
and provides a potential escape from poverty for children in low-income families. Its also vital to
maintaining the economic and social health of Toronto.
You can hollow out a city in four ways: by high business taxes which drive businesses out, by high
property taxes on mobile middle class families which cause them to move out (or deter them from
moving in), by declines in the quality of urban life as a result of cutbacks in policing or municipal
services, or by financial pressures on schools that cause the quality of schooling to decline. Of these,
reductions in the quality of schooling have the most powerful influence.
Middle class families will consider moving in response to tax differentials. But their response to
perceived declines in schooling quality will cause much more dramatic response. If they perceive it to
be necessary to leave the city to obtain quality schooling for their children, many middle class families
will move. If you want to make Toronto go the route of Detroit, the most efficient way of doing so is
to starve the schools.
30
G. IMPLICATIONS FOR LOCAL FINANCE
In this section, I turn to the implications of the provincialization of the business property tax for local
municipal finance.
93. Should municipalities be permitted to continue to tax business properties?
Yes. Businesses benefit from many municipal services, and it is appropriate that they pay municipal
taxes.
94. Should municipalities be permitted to increase taxes on business properties?
Certainly not initially. Municipalities should not be
provincial reductions in business property tax.
permitted to move into the tax room created by
95. How could such a limitation be legislated?
By providing that, in the first three years of the new business property tax, municipal tax rates on
business assessment will be specified by provincial regulation so as to leave the average effective rate
of municipal taxation of net rental values unchanged in each municipality.
96. How should business tax reform affect the apportionment of upper-tier costs among lower-
tier municipalities?
The answer to this question depends on whether apportionment methods are reformed to make
apportionment better approximate the actual costs of providing upper-tier services to lower-tier
municipalities. This issue is discussed below in the answer to questions 99-102.
If the existing system of apportioning upper-tier costs is continued, then a relatively simple
modification can be made to reflect the effects of business tax reform.
97. What is the existing apportionment system?
It is based on current total assessments in each lower-tier municipal Upper-tier costs are allocated
among lower-tier municipalities in proportion to aggregate actual assessments.
31
98. What is the relatively simple' modification that is required?
The required modification would be to allocate upper-tier costs in two steps:
B
First, allocate them between residential and non-residential properties in proportion to actual
assessments in the year prior to commencement of the new rental-value-based business
property tax.
Second, allocate the total to be raised from each class of property in proportion to the
aggregate assessment of each class in the lower-tier municipalities.
This would mean that the residential component of upper-tier costs would be allocated among lower-
tier municipalities in proportion to aggregate residential assessment. Similarly, the non-residential
component would be allocated in proportion to the aggregate rental-value-based assessment of non-
residential properties in each of the lower-tier municipalities.
99. Is there a better way of apportioning upper-tier costs?
Yes. A better way is to base cost apportionment explicitly on the costs of providing upper-tier
municipal services to each lower-tier municipality.
100. What if upper-tier services are provided by special boards or commissions instead of by
upper-tier municipalities?
The same principal of cost allocation would be appropriate. The essential model is that it is
appropriate for lower-tier municipalities to contract the provision of certain services to agencies that
span several lower-tier municipal boundaries when doing so results in lower costs. For local
politicians to be able to evaluate the efficiency of such decisions, the costs paid for by lower-tier
municipalities should approximate as closely as possible the true costs to the agency of providing the
services to the lower-tier municipality.
101. What if assessments continue to be used instead of actual costs? Is there any reason to
believe a different assessment system will result in a better allocation of costs?
No. It is an empirical question as to which of actual assessment or equalized assessment is a better
proxy for the true distribution of costs. There is no a priori reason to believe that one is better.
102. How can a cost allocation model be developed?
By developing credible methods of determiningg the costs of providing each local municipality with
each major category of upper-tier services. In some cases (e.g. policing), a per capita allocation may
be as accurate as any alternative. In cases such as sewers or solid waste disposal, cost allocation could
be in proportion to total consumption of such services (water consumption in the case of sewers, solid
waste deliveries in that case).
A cost-based approach will almost certainly provide a more accurate method of apportioning upper-tier
costs to lower-tier consumers. It will, as a by-product, also be more stable.
To: Dr. Anne Golden
Chair. GTA Task Force
From: L.S. Bourne, University of Toronto
Date: October 2, 1995
Re: The Future of the GTA
7. If a formal GTA government is politcally out of the question, then special-purpose boards is
not the way to deliver regional services. They are neither democratically responsible nor
accountable.
9. I return to the theme that social equity ( and tax fairness) across the urban area is the long-
term key to social sustainability and to maintaining a viable urban area.
10. At the same time we must remove or reduce some of the costly and cumbersome barriers that
governments have imposed on development, on mixed use and adaptive reuse of the built
environment, on innovation in productive enterprises, and on new investments in people, services
and industrial plants. At the same time we want to encourage more imaginative initiatives and
partnerships between the public and private sector in securing new investments and improvements
in the quality of the urban environment.
LSB
September 28, 1995
Ms Ann Golden
393 University Avenue, 20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
Faxed to: (416)327-1516
Dear Ms. Golden:
Enclosed is the Brampton Board of Trades submission to your research into the GTA Reform
titled Why a Business Position is Needed on GTA Reform. The Brampton Board of Trade has
over 1,100 members, which employee some 60,000 people in Brampton and Peel Region.
The Board of Trade approached this study from the angle of what does business need to be able
to survive in the GTA. this report was approved for submission to your commission at the
September meeting of the Boards Governing Council.
We will be mailing you the original report today.
Thank you for your consideration and Good Luck in your deliberations.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Robert Nutbrown, President
cc. Tony Clement, MPP Brampton South
Joe Spina, MPP Brampton North
WHY A BUSINESS
NEEDED ON GTA
POSITION IS
REFORM
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
by: The Brampton Board of Trade
September 27, 1995
Brampton Board of Trade
Presentation to the Golden Commission on GTA Reform
September 1995
INTRODUCTION
WHY A BUSINESS POSITION IS
NEEDED ON GTA REFORM
We must be cognizant of the fact that the
term GTA is merely a description for a
geographic area, much like the term Golden
Horseshoe was in the 60s and 70s. The
GTA area has been determined to take in
lands bounded by the Niagara Escarpment,
the Oak Ridge Moraine and Lake Ontario.
The Brampton Board of Trade takes the
position on the GTA that governments
municipally, regionally and provincially
must be committed to downsizing of
government , t o cost reduct i on as a
government policy, accountability from
government, less government and the
elimination of government duplication.
In reviewing the many municipal
government reports on the GTA the single
weakness is the lack of discussion or
analysis on the future of the GTA and the
Ontario economy. Since the announcement
by the provincial government that the GTA
must be reformed and a level of government
eliminated the various municipal
governments have engaged in turf wars. The
issue has become purely political.
political turf wars
no answer to GTA woes
For the restructuring of the GTA to work,
municipal governments must be reorganized.
We recommend elected offficials at the local
level dealing with the municipal and regional
issues instead of the existing two tiers. We
need smaller, less costly local government,
less duplication, real cost saving and audited
benchmarking to show the results. All
possible Government services must be open
to private sector tenders. The solution to the
tax crisis is not to redistribute the tax hit,
but lies in savings in government spending.
Business has a responsibility to get out and
market the GTA as Canadas number one
Centre of International Business. The
GTA is on the cutting edge of excellence in
financial and legal services, design
marketing and high tech industries. But in
order to make gains government must rid
themselves of the parochial, short-term
thinking that pits municipality against
municipality within the GTA. Economic
development of not only the GTA but
Ontario should be on everyones agenda.
Growth The Engine of the GTA
Although local politicians largely accept that
the economy of the GTA drives the
economy of Ontario and Ontario is the
economic engine of Canada, in their studies
they have not addressed the future of the
GTAs economic base and the impact the
various infrastructures, social, and
environmental issues have on the business
and commerce and private sector job
creation.
Business has repeatedly expressed concerns
over the impact of increased regulation,
environmental controls and Municipal,
Regional and Provincial services on the cost
of doing business in Ontario and the GTA.
BBT1
September 1995
Centre Core
The Centre Core of the GTA is made up of
Toronto, Etobicoke, Scarborough, East
York, North York, and York for a total
population of 2,276,311, covering 63,831
hectares - 35,661 persons per hectare. The
Centre core has aging infrastructure services
which are under stress, with concentrated
population, traffic congestion and no
additional land for growth. The centre core
must look to redevelopment to cleal with the
major business core downsizing and to the
restructuring of their out dated tax structure.
Inner Circle
The Inner Circle of the GTA, Mississauga,
Brampton, Vaughan, Richmond Hill,
Markham has a population of 1,043,145 on
112,921 hectares or 10,237 persons per
hectare. The major city in this area is
Mississauga. It has encountered rapid
growth and have no more land available for
expansion. It will now be up to the
remaining communities on the west side of
the GTA to pick up development. In future,
tax restructuring will be needed to pay for
future infrastructure maintenance.
Outer Circle
The Outer Circle on the west side of the
GTA is made up of the communities of
Burlington, Oakville, Milton, Hal ton Hills
with a population of 315,500 on 98,305
hectares or 3,209 persons per hectare. The
East side of the GTA includes Pickering,
Ajax, Oshawa. Whitby with a population of
316,606 on 57,605 hectares or 5,496
persons per hectare. As future growth will
remain on the west side of the GTA, this
will require expanded in infrastructure. Also,
this area will see pressure for residential
growth as a feeder for the GTA core. The
fear is that the GTA tax restructuring will
advantage the Centre Core by increasing the
tax in the outer municipalities.
We must address and determine where in the
overall structuring of the GTA green belts,
recreational services, social and welfare
reform, health and hospitals fit into the
governance pattern.
The taxation structure including business
tax, property tax, and development charges
should be reviewed to determine if it can be
more effectively managed.
Business & Economic Growth
Initially, business is attracted to settle in a
certain area for:
economic reasons
infrastructure and services
closeness to market
abundant labour force
efficient transportation routes
in the past, the GTA has provided these
services, but now some of the more
important services required by business are
eroding.
For the most part, Municipal and Regional
boundaries are transparent to the average
individual crossing the GTA. Business only
deals with boundaries when determining
which government governs their taxation,
regulations and services and not in the
normal day to day operation of the business.
One Stop shopping Vital to
buisness in the 90s
As we stated, business is concerned over the
availability of a good labour force, effective
and efficient transportation routes and
BBT3
September 1995
infrastructure services which will allow them
to work on a Just In Time basis ensuring
they remain competitive in the global
economy. Business is looking for efficient
and responsive local government and ideally
want to deal with one location for all
government services (One Stop Shopping).
Future growth in the GTA will be, in the
west, along QEW to Niagara Falls and along
the 401 to Kitchener Waterloo and I.ondon,
in the north, along the 400 & # 11 & #48 to
Barrie and in the east, along the 401 & #7
to Oshawa. On the east side of the GTA
$
Bowmanville and Clarington's distance from
Niagara Falls, Waterloo and the Industrial
heartland is an economic barrier to industrial
development. Transit routes, in this area,
are not as sophisticated in this region and
the distance to Pearson Airport also acts as
a deterrent to development.
Transportation
Must be Addressed
The GTA is well serviced with 400 series
transportation corridors of the 401, 410,
404, 427, 407, 400, QEW as well as rail
service and Go Transit routes along the
lakeshore from Oshawa to Burlington and
north to Aurora, Georgetown and Markharm.
The GTA also has major harbours in
Oshawa, Toronto, Hamilton and airports in
Hamilton, Pearson. Toronto Island and
oshawa to service business.
These areas must be addressed in this GTA
restructuring. We must connect the
transportation routes, the highways, Pearson
Airport, Go Transit and rail, and the rapid
transit systems into one common plan. One
of the major reasons for the success of the
GTA is the Pearson Airport. Pearson has for
several years been struggling to maintain the
status as a world class airport, It badly
needs to expand and redevelop. The Federal
Government is committed to turn the airport
over to a local airport authority and have it
privatized. But the process has been slow
and the GTA has fallen behind cities like
Detroit and Pittsburgh. The major highways
entering the centre. of the GTA have become
congested and uneconomical for business.
Entering the downtown core of Toronto by
automobile the traveller has two options:
(1) from the west, 401 to 427 to QEW and
the Gardiner Expressway or (2) from the
east, 401 to the Don Valley Parkway to the
Gardner Expressway. We do have, however
an excellent system of rail travel with the
Go Transit and Subway system. They are
designed to service local commuters in
specifically designated communities and the
transit stations for the most part are far
removed from the major highways. With
increased taxes and the congestion on transit
routes going into the centre of the GTA,
many companies have been lured to the
suburbs by lower taxes and less congestion
on the roads.
The major growth in the GTA has been, and
wiII continue to be, on the west side of
Toronto. This is the area closest to the
Airport and to the U.S. border cities of
Niagara Falls, Windsor and Sarnia. It also
has the second largest concentration of
population and business in Ontario with the
Niagara Peninsula, Kitchener/Waterloo and
London all within 1 hour of Peel and Halton
Regions. The communities of Halton Region
BBT4
Presentation to the Golden Commission on GTA Reform September 1995
also have the lowest population density per
hectare and have the most land available for
development.
Pearson A Vital Key
Pearson Airport is key to the future of the
GTA. To keep the GTA competitive in the
global marketplace, it must be addressed
i m mediate] y. Maj or i n te r n a t i o n a I
corporations rely on Pearson to get their
executives to the world marketplace and to
provide a fast efficient and effective freight
service for the now popular JIT service. If
the GTA does not focus on Pearson
becoming a HUB airport for North
America we will quickly be by passed for
cities like Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
The GTA will become a secondary market.
Business in Ontario and Canada needs a
direct and efficient air service to the GTA.
Pearson must be upgraded to service their
needs and in doing so jobs will be crcatcd.
City Needs Core Air Transit
To entice business to return to the centre
core of the GTA, government must address
rapid transit. The question of a rapid transit
route to Pearson must be dealt with, to assist
Pearson in its quest to become a world class
airport and the Toronto core the hub city. It
is unacceptable for a traveller or business
executive to deplane at Pearson and spend
the next hour in traffic to reach the ccntre of
the city. Currently, several U.S. airlines are
requesting landing privileges for the Toronto
Island Airport. This should be reviewed as
the Island Airport is a vital component to
the future of the City core.
Effective Public Transit
We must attract and keep commuters on
public transit. We must address it from the
viewpoint of moving workers to and from
their place of employment more effectively
and cost efficiently. An individual traveling
within Regions must, in some cases, pay
two or three separate transit fares. This is a
deterrent to the use of public transit. Transit
systems should be integrated and cost
efficient.
Better Rend Planning needed between
municipal boundaries
Major highways in the GTA are congested
and the Gardiner Expressway is under
constant repair, causing inconvenience to
commuters to the centre of the city.
Roadways of major concern to business are
the routes into Pearson and to the centre of
the City. Arterial roads within the Regions
have not been designed with GTA travel in
mind, but rather to service the specific
needs of the individual regions. This style of
planning has caused traffic congestion, as
we cross from one region to another. The
QEW is used for inter-regional travel, as the
access routes across the regions are limited
and not co-ordinated between municipalities.
A prime example - Derry Road passes
through three regions. In Halton it is a two
lane road. Crossing into Peel, it becomes 4
lanes and a major arterial road and ends in
Etobicoke. Another example, is the easterly
route from Hal ton Hills via Hwy #7 to
BBT5
September 1995
Bovaird Drive to the Peel York boundary
then across Elder Mills - Sherwood -
Carrville - 16th Ave ends at Durham
Region. This route goes through a mixture
of 2 to 4 lane roads. Sound planning and
inter-municipal cooperation could make
these routes more efficient and ease
congestion on the 400 series routes.
Regulations & Bureaucracy Ki l l i ng
Business
Municipal governments red tape and
regulations are killing small business and
stifling the growth of business in ontario
and the GTA. The new provincial
government understands business needs less
red tape and regulations. It is time the
municipalities and regions redesigned their
bureaucracy. What one region places on its
borders will certainly have an effect on the
future development of its neighbour. To t-it
business needs in the 90s, and to create
employment, land use is extrcmcl y
important.
When proposing development of lands
business needs to be able to do one stop
shopping and not go to the municipality for
approval and then to the region with the
same plans and basically for the same
approvals. Business feels when i t is looking
at expansion or development it idealIy
should only have to deal with either the
Municipality or Region, but not both. As an
example, for a small business to get
approvals to develop and open a business
along Trafalgar Road/Hwy 7 between
Georgetown and Acton the business must
deal with no less than
. 3 levels of government
. 5 special bodies
15 different departments
. 2 planning departments
Once complete and prior to opening they
would be required to pay
regional development charges
municipal development charges
. land use permits
. property tax
. business tax
. land transfer tax
and in the future there is the potential of
education development charges. Once open,
the business must now deal with the myriad
of provincial and federal tax regulations.
The business community firmly believes that
there are too many regulations, government
red tape and bureaucracy.
Business Will Pay Fair Share of Taxes
Business is not opposed to paying its fair
share of property and business taxes. As the
fair tax commission has stated, and the
various reports indicate, the government
must find a fair way to deal with taxes. In
this age of the global economy, the
technology of the information highway and
the JIT business philosophy, it is not as
important for business to be located in major
centres. Business believes the constant tax
increases MUST STOP. We have seen the
results of high taxes and the devastation it
has had on the centre core of the city.
Business will not pay taxes three times
higher than those in the suburbs, just to be
located in the City.
BBT6
September 1995
Education Financing
Education costs in ontario have come under
fire and it is the firm position of the
business community, with over 60% of the
local tax dollars going to education that it is
time for reform. It is also the position of the
Brampton Board of Trade, that the Boards
of Education do not have a revenue problem
but an expenditure problem. To properly
review education, it is essential we address
the governance side of the equation in
conjunction with the financial. We must
look at the overall structure of school boards
and again determine where the private sector
coul d provi de a more efficient and
economical service as well as reviewing to
whom the bureaucracy is accountable.
Governments
Each regional and municipal government has
official plans. It is time the Ontario
Government reviews them with the view of
integrating the Official Plans. A common
sense approach to transportation, regional
borders, planning, land use, water, sewage,
waste removal, interest groups, and policing
must be found.
Each municipal and regional Master Plan
must be blended with the plans for the
airport, transportation and infrastructure,
keeping in mind the plans of the province. It
currently appears each municipality acts as
an independent body. As we stated, transit
over the years has been designed region by
region and has has little respect for cross
boundary transit and arterial roads and the
government must address this weakness of
the GTA.
We must address the issues of:
being over governed;
the purpose of regional and
municipal planning departments
and official plans;
how governments affect economic
development and economic
re-development;
the structure of education and can it
be more cost effective;
Disentaglement of governments including
the purpose of such bureaucracy like the
Conservation Authorities must be addressed.
To be effective, overlapping services in the
current Regional/Municipal structure such as
roads and maintenance, services of police,
fire and ambulance, hydro, along with water
and sewers and waste management -
recycling should be reviewed, to see if it is
feasible to privatize these areas or turn them
over to commissions similar in operation to
the Police Commissions or Hydro
Commissions.
Queens Park
There should be a provincial restructuring at
Queens Park to deal with the GTA. The
province must address and set out an official
provincial plan outlining economic
development and transportation. It is
essential the province understands how the
GTA relates to the entire province and
major centres like Hamilton Wentworth,
Niagara, and Kitchener Waterloo.
BBT7
September 1995
PROVINCE
The province s h o u l d b e primarily
responsible for ensuring that:
. Regional Plans
. Transportation
. Social Welfare
. health and hospital
natural resources
economic development
fit the overall GTA plan. It should also look
at the el i mi nat i on of Conservation
Authorities rolling back the responsibility to
the Ministry of Natural Resources and the
local community governments.
REGIONS
The current regional structure for:
. policing
waste management
recycling
social services
education
. hydro electricity
could remain intact with the idea of turning
these areas into commissions similar to the
make up of Police Commission with direct
r es pons i bi l i t y t o the local elected
government offi ci al s appoi nt edto the
commissions. These types of services could
cross municipal and regional boundaries.
MUNICIPALITIES
The muni ci pal government s woul d t ake
direct responsibility for all:
roads
. road maintenance
. water & sewers
. planning
. parks & recreation
cultural
. fire and ambulance
. public works
. property taxation and assessment
within the boundaries of their communities.
BBT8
September 1995
Key Principals for GTA Reform
Business must Market GTA
Economic development of not only the GTA
but Ontario should be on everyones agenda.
Business must get out and market the GTA
as Canadas number one Cent r e of
International Business.
Accountable local Government
Municipal governments must be reorganized
to eliminate duplication of work and
possibly have one elected official at the local
level dealing with municipal and regional
issues.
We need smal l er, less costly local
government, less duplication, real cost
saving and audited benchmarking to show
the results.
To this end we feel that administration of
the Boards of Education must be transferred
to local municipal governments.
One Stop Shopping for Government
Services
Business needs to be able to do one stop
shopping when proposing development,
redevelopment of lands or expansion and not
deal with several levels.
Governmcnts at all levels m u s t g e t
Exp en d i t u r es under control
Business is not opposed to paying their fair
share of property an d business taxes. But t h e
government must find an effective and cost
efficient way to deal with taxes and the
delivery of services. Government does not
have a revenue problem but an expenditure
problem. Taxation must be examined for
effectiveness and value to ensure business
remains competitive in the global
marketplace.
Red Tape and Regulations strangling
Business.
Business believes the impact of increased
regulation, environmental controls and
Municipal, Regional and Provincial services
on the cost of doing business in Ontario and
the GTA is contributing, in part, to the lack
of competitiveness of Ontario in the global
economy.
Reform to Education Costs
The cost of education must be addressed as
well as the structure of school boards with
the key element being accountability. Rigid
spending restrictions should be placed on
Boards of Education.
Co-ordination of Official Plans
Each Regional government and municipal
government has official plans. It is now time
for the Ontario Government to review with
the purpose of integrating the Official Plans
into a common goal with considerations to
i nf r ast r uct ur e as of the uppermost
importance and regional boundaries of the
least importance.
Delivery of Government Services by the
Private Sector.
All possible Government services must be
open to private sector tenders.
BBT9
The Corporation of the City of Brampton 2 Wellington Street West
Office of the Mayor
Brampton, Ontario
L6Y 4R2
Tel: 905/874-2600
Peter Robertson
FAX: 905/874-2620
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
393 University Avenue, 20th Floor-2001
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden and Task Force Members:
I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide supporting documentation to
the key proposals contained in the paper, The Seven Point Plan to Reform the
GTA - Leading by Example with Meaningful Change".
As you arc aawre, the GTA Mayors Committee created a sub-committee that I
chaired to establish a consensus position on GTA reform In June the Sub-
committee presented the paper Solutions for Today for the GTA Without
Creating Another Level of Government to the GTA Mayors group and at that
time I was asked to develop a consensus position. After a busy summer of
discussion and consens building, in consultation with Emil Kolb and Michael
Garrett, we developed a seven point plan for GTA reform which I called
Leading by Example". Those slides are enclosed for your information and
consideration.
The title of the slide prcsentation, which contains all of the key points in the
905 Chairs papers, was selected because it speaks to the considerable
leadership, creativity and ability of municipal governments to reinvent
themselves as the economy and community dictate. We have been able to do so
in spite of the lack of support or unwillingness to bring about meaningful
change by former provincial governments.
The Leading by Example slides were presented to the GTA Mayors
Committee on September 15. Since that time I have been consulting with the
Mayors and I have provided, for your information, a table which outlines the
degree of support I have recorded from amongst the GTA Mayors. While
unanimity was not reached on all issues, a considerable consensus has emerged
among the majority of municipal councils. I believe this degree of support is
noteworthy. I am sure many expert in the media would never have predicted
an 80% support wou1d he attained! If time had permittcd, the table would show
more detail, accuracy and I dare say, support.
-
Page 2
The Leading by Example slides clearly focus on what we, as municipal
leaders, know are the very real and pressing problems facing the GTA. I
strongly believe the attached seven point plan paper mirrors and expands upon
the consensus position of the GTA Mayors and Chairs and advances the
discussion even further. The two complement one another and taken together
preside the key to successful and meaningful change in the GTA.
One essential ingredient in this consensus is the fundamental process of
continuing to involve the municipal politicians in implementing the changes.
We hope you will recommend to the Harris government that we are capable and
necessary to make it happen. We expect you to encourage the province to give
the municipalities a short period of time to implement the changes we are
capable of doing, while the province addrcsscs the reforms necessary at their
level.
Worm personal regards,
Peter Robertson
Mayor
Encls.
P.S. If you wish any further assistance or clarification, I would be pleased to
give you my time. Your task, and that of your colleagues, is awesome!
C.C. Premier Michael Harris
Hon. Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing
MPPs ucross the GTA
Regional Chairs
GTA Mayors
support
support
No Response
No Response
support
support
No Response
support *
Without a secretariat
support
No Response
Status quo on education
support Yes Create 6 GTA planning
policy commissions
Support with Durhams
amendments
support Yes
No Response
No Response Yes
Page 1
Page 2
Page 4
Amended Draft
GTA Reform: A Seven Point
Consensus Plan
GTA Regions
implement an
and Municipalities will work with the Province to
inter-related reform program consisting Of
Assessment/ property tax reform
Provincial/ Municipal Financing S WAP
Permissive Municipal Act
A review of services, representation and boundaries
Reform of S pecial Purpose Bodies
GTA Coordinating Forum (Mayors, Chairs, GTA Cabinet
Committee)
S ignificant Education Reform
GTA Assessment/Property Tax Reform
B Province to implement a fair and equitable assessment system
FOR EACH REGION within the GTA, which:
B
achieves tax fairness within and between classes
B
attains the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential assessment mix
across each Region
B
utilizes variable mill rates to control/phase tax burden shifts between property
classes (within limits to avoid bonusing)
B Shift assessment function from Province to the Regions
B Utilize improved technologies to update and maintain assessment
records
B Continue to investigate the range of assessment methodologies
Financing Swap
B S upport main elements of financing S WAP as suggested
in 905 discussion paper
B Add to S WAP: Municipal assumption of financial
responsibility for school capital, busing and maintenance
of physical plant
SWAP Specifics
Revenue Neutral
The SWAP =Revenue neutral formula, no provincial or
municipal tax increases
1 I
Treatment of Special Purpose Bodies
B
B
B
B
B
District Health Councils report to 905
Regional Health Committee or local
Board of Health
Childrens Aid Society (CAS)
B
function to report to Council
Ontario Housing Corporation
B
amalgamated by existing municipal
non-profits
Police Service Boards - majority
muncipal representation on boards
Conservation Authorities are already
municipally controlled but could be
consolidated
Library Boards become municipal
Depts.
Hydro Commissions consolidated by
Province - or to report to
City/Regional council
Sept. 11 3
I
(not Boards) responsible for curriculum
funds a portion of teaching operations, possibly through a
block grant
set the terms for Provincial bargaining with teachers
Municipal Services/
Representation/Boundaries
B A locally driven process within each Region to:
B
review municipal boundaries and structures
B
commit to rationalize and stream line programs/ services
B
review representation and size of Councils
Sept. 11
consultation with AMO and
Regional Chairs
with a view to eliminating duplication with
municipal regulatory functions by 1997
Sept. 11 8
GTA Coordinating Forum
B Create GTA Forum of Mayors and Chairs to address
cross -boundary planning/ coordination issues on regular basis
(eg. economic development, waste management, sewer/ water and
transit)
B together with the new GTA Cabinet Committee
B supported by a small secretariat
B consultative, non-executive powers (no taxing authority)
B Dispute resolution mechanism necessary where there is no
consensus
Savings In The Plan
FINANCING SWAP will eliminate need for staff that administer cost-shared
grants; significantly reducing staff at Queen Park and other Provincial offices
SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES finance and administration functions downsized
and combined with those of the Region or municipality
EDUCATION administration and board costs significantly reduced
GTA FORUM will facilitate partnerships/collaboration, producingfurther savings
GREATER MUNICIPAL CONTROL over service levels, resulting in significant
savings
B permissive municipal authority
B reduced Provincial regulation/policies
MUNICIPAL REVIEWS of service/representation/boundaries to generate further
savings
DOWNSIZING PROVINCIAL MINISTRIES which have inhibited efficient
meaningful practices and caused extensive time delays and needless expense
Sept. 11
The Benefits of Consensus
On The Seven Point Plan
Improves Provincial/Municipal accountability by clarifying roles and
responsibilities
Responds to Taxpayers Concerns by reducing property tax burden and
generates savings for the Province
Demonstrates a willingness and ability to further improve municipal
government within the GTA
Demonstrates leadership by municipal politicians as agents of positive
change
Ensures Revitalization of GTA by addressing immediate threats/challenges
Allows for individuality and diversity of needs
Ensures future economic vitality and quality of life across the GTA
I I
I I
The Corporation of the City of Brampton
Office of the Mayor
Peter Robertson
2 Wellington Street West
Brampton, Ontario
L6Y 4R2
Tel: 905/874-2600
FAX: 905/874-2620
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Greater Toronto Area TaskForce
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Monday, October 23, 1995
Dear Dr. Golden,
in response to your letter of September 14, 1995, I have been able to collect the enclosed
case studies which demonstrate the key areas of provincial/municipal interface which
would benefit from review and streamlining.
I apologize for the delay in forwarding this pachge to you Anne. As you can appreciate
however, the preparation of the Seven Point Plan for submission on September 30th, was
our first priority.
I trust that the enclosed will be of assistance to you and the members of
your task force.
If I can provide any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.
Sincerely,
Peter Robertson
Mayor
Office of the Mayor
Brampton, Ontario
L6Y 4R2
Tel: 905/874-2600
Peter Robertson FAX: 905/874-2620
October 6, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
393 University Avenue, 20th Floor-200I
Toronto, ON M5G IE6
Dear Anne:
My last letter to you ended with the sentence "your task is awesome". Keep up
your effort -you are into the fourth quarter of the game and you will come out
the winner. We all will be winners, in fact, as a result of the exercise
As requested, please find a collection of case studies from various Mayors, City
Managers and Regional Chairs to document how over time the vari ous
ministries of the provincial government have grown so big, so inept and so out
of touch and arrogant that they are no longer any help in governing the GTA.
My best advice is to redefine the provinces role as:
1. setting the policies and guidelines;
2. funding fairlv those services that each Ontarian deserves
from the myriad of tax sources to which they have access;
3. doing some strategic planning so that our province can have five
and ten year goals to become competitive again and to provide
the best possible quality of life for our citizens.
CASE STUDY FROM BRAMPTON, #l
For the past four or five years the local citizens have requested traffic signals at
the intersection of Highway 7 and Heritage Road The City of Brampton
Council and staff notified MTO on several occasions and were turned down
because the warrants were not met. There is no local option to install signals
nnyway because the Municipal Act treats municipalities as a
46
child of the
province. The inevitable occurred this August - three persons were killed
There was a frantic scramble of politicians and newspaper stories. The MTO is
reconsidering but is paralized by regulations, precedent setting fears and
personalities too removed from the local scene to do anything until next
February at the earliest.
Page 2
Solution:
MTO should divest its control over the highways within Brampton
(and other GTA municipalities) immediately and allow us to make the decisions
on entrances, exits, traffic signals. They might even tender out the
snowploughing and summer maintenance to municipalities and the private
sector. God knows they can t even cut the weeds in the roadside ditches.
CASE .STUDY FROM BRAMPTON, #2
There are five businesses in Brampton today who huve been stonewalled by
MTO regulations and non-thinking staff at four levels of their bureaucracy,
right up to the deputy minister level. The problem is obtaining reasonable
commercial access on Highway 7 or Highway 10 in on acceptable time frame.
In some cases independent traffic studies by professional consultants, as well
as recommended alternativcs by municipal transportation planners and
engineers, have been prepared and rejected The applications, to be specific,
include:
Ontario Auto Auction Highway 7 west of Goreway
Mr. DiPoce Highway 7 west of Goreway
Walmart/First Professional Highway 7 west of Airport
Bill Kanellopoulos Gas Bar Highway 10 at Sandalwood
Great L Plaza proposal Highway 10 at Mayfield
Solution: MTO should divest its control over the highways within Brampton
.
(and other GTA municipalities) immcdiately and allow us to make the decisions
on entrances, exits, traffic signals.
Rather than use these applications as ransom for the City and Region to
capitulate in assuming the ownership of Highway 7 at a $21m. shortfall, the
entrances should become the jurisdiction of the municipalities and agree to
negotiate the sale of the highway at a fair and realistic price over the course of
1996 and the GTA disentanglement SWAP.
CASE STUDY FROM CALEDON, #3
Again the story is the same - it is just the municiapality and location that is
different. The provincial government allowed Caledon to develop an entire
subdivision, Valleywood, with only one entrance and exit (and fire route) onto
highway 10, north of Snelgrove. Each morning rush hour, with no traffic
signals allowed by MTO warrants, residents risk their Iives jumping out into the
southbound traffic on Highway 10. It is a frightening experience to watch the
loaded school buses attempt this precarious exercise each weekday morning!
Until there are several deaths the MTO staff and warrant formula will not
change. It is a tragedy wuiting to happen.
Page 3
Solution: MTO should divest its control over Highway 10 within Caledon and
hand the regulation and approval of entrances on Highway 10 to Caledon and
or the Region of Peel The professional engineering staff at the municipal
levels are equally as capable of designing safe solutions but they can respond in
a realistic timeframe with local conditions taken into consideration
WHAT IS TO BE GAINED BY IMPLEMENTING THESE CHANGES?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
z
8.
9.
Province reduces its staff and payroll and pensions payout
Approvals happen six months to a year earlier.
Carrying costs of development reduced signficantly.
In some cases, needless consultants costly studies are eliminated
Construction jobs created
Permanent jobs come onstream from the five businesses.
Certain degree of respectability returns to government process, at
least from the publics perception.
Municipality gains needed industrial/commercial assessment
Lives are saved!
Peter Robertson
Mayor
P.S. I have sent out an urgent cant o all of t he commissioners in Brampt on
and my colleagues around the GTA. Enclosed is the bundle I received
to date.
October 20th, 1995
Mayor Peter Robertson
City of Brampton
Brampton, Ontario
L6Y 4R2
Dear Peter:
Thank you for your final, notice reminder that our "Case Studies
U
were due for the GTA Task Force today.
I have met and discussed this matter with staff of our Municipality
and would advise that the following are some of our concerns with
respect to our relationship with the Province with examples cited:
1. Elimination of duplication of services and functions amongst
the tri-levels of government; Province, Region and Municipality.
2. A co-ordinated approach to
within the municipalities of the
consistent application ,of some
elimination of duplicated efforts
extent that economies of scale
realized.
the delivery of some services
GTA, such that there might be a
of the vital services and an
in providing some services to the
and economic efficiencies are
3. Elimination of the Provincial intrusion on the municipal tax
base for cost recovery on functions that are performed by the
Province; ie. supplementary assessment fees introduced as a
recovery of salaries related to the Provincial Assessment function.
4. Review, with opportunity for input from the Municipality, of
some of the functions currently performed by the Province that
could more efficiently be performed by the local or regional
governments; ie. revisit disentanglement but ensure that the
province exchanges
functions with the
eqitable.
more. provincially dominated program costs and
municipalities such that the trade is fair and
.../2
Mayor Peter Robertson -2- October 20th, 1995
5. Better lines of communication between the Province and its
lower and upper tier municipalities and productive consultation in
advance of any legislative or regulative changes; ie. Development
Charges Act, Supplementary Assessment Charges, Social Contract, and
Province Expenditure Control Plan.
6. A move by the Province to operate on a more centralized manner
rather than creating entirely new commissions
U
and greater
bureaucracies to deal with any new initiative. In many instances
these appear to be staffed with employees who are not fully
familiar with the main function of the commission itself; ie. many
times the municipal staff have spoken with up to eight
(8)
different individuals in order to obtain relevant information.
I trust that these concerns merit presentation to the GTA Task
Force.
Yours very truly,
DIANE H.AMKE
Dat e: Oct ob er ,20 1995
included: 8 Page(s) *including Cover Sheet*
To:
Organization:
City of Brampton
Individual:
Fax Number : 905874-2620
Subject: Case Studies for Anne Golden
Comments: Enclosed please find a few case st udies as r equest ed for Dr . Anne
Golden r egar ding Pr ovincial/Municipal st r eamling.
Mayor Holyday st ill has t o appr ove t he ended at t achment s and
wiII be speaking t o you today at the GTA Mayors meeting..
We will contact you should there be any changes.
if copies are not legible, please call immediat ely.
Provincial-Municinal Interface
1) Changes to the Fire Department
*
withdrawal of senior
(i.e. above the rank
*
interest arbitration
and settlements
officers out of the bargaining unit
of captain)
to reflect local economic realities
2) Chanqes to the Police Services Act
*
same vein as changes to Fire Departments Act
3} Workers Compensation System
*
more collaboration between employers and WCB
*
actions to curb abuse and misuse required
*
cuts to level of benefits so workers do not benefit more
financially being off than if they were at work
4) Special Purpose Bodies
*
legislation to abolish and be replaced by Committees of
Council, e.g. Library Board
Response to Point #1
Assessment
Th e pr ovi nc e i nt e
rvened by not approving Metro's request for market
value reassessment.
Impact
For Etobicoke
r
this meant that about 75% of residents and
businesses did not get the decrease in taxes that they were
entitled to get.
The Province intervened by enforcing Section 14(3) Of the
Assessment Act that re-distributed assessment and taxes from anchor
tenants to smaller tenants in shopping malls.
This caused angry protests from the smaller tenants who complained
to Etobicoke Council, who had no control over the situation.
Response to Point #2
Bonusing - Council had previously requested the Province to
mlnattig Section 112 of consider eli the -Municipal Act (anti
bonusing provision} to allow municipalities to compete to keep
business and industry from leaving.
Grant Information
Municipalities dont always know what grants they will be
receiving, making it difficult to plan.
Early communication would facilitate better planning.
An Et obic ok e fe n c e vie win g be t we e n t wo pr oper t y owner s was appealed to the Pr ovi n c e a n d
a n Awa r d ma de by a Provincial Reference. The Referees Awa r d r e qu e s t e d t h a t i t (t h e
Awar d) be r e gis t e r e d on t h e la n d t it le by e a c h la n d own e r a n d a ll t h e ir own c os t . Th e
appellants and r e s pon de n t s we r e a dvis e d by t h e La n d Re gis t r y Offic e that t h e Awa r d is
non-registerable. Numerous phone calls a n d fa xe s we r e s e n t t o t h e Lin e Fe n c e Re fe r e e t o
r e c t ify t h is pr oble m bu t t o n o a va i l.
The Cit y suggest ed t he Pr ovincial Refer ee amend t he Awa r d t o pe r mit r egist r at ion or
de le t e t h e r e qu i r e me n t for t h e Awa r d be in g r e gis t e r e d on t it le . Th e Lin e Fe n c e Re fe r e e
r e fu s e d bot h s u gge s t ion s .
:
Th e Re fe r e e s
s u pe r vi s or s
wa s c on t a c t e d wit h r e ga r d t o t h is
ma t t e r wh o h a s a ls o de c lin e d t o r e me dy t h e s i t u a t i on .
Th e c ur r ent st at us is a Lin e Fences Award that can not be c ompi le d wi t h , c r e a t i n g
fr u s t r a t ion bot h for t h e pr ope r t y own e r s a n d mu n ic ipa l s t a ff.
Fe e s :
.
.
.
Mu n icipal Ele c t i on s Ac t
1 . Mu n i c pa l vot e r s li s t i s c ompi le d by t h e Mi n i s r y of Re ve n u e , As s e s s me n t Divis ion
ba s e d on in for ma t ion r e c e ive d t h r ou gh a ma il ou t of Mu n ic ipa l En u me r a t ion for ms .
Th e Mu n ic ipa l Cle r k s de pa r t me n t is a lwa ys h e ld t o bla me for e r r or s in t h e lis t s
wh ic h
oc c u r qu it e r e gu la r ly.
A Min is t r y ma il ou t of Vot e r IDENTIFICATION Not ic e s is d on e by t h e As s e s s m e n t
Divis ion in la t e Au gu s t wh ic h r e qu e s t s t h a t a n y c h a n ge s or c or r e c t ion s t o t h e Vot e r s
lis t be ma de by r e t u r n in g t h e c or r e c t e d for m t o t h e Mu n ic ipa l Cle r k . Th e "Vot e r
Ide n t ific a t ion Not ic e s " (V. I. N. ' s ) do n ot c omply wit h t h e Mu n ic ia pl Ele c t ion s Ac t
wh ic h r e qu ir e s de c la r a t ion s for
c e r t a in a n d doe s n ot pe r mit _ ot h e r s (i. e . A
n on Roma n Ca t h olic c a n n ot be a s e pa r a t e s c h ool e le c t or ). Th emu n i c i pa li t y r e c e i ve s
t h ou s a n ds of r e s pon s e s t o t h e V. I. N. ma il ou t wh ic h c a n n ot be pr oc e s s e d. In a n
a t t e mpt t o a s s i s t t h e e le c t or a t e , we t ook on t h e t a s k of r e s pon di n g t o a ll r e qu e s t s t h a t
c ou ld n ot be pr oc e s s e da n d r e qu e s t e d t h a t be a ppr opr ia t e for ms be c omple t e d. Th is
t a s k wa s bot h la bou r a n d c os t i n t e n s i ve a s it r e qu ir e d n u me r ou s ma ilin gs a n d s ome
pr e pa id pos t a ge . Th e vot e r at this point is thoroughly c on fu s e d a n d dis gu s t e d by a
t h ir d ma il ou t , a lbe it t h e fir s t fr om t h e mu n ic ipa lit y. He or s h e doe s n ot u n de r s t a n d
wh y t h e gove r n me n t pr odu ced V.I.N. is not suffient an d t h e CIerk of the
municipality takes the abuse as we are cited as the contact in bot h ou r mailings an d
Ministry of Revenue's.
On e a r e a t h e mu n ic ipa l c le r k s h a ve be e n t r yi n g for ye a r s t o c h a n ge i s t o a llow for
s c h ool support corrections to be ma de a t t h e polls . To pr esent any cor r ect ion t o t h e
e le c t or s s c h ool s u ppor t h a s h a d t o be ma de du r in g t h e r e vis ion pr oc e s s . An elector,
n ot lis t e d on t h e vot e r s Iis t c a n be a dde d t o it a t t h e poll on e le c t ion da y. Th e r e for e
why can n ot a vot e r wh o is Iis t e d in c or r e c t ly, c or r e c t t h e reference i n or de r t o
e xe r c i s e
-
h is / h e r pr ope r vot in g fr a n c h is e .
2 . Financial Statements - The Municipal Elections Act requires all candidates to s u bmit
fi n a n c i a l St a t e me n t s by J u n e 30t h of t h e ye a r following t he Municipal EIection.
Fa ilu r e t o file , r e s u lt s in on e fu r t h e r de ma n d n ot ic e be in g is s u e d e xt e n din g . t h e da t e
for 3 0 da ys . Fa ilu r e t o file wit h in - e xt e n de d
- pe r iod r e s u lt s in a Not ic e of
De fa u lt be in g is s u e d. Th e c a n dida t e is s u bje c t t o pe n a lt ie s * a n d is in e ligible t o be
e le c t e d or h old offic e u p t o a n d in c lu din g t be n e xt r e gu la r e le c t ion . Th e can didat e
ma y ma k e a pplic a t ion t o a Pr ovin c a l Cou r t ju dge for a n or de r a c k n owle dgin g t h a t
t h e fa ilu r e t o file wa s don e t h r ou gh in a dve r t e n c e or e r r or . Th e Mu n ic ipa l Cle r k
ma y a c c e pt t h e la t e fin a n c ia l
s t a t e me n t u pon r e c e ipt of s u c h a n or de r .
TO date, two candidates who had failed to me t h e i r financial papers fr om t h e 1 9 9 4
.
MunicipalElection, have a ppli e d t o a Judge or Judges, who have advised them to
submit their papers to the Clerks office and return to court for a n or de r a ft e r wa r ds _
Th e Ac t c le a r ly s t a t e s t h a t t h e mu n i c i pa li t y c a n n ot r eceive t h e paper s u n t il r eceipt
of t h e ju dge s or de r . Th e s e c a n dida t e s h a ve n ow be e n t o c ou r t t wic e a n d h a ve
a t t e n de d n u me r ou s t ime s a t t h e Cle r k s offic e .
The issue in this instance is that the legislation is not familiar t o t h os e wh o a r e
for c e me n t n a me ly t h e Pr ovin c ia l Court J u dge. The result is
fr u s t r at ion for t h e can didat e an d t h e Mu n icipal Cle r k
Further, in all cases that we are aware of, the judge has granted the required order
to the candidated. We dou bt t h a t t h e r e is mu c h on u s pu t on pr ovin g in a dve r t e n c e a s
t h e ma t t e r is pr oba bly n ot de e me d of gr e a t impor t by t h e ju dge a ga in t h r ou gh la c k
of fa milia r it y wi t h t h e le gi s la t i on .
A SOLUTION TODAY FOR THE GTA
WITHOUT CREATING ANOTHER LEVEL
OF GOVERNMENT
A Proposal from the GTA Mayors Committee
JUNE, 1995
Page 2
The way councils work requires that we obtain majorities for each and every
proposal, which often relies upon one's personal network of friends and
acquaintances. Leadership on big issues on a GTA scale is so arduous a task
that the issues are often lost at the discussion stage without the ability to push
them to a solution.
Another way in which power at the local level is decentralized is by the delegation
of major functions to independent boards and commissions. Public housing,
public health planning and education have been vested in boards that are
independent of the mayor and council on matters of policy and often finance.
For example, any attempt by a municipal politician to influence the citys
education policies is seen as political interference in the work of the board of
education.
The American model of a strong mayor system is foreign to Canadians. In the
U.S.A. a mayor can hire and fire personnel, prepare the budget, issue directives
and even veto council decisions. In most cities in British Columbia (Canadian)
(heir mayors have more formal powers than the mayors in the GTA, but they do
not have the extreme powers of an American strong mayor.
The public within the GTA should he ready for moderate changes if it can be
shown that some of these very serious urban problems could be addressed and
solved. This paper is an attempt to lay out such a proposal for GTA REFORM
WITHOUT CREATING ANOTHER LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT.
The RoIe of the Mayor
The Municipal Act confers
B chief executive officer
the duties 0$
upon the mayor, in addition to other duties specifically referred to as relating to
the office of the mayor.
The Municipal Act states that the head of council has a duty to:
municipality to he duly executed and obeyed;
Page 3
B oversee the conduct of all subordinate officers and the government of
it and as far as practicable, cause all negligence, carelessness and
violation of duty to be prosecuted and punished; and
B communicate to council from time to time such information and recommend
to it such measures as may tend to the improvement of finances, health,
security, cleanliness, comfort and ornament of the municipality.
The duties set out above were originally conferred upon the chief executive officer
of a municipal corporation in 1897 As a result of the redrafting of the statute in
1913, however, these duties apply now only to the office of head of council. This
revision, perhaps intended to clarify some other situation, has regrettably de-
emplasized the importance of the role of the chief executive officer as it applies
to overseeing the affairs of the corporation. It also materially limits the ability of
the mayor to make decisions independent of his or her council and therefore
limits the ability of the GTA Mayors Committee to proceed decisively with actions
beneficial to the GTA. Proposals for the reform of the GTA must ultimately,
have regard to the limitations imposed upon the powers and duties of the mayor.
From our Consensus Building Workshop we note the role of the mayor should
be rediscovered as tile representative of the municipality.
The Common Vision on of the GTA
It has been repeated at many of our meetings that to be a world class
economically competitive region we must have a healthy, vibrant and safe inner
core. The strong national and international business core must also provide a
significant residential component to create a live-work environment that
maintains its own high quality of life. This inner core must also benefit the entire
GTA Region on so that the GTA retains its positive influence upon the Province and
Canada as a whole.
The surrounding communities within the GTA must develop as independent
communities with their own unique characteristics and identity to be self sufficient
live-work nodes or communities. At the same time, all these communities inside
and outside Metro, in order to achieve the wellness of the whole" must share a
coordinated contemporary infrastructure.
Page 4
Our meetings, under the chairmanship of Mayor McCallion, have proven to be
a great model to build upon. Tile initial vision to work cooperatively on the
ECONOMIC DE VLOPMENT OF THE GTA in full financial partnership with
the Province is worthy to highlight.
These initiatives have been enhanced by several other efforts - GTA Transit
Integration the Smart Toronto Telecommunications Effort, OGTA Infrastructure
Planning. The regular meetings of the Regional Chairs and CAO's of the Greater
Toronto Area (GTCC) all point to a direction we wish to endorse.
GTA First Principles
To encourage and develop this GTA vision, the following principles must be basic
to our recommendations for REFORM:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Seine of Community. It is recognized that a sense of community is of
great importance to many taxpayers. Every effort must be made to
recognize the individluality and uniqueness of each municipality. Positive
differences from one community to another must he encouraged. To retain
and build the identity and character of each GTA community this strength
or principle cannot he compromised in any municipal reform. A clear
expression of choice must be built into GTA reform.
Accountability. When a level of service is delivered, the taxpayer must
know who is responsible and how to achieve accountability.
Efficiency. Services should be delivered at the level of government, or
by the private sector that can do so most efficiently at the present time
and over the long term.
government must he disentangled, wherever possible, to eliminate as much
duplication as possible.
Divestment of Power or Authority Once it has been decided that a
service can best be delivered at a municipal Ievel, the Province must
divest both its control and refrain j-em interference with that operation
by municipalities.
Page 5
6. The level that sets the policy or delivers the service must
be empowered to fired these services or be provided with a stable funding
base to do so. The converse is also part of this principle. If_you provide
the finding or part of the finding you must have a commensurate say in
the service delivery.
7. ose Bodies It follows as clearly as night follows day that
to simplify and clarify and pay for say, special purpose bodies must be
eliminated or transferred to a level of directly elected officials to
report regularly rather than flying out there alone.
8. Comprehensive The GTA Reform needs to be broad enough to address
GTA Reform must he good for urban, suburban and rural residents. GTA
Reform must be helpful to the business sector.
The Role of the Province
It is agreed that this level
standards and guidelines.
of government is responsible for setting provincial
It is generally agreed by the mayors that the province must restructure drartically
how it relates to and does business with municipalities. There seems to be a
consensus to have one minister and ministry of the GTA and not five or six
ministries dealing with day to day municipal operations.
In light that the new government might not be expected to create a new minister
exclusively for the GTA, we could accept the Minister of Municipal Affairs also
being the Minister of the GTA. However in the past, the Minister was often
bring on a regular basis, their resolutions for action by the government. Such an
the GTA.
Page 6
the meetings of the GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs.
The GTACA would be administered by a board comprised of elected mayors of
represented at the GTACA include the mayors of 30 municipalities, plus the
would continue to be monthly and would replace the Mayors GTA Committee:
It is interesting to note that the regional chairs are recommending this
coordinating forum he co-chaired by a new minister responsible for the GTA,
Scope of Issues of the GTACA
The major purpose of the GTACA would be to provide the COORDINATING
FUNCTION to:
B
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PROMOTION, including
telecommunications within the GTA.
EMERGENCY SERVICES (Police, Fire and Ambulance)
POPULATION & EMPLOYMENT TARGETS AND PHASING
Page 7
GTA Secretarial
The coordinating function will require a central office and a small staff. It is
recommended that a centrally located office be established in partnership with the
provincial government, particularly with the Office of the Greater Toronto Area
(OGTA). This would permit the:
OGTA, or its new counterpart, to optimize communications and
liaison with the provincial and municipal administrative staff
and
Tile Authority would acquire an office and secretariat which
would include a small team of people with a range of skills
including:
B o n e
B o n e
B o n e
B o n e
B o n e
person from the GTCC (our chief administrators group)
person $-em our Economic Development Partnership
person from the OGTA
executive director type of person
The present financing model that the GTA Mayors have established to do
economic development initiatives seems to work and recognize the pantnership of
it is not fair to continue the imposition.
attached to this discussion paper.
downsizing many of the provincial ministries. The resistance of provincial
bureaucrats to defend their former roles is predictable but must be overcome.
Page 8
GTACA 's Power
alternative options of power. In each of tile following options it is clear that the
GTACA will have NO POWER TO TAX and NO BUDGET TO IMPLEMENT
OR DELIVER PROGRAMS. Its power comes from its coordinating function its
close working relationship with the OGTA and its direct channel of
communications to the newly proposed SPECIAL PROVINCIAL CABINET
a)
This is the present modus operandi of the GTA Mayors Committee.
resolution to the Province and rely upon them for-implementation.
Implications:
- Consensus might he hard to find on some of the big issues.
- The Minister might not be prepared to meet in a timely fashion.
- The GTA Mayors Committee would have no power and should
change its name to tile GTA Coordinating Committee of Mayors
and Regional Chairs.
b)
100% consensus the Province would be obliged to make its best
constraints and reasonable time lines.
Implications:
The present powers and practices of the mayor would require each
one of us to go back to our respective councils for approval To
model, however there would be some assurances made that such
decisions would be implemented by the provincial government if it
provincial consent.
Page 9
c)
Implications:
would not change within our municipalities and at our local municipal
It means the province must trust the wisdom of the proposed GTACA and
interest of the GTA (which will be in the best interests of all of
us... the wellness of the whole.)
CONCLUSIONS:
out of the last few years of the GTA Mayors Committee. They are do-able and
Anyone hoping for radical GTA reform likely would agree more time would be
Task Force to have more time to complete its research and report.
improvement. LETS GO FOR IT! LETS DO IT!
Page 10
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Premier and his Cabinet.
Committee Chair
Schedul e A
GTA CO-ORDINATING BODY
CORE BUDGET/FINANCING
The proposal fiancing for the GTA Co-ordinating Body
y
is on the current fomula used
~
for funding the GTA Economic Development Partnership Initiative. The budget is a preli
minary however, it includes the existing actual budget for the Economic Development
Partnenhip (core funding).
PROPOSED
ANNUAL BUDGET:
Staff salaries & benefits:
s 3 0 0 , 0 0 0 .
-1 Executive Directortor
-I GTCC Co-ordinator
-1 Economic Development Co-ordinator
-1 Mayors Committee Co-ordinator
-1 Administrative Assistant
5
Supplies/ Equipment: (approx. $5,000 month)
60,000.
-Furniture/Computers
-Office supplies
-General expenses
Economic Development:
135,000.
-Exist ing approved core funding -program
Office SDaCe - Shared wi t h OGTA :
31,250.
-250 Sq. ft (indust r y st d.) X 5 employes = 1,250 sq. ft .
-1,250 X $25/sq. ft. gross rent (estimate)
.
TOTAL:
$ 506,250.
FUNDING:
The cost share formula is based on a S)YO matching contribution from the Provincial government
The remaining 50% municipal share is then divided by the five regional areas in the GTA, The
municipalities in each regional area are responsible for determining how they will arrive at the
total core funding requirement from their regional area
lMunicipal contribution: $ 253,125,
( $50,625. from each of the 5 regional areas)
Provincial contribution:
$253,125.
:
Total:
$ 506,250.
PREMIER
I
SP ECI AL CADI NET COMMI TTEE F OR
THE GTA
MI NI STER OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS & GTA
MINISTER OF TRANSP ORTATI ON
MI NI STER OF ENVI RONMENT
MI NI STER OF SOLICITOR GENERAL
MINISTER OF FI NANCE
- i -
. ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS OF
THE GTA. MUNI CI P ALI TI ES
MINISTRY OF MUNICIPAL
.AFFAIRS & THE G.T.A.
OFFI CE OF THE G.T.A
J UN- 1 9 - 1 9 9 5 1 0 : 1 8
FROM MAYORS OFFICE
TO
Office of the Mayor
Peter Robertson
APPENDIx B
2 Wellington Sreet West
Brampton, Ontario
L6Y -IR2
Tel: 905/874-2600
FAX: 905/874-2620
June 19.1995
The report on GTA reform titled A Solution Today for the GTA Wthout
Creating Another level of Governmentw a~ received to he circulatmed to the thirty
municipal councils and jive regional council for their input by July 15th
Enclosed if the resolution that passed at our meeting on Friday, June 16th and
the organizational chart which is to be attached to the report.
In order to quantify the thirty-five responses, I request your counci provide the
following direction:
1. Do you agree that the GTA requires some ongoing
coordination by the mayors and regional chairs
according to the princples s pok en to in the report? Yes No
Comments
2. Do you agree to limit the function of the group,
as the report suggests, to one of coordination with
no jurasdiction on finances or delivery of services? Yes No
Comments
3. Do y ou agree with the rcport's recommended areas of
coordination (Economic Dcvelopmcnt; Transportation;
Waste Management & Oder GTA Infrastructure;
Emergency Services; and Population & Employment
Targets arid Phasing)? Yes No
Comments
- -
175 Sandalwood Pkwy. West
Brampton, Ontario L7A 1E8
Tel: (905) 840-6300
September 13, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
393 university Avenue
r
Suite 2001
TORONTO, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Submission Regarding Hydro-Electric Commissions
within the GTA
Any recommendations of your Task Force that change the structure
and/or governance of municipal government within the GTA will,
either directly or indirectly, impact on the Hydro-Electric
Commissions and Public utilities commissions.
The Brampton Hydro-Electric commission is pleased to have the
opportunity to provide you with a recommendation and associated
rationale. We request that you give due consideration to this
submission. Representatives of Brampton Hydro would welcome the
opportunity of meeting with you and/or members of your Task Force
to provide clarification and answer any questions arising from
this submission.
Yours truly
COMMISSION
jjy/mp
Attachment
Chairman - J. J. YARROW . Vice Chairman - A GIBSON
Commissioners - P. ROBERTSON, Mayor -W. R. PESANT - C W. FORD o General Manager - K. D. MATTHEWS, P. Eng.
Submission to the GTA Task Force
From the
Brampton Hydro-Electric commission
September 13, 1995
INTRODUCTION
The structure of hydro distribution throughout the GTA, With just
a few exceptions, follows the same geographic boundaries as the
municipalities. Governance iS through either elected or
appointed Commissions comprised of (mostly) five or three
Commissioners, with the Mayor or his/her designate being one.
Generally there exists a very cooperative relationship between
the municipality and the local commission and, in many instances,
there are joint initiatives and shared services between the two
organizations.
Any changes to the municipal structure will therefore impact on
the hydro commissions.
RECOMMENDATION
It is the recommendation of the Brampton Hydro-Electric
Commission that hydro distribution throughout the GTA b e
organized to coincide with the lower tier municipal boundaries
that result from any GTA restructuring.
RATIONALE
There are several factors that lead us to the above
recommendation.
Briefly stated, they are:
. there is no evidence of economies of scale
(See Appendix 1)
. there are distinct advantages to the customer
in maintaining local accountability, customer
influence and sensitivity to community needs
and circumstances
. the current structure creates a degree of
competition among the utilities. This
provides an environment in which utilities
strive for efficiencies in order that their
individual rates are favorable relative to
those of their neighbors
. in all organizations there is a point where
size becomes an encumbrance; bureaucracies
slow down decision making, local options are
not permitted and customers have a hard time
relating to their representatives (Commissioners)
2
RATIONALE (Centd)
. within a municipality there develops a commonality
of purpose between the municipality and the utility
GOVERNANCE
The current governance,through elected or appointed Commissions
has served the customers well. commissions are focussed on the
hydro operation -most municipal utilities are debt free.
Appendix 2 provides some very recent information about customer
preference regarding governance.
A little bit of history
Back in the late 70s, early 80s, when Regional Governments
were being formed, the option of establishing Regional hydro
utilities was available to the municipal councils.
In ALL
instance
studies
utility.
INDUSTRY
of the Regional governments there was not a single
where the upper-tier option was chosen, even though some
showed a slight price advantage under an upper tier
RESTRUCTURING PROPOSALS
In recent years the electricitysupply industry has undergone
radical change in some countries and is currently
a multitude of studies here in Ontario.
Models have been developed for and by Ontario
Municipal Electric Association
r
the Association
Consumers, the Power Workers Union and so on.
the subject of
Hydro, by the
of Major Power
Undoubtedly this will at some point in the not too distance
future be a subject of the Provincial Governments attention.
Any consideration for utility restructuring within the GTA should
recognize this eventuality.
APPENDIX 1
(a) Joint Study into Retail Electricity Service in Ontario
This study was conducted by a joint committee of Ontario Hydro
and the Municipal Electric Association.
The joint committee was independently chaired by Tom Wells, with
research and analysis provided by coopers and Lybrand. An
Interim Report was issued in December 1994.
This report concluded that, from data available, total
controllable costs dont show economies of scale.
Although there are economies of scale in billing, collecting and
administration, these are offset by significant increases in
operation and maintenance costs for customer bases between 64,000
and 128,000.
(b) The cost of Hydro Distribution
A customers hydro bill is comprised of three components:
generation, transmission and distribution. currently the first
two functions are carried out by Ontario Hydro and, within the
GTA, accounts for about 87% of the customers bill.
The remaining 13% (which the municipal utilities call the gross
margin) pays for the O, M & A costs of the municipal utility as
well as funding some of the capital expansion of the lines and
substations (many utilities derive additional funds from
developers), trucks and equipment and repayment of debt (if any).
(c) Large vs Small Utilities
With regard to Gross Margin, there is no correlation with size of
utility. 1994 data from 19 GTA utilities shows a range of gross
margins from 8% to 21%.
For example, Brampton Hydro, with 68,000 customers has a gross
margin of 12.3% while Caledon Hydro, with just 2600 customers has
a gross margin of 13.5%.
Yet Whitby, with 22,000 customers, has a gross margin of 11.1%
compared with the similarly sized Ajax, with 19,500 customers and
a gross margin of 16.6%.
APPENDIX 2
GOVERNANCE
Under current legislation, the municipal electric utilities are
governed by elected or council-appointed commissions. From time
to time, there arises discussion about whether this should
continue or whether the utility governance should be through a
committee of council.
In the 1994 municipal elections, there were three instances where
this question appeared on the ballot. The results were:
North Dorchester: 65% in favour of committee of Council
Smiths Falls: 77% in favour of staying with the Commission
Kingston: 58% in favour of staying with the Commission
Although none of these are in the GTA, they provide some flavour
of public opinion on this matter.
THE TOWNSHIP OF BROCK
I N THE REGI ONAL MUNI CI PALI TY OF DURHAM
Sept ember 25, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden, Chair
Suite 2001, 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Re: Submission to the GTA Task Force
Corporation of the Township of Brock
I am pleased to enclose a submission to your office in respect
of your mandate issued by the Premier. The attached submission
has been prepared and endorsed by Council with the assistance
of municipal staff.
I trust the contents of our submission will be given serious
consideration by your office particularly in respect of the
unique position this municipality has within the Region of
Durham and the Greater Toronto Area.
2
38 LAIDLAWST. S.,P.O. BOX 10, CANNINGTON, ONTARIO LOE IEO (705)432-2681 (705)426-7723
- 2 -
Should you have any questions, please contact the undersigned
or my planner, Mr. Thomas G. Gettinby at (705) 426-7723.
Yours truly,
Enclosure
cc: A. Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
J. Munro, MPP, Durham-York
G. Ouellette, MPP, Oshawa
J. OToole, MPP, Durham East
J. Flaherty, MPP, Durham Centre
J. Ecker, MPP, Durham West
G. Herrema, Durham Regional Chair
E. King, York Regional Chair
E. Kolb, Peel Regional Chair
J. Savoline, Halton Regional Chair
P. Robertson, GTA Mayors Committee
C. Lundy, AMCT, CMC, Durham Regional Clerk
Area Municipalities, Durham Region
T. Gettinby, MCIP, RPP, AMCT(A), Township of Brock
TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
BY
T H E C O R P O R A T
SEPTEMBER 1995
-1-
1.0 preamble
It is understock that the Task Force has been charged with the
responsibility of reviewing a number of factors related to governance
within the GTA as well as the delivery of services to its residents. To
this end, the Task Force is seeking submissions which serve to address the
following issues: municipal finance, economic development/
competitveness, infrastructure, municipal managemen
t, and urban form and
governance.
Accordingly, the Township of Brock has organized this submission in the
following manner:
-a discussion of Brocks demoqraphic and econamic composition;
-an historical overview of the municipalitys formation 21 years ago
together with those reasons for inclusion within the Region of Durham;
-a discussion of the municipalitys vision of itself, within the Region
of Durham, and within the GTA (specifically addressing those issues
identified as part of the Task Force mandate).
2.0 Introduction
The Township of Brock forms one of the eight constituent municipalities
located within the Region of Durham. The Township, being the northernmost
municipality within the Region of Durham the Greater Toronto Area, is
located adjacent the southeast shore of Lake Simcoe and south of the
Talbot River/Trent-Severn waterway. Its eastern boundary is shared with
the County of Victoria while the area municipalities of Scugcg, Uxbridge
(within Durham) and the Town of Georgina (within York Region) border to
the south and west. (Figure 1),
The Township of Brock is a rural municipality with agriculture and farm
related uses forming the largest sector of the economy. The rural land
uses are complemented by the three serviced urban areas of Beaverton (3000
persons), Cannington (1700 persons), and Sunderland (900 persons). The
urban areas provide for a full range of commercial and industrial goods
and services to residents and tourists alike.
REGIONAL SETTING
TOWNSHIP OF BROCK
PLATE 1
The urban areas provide for a wide range of housing opportunities
Suppl emented by unique housing opportunities offered by rural residential
locales, hamlets (Gamebridge, Wilfrid, Port Bolster, Sonya, and Manilla),
and shoreline residences associated with Lake Simcoe. The 1994 population
of Brock is in the order of 11,500 persons with approximately 4200
households.
As noted above, agriculture and farm related uses represent the largest
component of the employment sector. Other important components include
aggregate extraction, small-scale manufacturing, and the service sector.
It is also noted that the majority of Township residents live and work
within the Township; however, of those who commute elsewhere, Oshawa is
the preferred location due to the existence of General Motors Canada.
3.0 Historical Perspective
The municipality was created on January 1, 1974, the result of the
establishment of Regional government within the former County of Ontario.
Brock Township was the result of the amalgamation of the Townships of
Thorah and Brock, the Villages of Beaverton and Cannington, and the Police
Village of Sunderland. This followed numerous discussions and proposals
commencing in the mid 1960s over a Regional government concept.
The Task Force should be aware that Brocks inclusion within the Region of
Durham was a result of the Provincial government being responsive to local
residents desire to remain with an area to which the former
municipalities had been traditionally oriented (i.e. south Durham/south
Ontario County). Originally, it had been proposed that Brock Township be
incorporated within the Region of York and/or the County of Victoria. One
proposal suggested that half of the municipality be included within Simcoe
County while the reminder being included with south Durham.
Residents desire to be included within the Region of Durham stemmed from
our 120 year old association with the County of Ontario (the County seat
being in Whitby). Commercial and industrial facilities providing sources
-3-
of income and employment as well as the recent County School Board reform
assisted in identifying Brock with this area particularly in respect of
governance. Such familiarity was not as apparent within the Region of
York nor the County of Victoria,
It is the municipalitys position that this historical connection has been
further entrenched through our membership within the Region of Durham over
the past twenty-one (21) years actively participating in the delivery of
those services mandated by the Regional Municipality of Durham Act and, in
turn, enjoying those service benefits offered through the Region of
Durham.
4.0 Brock Townships Vision
4.1 Individually
A vision statement of the municipality can be best achieved by answering
the following questions: What are the municipalitys best attributes?
what are the Townships future goals? and, what should the municipalitys
administrative goals be?
The following is offered in answer to these questions regardless of the
municipalitys position relative to the Region of Durham and Province
albeit it is acknowledge that our goals cannot be achieved independent of
these two upper-tier governments.
4.1.1. What are Brocks Best Attributes?
-Recreational opportunities associated with Lake Simcoe,
both winter and summer
-Quaint downtowns in Beaverton, Cannington and Sunderland
for shopping (permanent residents and tourists)
-Quiet, relatively issue-free way of life whether urban,
hamlet or rural
-4
-A sense of individuality between the urban areas of
Beaverton,Cannington and Sunderland but, collectively,
they form urban Brock
-A choice in residential living accommdation (urban - small town,
semi-urban - hamlets, rural - countryside, and/or farm lots)
-Recreational facilities and opportunities available year-round
in all three urban areas
-Adequate medical facilities available in all urban areas
-A mix of housing opportunities (farms to shoreline to medium
density) including non-profit and rent-geared to income
-Proximity to other urban centres offering greater choice in
shopping and cultural pursuits given an extensive transportation
network (Lindsay, Orillia, Metro Toronto, South Durham}
-Commitment to the preservation and enhancement of Brocks
natural environmentt
4.1.2. What are Townships Goals?
-Promotion of the Beaverton Harbour as a tourist destination
point for those persons traveling on land and water (due to our
proximity to the Trent-Severn Waterway)
-Actively promote and encourage commercial investment and
revitalization within each of the urban areas (Beaverton,
Sunderland, Cannington) in such manner to complement the
historic nature and character of each community
-Recognize and promote the diversity of each of the urban areas
through residential, commercial and industrial development/
re-developmemt (ie. Beaverton - lake based, Cannington -
historical architecture, Sunderland - commuter shed)
-Provide appropriate and suitable residential development
opportunities within the rural landscape (hamlets, clusters,
shoreline, farm, etc.)
-Provide for a range of residential housing opportunities
which contributes to each communitys individuality while
providing for all socioeconamic groups in Brock through
single-detached, semi-detached, townhousing, apartments)
-Encourage upper-tier governments to assist the municipality
to achieve excellent transportation networks (ie. Highway
404 extension, passenger rail, GO busing) which, in turn,
promotes Brock as a place to live and encourages industry
and the expansion of existing industry.
-5-
-Actively promote employment through
agricultural and industrial sectors
the expansion of the
while reducing the
residential tax burden on existing and future ratepayers
-Continued support of objectives which strive for the
preservation and enhancement of Brocks natural environment
(rivers, streams, lakes, wetlands, etc.) through the promotion
and approval of good development and continued support of
those groups and agencies sponsoring rehabilitation projects
(Conservation Clubs, Conservation Authorities and local
citizens)
4.1.3. What are the Townships Ministrative Goals?
-Management of the Townships resources in a fiscally
responsible manner to ensure that future projects
are undertaken without an undue financial burden
on the taxpayers
-Continue to ensure that upper-tier governments provide
services to the municipalitys residents in such a
manner so as not to negatively impact on Township resources
-Continue to lobby the Provincial Government that a
strong local government is required to appropriately
represent the rural nature and way of life of Township
residents particularly given the fact that Brock is unlike
other municipalities within the GTA due to its rural nature,
small population, and its northernmost location
-Educate municipal staff and all elected officials that the
function of local and other government levels that its
purpose is to SERVE the public in a cost-efficient and
expeditious manner similar in kind to the private sector.
In summary,
others that
to live, to
the Township of Brock should promote, encourage, and educate
the municipality, in its present form, is an excellent place
grow, to work, and to retire.
4.2 Brocks Vision within the Region of Durham
The Township of Brock actively supports and encourages its memberbership
within the Region of Durham in its present form wherein we are but one of
-6-
eight (8) constituent area municipalities (Ajax, Pickering, Whitby,
Oshawa, Clarington, Uxbridge and Scugog) .
The Township DOES NOT SUPPORT
any deviation of the Regions external NOR internal boundaries.
It is believed that Brock benefits from a north-south orientation due to
its history with the southern municipalities through our association with
Ontario County (now part of Durham), access to a larger population base
which can provide services to our residents in a reasonably cost-efficient
manner, and proximity to those commercial and industrial opportunities
offered by those municipalities along the Lake Ontario shoreline. In
return, the Township of Brock, given its proximity to the Lake Simcoe
shoreline and the Trent-Severn waterway, offers the south recreational and
tourism opportunities. In addition, our industry supports those industrial
firms in south Durham.
The municipality firmly believes that amalgamation with other
municipalities on east-west axis does not provide for the continuity
required for membership in an upper-tier municipality as the natural
orientation of Brock has, historically, been to the south. In addition,
an east-west orientation of rural-oriented municipalities would not
provide the financial capital required to serve our residents in the
manner to which they have become accustomed to. It is believed that
certain services as policing, capital investment in hard services, social
services, etc. would be placed in jeopardy.
Political continuity with the Region has been long established with our
participation within the County of Ontario. The Township of Brock is well
acquainted with the southern municipalities as they are with us. It is
the Townships opinion that the political framework with the Region of
Durham provides the best opportunity to provide local representation at
the Regional level with the indirect election of our Mayor and Regional
Councillor who sit on both municipal councils. This is consistent with
the goal of local municipal government to be the most accountable and
-7-
accessible to its constituents. This is particularly important given the
number of residents within the municipality and the area of the Township
relative to the services for the Region is responsible as mandated by the
Regional Municipality of Durham Act.
It should also be noted that, in our opinion, the Region of Durham
functions as it was intended by the Province in 1973.
Business is
conducted in a professional
manner, an excellent political and staffing
relationship exists between its area municipalities and the Region, and
both the Region and the municipality are financially solvent enjoying a
good credit rating. In turn, this provides for an attractive area for
business and commerce to locate.
4.2.1 Brock/DurhamAdnimistrative Changes
One of the issues which has emerged since the Golden Task Force was
established is that of providing for the efficient delivery of services at
the most reasonable cost since each level of governmen
t has the same
taxpayers upon which to draw operating funds.
The Township of Brock
actively supports a comprehensive review of services offered by the Region
of Durham and ourselves to identify cost-savings and to eliminate
duplication of services between each level of government.
Among those services which could be explored as to potential cost savings
are Regional/Township road maintenance, administration of planning issues,
economic development administration, and other matters.
However, the
ownship is of the opinion that most of the present responsibilities are T
evenly split (e.g. the Region administers landfill sites while the
Township administrates collection of garbage and recyclable). In other
services (e.g. sewer, water, and policing) it is appropriate that the
Region maintain exclusive control as they have the funds necessary to
deliver these services and the technical staff available.
-8-
The municipality also believes that the sharing of costs between the
northern municipalities of Scugog and Uxbridge is a distinct opportunity
to save taxpayer costs and we are willing to review same, However, the
Task Force should not misinterpret our willingness to share services with
Uxbridge and Scugog as an indication that we welcome amalgamation with
these municipalities as the geographic size and distinct differences
between each municipality would mean an overall reduction in the level of
services to the taxpayers as well as a loss of identity for each area.
It should also be understood by the Task Force that definitive statements
on the sharing of services cannot be made in the absence of detailed
financial impact assessments at this time. We would note that it is our
understanding that the Regional Finance department has initiatd such a
study and on-going staff meetings have been scheduled between the
Townships of Brock, Uxbridge and Scugog to review such matters.
4.3 Brocks Vision within the Greater Toronto Area
The Township of Brock recognizes its economic and geographical
relationship with the area known as the GTA. There is no doubt that our
proximity to the economic heart of Canada does influence this
municipality
in the form of job creation within and external to Brock and, like the
Region of Durham, we provide other opportunities for residents of the GTA
as a whole. However, our recognition of these facts does in no way
diminish our desire to remain a part of the Region of Durham, in its
present form, for those reasons discussed in Section 4.2.
Further, the Task Force should understand that this municipality does NOT
support the creation of a separate level of governmen
t known as the GTA.
In addition, the Township of Brock does NOT support the dissolution of
Regional boundaries affecting our municipality or those of Durham nor do
we support the creation of a Super-Region
advanced by others in this
consultative process. It is believed that our incorporation or any
portion of Durham Region into Metropolitan Toronto would only compound
those problems now experienced within Metropolitan Toronto.
-9-
The following outlines our comments in respect of the GTA relative to the
mandate of the Task Force:
4.3.1 Economic Develqment/Competitiveness
Despite our recognition of the economic ties we enjoy with the GTA, Brock
is a rural municipality - perhaps the most rural in this area. It follows
that we do not have all things in commo
n with this area; the notion
advanced that municipalities like Brock provide the recreational
opportunities for other municipalities in the GTA is not shared as it is
our desire to promote our own industry to attempt to be self-supporting
and relieve the residential tax burden.
We have no objection to the active promotion of the whole GTA as a place
in which to conduct business; however, the Township can be best promoted
by the Region of Durham and ourselves as opposed to an external party
within a GTA government. T h iS comment is made on the basis that the
dissolution of the Region in favour of a Super-Region would not serve
our best interests in this respect.
4.3.2. Infrastructure
As indicated above, the Township of Brock enjoys many hard and soft
service benefits through our association with the Region of Durham. Costs
of these services have been rationalized due to the assessment base of the
southern municipalities in conjunction with our political representation
on Regional Council.
There is a concern that our present benefits enjoyed through Durham may be
sacrificed if we are placed in another Region or a Super-Region. While
it is understood that we would finance improvements in other areas, a
comfort level is achieved given our historic and political relationship
with the Region of Durham. Membership in another governmental framework
with a much higher population (e.g. super-Region or York) together with
-10-
the potential for less political representation could result in a general
lack of attention for required services in this area.
4.3.3 Urban Form
The Township of Brock is unlike other municipalities in the GTA as it is
primarily rural. The emphasis on creating a vibrant city through
intensification and transit, etc. is not very applicable in this
municipality. However, the municipality does actively support intensified
development forms within our serviced urban areas of Beaverton,
Sunderland, and Cannington.
Notwithstanding our comments above, it is recognized that the Township is
within the commuter shed of Metropolitan Toronto and south Durham. Given
our reliance on the autombile the extension of Highway 404 north from
Davis Drive throughout this municipality is an important consideration for
the continued and future well being of the Township. In addition, the
existence of a main line C.N. railway through our largest urban area
(Beaverton) provides for a natural transit spine to Metropolitan Toronto.
Both of these objectives are actively encouraged within the municipality.
4. 3. 4 Municipal Finance
As set forth in our vision statement, the municipality actively encourages
the wise management of government resources at all levels. In addition,
the municipality is committed to identifying ways in which to deliver
services in a cost-efficient manner within the present Region of Durham
structure. For example, cost-sharing with the Region or with the
Townships of Scugog and Uxbridge, a combination of both, or other
opportunities as they may arise (e.g. private sector partnerships).
The Township realizes that the capital cost of hard and soft services can
only be best achieved through our access to the available assessment found
within the Region of Durham together with the present political
-11-
representation set forth in the Act. The formation of a
region (proposed by others) would have a detrimental impact
rural-oriental
on our ability
to continue to provide services without a substantial and unpalatable tax
and Development Charge increases, which, we believe, is not consistent
with the present governments mandate.
The formation of a Super-Region, in which we would gain access to the
greater assessment of south York and Metropolitan Toronto, is not
appropriate either as our political voice would be severely diminished
(relative to our population) and our geographic location on the periphery
would effectively remove ourselves from active financial consideration.
In summar y, t h i s municipality does not believe that we, or any portion of
Durham Region, should be made responsible for the financial/assessment
problems now experiencd by Metropolitan Toronto. Further, the Task Force
should be aware that we, in Durham Region, may already be paying for
Metros assessment problems in respect of the large tax differential in
all classes of real estate between the two areas as our assessment is
substantially higher.
4.3.5 Municipal Management
It is our opinion that the primary function of the municipality and its
staff is to serve those members of the public who seek our assistance and
to guide them through the perceived red-tape associated with the
bureaucratic process. Not only must staff be cognizant of this fact but
so must all local, Regional, and Provincial politicians. It is a lesson
which must be learned from the private sector: that our primary purpose is
to serve as opposed to complicating matters for the general public.
This municipality believes that the management of this municipality,
together with the Region of Durham, given staff resources, is reasonably
efficient and that the public is well served. This is not to suggest that
inprovements could not be made through a review of shared services within
a Region of Durham context. As indicated above, the municipality actively
-12-
supports the review of services delivered between the Region of Durham and
ourselves to identify cost-savings and eliminate duplication.
The management of the municipality to best serve the residents of this
area, can be best achieved within a known and trusted framework consisting
of ourselves and the Region of Durham.
We do not believe that effective
rnanagement will be realized through our amalgamation with other Regions
(York, Simcoe, Victoria) nor through the dissolution of the Region of
Durham in favour of a GTA level of govermen
t.
5. Conclusion
The interests of the residents of Brock Township can be best served
through the maintenance of our existing relationship with the Region of
Durham. In this regard,
based on our vision of t he fut ur e, and our
r elat ionship wit h the GTA, we believe that Brocks future lies in the
Region of Durham, in its present form.
We do support a review of those
services offerd by the municipality and the Region in an effort to reduce
the cost of service delivery and eliminate duplication of services.
It is strongly believed that current and future economies-of-scale may be
achieved in the absense of boundary alterations and that such cost saving
measures should be studied in detail prior to entertaining more radical
steps to achieve a more efficient delivery of services.
1 12EI
-
3!3bd ZSEi IL8S2&bS6,ZgSZ&&
61:6B S6, OC d3S
SUBMISSION TO: GTA Task Force
SUBMISSION RE: Governance within the GTA
SUBMISSION BY: Karen Buck, 58 Leuty Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4E 2R4
(41 6) 690-7593
SUBMISSION DATED: September 30, 199S.
Dear Members of the Task Force - Dr. Anne Golden, Jack Diamond, Thomas McCormack, Robert
Pritchard, Dr. Joseph Wong;
With this submission to your Task Force I am also including my submission to the
Toronto Council.
As a taxpayer and resident of the City of Toronto I am not advocating the continuance of an
upper tier of government in either Metropolitan Toronto nor the development of a new one in the
GTA
When Metropolitan Toronto was formed it was the suburbs that needed the wealth of
Toron~os tax base and the built and paid for infrastructure of the City of Toronto to make them
successful. Now with GTA whose taxes and whose infrastructure will be footing this bill?
Please refer to GTA 2021: Whose Vision?
Past and present Metropolitan Toronto Councik have not been responsive to the needs of
the individual Municipalities. Metropolitan Toronto politicians might feel that Metropolitan
Toronto is one unit, however, when it governed thinking like this it ignored the individuality
and the differences that exist within each of the Municipalities. See my Toronto submission.
Instead of cost efficiencies and better progtamme delivery, I believe the Metropolitan
Toronto Government went about unnecessarily duplicating whole bureaucracies... and delivery of
services. The creation of a government falls under specific provincial regulations and
requirements. I believe it was a provincial government requirement that meant that
Metropolitan Toronto, as a regionalgovemment, had to develop its own Offic@l Plan even though
each of the municipalities have their own.
It is imperative for this Task Force to set up a structure that can co-ordinate services,
/
deliver those sewices without huge interjurisdictional conflict, with cost efficiencies and
without duplications. Because I do not believe another government structure with another
political agenda can accomplish this tam suggesting that this Task Force consider the following
for Metropolitan Toronto :
1 ) Co-ordinating Committes made up of the Commissioners of the Municipalities
in each of their respective Departments...
2)with direction to develop overall Metropolitan Torotio cost-effective and co-
ordinated service delivery . . .
h
3)with direct reporting to the respective Municipal Governments, and,
4)the maintenance of Boards, where no departments exist and where the Boards
have been successful in the delivery of their prograrnmes.
The elimination of the Metropolitan Toronto Government would not mean a collapse of the
total bureaucratic structure but it would mean a re-iocation of jobs, re-delegation of jobs,
down-sizing efficiencies within departments and the elimination of whole departmen~. The
Metropolitan bureaucracy would become part of the Municpal government structure. Less
government, less controversy and a real desire for Municipal collaboration in shared goals could
and should resuR in lowered costs. Lowered costs could mean lowered taxes and greater
financial opportunities in urban areas where it has been recognized that economic recovery
strategies should be initiated. (With a lowered tax structure...with rnunicipa~ities in regions
outside Metropolitan foronto looking after their own infrastructures... maybe a Toronto economy
could compete with Vaughan.)
The Toronto Municipalities are both an appropriate area and imputation size for
responsible and responsive governance. Anything larger is Provincial. In Ontario there is a
strong role for the Municipality and the Province. Where municipalities are small and regional
government has been effective I can support the concept but in Metropolitan Toronto I do not
believe this to be the case. Metropolitan Government has been mired in political decision-
making that was based on few facts and poor technical understanding. Where heatth was a major
consideration in the decisions being made Metropolitan Government without a Health Board was
responsive/responsible to no one. Within the Department of Works the budget approval process
by Metropolitan Toronto politicians allowed for monies to be approved without specifying exact
project descriptions.
The Provincial Tax Structure may also be taking its toll on Toronto urban economies. I
wouid like to see an education tax on individuals and businesses Province-wide rather than on
the Market Vaiue of property. Do the taxpayers of Metro Toronto have a disproportionate share
in the current education tax and also in the taxes paid for sewerages outside the Metropolitan
Toronto area? if there is inequity i would like to see these two tax inequities removed. ( I wouid
also like this Task Force in its recommendations, if they include new Fair Taxation policies, that
they also consider an individual... but dedicated...levy on University/College Graduates. I would
like to see all Universities benefit from the students who graduated from these institutions. As a
graduate of the University of Saskatchewan I am aware that Canadian/Provincial taxpayers
subsidized my education and am proposing that a percentage of my income tax go back to that
particular insitution to maintain its present programmes and costs. I want this to be a built in
feature of the taxation system without the development of a separate government bureaucracy or
government Corporation.)
AGTA i think would increase taxes. With greater jurisdictional area and greater
population, representatives in the new political entity and employees in the bureaucracy would
see themselves as having greater job responsibity and therefore deserving of greater
compensation in salary and benefits. At a time when our Municipal governments are dealing
with Federal and Provincial tax transfer cuts and a population which may not be able to be
further taxed I think that a GTA government is not a viable consideration.
Each municipality with its own uniqueness may be better able to market itself most
effectively. Compromise eludes best solutions. Concensus is cumbersome and time/money
consumptive. Although there certainly may be shared goals and service, as needs occur
partnerships can develop. We need the flexibility for different municipalities to cater to
different economic opportunities. We dont need mega-regions just as we dont need mega-
infrastructures.
I would like to see both Metropolitan Toronto Co-ordinating Committees and GTA C-
ordinating Committees. The GTA planning initiatives shouid be grounded in Provincial
Leadership. The Metropolitan Toronto Co-ordinating Committees should be grounded in
Municipal leadership. All Co-ordinating Committees should be inclusive and expertise oriented
with electoral responsibility to the Municipal Government(s) involved.
SOEI39Wd ZS01L8SZC9s6Z9S2~C
SUBMISSION TO: Toronto City Councillors
SUBMISSION RE: Metro/GTA Government
SUBMISSION BY: Karen Buck, 58 Leuty Avenue, Toronto, Ontario. M4E 2R4
(416) 690-7593
SUBMISSION DATED: September 18, 1995,
Mayor Hall and Toronto City Councillors;
I support neither the continuance of the political level of Metropolitan Government nor its
replacement government, the Greater Toronto Area Regional Government.
Since 1987 I have been involved, as a resident of Toronto - in City Ward 10, with waste issues
that have had a direct impact on the environmental quality of life in the communities of the East
End of Toronto. My involvement at the community level brought me into contact with the Metro
level of government. The impacts felt by the East End communities were the direct result of the
decision-making at Metro. The Metropolitan Toronto Government was in control of the
processing facilities that were situated in our communities. Specifically, Metro was operating
the Commissioners Street Incinerator and is still operating the Main Sewage Treatment Plant in
our community.
I can not understand under what authority or what right the past and this present Metropolitan
Government can continue to operate facilities (within the boundary of the City of Toronto)
whose practices are opposed by both the citizens who reside in the area and the Toronto
Municipal Government.
In 1953 the municipalities supported pooling their resources for the betterment of all the
municipalities. My experiences in issues directly dealt with by the Metropolitan Government
leads me to report to you that the Metropolitan Toronto Government seems to be able to operate
independently and in many cases, at cross purposes, to its member municipalities.
I return to the Commissioners Street Incinerator to make my point. Toronto City Council and
the Toronto Board of Health supported The closure of the polluting Commissioners Street
Incinerator. The Municipality was supporting the closure of a facility run by Metro that was
polluting East End Toronto communities. Although the facility was operating within the
boundaries of the City of Toronto the Metropolitan, Toronto,Works Committee and Department
was unwilling to shut the facility and was unwilling to institute recycling as ttie less polluting
alternative. it took years and hours of citizen and Toronto Government opposition to finally
close the facility. I have witnessed also the reticence.of the Metropolitan Government to get on
with implementing new recycling programmed which de-emphasize disposal. The expansion of
the Blue BOX to include a Fibre Box has been a part of many municipalities programmed for
years but it will not be until October of this year that Metro will begin this collection. The
unwieldiness of the interjurisdictional decision-making and sharing of responsibilities points
out to me that this extra layer of decision making has to be simplified. Metropolitan Toronto is
not the government that is facilitating regional planning nor cost effectiveness amongst the
municipalities shared programmed.
What occurred on the waste front in garbage collection and processing is also occurring on the
sewage front. Metro and Toronto are at odds over the Main Sewage Treatment Plant which is
operated by Metro but lies within the municipality boundaries of Toronto. Metro Toronto is
9L3039tJd 2S01L8SZCPS6Z9szc&
q~d 1H101
ZZ:60 S6( OE d3S
pursuing regional sewage processing with processing facilities which are making the shared
Toronto waterfront the dumping ground of polluting Metro facilities. The citizens of Toronto are
asking that as old equipment is ready for replacement with new equipment that Metro introduce
less polluting processes over the old more polluting ones. Metro rather than changing its sludge
incineration for a comprehensive biosolids implementation programme opted to go to a costly
Environmental Assessment Process when residents and the rnunicipality of Toronto opposed the
planned expansion of the plant it exists now. I believe the proponent to the Assessment the
Metropolitan Govemment, could have opted to change its sludge incineration to a biosolids
application programme and its present chlorination disinfection system to ultra violet
disinfection with the support of the Toronto communities and government and perhaps have
proceeded to only take expansion of the Plant through a full Environmental Assessment Process.
Ottawa and Hamilton seem to have accomplished changes similar to these without the full
Environmental Assessment Process and the costs that this process entails.
I think we currently have a Metropolitan Government that is not serving the needs of the
municipalities residents and is not seeking the most cost-effective means of achieving these
needs. I therefore am in support of dissolution of the political entity known as the Metropolitan
Government and would have the municipalities come up with a better solution for defining and
administering what they feel would be cost-effective shared programmed.
As for a Greater Toronto Government replacing the Metropolitan Government! voice an emphatic
no. What is unachievable at the Metro Level would certainly seem to be an impossibility at art
even larger, more diverse level. A Greater Toronto Area Government would come close to, if not
actually, outstripping the size of the Provincial Government in both its financial budget and its
population jurisdiction.
Rather than supporting a Greater Toronto Area Government competing with the Provincial
Government I would ask that the Provincial Government set Province wide policies that would
clearly define and co-ordinate the implementation and financing of interjurisdictional
programmed. Strong Municipal Governments should be accountable to the people in their
communities where they live and strong Provincial Government should be accountable to
Municipal Governments and should be able to deliver the overall provincial policks that direct
municipal government programme implementations and provide total or shared financing. I
believe that there is a size, which once exceeded, costs us all dearly and I believe that there is
unnecessary duplication when taxpayers are supporting too many political entities.
Sincerely,
*lf Market Value Assessment is also to be debated within the same agenda item I want you to
know that I am firmly opposed to a taxation system based on Market Value Assessment.
The Corporation of the
City Hall:
426 Brant Street, Burlington, Ontario, Canada
City of Burlington
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 5013, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7R 3Z6
Office of the Mayor
Fax No.:
(905) 335-7708
File: 160-06
August 17, 1995
GTA Task Force
20th Floor, Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I understand that one of the reasons that your Task Force was established was to
with both the economic concerns and tax assessment inequities in Metropolitan Toronto.
deal
I also understand that your Task Force is currently considering Unit Value Assessment
as a possible alternative to the Market Value system. This question of Unit Value has been an
issue in Halton. Indeed, an Oakville group is suggesting that the fully approved Regional
Market Value Reassessment in Halton, which is now ready to go, be put on hold so such a Unit
Value study study could be undertaken.
Bluntly, such a moratorium in Halton Region would be a disaster to all the constituent
local municipalities, as the tax base would be subject to an increasing number of appeals. The
taxpayers of Halton now have available the figures for the assessments based on 1988 figures.
In a couple of weeks they will have available the 1992 figures. We are already seeing an
increased number of appeals. Any moratorium at this point in time and not implementing the
fully approved reassessment would result in financial problems for each municipality in Halton
Region.
Also, I believe that while Market Value Assessment is not perfect as a system of
assessment, various studies over the years have not come up with a better solution. Also Unit
Value Assessment is basically a variation of Market Value Assessment with a great deal more
subjectivity. And, moving to any Unit Value Assessment will cause as many dislocations as
would be caused by moving to a Market Value Assessment basis.
The real problem is the way in which Market Value Assessment is done through the
Province. The City of Burlington has made representations to the Province and to the Fair Tax
GTA Task Force
August 17, 1995
-2-
Commission to suggest that the Assessment Act be amended to limit the adverse consequences
of very large fluctuations in value.
Please find enclosed the following information, which sets out the City of Burlington
position on these matters:
(1) Presentation to the Ministry of Treasury and Economics by the City of Burlington, May
12, 1993
(2) Presentation to the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, May 28, 1993
(3) A copy of a letter sent to the Honorable Cam Jackson and other Burlington MLAs
dated July 5, 1995. Enclosed with that letter is a 4 page summary of the history of
Market Value Assessment in Halton
(4) A copy of a resolution passed by the City of Burlington in the last couple of months on
the matter of Market Value Assessment in Halton Region.
All of this information has been communicated to the Provincial Government.
I wanted you to see all this information and be able to study it. We certainly have some
very real concerns in this area if there is any attempt to change the previously unanimous
decision to implement Regional Market Assessment in Halton, January 1, 1996.
Frankly, I think that moving towards a Regional Market Value Assessment on the
Halton model in Metro Toronto is likely a very good first step to solving their problems.
However, I am not going to dwell on that issue at this point. Let me simply say that we have
done a great deal of work in this area. I have both some points of view and understanding on
the topic and if you would like to discuss it further, I would like very pleased to do so.
Thank you very much.
Yours sincerely,
PRESENTATION TO THE MINISTRY OF TREASURY AND ECONOMICS
BY THE CITY OF BURLINGTON
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1993
REGIONAL MARKET VALUE ASSESSMENT IN HALTON
BURLINGTON DELEGATION:
Mayor Walter Mulkewich
Alderman Mark Carr
Michael Fenn, City Manager
Bob Barrington, Acting Director of Finance
Bob Rooks, Executive Co-ordinator, Special Projects
R E Q U E S T
That the Province of Ontario make market value reassessment in
Halton fairer, the
provide for more
basis in Halton,
extremes of uneven
BACKGROUND
assessment base more stable and more predictable, - and
acceptance of market value reassessment on a regional
by capping the shifts in value resulting from
market value changes.
1 . 1988
*
The City of Burlington went to the market value basis
assessment on 1984 values.
*
A phase-in program (innovative for its time) lessened
impact on those residents who had the greatest amount
negative impact.
(No phase-in for comercial/industrial. )
*
In spite of a phase-in, many residents still feel the impact.
2. 1992
the
of
the
of
*
Halton Region Council adopts a Region-wide Market Value
Reassessment on 1988 market values with a phase-in program.
*
Regional reassessment allows similar valued properties in the
Region to pay similar taxes for services delivered on a
regional basis. (Region, police, education totalling 70% of
the tax bill.)
*
The City of Burlington supports Regional reassessment subject
to a two year phase-in under the provisions of the Municipal
Act and that the Province consider potential amendments to
the Assessment Act to modify the impact of Market Value
Reassessment resulting from uneven market value changes}.
*
The City of Burlington also requested the Province consider a
Property Tax Deferral Program for Senior Citizens.
*
A major popular revolt occurs especially in Oakville and parts
of Burlington hard hit with major increases, both residential
and business.
*
Halton Region Council reconsiders and delays implementation to
1994, while a Citizens Committee explores alternatives in
1993.
- 2 -
3. 1993
*
The Province of Ontario, Minister of Treasury and Economics
response to the Burlington request is to use existing
legislation to phase-in only.
*
The Halton Citizens Committee continues its work and is
expected to report in the Fall.
*
The Fair Tax Commission is doing a pilot study in Halton on
alternatives.
*
To implement Regional Market Value by January 1, 1994, the
Province will need to advertise and hold meetings in 1993.
*
The reassessment of all properties in Halton Region is now
public and the inequities are in the open. Fairness,
stability, and predictability are at risk, as large portions
of the residential and business sectors know they are
overpaying and the system may be subject to appeals.
*
The Fair Tax Commission report is not due until the end of the
year and implementation is very uncertain. The Halton
Citizens Committee has a monumental task in a few months.
The January 1, 1994 Regional deadline looms.
*
The nature of market value reassessment means that every
reassessment will produce shifts because values will shift.
Different areas and different types of properties may increase
or decrease in different ways. For example, in Burlington,
many Downtown residences and businesses experienced decreases
in the 1988 reassessment, and now in 1993 face large increases
- very large. It is not fair, stable or predictable to
experience these large shifts in some areas and not others
with every reassessment.
*
The whole Regional reassessment program is in jeopardy as is
the principle of fairness and the stability and predictability
of Burlingtons tax base in this recessionary time.
-3-
1. Phase-in is better than nothing. But , there will still be
very large increases particularly in parts of the small
business sector. The Provinces action to institute capping
can be done and allow us to proceed fairly.
2. A partnership between the local municipality and the province
whereby the local municipality uses its existing phase-in
ability and the Province brings in a system of capping to even
out the extreme and uneven changes.
3. The Province should develop a formula and system to cap the
total increase allowed under a reassessment using an average
of past assessment values or any other system which is
practical.
4* The Province should look at the averaging method used by
British Columbia to make market value reassessments fairer,
more stable, and more predictable. See attachment.
THE BENEFIT
*
The Province could demonstrate its commitment to the principle
of fairness in property taxes and use Halton as a pilot in
this regard.
*
Halton Region Reassessment could precede with far greater
acceptance and with more fairness, while protecting the future
integrity of the property tax base in Halton.
-4-
ENCLOSURES
1. Letter to The Honorable Floyd Laughren, February 9, 1993.
(Also attached letter of January 14, 1993 to the Honorable
Shelley Wark-Martyn with attachments.)
2. City of Burlington Council Resolution.
3* Region of Halton Resolution.
4. Letter from the Minister of Treasury and Economics
(April 7, 1993).
5. Property Taxation in British Columbia and the City of
Vancouver: Averaging and Phasing Options for Land Valuation.
City Hall:
Mailing Address:
P.0, Box 5013, Burlington, Ontario, Canada L7R 3Z6
Telephone: (416) 335-7606
a x N o
:
( 4 1 6 ) 3 3 5 - 7 7 0 8
The Honourabl e Floyd Laughren
Treasurer of Ontario and
Minister of Economics
7th Floor, Frost Building South
7 Queens Park Crescent
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1Y7
Dear Sir:
Regional Market Value Assessment/Region of Halton
Fi1e : 145
You are aware that the.Region of Halton has considered
instituting Market Value Assessment on a Regional basis with 1988 as a
base year. This has now been deferred. to the 1994 taxation Year and a
Citizens Committee is looking at alternatives. The City of Burlington
has favoured going to Regional Market Value Assessment but also
understands the difficulties the shifts have created. In. particular, we
are concerned about the impacts resulting from the extremes of uneven
market value changes: We believe that the Assess ment Act can be amended
to look after these concerns and limit the extreme impacts on individual
taxpayers. .
On January 14 I wrote to the then Minister of Revenue,
Honourable Shelley Wark-Martyn, with a request for a, meeting to
these changes. A copy of that January 14 letter is enclosed for
information.
the
discuss
your
I would like to provide further back-up information with regard
to our concern that periodic updates of market value can result fin
significant swings In assessment. In the City of Burlington,. for
example, commercial property. in our Downtown will experience very
significant increases in taxation as a result of the update of market
values to 1988, which was a boom year involving considerable buying-up of
property in the Downtown. Even though the years 1987 and 1989 may have
been taken into account, there is a significant change from our previous
market value assessment based on 1984 market values.
- 2 -
The Honorable Floyd Laughren .
February 9, 1993
When City-wide Market Value Assessment was Implemented for the
City of Burlington in 1988, some commercial properties in the Downtown
actually experienced decreases in taxation, while those in the shopping
malls and other parts of the City Increased. The reverse has now
occurred. One large office buildlng in our Downtown would be subject to
an,increase of approximately 90% in taxation and there are several other
businesses with Increases in excess of 75%.
Both the Region of Halton and the Town of Oakville conducted an
analysis to show the effects of the swings in market value between 1984
and 1992. The regional analysis Is a more extensive one, Involving
almost 2,000 residential properties, showing the effect of using 1992
market values instead of 1988. For example, the Town of Halton Hills,
instead of experiencing an increase of $714,000 in taxation on the
residential class, would enjoy a reduction of almost $900,000 if the
market value was updated to 1992.
The Oakville analysis compared residential values on a sample of
properties in Oakville and Burlington for the years 1984 through 1992.
The comparison seemed to indicate that whi1e there was clearly a shift to
higher market values in Oakville in the period 1984 to. 1988, there would
be a shift back in the next four years to 1992, and that therefore the
next update to market value assessment would produce significant change
in the distribution of the tax levies.
I am attaching extracts from the reports by the Regional and
Oakville Treasurers to their Councils which support these comments.
We in Burlington realize the importance of keeping assessment
values up-to-date and in the final analysis, Market Value as a basis for
taxation may be the most equitable approach. However, we are concerned
about the swings in taxation on individual properties which can occur due
to anomalies in the real estate market. We therefore are suggesting that
your staff investigate ways of avoiding these extreme shifts in value,
perhaps through a system of averaging of market values over a period of
years or some other system of capping the shifts.
We realize that this will require a change in either general or
special legislation. We raise this matter at this time, so that
improvements to the system can be effected for implementation in Halton
on January 1, 1994. We would be most pleased to assist you with any
information in any way we can.
The Honorable Floyd Laughren
February 9, 1993
- 3 -
Once again I would request a meeting with you and your senior
officials to determine how we can work towards these changes.
Thank you for considering this request,
Yours truly,
WM: RJR: sb
Cc. The Hon. Ed Philip, Minister of Municipal Affairs
& Greater Toronto Area
M. Fenn, City Manager
Alderman M. Carr
Alderman T. Whitworth
b.c.c. S. Rosenblum,
Special Policy Advisor to the Hon. Floyd Laughren
I. Fawcett, Policy Asst. to the Hon. Ed Philip
City Hall:
Mailing Address:
Telephone: 335-7606
Fax No.:
335-7708
File: 145
January 14, 1993
The Honorable Shelley Wark-Martyn
Minister of Revenue
4th floor
Hearst Block
900 Bay Street
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1X7
Dear. Minister Wark-Martyn:
You are aware that the Region of Halton has in the past year
considered instituting Market Value Assessment on a Regional basis with
1988 as the base year.
Upon a motion of reconsideration, Regional
Council has deferred the implementation of this Regional Market Value
Assessment to the 1994 taxation year.
In the interim, the Region is
proceeding with a Citizens Committee to look at possible alternatives.
The City of Burlington, which is a constituent part of the Region
of Halton, put its tax base on the, Market Value Assessment system in 1988
and did so on the 1984 base.
When the City of Burlington brought forward
Market Value Assessment, it instituted its own Phase-In Program to lessen
the impact on those residents who had the greatest amount, of negative
impact. This Phase-In Program was innovative in its time. This Phase-In.
Program was also done by the City and it was done outside of the need for
any Provincial approval or Provincial legislative change,
When the question of Regional Market Value Assessment in Halton
came forward, the City of Burlington supported going to Market Value
Assessment on Regional basis and updating the base year to 1988. The
City did so, along with a recommendation to the Region of Halton that
there be a "two year phase-in of Regional and education taxation under
the provisions of the Municipal Act or Bill 165".
The City further.went
on to recommend the following:
That Staff be directed to review with
the Province of Ontario, potential amendments to the Assessment Act to
modify the impact of Market Value Reassessment resulting from the
extremes of uneven market value changes.
Minister of Revenue
-2-
January 14, 1993
Clearly, City Council recognized that the process of going to the
1988 Regional Market Value base would result in negative impacts on a
number of taxpayers
in the City of Burlington,
both commercial and
residential. Indeed, much of the very negative and vocal opposition to
Regional Market Value in Halton Region was from residents who would be
impacted and often impacted severely by this change in the taxation.
base. In the City of Burlington, we certainly will have both residential
and commercial industrial taxpayers who will see very large increases.
These taxpayers in my estimation have a legitimate complaint and problem
because of these large tax increases.
It may not only be a matter of
ability to pay in some instances,
but. there is a legitimate concern about
the stability of the tax base and the predictability of the tax base if
at. periodic updates there are these large swings.
And, it is clear that
these large increases are the result of the extremes of uneven market
changes in the market place. These extremes, are reflected in the changes
in assessment.
On December 14, 1992, the City Council of Burlington passed the
following recommendation
"that the Mayor and Co-Chairmen of the CommunitY
and Corporate Services Committee meet with the Minister of Revenue to
request that the Provincial Government consider as quickly as possible
amendments to the Assessment Act to modify the impact of Market Value
Assessment updates resulting from the extremes of uneven market value
changes through a system of caps on assessment or by using a rolling
average of current and previous assessments.
The City of Burlington wants to have a tax assessment base which is
as fair as possible. Part of that fairness is to consider ways in which
the extremes of uneven market value changes can be modified in periodic
updates to Market Value Assessment. The whole answer is not only in the
Phase-In Program which is within the authority of the municipal level.
Clearly, the Province of Ontario which has responsibility for the
assessment function has a role to play.
And, in this computerized age
surely we have the ability to develop some sort of system of caps on
assessment or some sort of rolling average of current and previous
assessment to modify the impacts of extremes of uneven market value
changes. Your staff may have other ideas as well.
We understand that the question of Market Value Assessment is one
that is not unique to Halton Region.
It is an issue in other parts of
the Greater Toronto Area. It is my opinion that if the Province of
Ontario wishes to proceed with a fair and equitable tax base and if it
wants to do so on the market value basis, that it must seek to make that
system as fair as possible.
Minister of Revenue January 14, 1993
-3-
The purpose of this letter is to request that the Province of
Ontario consider the ideas that the City of Burlington has brought
forward. Secondly, I would like to request a meeting on behalf of myself
and the Co-Chair of the Community and Corporate Services of the City of
Burlington to meet with you personally to present our thoughts. in further
detail. Because this issue is one that will be under study in Halton
Region in the next short while, I believe that such a meeting should
occur as quickly as possible. I will await your response and look
forward to meeting with you.
Thank you for your willingness to meet with us and to examine this
issue.
WM:smm
cc: The
The
Mr.
Ms.
Mr.
Mr.
Yours sincerely,
Honorable Dave Cooke, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Honorable Ruth Grier, Minister responsible for the GTA
Cam Jackson, MPP, Burlington South
Barbara Sullivan, MPP, Halton Centre
Noel Duignan, MPP, Halton North
Gary Carr, MPP, Oakville South
Peter Pomeroy, Regional Chairman
Members of Burlington City. Council
Michael Fenn, City Manager
Bob Barrington, Acting Director of Finance
Bob Rooks, Executive Co-ordinator, Special Projects
Office of the
Ministry of
Treasurer
of Ontario Treasury and
Cabinet du
de IOntario
Ec onomi c s
l Ec onomi c
April 7, 1993
City of Burlington
City Hall
P.O. Box 5013
Burlington, Ontario
L7R 3Z6
Dear Mayor Mulkewich,
Thank you for your letter to Shelley Wark-Martyn, former
Minister of Revenue. As newly appointed Minister of
Finance, I would like to respond to your letter regarding
the need to minimize assessment shifts within region-wide
reassessments.
The purpose of a general reassessment is to enable
similar properties of comparable market values to pay
similar property taxes. This i.s possible only when tax
burdens are redistributed according to the market value
of properties. The purpose of a reassessment is defeated
if these changes are suppressed or otherwise manipulated.
Dramatic and unpredictable tax swings which follow a
general reassessment may be stabilized using phase-in
provisions under section 363 of the Municipal Act.
These provisions enable municipalities to pass a bylaw in
the year of a general reassessment to limit the amount of
tax increases for individual properties.
You may wish to
contact my colleague, the Honorable Ed Philip, Minister
of Municipal Affairs, if you are interested in discussing
phase-in and other related issues.
. . . 2
@
Page 2
I have asked Cathy Farr,
the Assessment Commissioner, to
provide you with a detailed explanation of the assessment
changes which accompanied the last impact study presented
for consideration by your Region.
Please contact her at
(416) 270-8050 if you wish to avail yourself of this
service.
copy:
Cathy Farr
This letter is to confirm that the Council of the Regional Municipality of Halton, at a special
meeting held Wednesday, December 2, 1992 considered the above noted subject and
subsequently endorsed the following resolution:
1. THAT the Minister of Revenue be requested:
i) to implement the Region-wide Assessment Update by property
class using 1988 as the base year for the initial assessment,
provided that a 2% allowance be built in to assessed values to
protect the assessment base against losses due to assessment
appeals; and,
ii) to defer the actual implementation thereof until the 1994 taxation
year.
2. THAT this request be forwarded to the Minister of Revenue following the return
of the 1992 final assessment rolls for the 1993 taxation year.
3. THAT the Region of Halton support a three year phase-in of the taxation impacts
resulting from Region-wide assessment and further that a phase-in grant be
provided to mitigate the impact on those ratepayers most adversely affected.
Local Inquiries From:
ACTON: 853-0501 GEORGETOWN: 878-8113
ALDERSHOT: 6394540
- 2 -
4.
5.
6.
7.
THAT Regional Council immediately constitute a citizens committee with
representation from all Halton area municipalities to investigate property tax
with
assessment alternatives and to make recommendations to Regional Council on the
preferred method of assessment.
THAT Regional council support the Regional Chair and the four Area
Municipality Mayors in meeting with the Minister of Revenue to petition that the
Assessment Act be amended to modify the impact of Region-wide Market Value
Assessment resulting from the extremes of uneven market value changes through
a system of caps on assessment or using a rolling average of current and previous
assessments.
.
THAT a copy of Report FN-129-92 be forwarded to Haltons area municipalities,
Boards of Education, and Conservation Authorities for their information.
THAT any motion to further reconsider or rescind the Regional Council decisions
on the implementation of Region-wide Market Value Assessment requires a two-
third (2/3) majority vote of Regional Council and that By-law 41-81, as amended,
being Haltons Procedural By-law, be amended accordingly.
Should you require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. J. Rinaldo,
Commissioner of Finance and Regional Treasurer.
cc. Robert H. Beach, Chairperson/Facilitator, Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform
cc. Mayor Gordon Krantz - Town of Milton
cc. Mayor Russ Miller
- Town of Halton Hills
cc. Mayor Ann Mulvale
- Town of Oakville
cc. Mayor Walter Mulkewich - City of Burlington/
cc. Joseph Rinaldo, Commissioner of Finance and Regional Treasurer
REGULAR MEETING OF COUNCIL NO. 12
MAY 25,1992
MOTIONS: (Continued)
109. The motion, as amended, as follows was then considered:
REGION-WIDE REASSESSMENT
WHEREAS a Region-wide reassessment will provide a more equitable
allocation of municipal and education taxation throughout the Region
of Halton;
AND WHEREAS a common assessment base will simplify the
calculation of mill rates and eliminate the complexities of
apportionment of regional and school board levies between
municipalities with varying levels of assessment in relation to
property values;
NOW THEREFORE the City of Burlington supports the
implementation of a Region-wide Section 63 Re-assessment Program
for the 1993 fiscal year, and would support a request by the Region to
the Minister of Revenue to provide in the reassessment for the
following:
1) a two percent allowance be built into reassessment values to
protect the municipality against assessment losses due to
assessment appeals;
and that the City of Burlington recommends. to the Region of Halton
that there be a two year phase-in of Regional and Education taxation
under the provisions of the Municipal Act or Bill 165;
and that staff be directed to review with the Province of Ontario
potential amendments to the Assessment Act to modify the impact of
Market Value Re-assessment resulting from the extremes of uneven
market value changes;
and that the City Clerk be directed to forward a copy of Councils
resolution together with Finance Report F-34/92 dated April 9, 1992
to the Region of Halton and to the other area municipalities in the
Region of Halton;
and that the Mayor be directed to correspond with the Province, the
Minister of Finance, the Minister of Revenue, the Minister of
Municipal Affairs and the three area MPPs and call on the
Government of Ontario to implement a province wide Property Tax
Deferral Program for senior citizens as outlined in City Managers
Report 6/91 and adopted by Burlington City Council through Council
resolution CC-94-91.
A Recorded Vote on Motion No. 109, as amended, was requested by Alderman
Whitworth resulting in the following:
For: Aldermen MacIsaac, Whitworth, Groves, Scholtens, Carr, Quinn,
Taylor, Trueman, Lee, Lougheed, Carter, Savoline, Brechin, Wood and
Mayor Mulkewich. (15)
Against: Aldermm Greenaway. (1)
Absent: Alderman Ryan. (1)
375
Property Taxation in
and the City of
British Columbia
Vancouver:
Averaging and Phasing Options for
Land Valuation
Averaging or phasing land values for the property tax roIIs may help
municipalities in British Columbia maintain stability and certainty in the taxation
base during periods of rapid change in local real estate market conditions.
By Penny Bruin
Variable Tax Rates
There is not a common tax rate for all
classes of property; rather, there is a
unique tax rate for each class of property.
This system is referred to as variable tax
rates. Expressed as a rate per $1,000 of
taxable value for each property class, tax
rates are set annually by the municipal
councils to yield the desired tax revenue
for each class of property. The purpose of
these variable tax rates is to allow the
municipality to maintain the proportionate
share of the total tax burden for each class
of property. For example, if commercial
properties were to double in value while
residential properties remained constant,
to keep the relative shares constant, the
commercial tax rate would be halved and
the residential rate maintained. Although
this concept allows the shares of tax
burden among classes to be maintained,
there has not been a similar mechanism to
stabilize the burden within classes. It is the
potential for differential shifts in market
value within a class of properties, resulting
in a shift in tax burden, that is the focus of
this article.
While the taxation system is based on
market value, with market value deemed
to be a measure of the ability to pay taxes,
occasionally in times of volatile price
changes there is a need to dampen the
changes. To illustrate: In 1989, rapid
fluctuations in real estate prices in
Vancouver resulted in shifts of the land tax
burden within property classes. The
market values increased at a greater rate
for the residential properties on the west
side of the city than on the east side. Some
areas had increases of more than 100 per-
cent, whereas the average increase for the
residential class as a whole reached only
35.5 percent. Strip commercial properties
also increased in value, some as much as
300 percent, although the average for the
commercial class was 21.2 percent.
Through a public consultation process,
various legislative options were introduced
to give municipal councils some choices to
help deal with their changing tax bases.
Some of these options were:
B
9
B
residential land value capping (limit to
average class increase plus 15 percent);
flat tax for residential class;
separate tax rates for residential land
and buildings; and
B residential commercial tax capping
(limit to previous years taxes plus
specified increase).
Tools for Change
In 1993, recent legislation has given
another option to municipal councils to
help maintain stability and certainty in the
taxation base, without compromising
equity for taxpayers. The legislation does
not eliminate either market value assess-
ments or the variable tax rate system, but
rather provides ways to enhance their
effectiveness. The most significant change
to the overall system is the option for
averaging or phasing of the taxable land
values.
This change addresses the basic premise
that, although market values are generally
accepted as a reasonable base for property
taxation, there is a need for the tax burden
to change more gradually within a prop-
erty class than would result from the
response to rapid changes in market
conditions.
Ideally, the assessments should be
produced as close to the time of tax billing
as possible to ensure an equitable distri-
bution of the tax burden. On the other
hand, municipal councils and taxpayers
need accurate assessment information well
in advance so that they can plan ahead.
Through the establishment of a different
A PR I I. 1993 B G O V E R N M E N T F I N A N C E R E V I E W 7
assessment cycle, the new legislation seeks
deadline for filing appeals has been
to balance these two objectives.
extended to January 31. These changes
Under the new assessment cycle. prop-
. . .
erty will be appraised on an annual basis,
rather than on the former biennial cycle,
with July 1st as the valuation date in the
year during which the assessment roll is
completed. The new cycle adds three
months to the interval between the valu-
ation date and the mailing of the
assessment notices to the property owners.
This change will allow sufficient time to
analyze the July market information to
produce accurate assessment values for the
notices, which will be sent out December
31. Thus, the quality of the assessments
will improve, and this, it is anticipated,
will reduce the number of tax paver
, .
appeals to the Court of Revision.
The dates for determining physical
conditions and roll completion likewise
have been moved forward to allow a two-
month period between the evaluation of
physical inventory and the mailing of the
notices, with the resulting expectation of
better quality assessmcnts.
The timing of the appeal process for
assessments has been changed. The Court
of Revision, which formerly sat during
November and December, now will not
begin sitting until February, and the
should result in a more accurate assess-
ment roll and, thus, reduce appeals.
Averaging or Phasing of Values
The 1993 legislation also introduces the
provision for averaging or phasing of land
values. Simply stated, averaging allows the
land value to be averaged over three years.
The tax
--
rate is imposed on the average of
the taxable land value in the current year
( 1993) and the two preceding years, plus
the taxable improvement value in the cur-
rent
-
year. This option provides a practical,
administratively straightforward way of
reducing property tax change within a
property class without providing unfair
advantage to taxpayers who have built or
rebuilt on their land within the averaging
period.
A typical Vancouver home would have
experienced LIp to a 48 percent reducticn
in property tax volatility if averaging and
annual assessment had been in place in the
volatile real estate markets of the late
1980s and early 1990s. The combined
effect of averaging and annual assessments
is illustrated in Exhibit 1 and contrasted
with propert
y
taxes payable under the
biennial assessment system.
The phasing option provides a similar
effect, but it is more focused on properties
within a class that have had larger-than-
average increases. The tax rate is imposed
on the taxable improvement value in the
current year plus the taxable land value in
the current year adjusted by a percentage
(between 50 and 66 percent) of the
difference between the value increase of an
individual piece of land and the percentage
increase in the value of all land included in
the same property class. This option helps
to stabilize property taxes by narrowing
the gap between the average change in
taxes and the change that would occur in
an individual piece of property had
phasing not been undertaken.
in specified property classesresidential,
light industry, commercial and
recreational/ non-profit organization
property. Both options are applicable to
the calculation ofall tax levies, not just
... -. -
municipal taxes, on a revenue-neutral
basis. In other words, municipal councils
have been given the authority to modify
the tax rates established by other taxing
authorities to take into account the
adjusted assessment base produced under
averaging or phasing in order to raise the
same amount of tax dollars as requisi-
tioned by those authorities.
Averaging or phasing requires municipal
councils to approve a municipal by-law by
March 31st. This by-law must set out the
terms and conditions for either option as
prescribed by legislation. It also must
include the appeal procedure to allow the
property owners to complain, firstly to the
collector and then to the municipalitys
local Court of Revision about any errors
made in applying the by-law to their
property. Provincial regulation outlines the
uniform practice for handling special
assessment conditions, such as a change in
zoning, use or density.
If a council intends to adopt an
averaging or phasing by-law, taxpayers
must be notified both before and concur-
rent with the billing of property taxes. The
newspaper advertisements are meant to
inform taxpayers on the estimated impact
that these options will have on property
taxes by using sample properties within
the municipality. The notice also must
outline the appeal process as set out in the
by-law.
8 Ar RII . 1993 B
Exhibit 2
CITY OF VANCOUVER ANALYSIS OF 1993 TAXATION OPTIONS
(PROJECTED MUNICIPAL TAXES ONLY)
ON MEDIAN RESIDENTIAL AND MEDIAN COMMERCIAL PROPERTY BY NEIGHBORHOOD
1993 Taxes,
1993 Taxable Value 1992 Taxes
t
1993 Taxes, Base
z
1993 Taxes, Average
3
Phased 50%
4
Med. Med. Med. Med. Med. Med. Med. Med. Med. Med.
Nei ghbor hood Res. Comm. Res. Comm. Res. Comm. Res. Comm. Res. Comm.
Arbutus/Mackenzie $497,600 $166,500 $1,295 $ 2,371 $1,338 $ 2,163 $1,252 $ 2,729 $1,335 $ 2,211
Fairview 191,300 712,000 522 10,204 514 9,247 496 9,465 514 9,457
Shaughnessy 797,900 1,082,300 2,014 10,746 2,145 14,057 1,955 14,174 2,101 14,376
Oakridge 542,000 1,023,000 1,425 13,478 1,457 13,288 1,343 12,908 1,389 13,526
Grandview 201,200 413,000 452 7,613 541 5,364 625 5,818 553 5,485
South Vancouver 254,400 597,000 656 8,767 684 7,754 672 7,998 699 7,930
Marine Drive 221,900 352,000 538 4,361 596 4,572 577 4,475 610 4,425
Renfrew 257,300 1,454,000 641 21,796
Killarney
692 18,885 685 18,238 708 18,824
301, 000 755, 000 772 7,506 810 9,806 770 8, 814 807 9,405
Fraserview 278,700 995, 000 700 12,630 749 12, 923 745 11,720 766 12, 383
Downtown 141,600 840,000 333 10,180 380 10,911 336 11,166 343 11,157
West End 159,700 1,609,000 430 19,653 429 20,898 433 21,388 439 21,372
Notes:
t
Actual 1992 taxes.
Projected 1993 taxes using present methodology of one tax rate applied 10 both land and improvements.
a Projected 1993 taxes using three-year averaging of land values, plus current improvement values.
4Projecled 1993 taxes using current land phasing (sheltering 50 percent of individual increases over the average increase of all land in class),
plus currenl improvement values.
Factors to Consider
Averaging and phasing are similar
techniques but differ in some respects, so
one will often be more appropriate than
the other in certain situations. Averaging
deals with three years, while phasing
considers only the current and immediately
preceding year. Also, phasing targets only
those properties within a class which have
land value increases in excess of the
average, while averaging is applied to all
properties within the class, irrespective of
;heir relationship to average changes.
Municipal councils will have to consider
other factors, as well, each year when
deciding to use one of these options. Some
of the major considerations are identified
below.
Current and Expected Future Change in
Property Values. If trends related to
disproportionate increases in areas or in a
particular range of property values are
observed or expected, will averaging be
useful to mitigate these effects? Will
phasing?
-
Definition of Fairness. Property
taxation policy has a direct impact on
children and families. Taxation polices
that are regressive will hit hardest those
that are the least well-off financially. In
the averaging/ phasing options, for each
property that saves taxes as a result of a
lower assessment, there will be corres-
ponding properties that are paying more
tax than they otherwise would in order
that the total revenue be consistent. Is this
fair?
Neighboring Municipalities. If a
neighboring municipality chooses the
averaging option, will there be some
political pressure for nearby municipalities
to also choose averaging?
Taxpayer Communication and Under-
standing. Is the reason for choosing
averaging/phasing clearly set out? Can the
resulting effects be adequately defended
and explained? Have all factors been con-
sidered, such as past comments/requests
from taxpayers, attitude of the local media
and degree of support on council?
Discontinuing the Use of Averaging/
Phasing. Will this decision be precedent
setting? Will taxpayers expect and even
plan for taxation changes next year based
on smoothed assessment increases once
such a system is implemented? How and
when can averaging/phasing be stopped
without sudden, large tax fluctuations?
Administrative Costs. Is the municipality
prepared to assume the additional
administrative costs that will be incurred if
it chooses to average/phase? Such costs
will include
B research to consider effects of averaging/
phasing,
B calculation of adjusted assessed values,
B modification of tax notices for
communication to taxpayers,
B procedures for handling errors and
appeals plus resulting taxpayer en-
quiries, and
B newspaper advertising.
All these factors will have to be
considered by municipal councils each year
when making the decision to use or not
use the averaging or phasing options.
Council members must carefully weigh the
consequences of adopting one of these
options. They must ask, Are the prob-
lems caused by the variation in assessment
change within a single property class
A PRI L 199. 3 . G OVERNMENT FI NANCE REVI EW 9
Exhibit 4
CITY OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
ANALYSIS OF 1993 TAXATION OPTIONS
COMMERCIAL (CLASS 6) MUNICIPAL TAXES ONLY
Number of Properties
I
Calculation Method
sufficiently serious to warrant using the
projected 1993 taxesmunicipal portion
option, given that its use will result in
more complicated assessment calculations,
higher administrative costs and modi-
fication of tax notices? There will be
debate in subsequent years over the
continued use of the options and there-
fore, the impact on individual taxpayers
must be considered.
Near the end of February, when this
article was prepared, there were 13 total
out of 150 municipalities in British
Columbia that had given notice to
consider the use of the new phasin
g
and
averaging options. Whether these options
are effective for these municipalities and
their particular assessment situations the
taxpayers will ultimately be the ones to
decide.
Vancouver: Analysis of Options
TO illustrate Vancouvers situation,
Exhibit 2 sets out the projected taxation
impacts in selected neighborhoods of the
city. Shown in the exhibit are the
onlyon the median residential and
commercial properties in those
r ,
neighborhoods for each of the three
options available this year: the present
system (base), three-year land value
averaging and current-year land value
phasing which shelters 50 percent of the
excess land value from taxation.
The citywide perspective to the taxation
distributions produced under each of the
taxation options is shown in Exhibits 3
and 4, where the resulting tax changes are
grouped in percentage intervals for
residential and commercial properties. The
tax changes are based on comparisons
with actual 1992 taxes. The 1993 taxation
distributions produced under the three tax-
calculation options available to Vancouver.
suggest that three-year averaging is the
best option for residential and commercial
properties this year.
On March 2, 1993, the Vancouver City
Council approved the use of three-year
land assessment averaging for residential
PENNY BRUIN, C. G, A., city treasurer and collector for,
Vancouver, Bri/ish Columbia, served during 1991-92
on the Prouinciol Technical Committee on Property
Tax Options. She is the President of tbe GFOA of
British Columbia, be GFOAS provincial representative
for B.C. ond a member of GFOA Committee on Cash
Management. Portions of this artic/e are adapted and
reprinted with permission from the Province of B.C.,
Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Recreation and
Housing,
1 0 A PRI L 1993 B G O V E R N M E N T F I N A N C E R E V I E W
May 28, 1993
Mr Chairman and Members,
The Ontario Fair Tax Commission,
Thank you for providing me with this opportunity to address you.
The Government is to be commended for initiating this very thorough
review of the system of taxation in Ontario and providing ample
opportunity for input from the public and interested parties.
I will be confining my remarks today to the system of Property
Assessment and Taxation since this is of primary concern to us as
a Municipality.
As you are no doubt aware Local Government (I include here School
Boards and Conservation Authorities as well as Local and Regional
Municipalities) have been experiencing very severe financial
pressure in recent years from taxpayers to reduce or at least
maintain the level of local taxation. This problem has been
compounded exponentially by the drastic reduction in Provincial
Grants as a result of the Expenditure Control Program and the
"Social contract
" initiative in 1993. Even prior to this the level
of Provincial support had declined very significantly--from 48% of
the total tax bill (including regional and education costs) in
Burlington in 1974 to 28% in 1992. In this environment your review
of the services funded from the property tax base as well as the
objective of enhancing the fairness of the allocation of the tax
burden is most relevant.
FUNDING OF EDUCATION AND SOCIAL SERVICES:
As you have noted in your Discussion Paper, the Property Tax
Working Group came to the conclusion that services having income
redistribution as a direct or indirect objective, or generating
spillover benefits beyond local boundaries, should be funded from
taxes based on ability to pay" and accordingly recommended that the
Province assume full funding for welfare services and "either
increase its share of education funding ---or re-evaluate the
number of mandated programs.
Burlington is fully supportive of this position. The Provincial
Government appears to have accepted, at least in principle, the
first part of the recommendation in its
"Disentanglement 11
negotiations with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
ASSESSMENT:
The existing Assessment System is based on market value (Assessment
Act, Sec 19) However there are wide variations on how this concept
is applied in different municipalities, as I am sure you are well
aware. Nevertheless, over 700 municipalities, representing more
than half the population of the Province, have adopted some form of
market value assessment, and the Association of Municipalities is
on record as supporting a move to full market value. The
professionals in the field with the Ministry Finance support
this. The one notable exception of course, is Metro Toronto, where
2
the Assessment system has become hopelessly out dated. The problems
they are experiencing in bringing their assessments up to date seem
to be having an undue influence on the completion of market value
reassessments in the rest of the Province.
The property tax is a tax on one form of capital or wealth.
Although there is not necessarily always a direct connection
between an individual or corporations wealth and income, it can be
taken as given, we believe, that ,in most cases, there is some
correlation between the two. Generally speaking wealthy individuals
and corporations do seem to enjoy more expensive homes and offices.
It seems to us therefore that there is some "rough justice
M
in
taxing property in relation to its market value, which value is
adjusted on a regular basis to reflect changes.
On the other hand, assessment simply on the basis of area or some
other measurement unit which takes no account of differences in
market value would seem inherently unfair---assessments will be
averaged
" across the municipality
---which means that lower priced
homes and commercial properties will go up and the more expensive
go down--ultimate regressivity. It is difficult to comprehend how
a system which places the same tax burden on a tarpaper shack
next to a railroad, to take an extreme example, as a luxurious
executive residence, can have merit. Of course
"unit value
proponents will argue that the unit values will take into account
differences in location, zoning and type of construction. Then we
are back to market value.
Certainly
"unit value" would be most inappropriate as long as the
property tax is used to fund education and social services. One of
the arguments used to support "unit value
M
is that municipal
services are directly related to physical size. This is only
marginally correct--we offer many services more closely related to
people (eg recreation and police as well as social and education
services) . Where feasible municipalities are increasingly
emphasizing fees for service or user pay, eg through
development charges and waste disposal fees, so that the functions
supported through the tax on property are even less closely tied to
the physical dimensions of the property today.
Burlington and all the other municipalities in the Region of Halton
have all individually adopted the modified form of market value
assessment by property class available under what was Sec 63 of the
Assessment Act.
What is lacking now is uniformity across the
Region. Properties with the same market value are paying
significantly different amounts for Regional and Education
Services; eg, approximately $ 150 on a home worth $ 200,000. A
recent impact study showed that Burlington taxpayers were paying
over $4 million more for the cost of School Board and Regional
services than they should.
Regional Council has approved the change to market value under Sec
63 for implementation for the 1994 fiscal year. At the same time a
Citizens Committee has been set up to advise on procedures for
implementation designed to mitigate hardship on individual
3
Burlington is particularly concerned about the impact on our
Downtown merchants and senior citizens of the very volatile changes
in market value from 1984 (when we were reassessed) to 1988 (the
market value year for the Regional reassessment) and again to 1993.
There have been very significant swings in real estate values in
that period, particularly in the Downtown and the more expensive
homes. Most properties
in the Downtown for example, enjoyed
reductions in assessment in 1984 but are subject to very large
increases on the basis of 1988 market values, due to a high volume
of speculative
buying in that year.These dramatic shifts are
contributing to a general concern with market value as a fair and
stable method of assessment.
Although some recognition is given to this through the use of
"sales in determining market values, we do not feel
this is adequate to eliminate the anomalies of the market. We are
asking the Government to consider some form of a moving average
of market value so
that it is closer to the norm and more
accurately reflects the true long-term trend. There is precedence
for the application of this concept as it has been used for some
time in the establishment of the equalization factors" included in
the present formulae for apportioning School and Regional tax
levies.
We are also aware that the Province of British Columbia has adopted
a system of averaging land value changes as part of its market
value system.
We believe that either an averaging approach or a "cap" on very
large tax increases should be considered and have recently
petitioned the Government to bring in legislation to this effect.
A copy of our brief is attached.
Until such measures are taken the
current system will continue to result in extreme changes and fail
to satisfy the criteria for a fair,stable, and predictable tax
system.
We recognize that existing legislation does permit phasing-in the
changes, but feel that the Assessment System itself should be
amended to limit the adverse consequences of very large
fluctuations in value.
FARM ASSESSMENTS:
A significant weakness in the present Assessment System lies in the
inability to distinguish clearly between bona fide farming and
"hobby" farms or land held by speculators where token activity such
as once-per-year ploughing results in a very low farm assessment.
Municipalities are
out of pocket for millions
of dollars as a
result. Burlington tried unsuccessfully through the appeal process
to have these inappropriate assessments corrected but were totally
frustrated by the lack of any clear definition of what constitutes
farming. When an appeal is launched the property owner can,
immediately initiate minor activity such as ploughing, tree
trimming, or crop planting which will result in defeat of the
appeal.
The absence of clear definition also results in the incorrect
payment of property tax rebates and the loss of income tax revenue,
4
as "hobby farmers
are restricted in the deduction of farm losses
from other income.
Surely it should not be too difficult to legislate objective
measures of bona fide farming based on realistic minimums of
production, cash revenue, or net income which have to be reported
on income tax returns. The current revenue level of $7000 for
eligibility for the property tax rebate is ridiculously low and has
not been changed for years.
SENIOR CITIZENS:
Many of the older members of our community who are dependent on
minimal fixed incomes are faced with the dilemma of escalating
taxes, particularly following reassessment, on the homes which they
have lived in for many years and are reluctant to leave. The
property may now be worth a considerable sum but this is of no
tangible benefit since the cash value can only be realized through
sale.
The Province of British Columbia has addressed this problem by
permitting deferral of the property tax by seniors until disposal
by sale, transfer, or succession. The taxes are paid to the
municipality by the Province thus avoiding problems of local
financing of the debt. Interest accrues on the loan balance.
Our population is ageing and it is most appropriate we feel for
governments to assist seniors in their declining years, and enable
them to continue to enjoy the life style to which they have become
accustomed in their own community environment.
There are income tax credits tied to occupancy cost available to
seniors but this is limited in combination with the sales tax
credit to $1000 and there is a deduction of 4% of household income.
Municipalities may also provide property tax credits but these
generally are less than $ 500 due to their limited financial
resources and the other demands for the tax dollar.
We would urge you to give consideration to this problem in your
report and perhaps recommend to the government implementation of a
system similar to that of B.C.
CONCLUSION:
Thank you for this opportunity to express our concerns to you. We
feel that the present system of property taxation is basically
sound but has become seriously overloaded by undue reliance on this
form of taxation to support education and social services. We
support market value as the basis for determining taxable
assessment since it reflects in some measure the differences in
wealth of individuals and corporations and provides for regular and
systematic adjustment for changes in economic value. However we
feel strongly that consideration must be given to dampening the
adverse effect of temporary fluctuations in value resulting from
the business cycle, through techniques for averaging and possible
capping of extreme tax increases. In addition the opportunity
should be afforded to senior citizens living on reduced incomes to
continue living in the home they have established, through a
provincially financed and administered system of property tax
5
deferral. We also urge you to recommend objective criteria to
distinguish between bona fide farmers and others who are taking
advantage of the loopholes in current legislation. Thank you for
your attention.
WALTER MULKEWICH, MAYOR
CITY OF BURLINGTON.
city Ha//:
Mailing Address:
Telephone: (905) 335-7606
July 5, 1995
Mr. Cam Jackson, MPP
REGIONAL PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT
FILE: 420-01
MAYORS OFFICE
CITY OF BURLINGTON
REGIONAL PROPERTY TAX REASSESSMENT
INFORMATION SUMMARY, JULY, 1995
B
Market Value Assessment (MVA) has been implemented in all four Halton
municipalities for some time now. Each of the four area municipalities are
assessed on different base years as follows:
Burlington 1984
Halton Hills 1980
Milton 1975
Oakville 1984.
B
To keep assessments current and to avoid the kind of problems we see in Metro,
all four area municipalities should have assessments updated.
B
Approximately 70% of the property tax bill pays for services delivered on a
Regional basis (Region and Education). It only makes sense that a property of
equal value anywhere in the Region pays the same amount for the same services
delivered by the same Regional agencies.
B
On September 23, 1992, Regional Council approved the implementation of a
Region-wide Assessment based on market values in 1988 and to be effective
January 1, 1993. The recorded vote was a tie with the Regional Chair breaking
the tie in favour.
B
The Province had completed the Region-wide Assessment in 1992 based on 1988
values at a cost of $1.2 million to the Province. The results are available to the
Public and are being used by the Public.
-2-
B
The City of Burlington supported the Region-wide Section 63 Reassessment with
the direction that Burlingtons Director of Finance prepare a phase-in program to
ameliorate the impacts of major tax shifts resulting from the re-assessment.
B
Burlington City Council also directed that the Mayor and the Co-Chairmen of
the Community and Corporate Services Committee meet with the Minister of
Revenue to request that the Provincial Government consider, as quickly as
possible, amendments to the Assessment Act to modify the impact of Market
Value Assessment updates resulting from the extremes of uneven market value
changes through a system of caps on assessment or by using a rolling average of
current and previous assessments. Council also directed that the City ask the
Province to implement a tax deferral program for Seniors. Both these concepts
were supported by Regional Council.
B
The Citys position with respect to amending the Assessment Act to use a system
of caps or rolling averages as well as the Seniors tax deferral program has been
communicated to the Province in letters, a meeting, and a brief to the Fair Tax
Commission. To-date, there has been no favorable response.
B
On December 2, 1992, Regional Council deferred (through a reconsideration
motion), the Region-wide Assessment to January 1, 1994, to allow for the work
of a Citizens Committee.
B
The Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform in Halton released its Final
Report on September 1, 1993, and recommended that Council not proceed with
Regional-wide Assessment based on 1988 values and recommended that the
Province use Halton as a pilot to undertake a full Unit Value Assessment (UVA)
Tax Impact Study.
B
The Province has to-date not agreed to a full UVA study and the
recommendations of the Fair Tax Commission are on a shelf.
-3-
B
On September 30, 1993, Regional Council agreed unanimouslv on a
compromise as follows:
A Region-wide Assessment based on 1992 market values, for implementation
on January 1, 1996;
In the interim (for 1994 and 1995), the Regional and Educational appointment
formula to be changed;
All of the above subject to written Provincial agreement. (This compromise
allowed all taxpayers in the Region to survive the recession and to have
assessments based on 1992 values rather than 1988 which represented an abnomal
spiral in real estate values. As confidence in the economy returns, the
1992 values should allow for a fairer base for re-assessment. Still there will
impacts and shifts in all tax classes in all municipalities. These impacts would
also be there with any form of re-assessment.)
B
In October, 1993, both Boards of Education endorsed the compromise.
B
On November 17, 1993, Regional Council gives final approval to the compromise
based on letters received from the Ministers of Finance and Education.
B
Since January 1994, Ministry of Finance Staff have been working in the
Region-wide Assessment based on 1992 market values at an estimated cost of $2.6
million and with Provincial Staff of 40 people who otherwise would have been
doing work in other Regions. (These figures are on top of the 1992 Assessment
costs of $1.2 million using 1988 market values.) In addition, the Region of
Haltons contract with the Province involved a Regional cost of at least
$140,000 for facilities and equipment.
A total of at least $4 million in taxpayers
money has been spent to get us this far.
B
The Province is on schedule with the Region-wide Assessment. Impact analysis
will be available in August and public open houses in the fall will make available
to the public the assessments based on 1992 values. Implementation is due for
January 1, 1996.
- 4 -
B
The only way the Regional commitment to this Reigon-wide Assessment can be
overturned is with three-quarters vote (18 out of 24 Councillors) with the support
of at least one Regional Councillor from of the four area municipalities.
The Province has a contract with the Region and has spent most of the money
required for the Assessment. Therefore, unilaterally deferring implementation
does not make common sense and likely means breaking a contract.
B
Any UVA study or study of any other alternatives such as the City of Burlington
proposals regarding amending the current Assessment Act could not be
accomplished between now and January 1, 1996.
B
At the present time, the 1988 market values done by the Province for Halton in
its first Region-wide Assessment are public. The City of Burlington has
experienced a dramatic increase in assessment appeals (some with the assistance
of a company of tax agents) based on access to the 1988 figures and the argument
that the properties are over-assessed. The City faces the possibility of a major
erosion of its assessment base through appeals and the Provincial Assessment
system faces the possibility of being swamped with appeals resulting in a major
cost for the Province. The new 1992 figures will be available in this fall
increasing the probability of more appeals if somehow the Region-wide
Assessment did not go ahead. Major chaos, increased expenditure, and erosion
of the Citys tax base would occur and the Province would throw away
approximately $4 million if it somehow found a way to unilaterally break the
contract with the Region. At the same time, inequities within each municipality
and within the Region would remain.
B
The City of Burlington is on record supporting a Region-wide Assessment as well
as examining ways to make the present market value system fairer. In Halton,
this means the completion of the implementation process in place for
January 1, 1996, as well as studying alternatives or reforms for the future.
The Corporation
RESOLUTION
of the City of Burlington
Moved by:
Seconded by:
WHEREAS,
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Halton Regional Council originally asked the Province to implement Region-Wide
Assessment based on 1988 market values in 1992,
The City of Burlington Council supported that Region-Wide Assessment,
After extensive consultation and debate, the 1992 decision was replaced in 1993
with a compromise decision of which the key was a January 1, 1996 Region-
Wide Assessment based on 1992 values,
The decision was unanimous with all members of Regional Council from all
municipalities agreeing,
The, Province of Ontario agreed to do a second reassessment based on 1992
values to accommodate that compromise,
The reassessment has been completed at great cost and is ready to be released in
a months time.
The public availability of 1988 market values has increased assessment appeals
leading to an erosion of local, Regional and education assessment base.
The availability of 1992 market value figures will increase the number of appeals
and the erosion of the assessment base.
The City of Burlington has supported a reform of existing assessment legislation
to incorporate some form of caps or rolling averages to even out the shifts
resulting from reassessments
THEREFORE, be it resolved that:
1. The City of Burlington does not support the Town of Oakville resolution
requesting a moratorium on the implementation of any Region/County/Municipal
Reassessments ... ,
Date
Carried
Moved by: Seconded by:
2. The City of Burlington requests the Province of Ontario to complete the
implementation of Region-Wide Assessment in Halton based on 1992 market
values effective January 1, 1996, and that the public implementation schedule be
continued in the fall of 1995 as scheduled,
3. The Region of Halton be requested to resist any attempt to reconsider its former
unanimous commitment to implement Region-Wide Assessment effective January
1, 1996,
4. The City of Burlington re-affirms its support for reform of existing assessment
legislation to incorporate some form of caps or rolling averages to even out the
shifts resulting from reassessments, but that such reform not stop approved and
substantially completed reassessment in Halton.
5. This resolution be circulated to the Premier of Ontario, Minister of Finance,
Minister of Municipal Affairs, Minister of Education, the four Halton Region
M. L. A.s, the two Halton School Boards, the Region of Halton, the Town of
Oakville, the Town of Halton Hills, the Town of Milton, Ontario municipalities
with a population over 50,000, and the Ontario Association of Municipalities.
Date
Carried
October 3, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden,
Greater Toronto Area Task Force,
20th Floor,
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Subject:
Changes in Legislation
GTA Area
Recently, your Task Force asked for a list of legislative changes that if made,
could make it easier for Burlington to provide service to our citizens. Attached is
a list of proposed changes to legislation. These types of changes are consistent
with Recommendation #8 in Burlingtons brief to your Commission submitted
Friday, September 29, 1995.
Yours very truly,
Douglas C.\ Brown,
Acting City Manager
TLD:jc
Attl
APPENDIX A
PROVINCIAL/MUNICIPAL STREAMLINING OPPORTUNITIES
1. Approval of Bridge and Culvert Structural Desires:
Design drawings for bridge and culvert structures with a span in excess of two metres
currently require the seal of two professional engineers.
Apparently the reason for this
is to ensure that there is adequate peer review of these designs. In addition, approval is
required from the MTO Structural Design Office, which typically takes some 6 to 10
weeks to obtain.
It is recommended that the requirement for the seal of two professional engineers and for
the approval by the MTO Structural Design Office be eliminated. The Province should
simply establish standards, and rely on the municipalities to adhere to them.
2. Municipal Elections Act:
Their are a number of problems with The Municipal Elections Act, and how it is
administered by the Province with the municipalities, namely:
*
the Act constrains the actions of municipalities in a number of areas, including
the way in which amendments are made to the voters list and the requirement to
have two mandatory advance polls, to name a few;
*
legislative changes have been made to the Act at the last minute, well past the
enumeration period, which creates additional work for municipalities that has to
be completed within very tight timeframes;
*
changes have been made to forms related to the Act without consulting
municipalities or voters, resulting in misunderstandings and ineffective use of the
forms;
*
changes requested by Municipalities, either through the AMCTO or by direct
discussion with local MMA officials, have been ignored;
*
the directions for setting nomination day, election day, and polling day are not
precise enough.
It is recommended that the MMA consult with the AMCTO in order to develop a revised
Municipal Elections Act, to resolve the concerns of municipalities.
- 2 -
APPENDIX A
3. Other Acts:
Other Acts, including The Vital Statistics Act, The Line Fences Act, and The Livestock
and Poultrv Protection Act sometimes prevent municipalities from making reasonable
decisions which may solve problems. In these cases, municipalities are just servants
of the Province, delivering Provincial services by proxy and at the expense of the
municipality, with no apparent input to how the legislation serves the public.
It is recommended that the Province amend these Acts and provide more discretionary
powers in to municipalities.
4. Niagara Escarpment Commission Development Control:
It is recommended that NEC development control be transferred from the Province to the
municipalities. This would reduce duplication, streamline the development approval
process, and put authority for decision-making for development at the local level, rather
than at a distant Provincial office.
5. Ministry of the Environment Clearances:
Presently, proponents are required to obtain noise attenuation and servicing approvals
from the MOE. To avoid duplication, to streamline the process, and to put authority for
local development at the local level, it is recommended that MOE clearances on noise
and other matters be transferred from the Province to the municipalities.
6. MTO Corridor Control:
Provincial control and access over lands adjacent to Provincial highways impinges on
municipalities ability to plan and design development along these highways, and it
restricts local decision-making authority. It is recommended that the MTO relinquish
corridor control over urban lands adjacent to Provincial highways, excluding 400 series
highways.
- 3 -
APPENDIX A
7. Non Profit Housing:
The design and construction standards set for non profit housing are very high, adding
greatly to the capital cost of these projects and limiting municipalities ability to meet
local needs. It is recommended that the Ministry of Housing requirements for non profit
housing be lowered.
8. Parkwav Belt Regulation Control:
It is recommended that the Province not be involved in Parkway Belt regulation controls,
and that jurisdiction revert to the municipal level.
This would reduce duplication,
streamline the development approval process, and put authority for decision-making for
development at the local level, rather than at a distant Provincial office.
9. Official Plan Approval System:
To reduce duplication and to put the authority for decision-making at the local level, it
is recommended that the MMA, or its delegate, not be involved in the Official Plan
approval system, in highly organized parts of the Province.
10. Provincial Verification Audits:
The need for field auditors from various Provincial ministries to audit how grants are
handled by municipalities should be eliminated. The Province should accept the position
of municipal auditors confirming appropriate entitlements and use of funds within the
broad range of accounting materiality, without the expensive overhead of verification
audits. In addition, field audits will become less and less appropriate as Provincial
conditional grants decline.
It is recommended that Provincial field audits for municipal grants be discontinued.
- 4 -
APPENDIX A
11. Desire Criteria for Capital Proiects:
The MTO demand that a design criteria form be filled out and submitted to them for
municipal capital projects. This is a time consuming exercise that should not be
required.
It is recommended that the Province discontinue the practice of requiring municipalities
to complete design criteria forms.
12. Traffic Signal Desire Approval:
Pursuant to section 144(31) of The Highwav Traffic Act, the Ministry of Transportation
approves detailed design of traffic signal installations before detailed design can occur.
Municipalities are required to make application to the MTO for each specific installation
for both subsidy and what is called legal approval. Detailed design drawings are
required to be submitted with the application. The preparation of the submissions and
subsequent review by the ministry is very costly and time consuming process.
Section 144(31) of The Highwav Traffic Act is broad enough to permit the MTO to give
blanket approval to all installations that meet Ministry standards. The MTO already
publishes criteria and warrants for signal installations, and it would be a simple matter
to issue blanket approvals for all installations that conform to those standards.
It is recommended that the Province Section 144 be amended to specifically accommodate
a blanket approval system.
13. Roads Inventorv Maintenance System:
The MTO consumes municipal staff time, about four days each year for the City of
Burlington, touring municipal roads to assemble road inventory in their specialized
format for their Roads Inventory Maintenance System (RIMS). Since the City of
Burlington has a far more sophisticated infrastructure management system then the
RIMS, we are receiving no value from the MTO for assisting them with their update.
It is recommended that the MTO develop find alternative ways of updating the Provincial
RIMS that eliminates the need for municipal staff involvement. municipal staff.
- 5 -
APPENDIX A
14. MTO Paper Work:
The overall amount of municipal staff time that is required to deal with MTO paperwork
is inordinate, unnecessary, and redundant for municipal use.
It is recommended that the MTO review its administrative practices with a view to
minimizing the demands placed on municipalities.
15. Municipal Storm Sewer Desire:
Approval is required from the MOE for the design of municipal storm sewers. For two
tier municipalities, Regional review of storm sewer design is also required, as well. It
is recommended that the Province streamline the two-level storm sewer approval system.
16. Provincial Interest Arbitrators:
Provincial interest arbitrators make awards with little regard to the wage increases
provided to other municipal employees and, with little regard to the cost of the settlement
they award. The ability of the employer to pay does not enter into the decision, since
most interest arbitration boards, by virtue of past history, appear to deal with wage
disputes on a Provincial comparator basis.
It is recommended that interest arbitration, or third party decision-making process which
affects the payroll costs of a municipalities, be reviewed and changed in light of the
municipal concerns with the process.
17. Public Libraries Act:
It is recommended that the prescribed classes of circulating materials from Ontario
Regulation 976 be deleted. This would allow library boards the option of charging such
fees as they consider proper for various types of materials that are circulated to the
public. Regulation 976 is a clear case of encroachment by the Province in a municipal
jurisdiction, and merely represents an alternative view on a local public policy issue.
- 6 -
APPENDIX A
18. Provincial Compliance with Local Development Regulations:
It is recommended that the Province voluntarily comply with local development
regulations and fee regimes. For example, voluntary compliance with development and
building regulations is frequently a controversial issue with Provincial projects and often
requires a significant amount of staff time to sort out.
It is suggested that the Province
should agree to this as a matter of good public policy, even if it will not agree to pay
municipal fees.
19. Vital Statistics:
Lower tier municipalities gather a significant amount of information, generally known
as vital statistics, for the Province. This is quite costly in terms of the provision of staff
and facilities to carry out this function, and the bulk of the fees collected go to the
Province.
It is recommended that the Province consider developing a fee regime that would allow
municipalities to receive a sufficient share of the revenues generated by these activities,
to cover the cost of providing the service.
20. MOE, MNR. and Conservation Authoritv Responsibilities:
Significant duplication of effort exists between the MOEE, MNR, and Conversation
authorities. The Province should concentrate on the strategic planning aspects of
resources management including: legislation, regulations, policy, research, and provincial
scale planning and information dissemination. Local planning issues and conformance
review should be brought down to the local level where detailed local knowledge exists
and ultimate long-term ownership responsibility resides.
Although considerable progress has been made in removing the MNR from day-to-day
planning administration, it is recommended that the Province consider having the MNR
concentrate on the strategic planning aspects of resources management including:
legislation, regulations, policy, research, and provincial scale planning and information
dissemination, and leaving day-to-day planning administration to the local level, including
the municipalities and the local Conservation Authorities.
Greater Toronto
Area Governance
Facilitated by:
Lifetime Consulting Services
Prepared for:
Burlington City Council
September 25, 1995
B
Greater Toronto Area Governance
City of Burlington Councils Position on GTA Reform
This brief to the Province of Ontario and the GTA Task Force has been prepared
by City of Burlington Council.
The brief was developed with the assistance of a
professional facilitator working with Council through individual interviews, a
special half day meeting of the Committee of the Whole and final review by the
Community & Corporate Services Committee and Council.
City of Burlington Council has developed and adopted the following 5 principles
for reform.
Principle 1:
Principle 2:
Principle 3:
Principle 4:
Principle 5:
The City of Burlingtons unique geographic position, identity and
qualities should be preserved. The City must maintain relation-
ships not only east to the GTA, but also west to the Hamilton
Niagara Area.
The City of Burlington must be able to continue to attract invest-
ments and jobs. Burlington should maintain a relationship with the
economic areas of the GTA and Hamilton Niagara Area.
There should be hands-on influence by local government over the
use of property tax money for local benefits. There should be no
increase in property taxes as a result of any government restructuring.
There should be fewer levels of governance. Government should
be simpler, more accountable, and more locally accessible so that
local government is better able to influence outcomes.
Non-institutionalized partnerships should be built only to achieve
mutual benefits and be disbanded when the goals are achieved.
Main Messages from Burlington City Council
The Unique Bridge Position of Burlington between
the G eate
r r Toronto Area and the Hamilton Niagara Area
Burlington is on the western edge of an area defined by the Provincial Govern-
ment as Greater Toronto Area (GTA), an area that works as an economic area.
Burlington is also on the edge of another important economic area to the west. In
essence, to be successful in the future, Burlington must bridge both ways, to the
east and to the west.
The people of Burlington benefit from being located as a bridge between the GTA
and the Hamilton Niagara Area. They have both the benefits of being a part of
Burlington, a developing community, and of being in the middle of the Golden
Horseshoe. They pay to use facilities in Toronto - universities, cultural centres,
entertainment facilities - as they do in Hamilton and elsewhere. Burlington resi-
dents are willing to pay user fees to support the facilities in nearby centres but
expect their property taxes money to support services in their own community.
Burlington would contribute political and staff resources as part of coordinating
committees. Burlingtons objectives for participating in such committees are:
(i) to achieve the benefit of being part of the GTA and the Hamilton
Niagara Area; and
(ii) to protect Burlingtons unique identity.
Members of Council would participate in coordinating activities and Burlington
staff would contribute to committees and provide information and analysis where
appropriate. Burlington wants to utilize existing political and staff resources
rather than create any other levels of government or other bodies with decision-
making powers.
Burlingtons unique bridge position linking the GTA and Hamilton Niagara Area
has implications for its role. The purpose of this position paper is to define Burl-
ingtons role in any new structure.
Recommendation #1
Should the Province of Ontario consider a formal political tie for the
City of Burlington with either the GTA or any other political area,
Burlington City Council requests the right to make that decision.
Burlington s Role Relative to the GTA
Members of Council believe that Burlingtons role as the local level of govern-
ment in governance should be strengthened. As the government closest to the
people, Burlington Council can provide services with the greatest accountability
to the electorate.
Recommendation #2
Burlington City Council should be responsible for all municipal
planning, all roads within the municipality except provincial high-
ways, and community-based economic and business development.
These are local issues, not regional issues.
Recommendation #3
Burlington City Council requests Legislative changes to allow for the
creation or elimination of special purpose bodies at the sole discre-
tion of the Burlington Council. Special purpose bodies include the
Burlington Hydro Commission and the Burlington Library Board.
- 2 -
The Role of the Regional
.
Municipality of Halton
Members of Burlington Council see the need for change of governance in Halton
Region.
Recommendation #4
The Halton Region should be a non-taxing utility governed by a
coalition of funding partners providing waste management, water
and sewers, police and other services as needed to Burlington and
other participating municipalities.
The Role of the G eate r r Toronto Area
Burlington Council wishes to explore the benefits of being associated with the GTA.
Recommendation #5
The GTA agenda should be managed by an informal association of
participating municipalities with a well-defined relationship with the
Province of Ontario.
Recommendation #6
The GTA should have a forum for major issues and activities such as
intended urban structure, large-scale infrastructure planning, environ-
ment enhancement and protection and economic development that
benefit all participating municipalities. The area to the west of
Burlington should also have a forum for the same. Here, forum is
taken to mean formal association of municipalities and not a decision-
making and/or taxing government body.
- 3 -
The Role of the Provincial Government
Members of Council believe that the provincial government can facilitate the
operation of local governments by reducing and eliminating interference in local
matters while taking on full responsibility for truly provincial issues.
Recommendation #7
The Province of Ontario should be fully responsible for the funding
and provision of health and social services in co-operation with com-
munity-based organizations through local offices.
Recommendation #8
The Province of Ontario should wherever possible eliminate interfer-
ence in local government by allowing permissive legislation under a
new Municipal Act. The Province should make changes to legisla-
tion which would eliminate the Provincial role in areas such as
bridge, sewer and traffic signal designs, numerous development
controls, local planning issues and municipal election procedures.
The Province should be prepared to act on recommendations from
local municipalities on a wide ranging list of these issues.
Recommendation #9
Until a better system is adopted by the Province, the City of Burling-
ton supports the continued implementation of region-wide market
value assessment and does not support the pooling of business assess-
ment in any economic area.
- 4 -
Recommendation #10
The City of Burlington requests that the implementation of provincial
planning policies be done through the municipal planning programs,
and that, specifically in Burlington, the City be the lead planning
agency, and that the Niagara Escarpment Commission Plan, the
Parkway Belt Plan and the policies of the Halton Region Conserva-
tion Authority all be administered by means of the City of Burlington
Official Plan, zoning by-laws and other planning implementation
instruments.
Recommendation #11
Burlington City Council encourages the Province of Ontario and the
GTA Task Force to broaden its perspective in the current GTA
Review taking into consideration wider economic areas including the
Hamilton Niagara Area.
- 5 -
APPENDIX
Attendees
Special Council Meeting
GTA Governance
September 9, 1995
COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Mulkewich
Alderman Brechin
Alderman Bullock
Alderman Carr
Alderman Carter
Alderman DAmelio
Alderman Dennison
Alderman Lee
Alderman Lougheed
Alderman Quinn
Alderman Taylor
Alderman Trueman
Alderman Wallace
Alderman Wood
CITY OF BURLINGTON Mr. T. Debbie
STAFF: Mr. G. Goodman
Mr. R. Lathan
Linda Bowles-Simpson
SPECIAL GUEST: Mr. T. McCormack (Member of the Golden Task
Force on the GTA).
ABSENT: Alderman Edwards
Alderman MacIsaac
Alderman Scholtens
r - n u l i c I i o . .
f bd ( 4Yc !
Nou.13B 1995 10:51am P02
VIA FAX AND MAIL
Abby Bushby
Barroster & Solicitor
16 Radford Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M6R 1Z6
Direct line and fax:
(416) 762-7492
November 7, 1995
John Barber
The Globe and Mail
444 Front Street West
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 2S9
Dear Sir:
I read yOUr column of October 24, 1995, B.C. example makes MVA more
palatable, with great interest and concern. It appears that the evolving discourse about
property tax assessment is ignoring important environmental economic issues associated
with reconcentration and decentralization of the city. How we treat density is at the core
of these issues. (That being said, I do not contend that reconcentration and
decentralization of the city are caused only by property tax assessment and the
provincial/municipal fiscal transfer system. Jane Jacobs better articulates the processes
in The Death and Life of Great American Cities. ) The role of fiscal policy must, however,
be recognlzed.
It appears that the Golden Commission maybe reducing the purposes of unit value
assessment to avoidance of volatility and removal of speculative value. This treatment
reflects a reductionist approach and limits consideration of the alternatives to market
value assessment, The economics of environmental impacts merit a stronger inquiry.
The question of how land use and property taxation/governmental grants interacts
has been on the wrong footing ever since the Fair Tax Commission stated, without much
impact on its own recommendations, that tax policy should not be used to advance land
use policy. It is much more sensible and revealing to ask: what are the impacts of
taxation and fiscal transfer policy on land use planning ? and then: are the effects
reasonably consistent with a desirable policy outcome? When the question is posed
this way, outcomes can be monitored to assess whether they impede, advance or remain
neutral. Furthermore, a rigour akin to environmental impact analyses or fiscal Impact
analyses can be applied.
Decentralization of the city core will still occur with a common, regional market
value assessment. Is the Golden Commission really prepared to continue a taxation
system which taxes higher density and rewards lower densities, despite fairly reliable
NOU 08 95 09: 19
7 6 2 7 4 9 2 P9 GE . 0 0 2
PHONE No. : 762 7492
Nov.D8 1995 10:52.AM PD3
2
studies which indicate that urban sprawl is costlier to develop and service; is more
ecologically harmful in energy use and loss of green space/farmland; and, has negative
impacts on the quality of Iiveable urban life in terms of diversity V. homogeneity,
pedestrian orientation v. auto dependency, or public v. private cultural activities
The effects are exacerbated in the fiscal transfer system. Density translated into
property assessment is also the proxy to indicate need in many provincial grants. Low
density communities with correspondingly low tax bases receive subsidies regardless of
ability to pay. These systems were set up when development was concentrated in
Toronto. If density ever did indicate ability to pay, It Is a poorer system compared to the
more refined tool known as the income tax system. One can value the Canadian trait of
equalization payments if the richer areas really are richer and if the impact of extracting
revenue for equalization is much more neutral.
If the Golden Commission recommends a market value based taxation and fiscal
transfer system how will their expressed intention to prevent a carving out of the city core
take place? Wiil the citys resources be taxed out and then returned to some degree with
various politically vulnerable and ineffectual welfare programs? This scenario is wholly
counter to any notion of sustainable development. it is more simillar to overfishing the
Grand Banks and then putting Newfoundland fishermen on welfare.
I enclose for your information a copy of a brief I prepared for the Golden
Commission on behalf of and in consultation with the Ward 2 Parents Council, a Toronto
Board of Education Iocal advisory group. (The first six pages are the text. The rest
contains highlights of more extensive research in the area, ) It voices the fears of people
who love the city.
Some environmental impacts associated with reconcentration and decentralization
may only be clearly discernible when the urban region as a whole is considered, (see
references to New Jerseys 1992 Fiscal impact study ofa regional/wrrj use p/an and the
Bank of Americas statement Beyond Sprawl.
One would hope that the Golden
Commission would seize this rare opportunity to consider the costs of sprawl in our urban
region.
I noted the striking juxtaposition of your column next to Matas article,
Environmental Protection a priority for Canadians In which he notes that investment In
public transit and redesigning cities is low in Canadian priorities. His one thing If a widely
dispersed geographic base of polled Canadians do not yet see the design of cities as an
issue of sustainable development, quite another if the collective expertise In the Golden
commission fails to address the implications of ignoring the Interdependence of land use
policy and fiscal policy.
Yours truly,
NOV 08 95 09 : 20
RIDING OFFICE
TORONTO, ONTARIO
H OU SE OF COMMON S
TEL,: (41 6) 654-8048
CH A MB RE DES COMMU N ES
R E C E ! V E D
I
FAX (416)654-5083
Ottawa, August 18, 1995
Dr Anne Golden
Chair
393 University Avenue 20th floor -2001
TORONTO ON M5G 1E6
Dear Dr Golden,
Thank you for your fax a couple of weeks ago indicating that September 30 is the
deadline for submissions on the future of the GTA. Although I am not equipped to present the
Task Force with a comprehensive submission, I would like to offer some recommendations.
They stem from an environmentally sustainable development perspective. As you may know,
the debate on sustainable development has produced, so far, two schools of thought: one believes
in balancing the Environment and the Economy, thus disconnecting the two and giving
precedence to economic development. The other, rooted in Madam Bruntlands report entitled
Our Common Future, aims at integrating social, economic and environmental goals. I
recommend the Task Force consider taking this approach.
Let me explain why. In planning for the decade ahead, the public would be better served
by a type of economic development which recognizes the vital importance of social, cultural and
environmental goals. These are quality of life values, if you like, which are difficult to quantify.
A good example can be found on page two of the report under the heading what the GTA has
to offer, where, listed among other items, are low crime rates, a world class health system, and
the recognition that Canada offers the highest quality of life in the industrialized world (U. N.
Human Development Report, 1995). This achievement is possible because, in recent decades,
we had good social policies in Canada. It follows that, if we want to attract new investment and
keep our advantage in the GTA, environmental and other policies must be of key importance
because they form the underpinnings of quality of life. It would be a serious mistake for the
Task Force to be diverted by the current, rather strong belief that economic reasons alone can
attract investment. Consequently, the desirability of integrating economic with other goals in
the GTA plan.
Chair -S tanding Committee on Environment and S u.stainable Development
Parliamentary Centre for Environmentally S ustainable Development
TELEX 63636 CNCPSAS CA COMI 125
Against this background, I would make the following recommendations for
consideration and that of the Task Force. That
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
the organizational structure in the office of the GTA be expanded to include a
Standing Committee responsible for dealing with social and quality of life policies.
new Committee would also report to the Steering Committee like the other four;
your
fifth
This
similarly, the goals of the GTA Economic Development Partnership be expanded from
four to five, and the fifth goal should read to identify social and quality of life issues;
partnerships with other sectors be expanded to include organized labour, educational
institutions, social planning councils, quality of life agencies, and the arts and
entertainment community;
objectives number 1, 2 and 3 include
B
quality of health
B
quality of recreation
B
quality of air, water and soil
B
quality of social services, of safety in the community and of educational facilities;
incidentally, the Task Force may also want to include other qualities such as the
quality of public transportation within the GTA, quality of recreation, quality of
education, quality of art-related activities;
under target sectors, the arts and entertainment be added because this sector is of
growing economic importance in the GTA.
In summary, an essential element would be missing in the proposed Business Plan if
quality of life values and goals were not included. This point was made by Mayor Hall at the
public meeting held at City Hall on January 20, 1995.
I do not know whether these recommendations are helpful in the present climate of
opinion. But I hope they are. I invite your comments.
With best wishes and kind regards,
Sincerely,
C.C. Mayor Barbara Hall
CALEDON - A UNIQUE COMMUNITY
OF THE
September 29, 1995
Toronto, Ontario M5G IE6
Dear Dr. Golden:
RE: TOWN OF CALEDON SUBMISSION TO THE TASK FORCE ON G.T.A.
REFORM
The Town of Caledon is pleased to submit to the Golden Task Force,the Caledon position for
a strong G.T.A. for the future. We believe that the Caledon model provides an excellent working
model for other rural partners within the G.T.A.
With an enviable record in municipal financial management, environmental protection and
municipal planning, the Town also takes pride in its service delivery system, which is efficient,
effective, accessible and accountable. Our goal is to ensure continuing improvement in service
delivery on behalf of our taxpayers.
It is the Towns position, following thorough analysis and consultation, that it is in the financial
best interest, both locally and G.T.A. wide, that Caledon remain in the G.T.A., in a two tier
system.
The Town of Caledon is a community of communities. It is committed to protection of the
headwaters, greenspace, and agricultural lands required by a vibrant urban core. Pooling of
financial resources within the overall envelope will enable these essential elements of the eco-
system to be protected and enhanced within a strong G. T. A..
..12
6311 Old Church Road, Box 1000, Caledon East, Ontario LON 1 EO
Telephone: 905-584-2272 B Georgetown and Erin exchanges use Zenith 86130 B Fax 905-857-7217
SEP 29 95 15 : 06
9(-I 5R57721 7
Page 2\of 2
Sept. 29/95
GTA Task Force
We look forward to working with the Province, other municipalities and yourselves to address
the areas requiring reform:
B
fair assessment for all
.
accountable municipal financing
.
equitable taxation
B
stronger local government
B
an integrated approach to area-wide problems
B
structural and governance improvements
We are available for further discussion and clarification. We look forward to future opportunities
to participate in the evolution of the municipal structures which will complement and enhance
the future G.T.A..
Enclosed please find 10 copies of our submission. If further copies
our office. We look forward to the results of your deliberations.
Carol Seglins, Mayor ..)
TOWN OF CALEDON
B5463/Sept.
cc: Chair Kolb, Region of Peel
Mayor McCallion, City of Mississauga
Mayor Robertson, City of Brampton
Members of Council
GTA Municipalities
are required please contact
TOWN OF CALEDON DRAFT SUBMISSION TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE

re: G.T.A. Task Force
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE #
1.
1.1
1.2.
2.
2.1
2.2
2.3
3.
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
4.
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
4.8
Introduction
Mandate of the Golden Task Force
Purpose of Towns of Caledons Submission
An Historical Snapshot
Settlement in Peel Area
Origins of Peel Region
Establishment of the Town of Caledon
Caledon The Model Rural Community
The Workable Model - Efficient, Effective & Accessible
Boundaries Are Not The Problem
Caledons New Draft Official Plan and Environmental Policies
Agricultural Resource Protection
Environmental Protection Mandate
Aggregate Resource Management
Fire and Police Services
Parks and Recreation Amenities
Municipal Roads
Caledons Key Role in Peel and the G.T.A.
Partnership in Peel Region
Tourism and Recreation
Alternate Lifestyles
Environmental Protection
Headwaters Protection
Aggregate Resources
Heritage Resources
Relationship with the Urban G.T.A.
3
3
4
4
5
6
7
8
8
9
9
9
10
11
11
12
13
13
13
13
13
14
5. Caledons Perspective on Current Problems and Recommendcd Solutions for the
G.T.A.
5.1 Main Problems
14
5.2 Guiding Principles
14
5.3 Recommended Solutions 15
6. Caledons Position
17
7. Conclusions and Recommendations 18 & 19
TOWN OF CALEDON DRAFT SUBMISSION TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE Re:
GTA REFORM
September 27,1995
1. INTRODUCTION
The Golden Commission, through the Task Force, has invited the Town of Caledon and
other municipalities, boards and agencies to provide it with
viable G.T.A. Reforms by the end of September 1995. It is
Forces report wll be submitted to the Province by the end
deliberations by the Province will then occur. Caledon
Government initiatives as the situation evolves.
1,1 MANDATE OF THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE
The Task Force was created to address Municipal Finance
a submission concerning
anticipated that the Task
of 1995 and that further
will respond to further
issues, such as property
tax, assessment and transfer payments, the future governance of the G.T.A. including
the potential for restructuring the responsibilities and practises of municipal and
provincial governments as well as the interrelated issues of urban form,
infrastructure and economic competitiveness.
1.2 PURPOSE OF TOWN OF CALEDONS SUBMISSION
The Town wishes to take the opportunity to provide the Task Force with Caledons
perspective concerning the Mandate of the Task to consider Reform in the G.T.A. The
submission to the Task Force includes the following main components:
a) An Historical Snapshot
b) Caledon the Model Rural Community
c) Partnership with Peel Region
d) Caledons Perspective on Current Problems and Recommended Solutions
for the G.T.A.
e)
Conclusions and Recommendations
3
2. AN HISTORICAL SNAPSHOT
2.1 SETTLEMENT IN PEEL AREA
Settlement in the Peel area began in the year 1806 as over 70,000 acres of land west of
Toronto was purchased from the Mississauga Indians by the British government in order
to provide land for immigrants Within a year, the southern part of Peel was settled and
by 1821 Peel Country was surveyed and opened for settlement.
Peels economy at the time was essentially a self-sufficient
family forming the basic economic unit.
As the farm industry grew, small hamlets and villages
agricultural base with the
emerged throughout the
countryside. These settlements provided for almost all the needs of the local population.
By the 1860s some of these villages had grown into flourishing centres.
In the early 1890's new waves of immigration settled in the Toronto area and began to
view Peel not only in terms of food production, but also as a place of residence.
By the early 1950s Peels transition from rural to urban had begun. Certain industries
relocated from Toronto to such centres as Malton, Streetsville, Port Credit and Brampton.
Residential development in Cooksville, Burnhamthorpe, Clarkson and Streetsville turned
these centres into suburbs linked to Toronto by major highways and in the late 1960s,
new planned communities - Bramalea, Erin Mills, Meadowvale and Mississauga Valleys
- emerging in response to a growing demand for housing,
In slightly over a century, much of Peel has been transformed from a rural, hamlet and
farm oriented settlement pattern, based on a self-sufficient agricultural economy, to an
urban and semi-rural community with a growing industrial economy and a de-emphasized
agricultural role. Retail-commercial centres now serve the surrounding population.
Ironically, whereas the original settler worked the land on which he lived, and made
the trek to Toronto infrequently, today many residents do not work their land but
commute to Toronto to work, on a daily basis.
2.2
ORIGINS OF PEEL REGION
Local government in Ontario, based on a county structure, was established in 1849 and
remained fundamentally unaltered for over a century. Originally designed to respond to
local concerns in an essentially rural society, local government has faced many trying
challenges as life in Ontario has become increasingly urban.
4
First recognition of the need for. some form of local reorganization in Ontario was the
creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953. Catalysts for further reorganization appeared
in the 1960s. The Ontario Committee on Taxation called for a comprehensive system
of regional government. Local government Review Commissions were established and
proposals for reform were made. The reforms were designed to equip local governments
in Ontario with the political, structural and financial capability to deal effectively with the
problems of urbanization and to provide a framework for long-term economic, social and
physical planning.
In the case of Peel, the Ontario Government decided to establish a two-tier regional
municipality based, for the most part, on the area previously defined as Peel County.
The Regional Municipality of Peel Act, 1973 passed by the Ontario Legislature,
defined the new municipal structure and set out the responsibilities of the new
Regional eorporation Consequently as the result of that Act Peel Region, a
restructured form of local government came into being January 1, 1974.
2.3 ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TOWN OF CALEDON
The Town of Caledon is the most northerly of the three municipalities in the Region of
Peel. It consists of approximately 270 square miles and comprises 56% of the total area
of the Region of Peel, The Corporation of the Town of Caledon which was created
by Provincial Statue (The Regional Municipality of Peel ACT, 1973) on January 1,
1974, was established through the amalgamation of the Corporation of the
Townships of Caledon, Albion, the Village of Bolton, Caledon East and by the
amalgamation of the northern portion of Chinguacousy Township. At the same time,
the Police Villages of Alton, Caledon, Inglewood, and Palgrave were dissolved. The
Town of Caledon is bounded on the north by the Counties of Dufferin and Simcoe; on
the south by the City of Brampton, on the west by the Region of Halton and the County
of Wellington; and on the east by the Region of York.
The Town of Caledon fulfils an important role as part of the Toronto Centred Region and
is greatly influenced by Metropolitan Toronto and the urban centres in the Region of Peel.
Currently 40,000 people reside in the Town and by 2001 the population is planned to
reach 50,000 approximately with a projected population of approximately 84,000 by 2021.
Today the Town is the responsibility of nine (9) councillors and a Mayor. The Town is
divided into five (5) wards and each ward has two (2) elected representatives, a Regional
Councillor and Area Councillor. The only exception is Ward 3 (Caledon East) where the
Regional Councillor is also the Regional representative of Ward 4 (Albion). At the Region
of Peel the municipality is represented by the Mayor and 4 elected Regional CounciIlors.
5
Councillors represent the Town on various local boards and or committees. For example,
the Town is represented on the following:
B
the Credit Valley Conservation
B
the Metropolitan Toronto and Regional Conservation Authority
B
the Niagara Escarpment Commission
.
the Library Board
B
the Caledon Heritage Committee
.
the Dufferin-Caledon Hospital Board
B
the Peel District Health Council
This representation facilitates communication between the various committees and council.
A wide variety of services are provided by the Town to its residents and these include:
B
road construction and maintenance, over 670 kilometres of local roads,
B
recreation facilities and programs, 3 arenas, 2 pools and 9 community
centres,
B
a full range of library services delivered through 5 libraries,
B
police services through an agreement with the Minister of the Solicitor
General which still stands today as a model for rural and urban
municipalities throughout Ontario,
B
fire and emergency services which are delivered from 8 stations by one of
the largest volunteer fire departments in Canada (210 volunteer fire
fighters),
3. CALEDON THE MODEL RURAL COMMUNITY
3.1 THE WORKABLE MODEL - EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE AND
ACCESSIBLE:
Change to bring about needed reform and improvements in effectiveness and affordability
is desirable, but, change just for the sake of change should be avoided. We must be
conscious of the substantial reasons for reform and keep these objectives clearly before
us as we look at the options. Municipal reform brings its own price tag in cost,
dislocation and reorientation. Twenty years is not a long time in municipal life, and
over the past twenty years of Caledon has proven, as many local municipalities have
proven, that local municipalities can be responsible and efficient managers of municipal
services.
6
During the past twenty years the Region of Peel and its respective local
municipalities have undergone tremendous change. Caledon has demonstrated its
ability to respond to the changes and to foster fiscal responsibility by:
B
No mill rate increase for the last 5 years.
Result: Maintained same commercial and residential mill rates.
B
Debt only 0.37%
result: Manageable controlled debt.
B
Protecting its reserves
result: Continued prudent fiscal rnanagement.
B
Continuous improvement in cost effectiveness of services
Result: Services maintained and improved where justified.
B
Continuing improvement of local services
Result: Efficient and cost effective services provided at the local level.
B
Continuing rationalization of Regional and local services
Result: Continued accountability to taxpayer for services offered.
B
Volunteerism Encouraged
Result: Continued use of volunteers results in extremely cost effective
service provisions.
3.2 BOUNDARIES ARE NOT THE PROBLEM
While the political decision in the 1970s to amalgamate
Peels 5 of rural municipalities
to form the Town of Caledon was correct for planning, economic, social and
environmental reasons, it is a fact that its sheer size has always been a logistical problem
that has had to be managed carefully. Any suggestion that Caledon, or any other local
muncipality in the G.T.A., should be made even larger should be reviewed with
caution.
7
In 1994 the O.M.B. held hearings in Caledon regarding the need to restructure the
electoral wards within Caledon. It was evident, at the end of a lengthy process, that there
is a high level of satisfaction with our municipal government and Caledons partnership
in the Region of Peel. Speaker after speaker pointed with pride to our community of
communities and our ability to cooperate and enrich our natural heritage. There was very
little support for substantial structural change but an eagerness to carry on with the
voluntary mode created over the last twenty years. People in Caledon have a genuine
feeling that we have reached a point where it is all starting to work. Caledon today is
a community of communities, which in spite of its large size has achieved financial
stability through careful planning and management.
3.3 CALEDONS NEW DRAFT OFFICIAL PLAN
AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES
The responsible Ministries and Conservation Authorities acknowledge that Caledons
environmental policies represent a leading edge and provide a model for other rural
communities. In particular, the adoption of an Ecosystem approach to the overall planning
process recognizes, fore example, the importance of the protection of headwaiters,
The Growth and Economic Management Strategy Study and Environmental Background
Reports, together with the Towns new draft Official Plan (OPA 114) and Environmental
Policies (OPA 124) provide the essential underpinning for Peels draft Regional official
Plan.
The Region has fully recognized the fundamental value of the Towns initiatives as
they relate to environmental concerns.
3.4 AGRICULTURE RESOURCE PROTECTION
The southern part of Caledon contains some of the most productive farmland in the GTA
with an extensive and very active agricultural industry. Caledon has managed, through
pro-active municipal policies and actions, to protect this industry from speculative
interests, so that it can continue to have a strong and viable role in Caledons future.
8
TOWN OF CALEDON
Environmental Policy Areas
0 2 4
3.5 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MANDATE
Positioned at the headwaiters of both the Credit River and the Humber River Systems, and
at the juxtaposition of the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment Area,
Caledon has assumed, through extensive environmental research and policy formulation,
a strong leadership, and participatory role in environmental protection and management.
Caledon has recently prepared and adopted leading edge environmental policies, and has
a very active volunteer environmental advisory group. In partnership with the
Conservation Authorities, Caledon continues to either initiate or support a significant
number of critical watershed and subwatershed studies (e.g. The Humber Watershed
Strategy and the Credit River Subwatershed # 19 Study).
3.6 AGGREGATE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Caledon contains extensive aggregate resources and currently includes over 20 licensed
pit areas spread over 3,000 acres, The management of this resource area, with the inherent
necessity to balance the needs of the affected communities/environment with the needs
for the resource within the GTA represents an ongoing challenge to Caledon.
3.7 FIRE AND POLICE SERVICES
The Corporation delivers fire/police services to its residents at a very low per capita
cost which provides a model that could be emulated by other G.T.A. municipalities.
The Town of Caledon is proud to have the largest volunteer Fire Service in Ontario. It
is comprised of 210 firefighters, operating from eight fire stations, The Town of Caledon
Fire & Emergency Services has one of the lowest personnel turn over rates for volunteer
fire departments in Ontario. This is due, in large part to Caledons unique country setting,
community spirit, high level of co-operation with its citizens, and through special
arrangements with our partners in the Region of Peel,
Our annual per capita cost today with volunteers is $29.20 for operation and captia1
expense. If Caledon was forced to go to full time staff for fire and emergency, services
the cost would be $92.31 per capita per year.
The residents of Caledon receive Police Services from the Ontario Provincial Police
through a contract with the Ministry of the Solicitor General. The contract includes both
municipal community policing, as well as a fully integrated Provincial detachment.
9
This contract, which acts as a model for other municipalities, is served by the Ontario
Provincial Police, combined with a strong working relationship with the area detachment
and the increasing commitment of volunteers, has resulted in the delivery of a unique
cluster of programs, i.e.:
B
S.A.F.E. (Stop Automotive Fatalities Everywhere)
B
Road Watch
B
Community Policing Committees
B
Victim Services
B
Auxiliary Police
B
Block Parents & Neighbourhood Watch
B
Merchant Alert
3.9 PARKS AND RECREATION AMENITIES
Through fiscally responsible management and exceptional volunteer participation the
municipality recovers 52% of its operational cost.
The residents of Caledon and Metropolitan Area enjoy the benefits of:
B
B
in excess of 400+ acres of park land and fields accommodating in excess
of 100,000 users per year.
more than 6,000 acres of passive recreational land under the jurisdiction
of Metro Toronto & Region Conservation Authority
in excess of 1,826 acres of passive recreational land under the jurisdiction
of Credit Valley Conservation
access to the 35 kilometre Caledon Trailway. First municipality owned trail
in Ontario to be designated as part of the Trans Canada Trail network.
three indoor arenas, two indoor pools, and nine community centres serving
an estimated 600,000 people per year.
extensive community participation in development of parks and recreation
services and facilities.
recreation programming totally co-ordinated and managed by volunteers.
fiscally responsible operations recovering 52 percent of its operation costs.
10
4. 0 MUNICIPAL ROADS
MAI NTENANCE
In 1978 the Public Works Department developed a computerized Maintenance
Management system. This system has enabled the municipality to monitor its unit
cost for various maintenance activities and has resulted in the Town having the
lowest cost maintenance system in the Region of Peel. Caledons maintenance
management system has been adopted by more than 15 other municipalities and has been
taught at the Road School in Guelph by the Ontario Good Roads Association for the past
sixteen years.
RURAL ROAD CONSTRUCTION
In conjunction with the Ministry of Transportation, the Public Works Department has
developed a road construction design standard for rural roads. This new design, which
causes less impact on the natural environment, is
accepted by the residents of Caledon, and could be
with rural roads.
extremely cost effective, widely
adopted by other municipalities
4. CALEDON
)
S KEY ROLE IN PEEL AND THE G.TA.
4.1 PARTNERSHIP IN PEEL REGION
Geographic Caledon has been part of Peel for 128 years. The Villages and Townships
of North Peel have worked consistently and diligently with their Southern partners to
build an infrastructure to first support a largely rural and agricultural County and then a
modern urbarn/rural Region. The partnership has been capable of sustaining the
substantial urbanization of the two new cities of Mississauga and Brampton and the
creation of Caledon and its unique community of communities model of rural,
estate and small community evolution in the context of a large and environmentally
fragile, and very important ecosystem.
The consolidation of the five rural municipalities of North Peel into the new Town of
Caledon was seen as a mechanism for protecting the large rural land mass and small
communities that make up over 1/2 of Peels area. Caledon contains over twenty
communities, the headwaters of the Humber and the Credit, significant land forms such
as the Niagara Escarpment, the Oak Ridges Moraine and the Peel Plain. It is the
repository of significant resources such as agriculture, fresh water and mineral aggregates.
The last two decades have amply demonstrated the wisdom of this reform. Peel has
grown to a population of over eight hundred and fifty thousand with a very rich and
vibrant commercial and industrial area, mostly contained in the two cities of Mississauga
and Brampton. Caledon has also had steady growth but has retained its rural flavour and
has proved to be a strong partner in environmental, resource and agricultural protection
and enhancement. Caledons residential to commercial/industrial ratio today is 86.49 to
13.51 as compared with Mississauga at 65.3 to 34,7 and Brampton at 68.15 to 31.85.
Thus, by necessity, Caledon must be extremely frugal and these numbers illustrate the
need for an equitable capital redistribution.
In the last few years, substantial progress has been made in community planning and
environmental awareness. The community has worked together on common goals and
objectives, while maintaining the characteristic and unique differences within. Caledon in
the context of living with the large urban partners in Peel and the G.T.A.
The Regional roads and Provincial highway system are essential because the Town is
overwhelmed by excessive for large volumes of through traffic, not only from north to
south for employment and shopping, but from south to north for recreation and leisure
opportunities to the north.
Increasingly, Caledon is seen as the steward for Peels substantial natural heritage,
Depending on Peels large infrastructure and financial resources., Caledons role is to
husband and enrich the fragile environment that provides the green space, agricultural
reserve, fresh water and open areas so essential for healthy communities. Caledon is at
the leading edge in environmental and rural community planning.
Caledons significant representation on the Peel Regional Council has been pivotal to the
success of the Region. Caledon has a duality in the Region of Peel arising from the
related urban and rural areas which must be recognized. Working closely with their
urban partners, Caledon has continued to bring a high level of rural and
environmental awareness necessary to maintain a balanced perspective in the face
of a very aggresive program of rapid urbanization and industrialization in Peel.
4.2
Scenic
skiing,
TOURISM AND RECREATION
rolling hills, small country inns, the Bruce Trail, championship golf courses,
the CaledonTrailway, conservation areas, fishing, old time general stores, arts and
craft shops ... these diverse and complementary elements represent many of Caledons
tourism opportunities that span all seasons. It is a fact that in recent years an
increasing number of residents of the G.T.A. favour the scenic values, true character,
natural heritage and other amenities that Caledon possesses= all within a short drive!
12
4.3 ALTERNATE LIFESTYLES
For the urban family wishing to have a different lifestyle Caledon offers an unparall
rural choice in a setting which is dominated by the Niagara Escarpment, Oak Rid
Moraine, Peel Plain and the Humber and Credit Rivers. The growth centres of Bol
Caledon East and Mayfield West, offer a wide range of housing types with employm
opportunities both locally and in surrounding areas. For people preferring a more secl
rural lifestyle many diverse opportunities are to be found in Caledons six villages, r
estate residential areas and planned retirement communities, Caledon is a communi
communities complementing the diversity of lifestyles.
4.4 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Caledon contains many diverse significant Ecosystems including the World Biosphere of
the Niagara Escarpment, Oak Ridges Moraine, and Peel Plain, and maintains a critical
role in protecting the integrity of these systems through its innovative environmental
policies.
4.5 HEADWAITERS PROTECTION
Positioned at the critical location of the joint headwaters of the Credit and the Humber
Rivers, the Town continues to be actively involved in the protection of these headwaters
system which are of paramount importance in providing potable water to an increasing
population, In addition, Caledons environmental management role is imperative to
maintain quality of water from the headwaters to the lake front.
4.6 AGGREGATE RESOURCES
With extensive aggregate resources within the northwest quadrant of the Town, there has
been in excess of 4 million tonnes of aggregate extracted every year to serve the G.T.A.,
In view of the fact that over 3,000 acres of land are presently licensed, it is imperative
that wise management of these resources continue to be practised through a balanced
approach to extraction together with rehabilitation through a master plan.
4.7 HERITAGE RESOURCES
Caledon has a rich history with many well prcserved historic communities, features and
structures. In addition, Caledon has assumed a significant role in
historic resources and today is identifying Heritage Conservation
the protection of these
Districts.
13
4.8 RELATIONSHIP WITH THE URBAN G.T.A.
Caledon shines a very immediate relationship with the GTA urban communities directly
to the south and southeast. The Town has had to evolve a flexible and responsive
approach, largely through responsible policy formulation and development of a
management strategy, in order to maintain its historic rural community base, and to
manage a wide range of urban impacts (for example, traffic volumes and recreation
demands).
5. CALEDONS PERSPECTIVE ON CURRENT PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDED
SOLUTIONS
5.1 MAIN PROBLEMS
GTA is in urgent need of reforms to address the following matters:
B
Fair Assessment for All
B
Accountable Municipal Funding
B
Equitable Taxation
B
Weakening Local Government
B
Lack of Integrated Approach
B
urban Form
B
structural
5.2 GUIDING PRINCIPLES
B
Prudence with Money
B
Business Orientation
B
Promote Economic Prosperity
B
Economies of Scale
w.
Ecosystem Approach
B
Economies of Proximity
14
5.3 RECOMMENDED SOLUTIONS
B
ASSESSMENT
In order to ensure equity in taxation ail municipalities within the GTA must move to
MVA. Since assessment is the basis on which municipal taxes are derived a common
base must be used in order to ensure equity of taxation for all regardless of location.
Consequently, in order to achieve this goal of equity reassessment must take place
within the GTA beginning with Metropolitan Toronto. Once reassessment has occurred
within Metropolitan Toronto the balance of the GTA municipalities could be reassessed.
The greatest benefit and change that could be recommended in respect to any assessment
reform would be the pooling of assessment at a Regional level. This pooling would allow
industrial and commercial assessment growth to locate where it feels its needs and service
requirements can best be met while at the same time allowing all municipalities within
a Region to benefit from an enhanced and strengthened industrial of commercial
assessment base.
If the Province is truly interested in equity of taxation and fair value for services
offered, it must be prepared to commit greater resources to this important task. The
greater the resources committed, the faster equity wilI prevail. Unfortunately, without the
resources committed, the faster equity will prevail. Unfortunately, without the resources
and a firm commitment by the Province of Ontario to assessment reform any municipal
reform contemplated would only prove fruitless and compound even further the existing
inequities.
B
Many
MUNICIPAL FUNDING
municipalities within Ontario have cited the Provincial approach to municipal
funding as being intrusive, ambiguous, impractical and inconsistent. Municipalities have
been concerned for years that the Province has had a tendency to download
Provincially initiated programs to the local municipalities without any consideration
as to the cost or the service delivery implications of those programs. Consequently,
in order to stop the finger-pointing, and in order to ensure that any reform made creates
and results in a positive response from all parties affected, i.e. the Province, municipal
governments, and most importantly the taxpayer, and reform contemplated must ensure
that the following occurs:
B
that all services provided are produced at the level of government that can
do so most economically.
15
.
that all services delivered are in turn delivered by the level of government
that can do so most effectively.
B
that all services provided and delivered are divided between the Province
of Ontario and municipalities such that each function provides clear
accountability to the final recipient, the taxpayer.
TAXATION
Municipal tax reform needs to take place in order to address the serious problems
inherent in Ontarios current property tax system. In particular, changes have to be
made to the current system which forces businesses to assume a larger share of the
property tax burden than homeowners. For instance, a recent study sponsored by the
Donnu Canadian Foundation and the Canadian Urban Institute, indicated that property
taxes on many single family homes are consistent and represent about 1 percent of the
homes true market value regardless of where you live within the Greater Toronto Area
(see Figure 1). However, it was also discovered that owners of commercial property
located in the Metropolitan area pay anywhere from 2.5 to 3 percent of their market value
in taxes each year-approximately two and a half to three times the burden carried by
home owners located within the same Metropolitan areas. However, the same study
discovered that in York, Halton and Peel, commercial property owners pay less than 2
percent of their buildings market value in taxes. A major difference when businesses are
trying to be competitive and survive during difficult economic times.
Although education costs are not part of the Task Forces mandate the fact remains
eduction finance is one of the most important issues that need to be addressed. Direct
costs of education should be removed from the property tax base and a more
appropriate source of funding must be found to eliminate the inequities that
currently exist. In Caledon, education taxes today represent 67 cents of every tax dollar
being levied as compared to 54 cents in 1975, Since 1985, the mill rate component of the
tax bill in Caledon has risen from 30.94% to 69.07% mills with dramatic increases
occurring in 1991, 1992 and 1993 respectively (see Figures 2 and 3). Consequently,
education reform must be a part of any GTA reform being contemplated or considered.
Educational costs can no longer be funded through property taxes, but must be funded
through Provincial revenues. It is no longer a viable option for property taxes to be a
source of revenue for educational programs or purposes.
In return for municipal tax reform, municipal governments should be prepared to rely
much less on provincial, director indirect subsidies for services that are purely municipal
in function and nature.
16
Figure 1
* 3.OC
2.5C
2.00
1 .5a
1.00
0.50
0.00
Property Tax Comparison
1.40
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.60
0.40
0.20
0.00
Toronto
Vaughan Caledon
Oakville
*Represents percentage of homes true market value
Toronto
Vaughan
C a l e d o n Oakville
*Represents percentage of commercial true market value,
I
I
WEAKENING LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Province continues to financially download to municipalities who must deliver
respective services and responsibilities. Since local municipalities are the most accessible
and accountable to the taxpayer the Province should be concerned only with overall policy
and priorities, and should not interfere with the day to day service delivery at the
municipal level.
The Task Force should consider some reduction in the current number of local
municipalities (Peel and Caledon remain intact) and each municipality should be
funded according to an equitable formula. .
B
INTEGRATED APPROACH NEEDED
While it is imperative that any form of reform must redefine the role of the
municipal/provincial relationship, it is as equally important that there be an integrated
approach for the management and delivery of a number of services and utilities that serve
the G.T.A. Examples of where an integrated approach should be used are as follows:
Overall Strategic Planning (municipalities provide implementation)
an integrated G.T.A. Road, Rail and Air Commission to set out strategy for
the movement of people and goods
waste management
provision of water and sewage services
B
URBAN FORM
In general urban form should be in transit supportive (higher density), which will reduce
the amount of greenfield acres taken for development and also reduce the need for
infrastructure requirernents and public spending, In addition, higher densities, would
encourage the Work-Live philosophy, that has been seen to provide major savings in
service delivery costs.
6. CALEDONS POSITION
Throughout this analysis it is apparent why Caledon should be recognized as a local
rural/urban municipality that currently works very efficiently and which provides effective
services over a large area to a scattered population. Since its consolidation in 1974 the
Town has gelled into a community of communities where people are proud of their
identity and their quality of life.
17
On behalf of its taxpayers the Town of Caledons position, following analysis, is to
remain with the Cities of Brampton and Mississauga and the Region of Peel as its
urban partners in a two tier system.
The existing two tier government is envisaged to continue in its present arrangement,
however, overall coordination of G.T.A. wide issues must also be effectively handled.
This can be addressed as follows:
the formation of a G.T.A. forum that comprises representation from all
upper tier municipalities.
the establishment of a Special G.T.A. Cabinet Ministers Committee for
the G.T.A.
7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 CONCLUSIONS
The Town of Caledon was created by Provincial statute in 1974
through the amalgamation of five local municipalities and dissolution
of four police villages. The present Town should remain intact in the
G.T.A. as a viable partner within the Region of Peel and which could
serve as a model for other rural/urban areas of the G.T.A.
The evolving requirements for infrastructure throughout the G.T.A.
dictates that a rural municipality must continue to have an urban
partner to compliment nodal development
If the Province is truly interested in equity of taxation and fair
value it must commit to full market value reassessment across the
G.T.A. together with the provision of sufficient resources to complete
this very necessary task. In addition, there must be an immediate
change in the source of funding for the education system which should
not be funded through the property tax bill.
During the last 20 years Caledon has demonstrated its ability to
respond to the need to improve its efficiency, while at the same time
holding the line on local taxes. This provides a model for the
betterment of local government.
18
With its scenic rolling hills and rich recreation and tourism
opportunities the Town offers the urban residents of the G.T.A. an
unparalleled choice of lifestyles and shares a very immediate
relationship with the G.T.A. urban communities to the south.
.
All services provided must be produced by the lowest level of
government, which can do so most effectively and efficiently.
7.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
Reform should see the Province of Ontario act immediately on the key
questions of reassessment and educational financing.
Reform should include provincial/municipal swaps to disentangle
government functions and grants.
Reform should provide for a new permissive Municipal Act,
Reform should provide appropriate restructuring.
Reform should provide for the continuance of the two-tier model of
government throughout the G.T.A,
Reform should provide for the formation of the G.T.A. forum (not another
level of government) to co-ordinate with the Province of Ontario on
matters of the G.T.A. interest.
Reform should provide for a strengthened role for local government.
No reform should take place until consultation has occurred between the
Province and those municipalities located within the G.T.A. so that
positive, and agreed change can occur.
19
September 1995
C A N AD I AN F EDERA T I ON OF
I N DEPEN DEN T B U SI N ESS
CANADIAN FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS
Toronto
September 1995
T.O. Tax Overload
Report to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Ted Mallett
Senior Economist
Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GTAs Property Taxes on Business are Far outof line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Small Business Says Eliminate one Tier of Local Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Recommendations: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Property Tax and Small Business in the GTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Valuation Dartboard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Built-in Tax Biases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Survey Findings: Weighing the Small Business Property Tax Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Inequality of Effective Tax Rates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ability to Pay in Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Disappearing Tax-for-Service Relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Implications for Businesses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Surgically Curbing Local Governments Appetite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Conclusions and Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
i
. ii
. ii
. 1
. 2
. 3
. 4
. 5
. 6
8
11
12
12
17
21
The Greater Toronto Task Force has been given an important opportunity to chart the future
course of local government in Ontario. The Task Forces work and recommendations will
likely have extensive implications on the development of governance and local tax policy in the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In addition, it will affect other regional municipalities across the
province. This kind of review is long overdue in the minds of small- and medium-sized
business owners in the region. Independent business owners have long held the belief that the
progressive deterioration of the tax system and the explosion in the size and influence of local
government are severely harming job creation and business development potential. They
believe in a return to a principled approach to governance and financing policy. Without a
clear set of policy principles, it is not possible to establish a sense of fairness and
accountability in the system of local government.
Businesses are not only concerned with high rates. They frequently cite problems in the value
for money and levels of fairness of the present system. CFIB members in Metro Toronto are
much more likely to cite high taxes as a concern, but the other problems with the property tax
system appear just as prevalent in the outer regional municipalities within the GTA.
The business sector is burdened disproportionately because of both deliberate and benign
political manipulation of the property tax system. Although taxes are supposed to be based on
market values, the amounts businesses pay deviate far from this principle. Three major
influences converge on the business sector to create a compounding set of distortions:
problems with valuations, built-in biases on tax rates and extra taxes.
GTAs Property Taxes on Business are Far out of Line
CFIBS survey of 1,216 individual members in the GTA collected detailed information about
tax levels and property values on both their business and residential properties. The findings
point out massive distortions in tax levels within the GTA that have resulted from the kinds of
distorted tax practices detailed above. When measured as a percentage of estimated property
value, commercial and industrial property owners across the GTA pay an average of between
double and triple the rale of tax compared with residential properties. Metro Torontos
average effective tax rate on business properties in 1994 was 4.04 per cent, while the
effective tax rate on homes was 1.33 per cent--only one-third the equivalent. Using a
hypothetical business and home property each worth $100,000, taxes on the business property
would average $4,040 per year while the residences tax bill would be $1,330
Although Metro Toronto displays the largest tax inequities, the gap in average effective tax
rates between business and residential properties is also substantial in Halton, Peel, York and
Durham as well. The regions outside Metro Toronto, therefore, are far from being tax
i
havens, as some have often characterized them. The situation is worst in Metro Toronto
because it has had a longer history and therefore more time to allow its tax system to
deteriorate. In time, the situation will likely be just as bad in the other municipalities unless
governments make fundamental corrections.
The property tax system in the GTA, therefore, has reached the end of the line with respect to
the business sector. Increasing tax rates further will only drive more firms out of Metro and
into cheaper business settings. Yet although the regional municipalities can offer lower tax
rates now, unless they repair the fundamental flaws in the system, the same fate will befall
them sometime in the future. The GTA needs a simpler and more cost-efficient system of
government--one that has structural limitations on how much it can rely on the property tax
system to fund itself.
Small Business Says Eliminate one Tier of Local Government
CFIB members see eliminating one of the two tiers of local government in the GTA as the
most obvious way to simplify the system. More than 92 per cent of respondents across the
GTA believe there should be only one level of local government. These strong results are
quite consistent within each of the five regional municipalities. Business owners see a great
deal of duplication and waste of resources in the present style of government. Cutting out one
layer should dramatically reduce the cost of administrative overhead.
Although there is a strong mandate to cut, the next logical question is which one?. Although
not unanimous, it appears the greater balance of support lies in the elimination of regional
governments, possibly coupled with the consolidation of some local municipalities.
The decision to consolidate should reflect the aim to achieve reasonable efficiences of scale in
civic operations and service delivery.
Recommendations:
Small business owners believe the only way to quickly reduce the pressure on property taxes is
to focus on spending cuts. There is no support for reducing taxes on businesses only to have
revenues raised from other sourcestaxes are damaging wherever they are applied. The most
obvious source of savings should come from local government payrolls. The administrative
overload is still very much a factor in government and it should be possible to reduce overhead
significantly without seriously affecting services, particularly in larger centres. Unless
challenged by significant revenue cuts, governments will not have the incentive to seek out
creative operating solutions. CFIB members made it clear that local government functions
should revert to first principlesthe provision of basic policing, fire protection and
infrastructure services. They should assess all other services to measure their true need and
relevance in the economy.
ii
Apart from immediate spending actions to ease the pressure of government on the economy,
several longer term measures are also necessary to prevent a further widening of the gap
between business and residential tax rates. CFIB recommends the following courses of action:
Municipalities should, as a matter of policy, tax properly classes in proportion to the levels
of local services they consume. This principle will bring fairness to the property tax system
and restore government spending accountability to their electorate. Local spending costs versus
benefits would become more directly linked, allowing voters and government officials to
properly assess the true value of local services.
To achieve the above aim, local governments should be required to obtain independent
estimates of the value of local services consumption among property classes. These studies
should have to follow appropriate accounting methodologies formulated by the provincial
government.
In situationsons where taxes versus the use of services vastly differ among property classes, a
very gradual adjustment process should be set in place. No property owner (business or
residential) should face sudden and massive tax shifts. The effect of a gradual shift, in all
likelihood, would mean that under-taxed property classes would not have to bear the full
adjustment. Political pressure would likely mean that local spending restraint would be
encouraged, thereby limiting future tax increases. This approach would also prevent massive
changes in property values associated with sudden tax shifts.
Eliminate business occupancy taxes. Occupancy taxes, which are paid only by businesses
beyond regular property taxes, are extremely damaging to local economies. They should be
gradually phased out over a set period. Meanwhile, local governments should be prevented
from developing or using other business-only taxes such as user charges or variable mill rates
to make up for lost revenues. Ideally no taxes should be increased to replace occupancy taxes.
Require that all reassessments be phased in. The tax system needs stability. Businesses are
unable to properly plan their financial affairs because of the prospect of double- or triple-digit
tax increases at assessment time. Reassessed properties should have their assessment levels
phased in during a 3-5 year process. In addition, no property should have more than a 10 per
cent tax increase as a result of reassessment unless major improvements were made to enhance
market value.
Eliminate or refrain from the use of Within-class reassessments. Unless this technique
serves to reduce distortions in the tax system, use of within-class reassessments by local
governments should be disallowed. Within-class reassessment techniques tend to be misused
for political benefit and they promote a widening in the inequality between business and
residential taxes.
111
Investigate the use of more stable assessment methodologies. Although market values are
theoretically a fair and justifiable way to apportion taxes among properties, in practice they
have severe limitations. Market values are highly subjective and proneto wild swings
according to economic conditions. It is common to find a number of assessment experts
assigning widely different values to the same properties. Working in more constant factors
such as floor space or use of services into tax assessments could help stabilize assessments and
create greater certainty about future tax levels.
If the use of services cannot be embodied in the assessment system, property owners that are
restricted from using municipally provided services should receive tax rebates. Firms that
have seen city garbage collection services withdrawn, therefore, should be allowed the benefit
of lower property taxes because they have to pay extra for private sector services.
Restrict and gradually eliminate the use of variable mill rates. Assigning different mill rates
to different types of property severely distorts the tax system because rates cannot be assigned
in a meaningfully objective way. There are no economic, policy or social rationales that could
justify taxing one type of property at a fixed rate above or below another type of property.
Uniform rates are the fairest way to apply property taxes.
Limit the use of properly taxes in funding education. Because school board spending has been
a major cause of the escalation of property taxation, the province should aim to limit school
boards abilities to dip into the property tax system for revenues. Part of the solution should
include consolidating the number of school boards across the province to save on the
substantial overhead costs they place on the system.
Privatize and contract out local services as much as possible. Although local governments
have the mandate to provide public services, governments themselves do not have to operate
every stage of their delivery. The private sector has repeatedly shown that it can provide
service cheaper and more efficiently than governments themselves.
Eliminate one of the two political levels of government within the GTA regions. Independent
business owners strongly believe two levels of local government greatly adds to the cost of
governance. The question of which level to eliminate is less important, but we should design
new government structures in the taxpayers best interests rather than catering to the status
quo. Any reformulation of government must also have clear cost savings requirements set in
place to ensure that the process does not degenerate into an expensive and unproductive card-
shuffling exercise.
Although CFIB aims these recommendations at reducing the property tax load on businesses,
in no way should they be regarded as giveaways to one sector at the expense of others.
They are aimed at restoring a balance in the tax system that once existed. Small and medium-
sized businesses have been progressively and invisibly carrying a heavy load for the benefit of
iv
local governments and residents. Disparities and tax levels, however, have reached a point
where they have compromised the job creation and investment potential of the business sector.
Property taxes are a justifiable form of taxation, but they have their limitations. If raised too
far or made too unequal, the damage they cause far exceeds the benefits from local
government spending. Restoring balance to the property tax system and reducing the effect of
profit-insensitive taxation, therefore, are actions that would be in the best interests of all
members of the local communities.
v
Introduction
The Greater Toronto Task Force has been given an important opportunity to chart the future
course of local government in Ontario. The Task Forces work and recommendations will
likely have extensive implications on the development of governance and local tax policy in the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In addition it will affect other regional municipalities across the
province. This kind of review is long overdue in the minds of small- and medium-sized
business owners in the region. Independent business owners have long held the belief that the
progressive deterioration of the tax system and the explosion in the size and influence of local
government are severely harming job creation and business development potential. They
believe in a return to a principled approach to governance and financing policy. Without a
clear set of policy principles, it is not possible to establish a sense of fairness and
accountability in the system of local government.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), speaking for its 13,500 members in
the GTA and almost 40,000 members in Ontario, wishes to present the perspectives of the
small and medium-sized business community. CFIB is Canadas largest small business
organization. Membership is restricted solely to individual business owners and they represent
CFIBS only sources of funding. CFIB establishes policy positions through direct member
contact and the use of surveys ensuring an accurate representation of the widespread interests
of the independent business community.
The small- and medium-sized business sector, defined as firms with fewer than 50 employees,
represents 96 per cent of all business establishments in Ontario, 80 per cent of net new job
creation and 30 per cent of total employment. The socioeconomic contributions of this sector
are not just staticsmall firms confer dynamic benefits as well. New businesses are the agents
of change. They help the restructuring of economies to new conditions. Without the
progressive influence of small business creation and growth, economies would quickly stagnate
and revert to a path of decline. Government policy, therefore, should as much as possible
encourage the dynamic influence of small businesses. At the very least, governments should
not be building blockages on local economies that prevent the business sector from generating
wealth for their communities.
Harmful local
B
B
B
B
government influences include:
The disproportionate levying of property taxes onto local businesses,
Government competition with private enterprises,
Excessive regulatory requirements, and
The inefficient and costly delivery of public services.
The extent to which each of these issues can be corrected or mitigated will have direct and
positive impacts on the growth and health of all local communities. Although these solutions
require a reduction in the size and influence of local government and a redistribution of tax
2
loads throughout communities, if adjustments are rational and the process follows basic
fairness principles, the benefits to communities will be substantial.
The basis to CFIBS recommendations comes from a long history of surveying small business
owners on a wide range of local tax and policy matters. Most recently, CFIB completed a
detailed national survey of the membership on municipal tax and governance issues. Findings
with respect to Ontario as a whole are embodied in the report Silent Killer: The Impact of the
Property Tax System on Ontarios Small- and Medium-sized Businesses. This report is
designed to supplement the province-wide findings and provide greater detail on small business
owners opinions and tax conditions within the Greater Toronto Area. CFIB conducted the
survey between February and April 1995 and it collected responses from 1,216 small- and
medium-sized businesses in the GTA. See the Appendix for the questionnaire and past survey
results.
Propertv Tax and Small Business in the GTA
The dominant single local government issue among small business owners is property taxation.
It is not only of relevance in strict dollars and cents terms, it also indirectly determines small
business owners views on a range of other local government issues ranging from methods of
service delivery to the fundamental structure of governments and their agencies. Individuals
who believe the tax system is not treating them fairly will more than likely also be dissatisfied
with other aspects of local government.
Businesses are not only concerned with high rates. They frequently cite problems in the value
for money and levels of fairness of the present system. CFIB members in Metro Toronto are
much more likely to cite high taxes as a concern, but the other problems with the property tax
system appear just as prevalent in the outer regional municipalities within the GTA (see Figure
1).
The business sector is burdened disproportionately because of both deliberate and benign
political manipulation of the property tax system. Although taxes are supposed to be based on
market values, the amounts businesses pay deviate far from this principle. Three major
influences converge on the business sector to create a compounding set of distortions:
problems with valuations, built-in biases on tax rates and extra taxes.
Figure 1
Small Businesss Concerns About Property Taxes in the GTA
I 1
60.0 100.0
Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business, results of 1995 Property Tax Survey
The Valuation Dartboard
The root source of a great deal of the systems problems is the manner in which authorities
value properties for tax purposes. Unlike income levels or the cost of goods purchased (which
are exact measurements), property values are highly subjective. Valuations are nothing more
than best guesses as to the true value of a property. Recent sales of other properties nearby
may provide guidance on market values, but they are not perfectly exact indicators. Errors or
differences of opinion on valuations can result in widely varying estimates. The degree to
which assessed values are imprecise, therefore, has a direct impact on owners tax obligations.
Many properties are over assessed, while many other properties are under assessed. Even if
governments believe that they assess properties properly on average, it is cold comfort to an
individual legitimately claiming that their property assessment is far too high. Because of the
stakes involved, it is little wonder why assessments and appeals are massive and hugely
expensive processes for governments and property owners.
Where there are many similar types of properties within municipalities, such as homes and
small retail establishments, valuation problems are reduced because of the large pool of real
estate transactions to give guidance. The variability of assessments, however, is a far more
serious problem among larger non-residential properties because of their relative uniqueness.
4
The system hits manufacturing and wholesaling establishments particularly hard. In cases
where market values are difficult to quantify, the province allows municipalities to use other
measures to decide worth, such as square footage, rental value, and sales value. Rather than
improving the fairness of the property tax system, however, these approaches often make it
more complex and obscure. Because they all are not net measures of business size, they also
are not sensitive to business profitability. Searching for the right valuation can also create a
tendency for assessors to tax property for its theoretical best use rather than its current use, A
small retailer leasing old space on a property zoned for high-density development could end up
paying tax based on the theoretical developments valuea value that is highly subjective and
dependent on swings in the economy.
Finally, merchants in retail malls are faced with additional issues surrounding the division of
tax obligations. Most provinces require valuations to be apportioned according to rental value.
Most shopping centre developers, however, offer below-market lease rates on anchor space,
meaning that small tenants pay far more tax on a square footage basis than large department
stores. Distortions are widened even further because the tenants also pay the tax on common
space. These distortions are among the chief reasons why small independent merchants have
been priced out of malls and replaced by national retail chains or franchises.
Built-in Tax Biases
Although assessments are major points of concern for non-residential property owners, the
difficulties imposed are largely accidental (i.e., there is usually no deliberate attempt by
government to load extra taxes on businesses). It is fair to say, however, there is a reluctance
to make procedural changes if the result would lower property taxes on businesses and
increase taxes on residents. Therefore, while assessments themselves tend not to be distorted,
the formulas that convert property assessment to tax payable are fraught with deliberate
government policies aimed at shielding the residential sector.
During reassessments, provincial governments commonly allow municipal governments to
reassess taxes within property classes. Unfortunately this practice has led to wider inequities
in the property tax system. In situations where periodic reassessments show declining
commercial property values compared with residential values, local politicians usually opt for
within-class reassessments to prevent commercial taxes from falling accordingly. Uses of
this technique are politically motivated because they allow residential taxation to be kept
artificially low. Metro Torontos last attempt to introduce MVA was just such a case.
Metros proposal ignored the market value shifts between residential and non-residential
properties and instead used within-class calculations. Commercial and industrial properties,
although property values had declined relative to residential values, therefore, were denied a
rightful decrease in their tax load.
5
Another key distortion is because of Ontario municipal act provisions that require
municipalities to set residential mill rates 15 per cent below commercial and industrial mill
rates. This differential is both arbitrary and unjustified considering the other charges and
licence fees paid to municipalities by businesses.
The business occupancy tax is also another regulated distortion on the tax system. These
taxes are set as a percentage of realty tax payable on occupied business space and are payable
by the occupant, rather than the owner of the property. Business occupancy taxes typically add
between 25 per cent to 75 per cent to a business total property tax bill, depending on the type
of business. There are no equivalents to this type of taxation on the residential sector, meaning
that many people are unaware of this extra layer of tax. Tax experts have roundly criticized
business occupancy taxes for being unjustified and inefficient forms of taxation. The historical
ratiomles for these taxes are lost in time, but they undoubtedly evolved at when there was far
more balance between residential and business taxes. Perhaps they were used to offset the
costs of sewage treatment and garbage pick up for the commercial and industrial sector. Now
that few businesses receive garbage collection services from their municipalities, or they pay
surcharges for many other services, the business occupancy tax is a relic of public policy, but
one on which many local governments are addicted. Although governments have often agreed
that this form of taxation is unfair, they cite local governments dependence on the revenues as
a suitable rationale to retain the tax. Where abolishing business occupancy taxes have been
proposed, governments want simply to transfer them onto the regular non-residential property
tax basein effect, proposing to substitute one unfair tax with another.
Survey Findings: Weighing the Small Business Property Tax Load
CFIBS survey collected detailed information about tax levels and property values from
individual members on both their business and residential properties. The findings point out
massive distortions in tax levels within the GTA that have resulted from the kinds of distorted
tax practices detailed above. When measured as a percentage of estimated property value,
commercial and industrial property owners across the GTA pay an average of between
double and triple the rate of tax compared with residential properties. Metro Torontos
average effective tax rate (see note) on business properties in 1994 was 4.04 per cent, while
the effective tax rate on homes was 1.33 per cent--only one-third the equivalent. Using a
hypothetical business and home property each worth $100,000, taxes on the business property
would average $4,040 per year while the residences tax bill would be $1,330 (see Figure 2).
Note:
Effective tax rates are defined as total realty plus occupancy tax as a percentage of the current
market value of a property. Market values are estimates given by the business owners
themselves. Taxes on the respondents own homes were used as the benchmark for residential
Ineffective rates.
6
Figure 2
Annual Property Taxes per $100,000 of Property Value, by Region
Although Metro Toronto displays the largest tax inequities, the gap in average effective tax
rates between business and residential properties is substantial in all other municipalities. The
regions outside Metro Toronto, therefore, are far from being tax havens, as some have often
characterized them. These findings also make it clear that the solution proposed by the Metro
Board of Trade and others to lower business taxation in Metro and increase business tax levels
on the other regions does not address the real problems in the system. Property taxes are
punishingly high on businesses in all regions. The situation is worst in Metro Toronto because
it has had a longer history and therefore more time to allow its tax system to deteriorate. In
time, the situation will likely be just as bad in the other municipalities unless governments
make fundamental corrections. The only real solution is to gradually reduce the tax gap
between residential and business properties so that we restore equity. The policy questions,
therefore, should centre on how we can achieve balance, rather than we should achieve
balance.
Inequality of Effective Tax Rates
The above results show that taxes on business properties far exceed taxes on residential
properties on average. Another troubling feature of todays system is how governments apply
taxes unequally across different properties. Huge variations exist--some businesses pay
effective tax rates in the one-to-two per cent range, while many others pay effective rates
many times higher (see Figure 3). In comparison, effective tax rates on homes in the GTA are
tightly groupedalmost six out of 10 respondents reported that taxes on their homes are
between 1.00 per cent and 1.49 per cent of property value, while no one reported residential
effective tax rates greater than 2.50 per cent. Among business properties, only 13 per cent had
effective tax rates in the 1.00-to-l .49 per cent range, while more than half (57 per cent) had
rates exceeding 2.5 per cent.
No resident, therefore, pays tax levels that are typical within the business sectorfor obvious
reasons, no local government could withstand the political pressure of imposing taxes at
$2,500 to $8,000 per $100,000 of a households value. Yet governments have thought little of
imposing these absurd levels of taxation on businesses. When taxed at these rates, no one can
blame businesses for moving or seeking assessment appeals.
Figure 3
Range of Effective Property Tax Rates in the GTA, Business and Residential
60
50
10
0
These findings highlight the concerns that business properties are much more difficult to value
than homes. Valuations are highly subjective and require many comparable properties and
actual real estate transactions to have any reasonable levels of accuracy. Under a market value
system, one can never completely solve this problem--it can be only mitigated by limiting the
use of property taxes as a source of government revenues.
These findings also point out that reassessments affect business properties far more than
residential properties. Any tax shifts, therefore, would be massive no matter whether
governments apply within-class reassessments or proper across-class reassessments. A main
problem of typical reassessments is that they are immediate, with no phasing-in measures.
Although residential tax shifts received the main attention during Metros latest reassessment
attempt, we show that tax-shift problems are many-times less than those faced by business
owners.
Property tax variations, therefore, create significant artificial advantages and disadvantages
within local economies and play havoc with commercial real estate markets. Reducing these
disparities would go a long way toward improving financial certainty and stability in local
economies.
Ability to Pay in Perspective
A lasting, but inaccurate justification of imposing higher property taxes on businesses has been
the belief that businesses are better able to afford it. This opinion would come naturally if
ones view of a typical business enterprise is a multinational manufacturer or a tenant in a
modern downtown office building. In reality, however, the business sector is not so easily
characterized. Most businesses are very small; 75 per cent of all firms in Canada employ five
people or fewer.
1
In addition, small business owners are far from well to do. Average earnings
of business owners are typically below those of employees. According to Statistics Canada's
annual surveys on income distributions, the median family earnings of employers and own-
account business owners was $40,000 in 1993, compared with median earnings of $55,000 for
families headed by paid employees.
2
In addition, the earnings of small business owners are
directly linked to their costs of doing business because they have little control over the prices
they can charge. The more that governments rely on profit-insentive taxation such as property
tax (and payroll taxes), the more they erode the hard earned earnings potential of a vitally
important economic resource. Governments should be encouraging risk-taking entrepreneurial
endeavors, not taxing them out of existence.
The fact that property taxes are deductible against business income is not reason enough to
claim that businesses can afford high taxes. The Corporate tax rate on small business income is
about half the regular corporate tax rate, so the inferred deductibility benefit for small firms is
half that for large businesses. Moreover, if a firm is losing money, deductibility is of no
benefit at allthey must pay the property taxes regardless. Residential property owners also
receive substantial tax assistance in tax-free capital gains on principal homes, a benefit not
available on business properties. The deductibility argument also implies that nothing is wrong
in having local property tax policies designed to counteract or offset the aims of income tax
9
policies. The corporate and personal income tax systems recognize that the taxation of gross
earnings instead of net earnings would have ruinous implications on an economys competitive
position. Because property taxes are levies on gross business operations (ie., total property
costs), high tax levels have the same harmful effects on the economy.
Some have also cited the businesss perceived ability to increase prices to absorb higher taxes
and other input costs as a justification for the higher load. The impact of the recession and the
arrival of intense competition from low cost producers and service businesses should
effectively finish the use of this rationale. In competitive environments, high fixed taxes
cannot get passed on through prices because competitors in low tax jurisdictions can undercut.
The only other methods to pass on the costs are through a combination of reduced employer
returns (which are already low), reduced employee wages and reduced capital investment.
Each option for the passing through of property taxes ultimately costs the economy.
Property taxes affect no sector of the business community more than small businesses. The
survey show that only half of the GTAs firms with fewer than five employees earned a profit
in 1994 (see Figure 4). Fully one-quarter of these firms are losing money, while the remaining
share is just breaking even. Although profitability improves among medium-to-larger-sized
firms, the results clearly show that businesses are limited in what they can pay in profit-
insensitive taxes.
Figure 4
Business Profitability in the GTA in 1994, by Size of Firm
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0 80.0 100.0
% response
O Break- even B L o s s
i
10
Comparing taxes paid with sales levels also gives insight into the burden of taxation within
various municipalities. The tax/sales ratio shows how much of the revenue stream a business
must devote to local taxes. Although not an ability to pay measure (because sales levels do not
reflect profitability), the tax/sales ratio is a good indicator of the sensitivity of particular types
of firms to tax changes. In cases where tax reassessments substantially alter tax bills, they will
affect businesses with high tax/sales ratios far more seriously than firms with low ratios.
Where one can expect that the mix of businesses is essentially the same (across regions, for
example), comparing the tax/sales ratios becomes a sufficiently good proxy measure for "tax
burden.
Figure 5 shows that survey respondents in Metro Toronto paid an average 1.9 per cent of total
sales in property taxes in 1994, well above levels found in any of the other municipalities.
Durham businesses were the next highest on the list, paying the equivalent of 1.6 per cent,
while firms in Peel, Halton and York paid an average of 1.2 to 1.3 per cent. Not including the
already substantial tax premium businesses pay compared with residential properties,
therefore, a further 20-to-60 per cent tax disadvantage exists in Metro Toronto.
Figure 5
Business Realty and Occupancy Tax as a Percentage of Total Sales, by Region
2.0000
1.5000
0.5000
0.0000
Toronto Durham Peel Halton York
11
The Disappearing Tax-for-Service Relationship
The imbalance highlights many problems experienced by businesses between the taxes a firm
pays compared with the services they receive from local governments. Often, the two are
moving in opposite directions-taxes on commercial properties rise, while services to
commercial properties fall. One often observes that when local finances get tight, the first
reaction of government is to increase tax on businesses and/or reduce services to businesses.
Many municipalities have withdrawn garbage collection services from business properties,
forcing owners to pay for private sector haulers. Governments also often price sewage
treatment services, water and public utility charges advantageously for residents, but at a
premium for business customers. Development charges and special assessments, to make
developers contribute to municipal infrastructure, have also become more common.
Many independent studies over the years have concluded that Canadian businesses receive
fewer benefits from local government services than the residential sector, yet their tax load is
far higher.
3
A detailed study of the consumption of tax-supported city services for the City of
Vancouver, for example, showed that although local businesses paid 60.1 per cent of all
property taxes, they only consumed 29.1 per cent of city services. Put another way,
Vancouvers businesses paid $2.07 in tax for every $1 they received in services, while
residents paid only $0.56 in tax for every $1 in services received.
4
These findings could no
doubt be duplicated in any other city within the GTA.
This style of taxation also encourages excessive local government spending because it does not
make residents aware of the full costs of government services .
5
Finding public support for a
service among those who do not have to pay for it is easy. Observing would be insightful how
many essential public services would become low priority if the chief benefactors had to pay
most of the costs. Had the property tax system evolved in a more balanced way, therefore,
local governments would no doubt be far leaner than they are today.
These trends tend to be a result of the desire among local councils to cater to their electorate.
Political considerations, therefore, appear to have had a stronger influence on the property tax
system than the need for fair and balanced policy. Unfortunately, huge long-term costs are
associated with catering to short-term political needs. By continuing to load up on profit-
insensitive property taxes, businesses become less and less able to ride out economic swings.
They are also less able to create local jobs or invest in new plant and equipment because it
exposes them to even more taxation. Most important, it puts firms in high-tax jurisdictions at a
substantial competitive disadvantage.
Although protecting residents from the full cost of providing government services make them
better off in the short run, undermining the ability of the business community to produce local
jobs does far more long-term damage. The situation reaches the point where it becomes
worthwhile for firms to move to lower-cost jurisdictions. Municipalities are then suddenly
faced with a shrinking tax base on which to fund themselves. Increasing the taxes on the
12
remaining residents and businesses only makes the outflow worse. The only option is to
significantly cut government spending and curtail servicesa wrenching process if it has to be
accomplished suddenly.
Implications for Businesses
The result of the ad hoc application of taxation policies and principles across the region has
resulted in a property tax system that is highly fragmented and distorted-it would be a stretch
to call it a system at all. Moreover, the problems are cumulative in mature for the business
sector. Elevated assessments, higher tax rates and additional taxes combine in a compounding
fashion to create extremely high average tax loads on businesses. The variability of tax
conditions and the almost random nature of taxes, however, results in some property owners
paying much more, while others pay much less than what is typical. This situation leads to
widespread confusion and general distrust because no one is able to judge if the level of taxes
they pay is justified. Instead of being considered an integral part of the local socioeconomic
fabric, governments have regarded the business sector as an exploitable resource to be mined
whenever they needed more money. Because of the high effective taxes placed on it, the
commercial and industrial assessment base began to be treated like a possession of
government, to be hoarded and protected because of its apparent richness. Unfortunately the
business tax base, as with any renewable resource exploited too much, ultimately disappears.
Surgically Curbing Local Governments Appetite
The property tax system in the GTA has reached the end of the line with respect to the
business sector. Increasing tax rates further will only drive more firms out of Metro and into
cheaper business settings. Yet although the regional municipalities can offer lower tax rates
now, unless they repair the fundamental flaws in the system, the same fate will befall them
sometime in the future. The GTA needs a simpler and more cost-efficient system of
government--one that has structural limitations on how much it can rely on the property tax
system to fund itself.
CFIB members see eliminating one of the two tiers of local government in the GTA as the
most obvious way to simplify the system. More than 92 per cent of respondents across the
GTA believe there should be only one level of local government (see Figure 6). These strong
results are quite consistent within each of the five regional municipalities. Business owners see
a great deal of duplication and waste of resources in the present style of government. Cutting
out one layer should dramatically reduce the cost of administrative overhead.
13
of decided responses. The undecided account for three to 12 per cent of total response.
Source: Canadian Federation of Independent Business, results of 1995 Property Tax Survey.
The danger with these kinds of results is in the possibility of the issue becoming polarized.
Although almost all can agree on the need to go back to a single-tiered structure, strong
interests on either side could bog down the entire process to the point of killing any real
progress. The question of which government to cut is much less important than the question
in
of
14
whether to cut one level at all. Taxpayers can likely realize significant cost savings and
efficiency gains with both approaches and that either one would be an improvement over
todays system. It would be a shame to have attention turned away from the big picture by
narrowly defined squabbling or battles over turf. It is unlikely that local governments will be
able to redefine themselves, given their substantial built-in vested interests. Solutions,
therefore, will have to be set by the provincial government.
One of the traditional selling points of regional government has been its consolidation of
certain local services. One need not throw these kinds of benefits away in choosing to cut out
the top layer. Specific services functions such as public transit, utilities, policing, fwe
departments and school boards can be setup region-wide. As long as their terms of reference
and operating principles are specific and controlled, it would be preferable than setting up
duplicate agencies in each municipality.
Figure 7
Small Business Views on Which Level of Local Government to Eliminate
Ha/ton
Toronto
15
Although stating it in principle seems easy, it is by no means automatic that cost savings
would result from a government consolidation exercise. If goals and limits are not set and
followed, there is every possibility that a new single-tiered government could end up just as
expensive and inefficient as the existing system. Government consolidation must have, as one
of its basic requirements, a contract with its taxpayers that property taxes will be reduced by
a set amount. The only way to achieve innovative solutions to government structural
problems, and to shake it from its comfortable ways, is to turn off the revenue tap. It has been
too easy in the past to go to the tax system to fund improvements in government. This round
of improvements must take a new route.
The desire among small business owners to streamline government is well represented in the
survey findings. It is no surprise that more than 90 per cent of businesses in the GTA would
like their property taxes frozen in the coming budget year. Although it is self-evident that any
rational taxpayer would favour a tax freeze over a tax increase, the collective set of findings
from this survey more than justify the business sectors call for tax relief. Of those who would
like to see a tax freeze, most believe local governments should achieve it through spending
cuts (see Figure 8).
Figure 8
How to Fund Tax Cuts or Tax Freezes on Businesses
16
More than 80 per cent of respondents favour spending cuts, while another 23 to 26 per cent
believe governments should combine cuts with some revenue increases. Relatively few (17 to
20 per cent) business owners would like to see user fee increases because experience suggests
that fees tend to be applied far more often and in heavier doses on the business community, on
top of the high property taxes they already pay. In comparison, very few respondents are
willing to see tax increases on the residential sector, or additional program funding sought
from the provincial government.
When asked where spending cuts would be most appropriate, members responded with a list of
clear priorities. Business owners believe local governments should get back to basics and
concentrate only on the most important public services. According to the respondents, nearly
all areas of local government spending should have at least some degree of moderate spending
cuts, but a clear set of preferences emerges (see Figure 9).
Reducing local payrolls, either through job cuts or wage freezes/rollbacks, are seen as the
most obvious sources of savings. The vast majority of all local government spending in the
region is on public sector wages and salaries. Not only do high wages translate into higher
property taxes, small employers find it difficult to compete with governments for skilled
employees. Past CFIB research of 1991 Census data revealed that municipal and local
17
government employees in the GTA, on average, earned about 15 per cent more than private
sector employees in similar occupations. Adding the generous pension benefits typically
available to local employees pushed the wage gap well above 20 per cent.
b
Cutting
nonessential jobs and reducing salaries and wages to private sector norms would bring down
local government costs considerably.
Although many local governments have already cut their expenditures, most business owners
believe the size of local government has to be scaled back further. Having relied on taxes and
transfers to expand the size and scope of local government in the GTA in the past, revenue
options are no longer the appropriate means to solve their fiscal problems.
Conclusions and Recommendations:
The results of the CFIB survey leave no doubt about who pays local governments bills.
Because of deliberate or neglectful use of tax policy, Both the provincial and local levels of
government burden the GTAs business sector disproportionately with property taxes. Taxes
on businesses in the region are, on average, higher than in most other major municipalities,
while distortions, ambiguities and inequities are among the countrys worst. In its present
form, the GTAs property tax system violates the fundamental rules of tax fairness because
governments commonly tax similar properties at vastly different rates. Three main conclusions
emerge from the survey findings:
1. Business property taxation far exceeds residential taxation.
2. Variations in tax loads among businesses are hugeeven among similar types of
firms in the same municipalities.
3. Small businesses are more exposed to property taxes and problems in the system
compared with larger firms.
The survey found that the effective rates of tax (tax as a proportion of property value) on
business properties are, on average, two- to three-times more than the effective tax rates on
residential properties. Because all the factors that have contributed to these imbalances persist,
in all likelihood problems will progressively get worse unless something is done. With massive
cuts in provincial transfers on the horizon, there is a likely prospect of equally massive
increases in property taxes as local governments scramble to find the difference.
Unfortunately, because of the present state of the tax system, business would be forced again
to shoulder a disproportionate share of the load. Therefore at a time when we should look
upon the private sector to create more jobs to absorb the public sector cuts, their hands will be
tied because of the extra tax load.
Small business owners believe the only way to quickly reduce the pressure on property taxes is
to focus on spending cuts. There is no support for reducing taxes on businesses only to have
18
revenues raised from other sourcestaxes are damaging wherever they are applied. The most
obvious source of savings should come from local government payrolls. The administrative
overload is still very much a factor in government and it should be possible to reduce overhead
significantly without seriously affecting services, particularly in larger centres. Unless
challenged by significant revenue cuts, governments will not have the incentive to seek out
creative operating solutions. CFIB members made it clear that local government functions
should revert to frost principlesthe provision of basic policing, fire, protection and
infrastructure services. They should assess all other services to measure their true need and
relevance in the economy.
Apart from immediate spending actions to ease the pressure of government on the economy,
several longer term measures are also necessary to prevent a further widening of the gap
between business and residential tax rates. CFIB recommends the following courses of action:
Municipalities should, as a matter of policy, tax property classes in proportion to the levels
of local services they consume. This principle will bring fairness to the property tax system
and restore government spending accountability to their electorate. Local spending costs versus
benefits would become more directly linked, allowing voters and government officials to
properly assess the true value of local services.
To achieve the above aim, local governments should be required to obtain independent
estimates of the value of local services consumption among property classes. These studies
should have to follow appropriate accounting methodologies formulated by the provincial
government.
In situations where taxes versus the use of services vastly differ among property classes, a
very gradual adjustment process should be set in place. No property owner (business or
residential) should face sudden and massive tax shifts. The effect of a gradual shift, in all
likelihood, would mean that under-taxed property classes would not have to bear the full
adjustment. Political pressure would likely mean that local spending restraint would be
encouraged, thereby limiting future tax increases. This approach would also prevent massive
changes in property values associated with sudden tax shifts.
Eliminate business occupancy taxes. Occupancy taxes, which are paid only by businesses
beyond regular property taxes, are extremely damaging to local economies. They should be
gradually phased out over a set period. Meanwhile, local governments should be prevented
from developing or using other business-only taxes such as user charges or variable mill rates
to make up for lost revenues. Ideally no taxes should be increased to replace occupancy taxes.
Require that all reassessments be phased in. The tax system needs stability. Businesses are
unable to properly plan their financial affairs because of the prospect of double- or triple-digit
tax increases at assessment time. Reassessed properties should have their assessment levels
phased in during a 3-5 year process. In addition, no property should have more than a 10 per
19
cent tax increase as a result of reassessment unless major improvements were made to enhance
market value.
Eliminate the use of Within-class reassessments. Unless this technique serves to reduce
distortions in the tax system, use of within-class reassessments by local governments should
be disallowed. Within-class reassessment techniques tend to be misused for political benefit
and they promote a widening in the inequality between business and residential taxes.
Investigate the use of more stable assessment methodologies. Although market values are
theoretically a fair and justifiable way to apportion taxes among properties, in practice they
have severe limitations. Market values are highly subjective and prone to wild swings
according to economic conditions. It is common to find a number of assessment experts
assigning widely different values to the same properties. Working in more constant factors
such as floor space or use of services into tax assessments could help stabilize assessments and
create greater certainty about future tax levels.
If the use of services cannot be embodied in the assessment system, property owners that are
restricted from using municipally provided services should receive tax rebates. Firms that
have seen city garbage collection services withdrawn, therefore, should be allowed the benefit
of lower property taxes because they have to pay extra for private sector services.
Restrict and gradually eliminate the use of variable mill rates. Assigning different mill rates
to different types of property severely distorts the tax system because rates cannot be assigned
in a meaningfully objective way. There are no economic, policy or social rationales that could
justify taxing one type of property at a fixed rate above or below another type of property.
Uniform rates are the fairest way to apply property taxes.
Limit the use of property taxes in funding education. Because school board spending has been
a major cause of the escalation of property taxation, the province should aim to limit school
boards abilities to dip into the property tax system for revenues. Part of the solution should
include consolidating the number of school boards across the province to save on the
substantial overhead costs they place on the system.
Privatize and contract out local services as much as possible. Although local governments
have the mandate to provide public services, governments themselves do not have to operate
every stage of their delivery. The private sector has repeatedly shown that it can provide
service cheaper and more efficiently than governments themselves.
Eliminate one of the two political levels of government within the GTA regions. Independent
business owners strongly believe two levels of local government greatly adds to the cost of
governance. The question of which level to eliminate is less important, but we should design
new government structures in the taxpayers best interests rather than catering to the status
quo. Any reformulation of government must also have clear cost savings requirements set in
20
place to ensure that
shuffling exercise.
the process does not degenerate into an expensive and unproductive card-
Although CFIB aims these recommendations at reducing the property tax load on businesses,
in no way should they be regarded as giveaways to one sector at the expense of others.
They are aimed at restoring a balance in the tax system that once existed. Small and medium-
sized businesses have been progressively and invisibly carrying a heavy load for the benefit of
local governments and residents. Disparities and tax levels, however, have reached a point
where they have compromised the job creation and investment potential of the business sector.
Property taxes are a justifiable form of taxation, but they have their limitations. If raised too
far or made too unequal, the damage they cause far exceeds the benefits from local
government spending. Restoring balance to the property tax system and reducing the effect of
profit-insensitive taxation, therefore, are actions that would be in the best interests of all
members of the local communities.
Notes
1. Statistics Canada, Small Business and Special Surveys Division, Employment Dynamics,
Business Size and Life Status.
2. Statistics Canada, Income Distributions by Size in Canada, 1991, Catalogue 13-207,
(December 1992)
3. Harry M. Kitchen and Enid Slack, Business Property Taxation, Government and
Competitiveness Project Paper 93-24, School of Policy Studues, Queens University, (Kingston:
1993), p. 24.
4. City of Vancouver, Study of Consumption of Tax-supported City Services, KPMG
Management Consultants, (Vancouver: March 1995), p. 29.
5. Harry M. Kitchen, Property Taxation in Canada, Canadian Tax Paper No. 92, Canadian Tax
Foundation, (Toronto: 1991), p. 64.
6. Canadian Federation of Independent Business, Wage Watch: Measurement of the Public
Sector/Private Sector Wage Gap, (Toronto: November 1993).
21
Appendix
This survey is designed to identify the opinions and concerns of CFIB members on property tax and local
government issues in Canada. The results will give us valuable data needed to act aggressively on your
behalf. As always. all information you provide will be kept strictly confidential.
This Member I.D. No. can be found in the bottom right-hand corner of your Mandate Ballo~.
Example: 00064509
0
Instructions: Please circle answer as shown. 1.
Taxes and Costs
The following questions ask for specific detail on taxes, costs and property values. We recognize that this
information is extremely sensitive. Information provided will be kept highly confidential and will only be
used to make generalized comparisons.
8) Is your business property owned by you/your firm, or is it leased? (Circle one)
1. Owned
2. Leased/rented (Go to Q.11)
3 2
9) If you own your business property, please give its approximate market value (Give dollar value, or
? if unsure)
$
3 3 -4 0
10) If you were to attempt to sell your property, how easy would it be to find a buyer willing to pay a fair
price? (Circle one)
1. Would be very easy to find a buyer
3. Would be difficult to find a buyer
4 1
2. Would be likely to find a buyer
4. Would be impossible to find a buyer
11) If you rent or lease your property, please give your 1994 annual rental/lease costs not including
taxes (Give dollar amount)
Lease/rental costs of $ per year
4247
12) Did your business make a profit or loss in 1994? (Circle one)
1. Profit
3. Break-even
4 8
2. Loss 4. Dont know
13) How much in property taxes, occupancy taxes and other surcharges did you pay for your property
14
in 1994? (Give dollar values)
$ in realty tax (including education levy if applicable)
4 9 -5 5
$ in business occupancy tax (if applicable)
5642
$ in other local taxes, licence fees or surcharges
63+9
If vou own your home, what were the local taxes you paid in 1994 as a percentage of its estimated
. ,
.
market value? (Give percentagefor example, if-you-think your home is worth $150,000 and you
paid $2,000 in property taxes, you would indicate 1.3%)
1994 residential property taxes were . per cent of homes estimated value 70.74
15) Which of the following local services did your business use in 1994? (Circle as many as apply)
1. City-provided garbage collection 7. Economic development services
2. Public landfill site
7 5 -9 3
8. Zoning or building permits for own
3. Police assistance property
4. Fire department assistance 9. Other (Please specify)
5. Library
6. Business advice
21) Please indicate the relative priority you feel should be placed on spending restraint fo reach of the
following areas of municipal expenditures. (Circle one for each)
Moderate No Not Applicable/
Municipal Spending Area
c u t s cuts cuts
Dont Know
A.
B.
c.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
Police and fire protection
Parks and recreation
Public sector wages and benefits
Roads, sewers and infrastructure
Transit system
Economic development and
promotion
Library services
Other administration services
Other (Please specify)
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
1 0 2
103
104
1 0 5
1 0 6
1 0 7
1 0 8
103
1 1 0
Regional Government
Which of the following best describes the type of local government(s) in your area? (Circle one)
1. Two-tier government-local and regional
111
~ One-tier local government (Go to comment section) 2..
3. Provincially administered area (Go to comment section)
1f your business is in a two-tiered municipality, do you think one level of government should be
eliminated! (Circle one)
1. Yes 2. No 3. Dont know 112
If yes. which method of elimination or consolidation would you prefer? (Circle one)
1. Eliminate regiomd government and retain existing local municipalities
113
2. Eliminate regional government and consolidate some of the smaller local municipalities
3. Eliminate local municipalities and retain overall regional government
4. Dont know
Comments
SOURCE : Mandate 133, Question 1.
DATE : September 1987
QUESTION : Are you for or against a greater provincial share in financing
elementary and secondary education?
BACKGROUND : It has been recommended in Ontario that provincial funding
of expenditures on elementary and secondary education should be increased
from 45% to 60% to relieve the burden on the municipal government. At
present the provincial government is responsible for the tiding of
40%-60% of expenditures on elementary education in the Western provinces
and Ontario, over 80% in Nova Scotia, and over 90% in the rest of the
Atlantic provinces and Quebec (with total responsibility in Prince Edward
Island and New Brunswick),
SUPPORTERS SAY : ARGUMENTS FOR a greater provincial share in financing
elementary and secondary education: municipal property taxes would be
reduced. Property taxes are not a suitable base from which to fund
education, since they do not relate to it, and no direct benefit is
derived.
OPPONENTS SAY : ARGUMENTS AGAINST a greater provincial share in
financing elementary and secondary education: local autonomy in
education would be reduced. Provincial sales or income taxes may
increase. School boards may increase their spending with no resulting
decline in property taxes.
RESULTS : Canada
YES : 54 % NO : 32%
UNDECIDED : 14 %
DESCRIPTOR : EDUCATIONAL FINANCING
DATE : January 1989
QUESTION : Should municipalities be allowed to waive property and
business taxes as a way to attract new firms to their area?
BACKGROUND : At issue is the practice of trying to attract large
businesses to an area by means of property tax abatement and other
municipal incentives. Large firms which publicize their intent to
relocate or develop a new branch operation often touch off a bidding war
among jurisdictions eager to capitalize on the positive economic impacts.
The practice is common in the United States and currently allowed by a
number of provinces in Canada.
SUPPORTERS SAY : SUPPORTERS SAY that the ability to reduce or eliminate
taxes on specific properties is an important industrial development tool.
Businesses that are attracted to a municipality provide employment and
other economic benefits that flow to all residents in the area. The issue
also addresses local autonomy, in that local governments should be able
to pursue independently their own economic initiatives.
OPPONENTS SAY : OPPONENTS SAY that reducing or eliminating taxes on a
specific property is unfair. The practice generates unfair competition
against similar businesses and loads the burden of forgone taxes onto all
other taxpayers. Tax abatement measures rarely generate business, they
only redistribute it from one area to another, with no net gain to the
overall economy.
RESULTS : Canada
YES : 34% NO : 59%
UNDECIDED : 6 % NO INTEREST : 1 %
DESCRIPTOR : MUNICIPAL TAXES; PROPERTY TAX
DATE : April 1988
QUESTION : Should municipal governments contract out more local services?
BACKGROUND : Municipalities across Canada are asking the senior levels of
government for more funds. Federal and provincial governments have told
them to consider alternatives to control municipal costs. Contracting out
services to the private sector is one such alternative approach. To
varying degrees, a large number of municipalities across Canada and the
U.S. contract out such services as garbage collection, waste management,
municipal payroll, street paving and maintenance, traffic lighting and
parks maintenance.
SUPPORTERS SAY : SUPPORTERS BELIEVE that public organizations should act
in the best interests of the public by looking for the best value for
money spent. Contractors are believed to operate more efficiently.
Since most of the administrative and capital overhead would be assumed by
a contractor, a municipality would be better able to lower costs and be
flexible to short term needs.
OPPONENTS SAY : OPPONENTS BELIEVE municipally-provided services are in
the best long term interests of the public. Municipalities must maintain
their operating expertise in order to ensure high quality and make
effective future plans. Contractors may not be able to cope effectively
with emergency situations or financial problems. Incomes paid to
municipal employees are more likely to stay within the community than if
paid to out-of-region contractors.
RESULTS : Canada
YES : 84%
UNDECIDED : 6 %
NO : 9 %
NO INTEREST : 1 %
DESCRIPTOR : MUNICIPAL SERVICES
SOURCE : Mandate 167, Question 1
DATE : September, 1993
QUESTION : Should the system of two-tiered local governments be reduced
to one tier?
BACKGROUND : Rising property taxes and concern about duplication and
overlap of government administration have focussed attention on Ontarios
system of two-tiered local government. Although regional governments were
designed to help local municipalities pool resources, there have been
suggestions that a system of single-tiered local government may be more
efficient.
SUPPORTERS SAY : Supporters say local needs are best met by a single
level of government. To add efficiency, it makes more sense to amalgamate
closely adjoining cities rather than form a second level of regional
government, which can be confusing to the public.
OPPONENTS SAY : Opponents say having two levels of government to handle
regional and local issues makes the most sense. Each level of government
is specialized in the services they provide and elected representatives,
as a result, are more directly accountable.
RESULTS : Ontario
YES : 73% NO : 13%
NO INTEREST : 1% UNDECIDED : 13%
DESCRIPTOR : MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
123 Edward Street, Suite 1210, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1E2 Telephone (416)598-0694
Fax (416) 598-0779
September 27th, 1995
DELIVERED
GTA Task Force
Attention: Karen Pianosi
Dear Sirs:
RE: FACTORS AFFECTING DOWNTOWN ECONOMIC HEALTH
A SUMMARY OF CIPREC INTERVIEWS
The health of downtown areas across North America has been a
concern to policy makers for decades. Most North American urban centres
have suffered serious to catastrophic erosion in the economic and social
fabric of their downtowns. A few, such as Pittsburgh, have undertaken
massive renewal to breathe new life into their cores. None of these has
succeeded without decades of human suffering and economic dislocation
both before the renewal efforts and after the dislocation caused by renewal.
Most metropolitan regions have simply accepted the fact that inner areas of
their urban complexes are economic and social ghettoes and that they must
work with existing conditions, Toronto has been the brightest beacon of
hope in this depressing picture by maintaining a strong, vital, diverse and 24
hour downtown, Its suburbs have grown and prospered as elsewhere, but it
has managed to find the public policy and private investment formula to
strengthen and diversify its core area as well.
There is now mounting concern that the formula has been lost.
Toronto has seen massive disinvestment in the downtown in the past seven
years and the consequent fiscal, social and economic problems have
become visible. CIPREC has expressed concern to the Task Force on the
GTA that public policy is partly responsible for the decline.
CIPREC acknowledges that globalization, market factors and
technological change will continue to cause the movement of some
economic activity from traditional centres of capital concentration,
regardless of public policy, However, the trend is exacerbated when poor
tax policies, inefficient environmental review processes and awkward
planning processes is added to the mix.
CIPREC has addressed these concerns in previous submissions to the
Task Force. In response to the concerns expressed by CIPREC the Task
Force asked CIPREC to provide more insight into the factors that downtown
businesses deem most important to their continued presence and future
investment in the downtown.
This is a summary of the CIPREC response to that request.
It is not within CIPRECS resources to undertake a full survey of
downtown investors and potential downtown investors to determine the
factors influencing downtown growth or decline. Well
specific, comprehensive studies have been undertaken
Boston, Philadelphia, Sudbury, and Atlanta.
regarded, place
for this purpose in
2
Printed on recycled papar
Metropolitan Toronto through its economic development program has
development criteria which it deems important to future economic
prosperity. These sources may be useful to the Task Force. Academic
examination of the topic has led to some interesting summaries of the key
factors that influence investment location decisions. CIPREC drew on two
of these articles
l
in particular to develop a list of potentially important
factors, Arbitrarily defining the downtown as the area bounded by the lake,
Church, Spadina and College, CIPREC identified 7 employers that represent
the key large core businesses and explored with the senior executive
responsible for location decisions their views of the situation in Toronto. A
list of the companies which participated is attached.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Since this was not a scientific sampling of views,
simply impressions gained from key downtown decision
the findings are
makers. While the
imprecise approach reduces the specificity of the conclusions, it should be
noted that the beliefs of key decision makers are the key to the economic
future of the downtown.
All respondents pointed out that they were located downtown
because it was the centre of Canadian capital markets and that regardless of
conditions and other factors they would be where that centre was, There
1
1. Howell, J. M. & Frankel, L.D. The New Role of Cities in Business and the
Contemporary World, Autumn, 1991.
2. Rondinelli, D.A. & Behrman, J. N. Where will High-Tech Companies Invest in the
1990s in Business in the Contemporary World, Summer, 1991.
3
Printed on recycled paper
was little concern that the capital/financial industry would move from the
downtown completely. However, most respondents pointed out that the
core activities required to be at the centre was a small portion of their
Iabour force and that the factors being examined would be critical in
determining what proportion of the work force would remain downtown.
There was wide agreement that the sensitivity to conditions
downtown was greater for companies that were small and consumer
oriented. It was also pointed out by several
was the most mobile sector of the economy
new jobs.
Other individuals interviewed stressed
employing large numbers of women.
commenters that this category
and was the largest source of
safety concerns for companies
Thus, the conclusions arrived at during the interviews about the
relative importance of various factors should be interpreted as affecting
primarily; a) the location of the back office functions of the major employers
(eg. up to 70% of a typical banks downtown staff) and b) location
decisions for small and medium sized companies.
Key Observations
Two factors were regarded as most critical to the maintenance of jobs
in downtown Toronto:
1) The lack of Iabour market access which was cited as a major
reason for leaving downtown; and
2) The total cost of renting space was a major controllable cost
that placed downtown at a competitive disadvantage.
The labour market issue was a universal concern. Employees of
major downtown companies cannot find housing they want (eg. ground
oriented and detached) within reasonable traveling time of downtown.
This inflates the cost of attracting qualified employees to downtown
jobs - and salary costs are the largest controllable cost of almost all
employers. There were only two methods cited to reduce this disincentive
to downtown investment - improved auto and transit access to the
downtown and more downtown detached housing - both of which face
significant fiscal, public policy and market obstacles.
CIPREC has dealt elsewhere with the consequences of the high
property tax levels that are most severe in downtown Toronto. The
attached clipping from The Economist illustrates the degree to which
Toronto is uncompetitive in this area, it was noted by many respondents
5
that location decisions hinge on the sum effect of many cost factors.
Downtown locations tend to be more expensive than suburban ones for
many reasons. Property tax was identified again and again as the most
obvious and least justifiable factor in downtown Torontos relatively high
cost base.
Other Observations
While the respondents differed on many details and emphasized
different points, there was remarkably little conflict among their
observations. For each of the factors discussed, it was possible to arrive at
a perception of that factors importance and
Toronto as seen by the key decision makers
its quality in downtown
interviewed.
The chart attached provides this summary. Again, it should be
emphasized that these results are impressionistic and not scientifically valid.
The general health of the downtown was seen as important to many
employers. The presence of strong cultural and sport industries, the
hospitality industry and good public
of critical importance. A perception
activity and effective transportation
characteristics usually cited.
amenities were generally regarded to be
of public safety, after business
(road & transit) were other key
hours
6
The presence of good
administration and a healthy
universities, being centre of public
retail industry were generally regarded as
desirable but not critical to location decisions.
CONCLUSION
The interviews revealed that major downtown companies are planning
to make maximum use of communications technology to reduce payroll and
other costs. Some of the companies (Banks and Investment Dealers) have
long term (1 O year) plans for reduced downtown space use and out of
province service relocation based on new technologies. However, all
companies interviewed were committed to the downtown core since
sophisticated elements of their business will continue to require direct
personal contact.
The companies were concerned that all levels of government
recognize that there must be continued investment in infrastructure and
services, if Toronto is to continue to be the pre-eminent office and financial
centre in Canada. In order to maintain and improve the health of the
downtown core new investment must be found and the impediments to new
7
investment, such as the high cost of renting space, as a result of the
property tax burden, must be eliminated or significantly reduced.
Attachments
RENTS, OTHER CHARGES AND TAXES IN THE PRIME BUSINESS
AREAS OF 10 OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE OFFICE MARKETS AND
6 IN EMERGING ECONOMIES.
(The Economist August 26th, 1955)
Office rents*
$ per square foot per year, June 1995
200 I
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO A HEALTHY DOWNTOWN TORONTO OFFICE MARKET
DESCRIPTION OF FACTOR IMPORTANCE QUALITY
Compet i t i ve I ncome Tax Level s Hi gh
I
n / a
Compet i t i ve Pr oper t y Tax Level s
Hi gh Low
Ac c e s s t o Compe t i t i ve l y Pr i c e d, Ski l l e d
Hi gh LOW
Labour
Available Appropriate Office Space
High High _
Convenient & Efficient Hub Airport
High High
Conve ni e nt Execut i ve Jet Ca p a c i t y
Moder at e Low
St r ong Downt own Ret ai l Sect or
Moder at e F a i r
A Mar ket Sens i t i ve Regul at or y Cl i mat e
Hi gh F a i r
Official International Banking Centre
Low
Low
S t a t u s
Indigenous Venture Capital Capacity
High High
Excellent Technology Transfer Services
High High
A Strong Intellectual Infrastructure
Moderate High
A St r ong Publ i c Tr ans i t Sys t em Hi gh F a i r
Good Aut omobi l e Access Hi gh F a i r
Excel l ent Goods Movement Capaci t y
Hi gh F a i r
S u p e r i o r N a t u r a l E n v i r o n m e n t Moderate High
A Safe, Well Maintained City Centre High High
Safe Downtown Residential Areas
High High
Good, Safe, Public Education Facilities
Moder at e F a i r
Ample Cultural and Sport Amenities
High
High
A Strong Hospitality Industry
High High
Being A Provincial Capital City
Low n / a
Effective Local Government
Low n/a
Strong Suburban Business Centres
Low High
=
*
*
*
*
*
* The seven factors business leaders rated as important
and
inadequate
in downt own Toronto are highlighted.
9
Questions:
In light of the current challenges and realities in downtown
Toronto:
B What actions can be taken to restore the health of the
downtown office market,
encourage new investment and
discourage the flight of jobs and investment?
B What characteristics,
features or facilities contribute
or would contribute to the attractiveness of the
downtown as an office location?
What detracts from the
attractiveness of the downtown?
B What public policies help or damage the
market and which are most important?
downtown office
10
FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO A HEALTHY DOWNTOWN OFFICE MARKET
11
COMPANIES INTERVIEWED
(1) B R.B.C. Dominion Securities Inc.
Tony Fell, Chairman
A. Douglas McGregor, President, DSMarcil Realty
(2) B
The Toronto Dominion Bank
-Ronald Ruest, Senior Vice-President of Real Estate
-Dave Moore, Vice-President of Real Estate Operations
(3) B
Blake Cassels Graydon
-Jim Christie, Managing Partner
-Bob Taylor, Chief Financial Officer
(4) B Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
-John Doran, Executive Vice-President Administration & CFO
-Andy Kenyon, Senior Vice-President Taxation Division
(5) B McCarthy Tetrault
-Gary Wolff, Executive Director Finance
-Tim Armstrong, Counsel (representing McCarthy Tetrault)
(6) . KPMG
-Allan Makaryk, National Facilities Manager
(7) B Ernst & Young
-Mark ORegan, Regional Partner
12
CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF
PUBLIC REAL ESTATE COMPANIES
123 Edward Street, Suite 1210, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1E2 Telephone (416) 598-0694
Fax (41 6) 598-0779
September 22, 1995
DELIVERED
Golden Task Force
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1E6
Attention: Karen Pianosi
Dear sir s:
RE: REGULATORY DUPLICATION IN THE PLANNIN
G PROCESS
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In this brief, The Canadian Institute of Public Real Estate Companies
(CIPREC) submits that substantial regulatory duplication presently exists within the GTA
planning process. This duplication occurs in both the processing of development
applications, and in the policy-making functions.
The following possible
the planning process are advanced:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
(vii)
- 2 -
solutions to the problem of regulatory duplication in
reduce the number of municipalities (and hence the number of planning
departments) within the GTA;
reduce the number of planning departments within the GTA, by consolidating
the departments at the regional level;
insist on better co-ordination between the planning departments within the
GTA;
eliminate the practice whereby regional municipalities routinely review the
planning decisions of local municipalities;
shift the approval of subdivision applications to local municipalities, so that
one municipality is dealing with related zoning and subdivision applications;
eliminate the blanket requirement that all official plans and official plan
amendments require approval by an additional approval authority; and
shift all policy making functions within the planning process to the regional or
GTA level.
- 3 -
2. INTRODUCTION
The Canadian Institute of Public Real Estate Companies (CIPREC) has
prepared this brief on regulatory duplication in the land use planning process for submission
to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force (the Golden Task Force).
CIPREC is an important voice for the real estate development industry. Its
member firms include most of Canadas large publicly-traded investment and development
companies, large privately-owned real estate companies, trust companies, life insurance
companies and banks. Since its inception, CIPREC has participated extensively in the
discussion and formulation of public policy and legislation affecting the development
industry.
One of the Golden Task Forces objectives is to provide direction for the
future governance of the GTA, including the potential restructuring of the responsibilities and
practices of municipal governments. CIPREC believes that one of the many issues that
should be addressed in any such restructuring is the issue of regulatory duplication in the
planning process.
As described in more detail below, it would appear that:
B
there are 35 separate planning departments within the GTA;
B
these planning departments employ over 1,300 peop1e; and
B
these planning departments have annual operating budgets in the order of
$100 million.
These figures do not include the costs involved in administering the GTA-related planning
functions of the Provincial bureaucracy, nor the costs involved in administering the many
local governing bodies that are also involved in the GTA planning process.
In CIPRECS view, substantial regulatory duplication presently occurs in the
GTA planning process, resulting in delays and inefficiencies in the process, and in significant
costs to governments in delivering their planning functions. As opposed to the typical
situation where governments are forced to decrease levels of service when saving costs,
CIPREC believes that the level of service that governments deliver in the planning process
could be improved by eliminating or reducing regulatory duplication.
-4-
1n the sections that follow, we will attempt to first outline the extent and
nature of regulatory duplication that presently occurs in the GTA planning process, and then
outline possible solutions to the problem.
3. REGULATORY DUPLICATION IN THE GTA PLANNING PROCESS
Regrettably, a coordinated approach to land use planning within the GTA
presently does not exist. To the contrary, planning within the GTA has become fragmented,
compartmentalized and complex, as three levels of government and, more significantly, their
constituent bureaucracies are directly involved in planning administration.
The Provincial tier of planning administration is comprised of a number of
Provincial ministries, most notably the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, and their associated
bureaucracies. The second tier of administration comprises the five Regional governments -
Metropolitan Toronto and the Regional Municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel and York -
and their associated bureaucracies. The third tier comprises 30 local governments and their
associated-bureaucracies.
Each of the 35 GTA municipalities have, to varying degrees, their own
planning departments. As set forth in the enclosed Table 1, these planning departments
employ an estimated 1,300 individuals, and have annual operating budgets in the order of
$100 million.
The figures quoted above and shown in Table 1 are rough figures at best.
They were obtained from the various municipalities, and it is recognized that different
municipalities may include different functions within their planning departments, and that
some planning functions may occur outside of the formal planning departments. Indeed, the
employment and cost figures shown represent conservative estimates of the extent and cost of
the present GTA planning bureaucracy because planning has been very narrowly defined as
comprising only municipal and regional planning departments. The planning function,
however, involves portions of a number of other municipal and regional departments (and
provincial ministries) which are typically involved in the review of development applications
and, at times, in the policy-making aspect of planning as well.
The figures shown in Table 1 do indicate the significant size of the planning
bureaucracies that have developed within the GTA. It should be noted that these figures do
not include the expenses involved in administering the GTA-related planning functions of the
Provincial bureaucracy, nor the expenses revolved m administering the myriad of local
governing bodies that are also involved in the GTA process, such as LACACS or historical
- 5 -
boards, housing authorities, conservation authorities, planning boards and land division
committees.
If the various planning bureaucracies were each performing different and
necessary functions, then one might conclude that there was not much cost savings to be
achieved from reforming the process. However, CIPREC believes that there is substantial
regulatory duplication occurring within the various planning bureaucracies. It believes that
this occurs primarily at two levels:
(i) the processing of development applications; and
(ii) policy-making.
(i) Processing of Development Abdications
The experience of CIPRECS members is that significant regulatory duplication
occurs in the processing of development applications, particularly official plan amendment,
zoning and subdivision applications. This regulatory duplication occurs because development
applications and related supporting material (including required technical reports) are
routinely scrutinized by not just one level of government and its planning staff, but by two or
three levels of government and their staff. For example:
B
B
B
traffic studies - traffic studies are routinely analyzed by a transportation planner at
both a local municipality and an upper-tier municipality, and sometimes
by a transportation plainer at the Ministry of Transportation. While
these planners may have different perspectives (e.g. the local plainer
will study the impact on local roads, and the regional planner will study
the impact on regional roads), it is inefficient for the same traffic report
and all its calculations and assumptions to be reviewed by two or three
transportation planners.
servicing reports - again, it is typical for technical servicing reports to be reviewed by
two or more engineers - a local engineer, a regional engineer, and
engineers at Provincial agencies.
environmental reports
- a myriad of environmental reports (dealing with soil remediation, air
quality, noise and vibration, water quantity and quality, stormwater
management, microclimatic conditions, energy conservation, and other
- 6 -
issues) are typically reviewed not only by the Ministry of Environment
and other provincial agencies, but also by environmental planners at
local and regional municipalities.
- it is not uncommon for heritage issues to be analyzed not only by
LACACS or historical boards, but also by heritage planners at the
Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Recreation or at local or regional
municipalities.
- the affordability component of a proposed residential development
is often analyzed by planners at two or three levels of government, and
sometimes in contradictory ways.
Duplication in the processing of development applications occurs because of
the current legislative requirements and/or practices relating to the processing of development
applications, in particular:
B
the requirement that all official plan amendments be approved by approval
authorities;
B
the practice whereby zoning applications are processed by local municipalities,
but subdivision applications are processed typically by regional municipalities;
and
B
the practice whereby regional municipalities routinely review and comment on
the planning decisions of local municipalities.
Approval of Official Plan Amendments
Presently, every official plan amendment that is adopted requires approval by
another level of government. For example, the Official Plan of a local municipality typically
requires the approval of a regional municipality, and the official plans of regional
municipalities typically require the approval of the Province. In performing their approval
function, the approval authorities and their staff invariably review the same technical studies
reports, and perform a similar analysis as was performed by the local municipality. This
leads to unnecessary duplication of effort.
- 7 -
In CIPRECS view, there is no need for this ongoing approval function with
respect to official plan amendments. The Province can and does exert influence over
municipalities official plans through the promulgation of Policy Statements under Section 3
of the Planning Act. Similarly, regional municipalities can and do exert influence over the
official plans of local municipalities by virtue of Section 27 of the Planning Act, which
requires local official plans to conform with regional official plans.
Some may suggest that, at the very least, a comprehensive updating of a
municipalitys official plan should be subject to approval by an approval authority. Even if
this were the case, the reality is that most official plan amendments are site-specific or area-
specific in nature. Certainly, for these amendments, there is no need for an upper-tier
approval authority.
It is quite common for rezoning applications and subdivision applications to be
submitted and processed concurrently. However, rather than one municipality processing
both applications in a co-ordinated fashion, the typical situation is that the local municipality
processes the rezoning application, and the regional municipality processes the subdivision
application. This inevitably leads to the two municipalities and their staffs duplicating each
others efforts. It would be far more efficient if one municipality processed both sets of
applications.
In CIPRECS view, the processing of a subdivision application is a
development control function which can and should be transferred to local municipalities.
Review of Local Planning Decisions
Aside from the specific examples noted above, regional municipalities
routinely review and comment on local planning decisions, such as zoning amendments. In
CIPRECS view, regional governments should refrain from a full review of local planning
decisions. Most of these planning decisions are local in nature, and do not require a regional
review.
- 8 -
(ii) Policy-making
Many municipalities in the GTA have employees within their planning
departments whose sole or primary function is to develop policies for inclusion in official
plans, or as input into other aspects of the planning process. In other instances,
municipalities hire outside consultants to assist in the policy-making function.
Rather than developing a co-ordinated approach to policy making in the GTA,
it is typical for different municipalities to devote significant resources to studying similar
matters, and to develop similar or redundant policies. For example:
B
Housing Policies - In response to the Provincial Housing Policy
Statement, each local municipality within the GTA has developed its
own Housing Policy Statement, employing in each case different staff
or different consultants. While local circumstances do differ, the
reality is that very similar issues and very similar policies were studied
and developed within each of these policy statements. It would have
been far more efficient and far less costly if one co-ordinating body had
directed these studies.
B
Waterfront Policies - Notwithstanding the fact that the Waterfront
Regeneration Trust has been established by the Province to develop
policies relating to the GTAs waterfront, most if not all of the GTA
municipalities that abut the waterfront have done their own waterfront
studies. These studies invariably produce very similar policies with
respect to matters such as improving pedestrian access to the waterfront
and preserving environmental features.
B
Economic Development Policies - Many municipalities have their own
economic development departments, which inevitably leads to situations
where the Region is marketed in an uncoordinated and disjointed
manner, as recently evidenced by Vaughans City above Toronto
campaign.
- 9 -
B
Industrial/Commercial Policies - Related to the issue of economic
development, many local municipalities develop their own sets of
policies to deal with protection of their industrial base or commercial
structure. The reality is that these policies can and should be
developed in a coordinated fashion at a Regional level.
B
Environmental Policies - Notwithstanding the fact that the Ministry of
Environment is responsible under the Environmental Protection Act and
other legislation for establishing appropriate environmental standards
and regulations, many GTA municipalities have their own
environmental planners, who establish their own sets of standards,
policies or guidelines with respect to matters such as air quality, water
quality, energy conservation, water conservation, soils remediation and
stormwater management.
B
Communitv Services - It is not uncommon for both local
municipalities and upper-tier municipalities to employ staff to develop
policies related to the required level of community services and
facilities to serve new communities.
B
Parks and Open Space - Almost every local and regional municipality
conducts extensive study and analysis in this issue. The result has been
parks standards which vary with every municipality.
B
Demographics - Almost every municipality engages in population and
employment forecasting as part of the process of preparing their
respective Official Plans.
Policy making is required in each of the areas noted above. CIPREC
recognizes that the local context within which policies are formulated varies by municipality,
and that policy-making should respond to local issues and problems. However,
notwithstanding differences in local situations, the appropriate policies do not really change
from one municipality to another within the GTA. Accordingly, it makes little sense for the
policy making function to occur at different municipalities throughout the Region. Rather,
policy making should occur in a coordinated fashion, at a regional or GTA level.
-10-
An indirect result of regulatory duplication in the policy-making aspect of
planning has been a growing need to match expertise, particularly between the local and
regional bureaucratic levels. This phenomenon has occurred, and is occurring, in a number
of the larger GTA municipalities and regions, and is a contributing factor to the growing size
and costs of the planning bureaucracy. Matching expertise is a self-feeding process: for
example, the addition of one specialist at the upper level typically requires the addition of
another specialist of equal value at the lower level.
4. POSSIBLE WAYS TO ELIMINATE OR REDUCE REGULATORY
DUPLICATION
There is not one perfect solution that CIPREC can offer to deal with the
problem-of regulatory duplication in the planning process. Inevitably, the right solution will
depend in part on the manner in which the other issues being studied by the Task Force are
addressed. It is recognized that planning services are only one of the services provided by
governments, and that the mandate of the Task Force covers a much broader perspective.
CIPREC can, however, offer some possible solutions:
B
Reduce the number of municipalities (and hence the number of planning departments)
within the GTA. CIPREC is aware that a number of recommendations are being
made to the Task Force in this regard. If the Task Force were to recommend such an
approach, this would have as its natural and beneficial consequence the elimination of
many planning bureaucracies within the GTA.
B
Reduce the number of planning departments within the GTA, by consolidating
departments at the regional level. Even if the number of municipalities within the
GTA remains constant, the number of planning departments could be reduced. For
example, planning departments could be consolidated at the regional level, and
provide consistent and co-ordinated advice to both the regional government and to
each of the local governments within the Region.
B
Insist on better coordination between the Planning departments within the GTA. Even
if the number of municipalities within the GTA remains constant, and even if there is
no reduction in the number of planning departments, there are clearly opportunities to
11-
B
B
B
B
reduce regulatory duplication. Upper-tier and lower-tier planning departments should
identify all situations in which they duplicate each others efforts (e.g. by each
reviewing the same traffic report), and they should then decide which of the two
would best perform the function.
Eliminate the practice whereby regional municipalities routinely review local planning
decisions. Most local planning decisions do not require any regional review.
Shift the awn-oval of subdivision applications to local municipalities. so that one
municipality is dealing with related zoning and subdivision applications. This
delegation could occur without any legislative changes to the Planning Act.
Eliminate the blanket recquirement that all official plans and official plan amendments
require approval bv an additional approval authority. This would require changes to
the Planning Act.
Shift all Policy making functions within the planning process to one coordinating
body. likely at the GTA level.
Yours very truly,
CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC
REAL ESTATE COMPANIES
Per:
TABLE 1
I
City of Scarborough
I
Planning & Buildings 143
Economic Development 14
Planning 86.9
3,389,336
Planning & Ec onomi c Development 1,039,648
2,443,600
Planning & Buildings 9,%3,700
Economic Development 1,360,500
N/A
York Region
1,869,939
1,232.402
74,798
61,620
TOTALS I 1362.30
PRESENTATION TO GTA TASK FORCE
June 28, 1995
After introductions CIPREC spokesperson to indicate that this is an
informal oral presentation to be followed within 10 days by a written
summary of our comments.
We should advise, that CIPREC has commissioned 2 studies on property
taxes in Canada that form the general basis for our conclusions and
statements and recommendations to the GTA Task Force. We have
provided copies of these reports for your information. The CIPREC Tax
Survey information, a five year history of commercial property taxes in
Canada provides an important window on what has been happening since:
it started in 1988 before the recession and records the impact
of those difficult years.
the asset base $70 to $50 billion is a very significant sample of
Canadas urban commercial business environment.
the summary figures for Ontario and Alberta are in reality the
results of federal/provincial/municipal tax policy decisions on
CIPREC members assets in Toronto and Ottawa; and Calgary
and Edmonton.
We are pleased with the opportunity to meet with the Chair and staff of the
GTA Task Force and assure them of our willingness to work with them
and make available any data or information that they would find of value to
their efforts.
CIPREC OVERVIEW
TO PROVIDE AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE SCOPE AND
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE OPERATIONS OF CIPREC MEMBERS+
MEMBERSHIP
29 Members, National Focus
B
6 are public companies, the remaining 23 are major banks,
insurance companies, pension funds and private corporations.
MEMBERS ASSETS
Total assets at end of 1994-$52 billion (a decline from $70 billion
in 1990)
Ontario assets - approximately $25 billion
Alberta assets - approximately $6 billion
PROPERTY AND PROPERTY RELATED TAXES
- EXCLUDING INCOME TAX
SuMMARY RESULTS OF CIPREC MEMBERS TAX SURVEY 1988-
1992 INCLUSIVE
Total Non-Income Based Taxes, Municipal, Provincial, Federal:
In Canada - increased by 59% from $680 million in 1988 to over
$1 billion in 1992.
In Ontario - increased by 65% from $375 million in 1988 to over
$600 million in 1992.
In Alberta - increased by 17%, from $54 million in 1988, to
$63 million in 1992.
Municipal charges, property taxes, municipal approvals,
zoning etc...
Canada - increased by 42% in total or 9% per year
Ontario - increased by 53% in total or 11% per year
Alberta - increased by 17% in total or 3.5% per year
Development Related Charges
Canada - 13% of overall municipal charges in 1990, 1.5% in 1992.
Ontario - 20% of overall municipal charges in 1990, 2% in 1992
Alberta - 24% of overall municipal charges in 1990, 7% in 1992
(Reflecting the serious decline in development activity in Canada)
Note: In spite of this decline total taxes continue to increase.
Provincial taxes: (includes Ontario Commercial Concentration
Tax introduced in 1990 removed in 1993)
Canada - increased 189% over survey period
Ontario - increased 216% over survey period
Alberta - increased 39% over survey period
Federal Large Corporations Tax
Introduced in 1990 increased total taxes by an additional 6%
Note: In reality the rates of tax growth shown above for Ontario and
Alberta are the results of tax increases on the CIPREC members assets in
Metro-Toronto and Ottawa; and Calgary and Edmonton.
ISSUES TO BE ADDRESSED
URGENT
DECLINE IN THE URBAN CORE, need to:
B
To restructure governance, coordination and management of
the GTA and Environs. A number of options are under
discussion from a single entity, to removal of the Metro level
and re-allocation of its authorities to the constituent
municipalities, to possible arrangements between the two
extremes.
CIPREC favours a lean 2 level/tier government structure for
the GTA and regions that will facilitate over-all policy
leadership and coordination and allow those activities best
provided and managed locally, to be done so without
additional layers of bureaucracy.
B
Disentangle existing financial planning and management
systems to immediately reduce and eventually eliminate
wasteful competitive environment between municipal and
regional governments. All municipalities are the losers, as are
Ontario and Canada. The GTAs and Regions competitive
base must be re-established.
B
The existing three level micro-development multiple review
disadvantages the urban core. eg. Soil contamination requires
3 review levels and penalizes core properties relative to
perimeter lands.
B
Re-invent/restructure the basic fiscal/revenue systems to
establish a fair and equitable property assessment and tax
system for all three property classes.
At the same time:
B
Eliminate historical practice of applying different taxation
rates to different property classes. Residential versus
commercial and industrial and residential ownership versus
residential rental.
4
B
Remove social service/welfare funding from property
tax base.
B
Recognize that the use of the property tax base for
funding elementary and secondary schooling is
regressive.
Taxes Affect Behaviour and Property Taxes Destroy Investment.
In terms of cost and replacement financing for education, consideration of
potential savings/cost reductions, increased efficiency in administration and
use of facilities, as well as, new revenue sources is required.
The Task Force in order to redevelop and maintain the GTAs competitive
business base must make a commitment to finding new solutions to
education funding. Simple redistribution or reallocation of costs across
business will not solve the competitive problem.
In CIPRECS review, consumption taxes are entirely more preferable than
the continued use of taxes on investment which at best influences where
investment will go, at the worst causes investment to flee.
Redistribution of the education component of property taxes over the entire
GTA and Environs will create a blending that will result in the entire
region being disadvantaged competitively.
Commercial property ownership prefers to pay their fair share through
increased consumption taxes, user fees, income taxes and other property
tax replacement options.
Note: Business is a major consumer.
Elevated property taxes hit weak as well as strong businesses equally. The
proposed replacement taxes adjust to lower levels as business declines or
changes with less or no need for intervention.
5
THE PROBLEM
THE PROPERTY TAX WAS DESIGNED TO FUND
BASIC SERVICES TO PROPERTY. IT IS
DEFENSIBLE FOR THOSE PURPOSES.
IT IS INDEFENSIBLE AS THE PRIMARY SOURCE
OF FUNDS FOR THE MODERN URBAN REGION.
AT ELEVATED LEVELS:
1. IT IS REGRESSIVE.
2. IT IS ALLOCATIVELY INEFFICIENT.
3. IT IS MARKET DISTORTING.
4. IT IS INADEQUATELY ACCOUNTABLE.
5
0
IT HAS UNFAIR IMPACT.
6. IT IMPACTS CANADIAN COMPETITIVENESS
7. IT IS INEFFICIENT TO COLLECT.
8. IT IS INSENSITIVE TO CORPORATE HEALTH.
REFORMS REQUIRED
SEVERAL RECENT STUDIES HAVE CONDEMNED
THE PRESENT SYSTEM OF PROPERTY TAX,
PARTICULARLY IN ONTARIO.
REFORMS TO CREATE AN ADEQUATE SYSTEM
OF PROPERTY TAX INCLUDE:
1. RELATIVELY EQUAL ASSESSMENT CRITERIA
2. REMOVAL OF UNJUSTIFIED WEIGHINGS
3* GREATER USE OF FEES FOR SERVICE
4. SOCIAL COSTS FUNDED BY OTHER TAXES
5. REMOVAL OF STATUTORY EXEMPTIONS
ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF FINANCING
SCALE IS IMPORTANT. PROPERTY TAXIS CANADAS
2ND LARGEST TAX SOURCE. REMOVING JUST
EDUCATION WILL REQUIRE SAVINGS + NEW
REVENUES OF $8.3 BILLION IN ONTARIO ALONE.
(MUCH LESS ELSEWHERE)
THE FIRST STEP: COST REDUCTIONS OF EXISTING
PROGRAMS
PROPERTY TAX REPLACEMENT OPTIONS:
1. REFORM EXISTING SALES TAXES
2. A CARBON TAX
3. LOCAL INCOME TAX SURCHARGES
4. HOSPITALITY, GAMING AND ENTERTAINMENT
TAXES
5. LAND CONSUMPTION TAXES
Property Tax Assessment
Market Value Assessment (MVA) is the dominant tax assessment system in
North America and is consistently applied in Ontario with the exception of
Metro-Toronto.
The problem with MVA is not the assessment system or procedure - it
works more or less effectively in a wide variety of situations. The problem
is Metro-Torontos failure, for 40 years, to regularly re-assess across all of
the municipalities on an equitable and consistent basis. No assessment
system will produce an acceptable (to property owners) result in the short-
term. The only acceptable solution is an appropriate transition period or
phase-in over a 5 to 10 year period.
CIPRECS understanding of Unitary Value Assessment is that it is
theoretical with very little application in practice.
We draw to the attention of the GTA Task Force the following
Conclusions and Recommendations from Working Group Report on
Property Tax of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission:
Conclusion #4 Features of a Good Property Assessment System:
simplicity - the system should be designed for ease of
understanding by the tax payer;
clarity, visibility, explicitness - assessment methods should be
clear to and easily verifiable, by the tax payer;
impact on other public policy objectives - a tax should not
have a negative impact on patterns of urban development
and on factors influencing economic competitiveness.
Conclusion #7 Tax Mix and Equalization:
The most effective way to improve fairness of the local revenue
system in relation to the ability-to-pay criterion is to reduce the
level of property tax relative to other taxes.
9
Recommendation #7 Assessment Principles:
Assessments should be updated regularly;
Within a given class of property, like properties should be
assessed in like fashion.
Recommendation #48 Criteria for Transitional Arrangements:
That the broader equity goals of reform must be effectively
communicated and explained.
That local government financial reform must be as
comprehensive as possible, both to ensure that the
dislocation is worthwhile and to maximize the opportunities
for impacts to offset each other.
Shopping Centre Tax apportionment
CIPREC requests that the GTA Task Force include this unresolved
assessment issue in its overall review of the GTA tax systems. During
1994 the government of Ontario, working together with Shopping Centre
anchor tenants, smaller tenants (CRUS) and landlords reached an interim
agreement that provided for a formula which reallocates the benefit
received by each anchor on a mall by mall basis to the CRU tenants. The
Minister of Finance advised all parties involved that Bill 197, An Act to
Amend the Assessment Act had been passed and as a result approximately
$8 million in realty and business taxes would be assumed by the anchor
tenants. Other tenants taxes would decrease by the same amount.
CIPRECS understanding was that this was an interim agreement and that
an appropriate Committee would be established of government officials and
the three parties landlords, anchors and CRU tenants to establish a
permanent solution.
1 0
CLOSING COMMENTS
CIPREC is pleased to have had this opportunity to provide the GTA Task
Force with our thoughts on the issues under consideration, in your task, to
report on the potential for the Toronto region to become one of the worlds
pre-eminent cities in which to live, work and invest.
CIPREC wishes to conclude our discussions with the following summary
comments:
1. The Decline in the Urban Core of the GTA
a Critical and Urgent Issue
Restructuring of the governance of the GTA and environs to a
more efficient and effective form is essential, thus enabling
disentanglement of policy development, planning, management
and coordination including property tax and assessment
policies and systems.
2. A Reduction in Property Taxes is essential to Competitive
Renewal
The re-establishment and maintenance of the competitive base
of the GTA is premised on a comprehensive and economically
based redevelopment of the property tax assessment and tax
regime and a thorough examination of the options to replace
property taxes, particularly the education and social/welfare
components, due to their negative impact on the economy
and competitiveness.
3. Removal of Historical Assessment and Tax Inequities
This is recognized to be a major undertaking spread over
several years. However, it must start as recommended by the
Ontario Fair Tax Commission with a thorough and
comprehensive plan for change. The change to include fair,
equitable and market value based assessment systems, with
equal treatment of all property classes, thereby eliminating the
historical taxation differentials between residential,
commercial and industrial classes; and between owner and
rental residential.
1 1
PROPERTY AND PROPERTY RELATED TAXES
- EXCLUDING INCOME TAX
SUMMARY RESULTS OF CIPREC MEMBERS TAX SURVEY 1988-1992 INCLUSIVE
Total Non-Income Based Taxes, Municipal, Provincial, Federal:
O
In Canada - increased by 59% from $680 million in 1988 to over $1 billion
in 1992.
In Ontario - increased by 65% from $375 million in 1988 to over $600 million
in 1992.
In Alberta - increased by 17%, from $54 million in 1988, to $63 million
in 1992.
Municipal charges, property taxes, municipal approvals, zoning etc...
Canada - increased by 42% in total or 9% per year
Ontario - increased by 53% in total or 11% per year
Alberta - increased by 17% in total or 3.5% per year
Development Related Charges
Canada - 13% of overall municipal charges in 1990, 1.5% in 1992.
Ontario - 20% of overall municipal charges in 1990, 2% in 1992
Alberta - 24% of overall municipal charges in 1990, 7% in 1992
(Reflecting the serious decline in development activity in Canada)
Note: In spite of this decline total taxes continue to increase.
Provincial taxes: (includes Ontario Commercial Concentration Tax introduced
in 1990 removed in 1993)
Canada - increased 189% over survey period
Ontario - increased 216% over survey period
Alberta - increased 39% over survey period
Federal Large Corporations Tax
Introduced in 1990 increased total taxes by an additional 6%
Note: In reality the rates of tax growth shown above for Ontario and Alberta are the results
of tax increases on the CIPREC members assets in Metro-Toronto and Ottawa; and Calgary and
Edmonton.
Sheetl
Year
CPI-Ontario
% Change
(1986=100)
1986
1987
1988
19$9
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
100.0
105,1
110.0
1 1 6.4
122.0
127.6
129.0
131.2
131,3
5.1 %
4.7%
5.8%
4.8%
4,6%
1 .1%
1 .7%
0.1 %
Page 1
130.0 130.3
Towards A Strategy For
Property Tax Reduction
An Opportunity for Action
Prepared For:
The Canadian Institute of Public Real Estate Companies
April 1995
Canadian Institute of Public Real Estate Companies
Towards A Strategy For Property Tax Reduction
INDEX
A) Towards A Strategy For Property Tax Reduction:
An Opportunity For Action
B) Property Tax Reform: A Statistical Analysis
c) Implementing A Property Tax Reduction Strategy
Appendix
An Annotated Bibliography on Property Tax
TOWARDS A STRATEGY FOR
PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION:
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION
Prepared for: The Canadian Institute
of Public Real Estate Companies
By: Gardner Church
York University
April, 1995
TOWARDS A STRATEGY FOR PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION;
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
Executive Summary
Pg.
1
1
Part 1 - The Case for an Alternative to Property Tax
1.1 Evaluation of the Real Estate Value Based Tax
4
1.2 Appropriate Uses for and Reforms to the Property Tax
8
1.3 Alternative Sources of Revenue to Replace Property Tax 12
Part 2 - Developing a Strategy to Reform the Property Tax
2.1 The Need for a Partnership
16
2.2 Municipalities Need a New Tax Base
16
2.3 Potential Partners
17
2.4 Potential Opponents
19
2.5 Conclusion
20
Appendix
An Annotated Bibliography on Property Tax by Abby Bushby
TOWARDS A STRATEGY FOR PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION:
ABSTRACT
This document outlines the need for fundamental reform of
property tax. It does not limit itself to a single perspective.
Rather, it makes the case that the economic, market, social,
fiscal and environmental objectives of our society would be
better served by removing human services and other non property
related services from the property tax. It identifies other
revenue sources which may be more appropriate. It examines the
political forces which would oppose reform and those which would
support it. It concludes that a strategy to significantly replace
property tax is feasible and overdue.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Property tax is the largest uncontrollable cost facing many
owners of commercial property in Canada. In major urban centres
and the areas around them, it has become an onerous, market
distorting cost that in some areas often exceeds the entire rent
flow for the property. The ad valorem real estate tax has been
growing in Canada despite the recognition by analysts and public
finance bodies (such as the recent Fair Tax Commission in
Ontario) that it is a poor tax which fails many of the tests of
good taxation. It is a regressive tax with neither fairness nor
consistency as redeeming features. It is unresponsive to changes
in economic capacity. It distorts business decisions, encourages
urban sprawl, pinches the elderly and is difficult to administer
even handedly.
It is Canadas second largest source of public finances and is
growing. The property tax is the largest, in some cases virtually
the sole, source of revenue for Canadas local government system.
It funds our roads, environmental services, protective services
and in many Provinces,
the lions share of our human services -
education, health and social equity - at the local level.
After trailing the growth in income and other taxes for years,
the property tax has begun to grow in relative importance.
Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of this form of taxation is
that it shows every indication of significant growth in the
future.
Federal and Provincial governments, whose revenues are derived
from a broad and largely progressive tax base, are entering a
phase in which costs are being
"unloaded" to junior governments
and grants and funding to junior governments is decreasing. The
recent (1995) Federal budget offloads over $7 billion to the
provinces and municipalities. Further offloading to local
governments by provinces is inevitable. Local government has
nobody to offload to except the property taxpayer. In time, this
progression will threaten the solvency of municipalities as it
has already affected the solvency of many taxpayers.
In Canada, taxation has been a centralized function of government
- that is it has not been departmentalized. Sources of revenue,
except user fees, are not usually associated directly with the
use of the revenue. Most tax revenue is paid into consolidated
government accounts and disbursed without regard to source.
However, the increasing dependence of one level of government on
a single tax - property tax - raises the issue of appropriate
uses for this tax source.
The property tax has some logic when it is used to fund services
to property such as roads, fire protection, planning,
environmental services. It is less defensible when it is used to
fund general community goods such as recreation, parks, libraries
and animal control which have limited relationship to property
ownership or use. It is completely indefensible and seriously
flawed as a principal source of funding for human services such
as education, welfare, aged care, day nurseries, and health
protection. Local government and residential and businesses
taxpayers would be better served by a significantly altered local
government taxation structure. A combination of fees for service,
consumption taxes and other direct taxes can and should replace
property tax as the foundation of local government finance.
Property tax should return to the role for which it was
invented - funding hard services and other property related
services for which user fees are deemed inappropriate.
Such a change to the structure of public finance in Canada will
increase the progressivity of taxation and better serve our
social service system through a more secure, more predictable and
fairer source of funds for the level of government that will
increasingly be called upon to supply these services. It will
reduce a serious distortion in the Canadian market place, reduce
the tax burden on low income Canadians, and enhance municipal
capacity to plan service levels.
Governments at all levels have long been aware of the sad state
of the property tax as a major source of revenue but have with
few exceptions done little about it.
Efforts to make property tax
fairer have been undertaken in every jurisdiction over the last
decades. Some jurisdictions have removed education and other key
social services from the base. But most, and in particular
Ontario, have chosen not to deal with the underlying problems
with the tax.
3
When all of the analysis and consideration of alternatives is
complete, property tax reform will still not happen without a
concerted political strategy. At its root, the system of taxation
that any society chooses is a function of the political processes
at work in the jurisdiction.In a distributed, technical and
representative democracy such as Canada, justice, fairness and
fiscal probity are often not enough to affect reforms. Political
reforms occur only when a coalition of forces in the body politic
agree on a direction and can satisfy levels of government that it
is in their interest to undertake reform.
No individual group can achieve the necessary reforms itself. In
the words of Candice Bergen its a matter of getting the most
for the least" - the most revenue from the fewest influential
voters. To achieve significant reform in the tax system a broad
cross section of interests that represent significant political
power must together advance solutions that are palatable to
government.
Fortunately, there are many powerful public interests in Canada
which also have reason to support a reform to property tax such
as advocated here. If they are to achieve reforms, they must join
forces. The paper discusses the reasons other groups in society
will be supportive of a major reduction of property tax in favour
of a fairer, more broadly based system. Potential support will
come from: municipalities and municipal associations, real estate
receivers and banks, environmentalists, boards of trade, urban
interests, poverty and social equity advocates, residential and
commercial renters, multiple unit residential owners, tax
theorists and policy experts, single family property owner
groups, cottage groups, seniors advocates, construction unions
and large scale peri-urban land holders.
To attract support from this disparate cross section of Canadian
political society, considerable prepatory work is required. It
will be necessary to build the case for reform with illustrations
of the effect of increased property tax compared to increases in
consumption and user revenue on each of these interests. This
modelling will not be particularly difficult, but will involve
priority setting and targeting strategies.
4
Part 1 - The Case for An Alternative To Property Tax
1.1 Evaluation of the Real Estate Value Based Tax
Very few subjects have been so thoroughly studied and changed as
property assessment and taxation in Canada. Its inception in the
late 19th century was as an extension of the long standing
tradition of allowing wealthy residents to avoid road work
(statute labour) by paying a fee so that someone else would do
the needed work. In its evolution, it has involved road frontage
charges, charges for indoor plumbing, electricity and extra
bathrooms. It has been a square foot tax, an historical value tax
and a market value charge.
It has been a political pork barrel, a
corrupted rewarder of elites, a punisher of political
incorrectness, a source of complex equalization formulae and the
cause of bizarre political events.
In spite of its checkered history, property tax has blossomed and
expanded to the point that it is now the second largest tax
source in Canada. Each Province has a different form of property
tax and uses it for different purposes. Regardless of the
differences among Provincial systems,
the property tax across
Canada is a much criticized and flawed instrument. It meets
neither theoretical nor practical tests of a good tax. For the
purposes of this paper, three reports in particular have been
relied upon. The Report of the Propertv Tax Working Group of The
Fair Tax Commission in Ontario (1994), an unpublished paper by
Harry Kitchen, Property
Tax Reform: A Time for Action (1995) and
a report by Enid Slack for the Canadian Urban Institute, Non-
Residential Property
Taxation and Competitive Advantage in
Toronto (1995). An extensive annotated bibliography has been
prepared to provide the determined reader with a wider variety of
sources.
This strategic overview is not the place for another scholarly
exploration of the merits of the property tax. The intention here
is to review the principal criticisms of the tax as it is usually
applied.
A. Regressivity
A progressive tax generates income in approximate proportion to
the taxpayers ability to pay. A regressive tax, takes
proportionately larger amounts from people with a smaller
capacity to pay.
Graduated income tax is progressive. Most
consumption taxes are progressive. It has been amply
demonstrated that property tax is in no way progressive and in
some ways seriously regressive.
5
Two of its most regressive features are highlighted in recent
reports. Enid Slack, in the report on the GTA referred to above,
demonstrated that multiple family units are taxed at an effective
rate of up to four and a half times the level at which single
family units are taxed. The Toronto Board of Trade in a recent
publication argued that companies making no profit or incurring
losses are subject to property taxes at a level equal to that
levied on profitable companies. In the most extreme instances of
corporate regressivity, the cost of property tax can in some
markets exceed the market rental value (or even the economic
rent) of the property. This alone is reason to reform the
property tax or reduce its applications.
AS CURRENTLY APPLIED THE PROPERTY TAX IS A REGRESSIVE
SOURCE OF GOVERNMENT FUNDING.
B. Allocative Inefficiency
An allocatively efficient tax will not cause economic decisions
to be changed as a result of a tax. An allocatively inefficient
tax will cause decisions to be changed as a result of taxes. The
Kitchen paper argues that the property tax is unevenly applied,
assessed on different bases, varies from jurisdiction to
jurisdiction and among classes within jurisdictions. As property
taxes move to high levels such as in urban commercial property or
multi-family residential units, they are clearly sufficient to
affect decisions. It may be in smaller centres or in areas where
property tax is not used to finance expensive social services,
that it is more neutral from this perspective.
AS PROPERTY TAX IS CURRENTLY APPLIED AND ASSESSED, IT
IS ALLOCATIVELY INEFFICIENT
C. Market Distorting
This is a concept similar to allocative inefficiency. It is more
specific, however. A market neutral tax will not affect real
estate business decisions. A market distorting tax will prejudice
an otherwise free market away from relatively higher tax rates. A
market distorting tax that adjusts the market in a way intended
by government is a legitimate policy tool. However, a tax which
has unintended or capricious and substantial effect on the market
is not desirable from any perspective.
The vagaries of property tax assessment and class by class
variations as documented in both the Slack paper and in the
Working Paper of The Ontario Fair Tax Commission are blunt
testimony to the market distorting effect of at least Ontarios
property tax system.
6
Most notable is the highly publicized effect of the over taxation
of commercial properties in the City of Toronto which is in large
measure credited with causing one of the two most extensive
corporate flights in Canadas history. This flight, which was at
least partly to lower tax suburbs, was directly counter to the
expressed interest and policy of both Provincial and local
governments which advocated compact urban development.
PROPERTY TAX, WITH ALL ITS VARIATIONS AND IMPURITIES, IS
MARKET DISTORTING IN WAYS UNINTENDED BY POLICY MAKERS
D. Inadequate Accountability
A tax is accountable when the payer of the tax can access the
services provided by the tax and exercise control over the taxing
body through a vote. An unaccountable tax is one that flows to
services that cannot be accessed by the taxpayer or which is
expended by a body over which the taxpayer has inadequate
democratic control. In a complex system, not all taxes will be
accountable. Corporate income tax contributes to social services
which a corporation cannot collect. Older and childless people
contribute to taxes that support education, although their
ability to access it is tenuous at best. However, when an
unaccountable tax becomes large and so unbalanced that it is
biased specifically against the taxpayers that cannot access most
of the services, accountability becomes a legitimate concern.
The Kitchen, Slack and Working Group papers each confirms that
property taxes are disproportionately applied against commercial
properties in order to finance human services that corporations
cannot access.
IN SO FAR AS COMMERCIAL TAXES ARE CONCERNED, THE
FINANCING OF HUMAN SERVICES FROM PROPERTY TAX IS
UNACCOUNTABLE AND PROBLEMATIC
E. Unfair Impact
While both regressivity and unaccountability are forms of
unfairness, the issue addressed here is the degree to which there
is a balance between the levels of property tax and the benefits
received. A fair tax impact will result in benefits being
received or available roughly in proportion to the amount paid.
An unfair impact will result when a taxpayer or group of
taxpayers pays disproportionately for a service from which the
taxpayer(s) do not benefit.
The Kitchen paper and the Working
Group both go to some lengths to point out that some taxes will
by definition have a disproportional benefit that is justified.
7
The cost to society for social assistance is the clearest of
these cases. It is absurd to advocate benefit based taxation in
such an instance. Oliver Wendell Holmes famous injunction that
"taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society provides the
rationale for broader society to bear the costs of social welfare
and other social goods.
Nevertheless, there are good grounds to condemn the property tax
system on the basis of unfair impact. The Slack paper documents
dramatically that in Central Ontario, Mr. Holmes price is being
paid by urban commercial and multi-family taxpayers out of all
proportion to a fair distribution.
A more evenly distributed tax
across a broader tax base is required to lend an element of
fairness to the way the non-income tax portion of human services
is financed in Canada.
THERE IS STRONG EVIDENCE THAT PROPERTY TAX IMPACT IS
UNFAIR TO THE EXTENT THAT
HUMAN SERVICES ARE FINANCED
FROM IT.
F. Negative Impact on Competitiveness
A tax which negatively impacts on competitiveness, imposes costs
above and beyond the cost of services consumed on a producer
which is competing in a broader market. A tax which does not
impact on competitiveness is one which is equivalent to the value
of the local government services consumed. The Kitchen paper
contains an excellent analysis of the impact of the current
system of property tax on competitiveness (p20). Kitchen
acknowledges the care that international comparisons require.
There are many differences among the tax and social policy
climates in various countries.
Even accounting for these
variations, Kitchen concludes that in this borderless, commercial
era . . .
"In terms of a Canadian firms ability to compete in
the global economy, the current application of the
property tax has the potential for inhibiting
competitiveness more than any other tax including the
corporate income tax and payroll taxes."
CURRENT LEVELS OF PROPERTY TAX ARE POTENTIALLY STIFLING
TO THE COMPETITIVENESS OF CANADIAN FIRMS
G. Efficiency of Collection
A tax is efficiently collected when the cost of administering the
collection system is low and the predictability of the tax due
from any taxpayer is high.
While comparative costs and
efficiencies of various taxes are not readily available, the
Ontario Fair Tax Commission noted a problem with property tax
associated with establishing value.
8
In the mercurial world of real estate prices, the only reliable
way to establish value is to sell the property to a willing
buyer. Any other supposition of value will be flawed. The recent
well publicized history of unpredictable spot price increases and
decrease in cities such as Vancouver, Ottawa and Toronto
demonstrates the weakness of property value as a tax base.
Further, because of the quixotic nature of real estate value, the
cost of maintaining defensible assessments has been mounting. In
some areas, systematic appeals are causing large public costs to
be incurred to defend unsuccessfully the integrity of the tax
base. The erosion of the tax base then forces more costs onto the
public to create new assessments and increases unpredictably the
burden on other taxpayers. If the property tax were smaller and a
less critical cost to residents and businesses, the effort to
reduce assessments might abate, thus reducing the inefficiencies
of collecting the property tax.
THE PROPERTY TAX, AT CURRENT LEVELS, IS INEFFICIENT TO
COLLECT AND UNPREDICTABLE AS A TAX BASE
In summary, the property tax fails most of the tests of a good
tax. The methods of assessment, variation in practices and the
funding of human services from that tax base are the main reasons
for its dismal showing.
1.2 Appropriate Uses for and Reforms to the Property Tax
The above evaluation does not amount to a condemnation of
property value as a basis of taxation. It does argue strongly for
reforms. Both the Kitchen paper and the Fair Tax Commission
envision a role for a fairer, more carefully applied property
tax. They argue for more consistent assessment practices and some
equalization of impact among the classes.
Designing a reformed property tax system is a complex and precise
process. This paper is not intended as a detailed guide to that
process but rather as a policy instrument to point in more
appropriate directions. An adequate system of property tax would
have the following characteristics not now reflected in most
property tax systems in Canada.
A. relatively equal assessment criteria used throughout a
Province and where possible, the Country
B. removal of the artificial weighings that inflate multiple
unit housing and commercial and industrial taxes:
C. removal from the property tax of the costs of services where
fee for service (beneficiary pay) is more logical and not
damagingly regressive eg.
water and sewer costs;
9
D. removal from the property tax of the costs of human
services, in particular social welfare, social services and
education;
E. removal of exemptions from property tax.
A. Relatively equal assessment criteria
There should be relatively equal assessment criteria for all
classes of property throughout a Province and even the Country.
Radically different assessment levels will lead inevitably to
market distortions and inequities.
Since the reforms suggested
would reduce property taxes by as much as 70% in some parts of
the country, it should be possible to move to uniform assessment
in most jurisdictions without causing severe dislocation.
Virtually all taxpayers will receive a reduced property tax bill
(except currently exempt properties that the governments decide
not to subsidize explicitly) . A degree of equalization of
assessments will change only the size of a the reduction each
taxpayer receives.
B. Removal of tax rate weighings by class
There is no justification to charging multiple-unit residences
more taxes per dollar of value.
Multiple resident taxpayers on
average have significantly lower incomes and on average consume
less of the municipal hard services costs. An argument is put
forward by proponents of this discriminatory practice that
multiple family residents increase welfare and social costs and
therefore should pay more. That argument is tantamount to
suggesting that welfare recipients should pay for their own
benefits. Kitchen explains this practice as a cynical political
convenience.
Rather, it almost certainly reflects the relative ease
with which governments can impose higher effective tax
rates on certain categories of property; for example
owner occupiers of single detached properties tend to
be more vocal in their protests against property
taxation than are renters who are generally unaware of
the property tax liability on their rented quarters. . ."
Equally, the higher weighting on commercial and industrial taxes
imposed in every province are difficult to justify. Most
commercial and industrial properties consume fewer services from
a municipality than do residences, so benefit received cannot be
used as a rationale. More significantly, the higher rate charged
to businesses (including, in some provinces, a hefty business tax
surcharge in addition to heavily weighted taxes) is not at all
sensitive to the affordability of the taxes. Business creates
virtually all jobs in Canada. There can be no rational objection
to taxing and taxing substantially the profits of successful
firms or the goods they consume.
* * TWSASTRATEGY FOR PROPERTY TAX REDUCTI ON B * *
10
However, to surcharge through discriminatory weighting a major
element of production like real estate, without regard to whether
the firm is profitable or marginal is self defeating and
destructive both to employment and to new real estate investment.
C. Removal of beneficiary pay services from property tax.
Some services provided by local government are economic goods,
whose consumption can be fully or partially placed on a market
footing. Transit, road pricing, parking, water rates for water
and sewer, garbage generation,
licensing and approvals, building
and fire inspections, electricity, private forestry, special
services, testing, recreational and cultural facilities and
programs and housing can all be better managed if some or all of
the cost is borne by the consumer of the service. In some cases
where excess consumption is to be discouraged, (eg garbage
generation) the fee may be for amounts above a limit. Similarly,
a degree of subsidy from taxation for some of these services for
the "Holmes reason" may be justified. However, it is fairer, more
environmentally responsible and more fiscally prudent to charge
fees for the consumption, or excess consumption, of many
municipal services. This recommendation should not be confused
with the issue of privatization of services which is a more
controversial and less clear cut issue.
These reforms will return the property tax to a useful and still
significant source of local government revenue. It will allow it
to meet virtually all of the tests of good tax practice and
permit the use of more appropriate revenue sources for human
services.
D. Removal of the costs of human services from the property tax
In addition to the compelling arguments raised in the preceding
discussion there are a series of practical reasons to find new
and broader tax bases to finance human services. Canada is a
country which has urbanized and is further urbanizing to a
greater extent than almost any other major country. In this
process, our cities have developed a capacity to serve and
support low income and challenged people. Thus a large and
disproportionate number of human service recipients are in our
city centres. Whether they are immigrants from abroad, migrants
from within Canada or local residents,
the city is the location
where their needs can come closest to being met. The city, thus,
performs a social service for our other communities and should
not be called upon to finance these services out of taxes
specific to city properties.
The flip side of this is that
residents of suburbs, towns,
villages and rural areas should pay
through a broader tax base for an appropriate portion of these
services.
11
Similarly, there are poor rural parts of the country that have a
disproportionate level of human service expenditure. In most
cases these areas have already been relieved of the local portion
of these costs but to the extent that they remain on the
property tax, they should be removed.
A slightly different rationale, in addition to the tax policy
arguments already discussed, applies to the removal of education
from the property tax. Kitchen and the Working Group demonstrate
that the primary beneficiary of a quality education system is
society as a whole. In a mobile society, high quality education
will have a positive affect everywhere. Well educated people
enrich the society wherever they live and regardless of where
they receive the education. They argue that there is also a local
benefit from education services and therefor cause to raise some
of the funds locally.
Four provinces have largely or entirely abandoned a local
contribution to education. The rest believe that there is value
in local administration of the education system and the principle
of accountability and efficiency requires that a local cost be
imposed. It is not necessary for the purposes of tax reform to
centralize the payment of and responsibility for all education
costs. If there is to be a local derived portion of education
costs, it is critical that it be visible and clearly the
responsibility of the education governing bodies to raise and
manage those funds effectively.
The property tax is the domain of municipal institutions and they
levy and collect the entire property tax. It has been widely
argued, particularly in local government reviews, that education
authorities are not adequately responsible for the local taxes
they spend because they levy them on the municipal tax base and
thus mask their accountability. To the degree that some education
costs are to be locally financed, they should be raised on a
progressive and separate tax base.
E. Removal of property tax exemptions
Currently a host of properties are fully or partially exempt from
property tax. These tax expenditures, similar to the tax
expenditures under the Income Tax Act are much less public, much
less accountable and much less logical than those expenditures
that occur as a result of local political debate. It is
reasonable for governments to subsidize various classes of
property eg municipal property, schools, other public property,
productive farms,
churches and golf courses. They should do so as
compassionate cases are now handled, through explicit,
accountable forgiveness not a fudged tax rate.
12
Tax free land leads to institutional hoarding. Since many public
sector agencies and some charitable institutions do not pay
property tax, there is less economic need for them to husband
their land resources wisely.
While a community will support
effective agencies and public land holdings by granting them tax
free status, land holdings which are not explicitly accorded this
protection should be subjected to the discipline of taxation.
The issue of taxing public lands is a special case. There is a
huge waste of land in our urban communities as a result of cost
free or cut rate land takings by government= These occur when
property is developed or re-developed and local governments have
approval levers which force owners
to accommodate land taking
demands without any countervailing pressure= Boards of education
in some areas have demanded particularly absurd quantities of
land in return for granting approvals.
As much as 30% of the land
base of new subdivisions can be consumed by land takings above
actual need. This practice causes urban sprawl, unsafe
neighbourhoods, and increases the cost of new housing.
It is reasonable to charge property tax on all public lands.
Because property tax is spread among two
or more local government
bodies, a portion of the tax paid on public land would leave the
control of the jurisdiction that pays it.
Thus taxation on these
lands will effectively discipline irresponsible use of land
takings.
1.3 Alternative Sources of Revenue to Replace Property Tax
If the property tax is to be reduced by up to 75 % in major
cities and by less elsewhere,
a significant new local source of
revenue is required.
Fees for service should provide some of the
replacement funding as discussed above. But a considerable
shortfall will remain, particularly in major urban regions.
There is no easy answer to this challenge. Obviously any source
of revenue proposed should be examined against the same practical
and theoretical tests to which the property tax has been
submitted. This paper will not attempt this onerous task.
Instead, it will review a number of tax sources which are worthy
of examination. None of these alternative sources can be
recommended without testing and modelling. The purpose is simply
to indicate a range of possibilities.
In the final analysis a
balance of these may be used and in different circumstances
around the country, the balance may be different.
A. Harminize provincial sales taxes and GST on
and permit municipalities to charge a small
local option.
13
a broader base
percentage as a
There has been considerable debate about broadening the base of
the sales and GST taxes. This would allow a lower rate to be
charged and would produce a more allocatively efficient tax. As
well, merchants and consumers would have a significantly reduced
administrative problem calculating two tax levels and determining
what items attract which tax. The principle argument against
broadening the base to include food, drugs, homes, medical care
and other exempt products and services is the impact on low
income people of such a tax on necessities. There are
administratively superior and theoretically better ways to cope
with equity concerns than to exempt everybody because of a
concern for a minority. The sales tax credit is an example of
such a vehicle.
Allowing local governments to add a small surcharge (say up to
1.5%) on the new centrally collected, blended sales tax would
appear to meet many of the criteria for a good tax. It would be
reasonably progressive in that higher earners consume more than
lower earners. It would be allocatively efficient as long as the
differences in tax levels among regions was slight. There seems
to be no reason to believe it would be market distorting. It
would be accountable. As a direct user cost, it would be a fair
tax source. It might, added to our already high consumer tax
rates, contribute to a competitiveness problem.
This option is also attractive because it i s a tax on consumption
not on gross earnings or profit. In a country with a high
marginal income tax rate and which needs savings and investment
to help it finance huge public debts,
a tax on consumption is
superior to increased income tax levels. Another advantage such a
tax may have over income tax is that it may be more difficult
evade.
B. Permit a small local tax on carbon fuel. To avoid market
distortions it might be appropriate to legislate a minimum
a maximum municipal rate.
The cost of carbon based fuels in Canada is low and our usage
rate is higher than all but a few nations. Excess consumption
these fuels is the principal cause of air pollution on the
to
and
of
continent and the rate of-consumption is higher than our reserves
can sustain. Such a tax, like any consumption tax meets most of
the criteria for a good tax except market distortion - and
distortion of that market is desirable.
14
C. Permit a small, local surcharge on incomes
While worthy of examination, this tax appears problematic for
the obverse of the reasons a consumption tax is attractive. By
taxing all earnings rather than spending, it is more allocatively
efficient and it is certainly progressive but its propensity to
discourage savings and investment may offset these advantages.
D. Permit local hospitality, sports, entertainment and gaming
taxes
These potential sources of revenue are commonly used in the
United States and are well worth examination. They have the
advantages of being consumption taxes discussed above but they
also have the possibility of being market distorting and
affecting the competitive climate. They are politically
attractive because they are taxes on discretionary expenditures.
E. Permit an excess land consumption tax in urban areas and an
idle land consumption tax in rural areas
This is a concept that has enormous attraction to advocates of
efficient use of land. The theory is that ad valorem property
taxes rewards low density sprawl because land values are lower
away from the core. There is a strong economic, environmental and
social argument to support reducing urban sprawl. Thus a tax that
charges a premium to urban residences with above average amounts
of land per unit and businesses that have above average amounts
of land per employee or per dollar of sales is attractive.
A similar but obverse argument applies to rural lands. It can be
argued that lands should be in production, even if the product is
oxygen from growing trees. Owners of lands which are not used for
environmental or economic products could then be taxed. A
variation of this argument is that rural residential development
is undesirable and therefore a tax could be levied on units that
have too little land.
This potential tax source has been discussed in various forums
since Henry George explored it at the turn of the century but
apparently it has never been adequately researched. It would
therefore be inappropriate to speculate on the utility and
quality of such taxes without more research.
F. Cost Reduction
This section would not be complete without mention of perhaps the
most important mechanism which could help make up for the loss of
property tax revenues proposed.
While local government is perhaps
the most efficient and least wasteful level of government, there
are opportunities to significantly reduce costs.
15
Canada is famous for its complex governing arrangements. Some of
these may be necessary to manage effectively this large and
sparsely populated place. However, the passing of the industrial
age has heralded a re-engineering of virtually every enterprise
except government. The hidebound mechanics of bureaucracy should
give way to more cost sensitive and coherent management systems.
Initiatives of this type are underway in a few Provinces, most
notably Alberta. Particularly encouraging is the revision of
enabling legislation (such as The Municipal Act) to permit
municipalities to adopt more aggressive and efficient management
processes.
The purpose of this part of the paper is not to justify any
particular source of taxation to replace the income lost by the
reductions to the property tax. Rather, the intent is to
indicate that many superior forms of taxation could be chosen
with fewer problems than property tax generates.
There is considerable evidence to suggest that the reduction of
the property tax and replacement of the funds through one or more
of the mechanisms mentioned will significantly improve local
government and the tax system it administers. Such action will
also reduce the injustices and distortions that now plague the
local government tax system.
16
Part 2 Developing a Strategy to Reform the Property Tax
2.1 The Need for a Partnership
The process of major political reform has changed in the last
decades in Canada. Not long ago, an organization with economic
power might have succeeded in changing tax policy by carrying out
good research, explaining the need to change to government, and
then assisting in drafting the reforms. Now however, the tax
policy field, like many others,is full with special interest
groups, each resolutely pursuing a focused agenda. Major change
will only occur if a cross section of special interests can come
together and agree on appropriate change. Then, instead of
government being confronted with a babble of conflicting demands,
it can respond carefully and cooperatively to a broad and
collective group.
Today, no component of society has prior claim to governments
attention. Social advocates, economic advocates, environmental
advocates and advocates for local communities all have succeeded
in making their claims legitimate in the eye of the public. If
the economic lobby on governments is to have any chance in
achieving the reforms it seeks,it will have to join forces with
others in the other fields of public advocacy.
A more cynical description of the political context is that in an
era when governments are hard pressed to pay interest on debt,
proposals for major tax changes will be measured one vote at a
time.
2.2 Municipalities Need a New Tax Base
For the last twenty-five years Canada has lived beyond its means
and is approaching a grim accounting. Public sector cost
reductions will be as routine in the next decade as double digit
increases were in the Trudeau years.
One effect of this difficult
process will a significant increase in budgetary pressure on
municipalities. The recent federal budget, in addressing one of
the few remaining areas of discretionary spending, promises to
transfer $7 billion less to provincial governments in the coming
years. Even so, a $40 billion deficit will be incurred.
Similarly, provinces are reducing transfers to local government.
But local government has nobody other than the property taxpayer
onto which it can offload costs.
This makes local governments
very nervous. It would appear that their taxpayers will be
absorbing increase upon increase to deliver services formerly
supported by income tax.
17
Municipal leaders know that the property tax will not support
this inflation in costs. Even the existing base of property tax
is threatened. As commercial real estate is faced with increased
tax rates on uneconomic stock, tax receivables will climb with
little hope of collection. Already, in the Toronto area,
difficulties with the tax base have caused serious public debate.
Municipal leaders have been demanding that some or all of the
costs of human services be removed from the property tax so they
can meet the basic needs of their communities.
With three provinces already having removed human services from
the property tax and strong support for similar measures building
elsewhere, the time is propitious to build a cross sectional
coalition to support these reforms
2.3 Potential Partners
Which groups in society else should want the property tax reduced
in favour of more direct consumption taxes? The answer to this
question involves research and consultation. What follows is an
outline of some interests which appear to have reason to support
the changes proposed. Whether the groups actually come to support
the proposed property tax reforms or a version of them will
depend only partly on the merits of the proposed direction.
Important also will be how they perceive the issue, who the
perceived proponents are and the political consequences to them
of participating.
A. Creditors, Real Estate Receivers and Banks
Sadly, much of Canada's commercial real estate portfolio is in
the hands of creditors. They have an immediate and significant
interest in relieving their properties of a large portion of the
property tax that makes their portfolios unmarketable. They are
mute testimony to the inappropriate burden that unprofitable
real estate is bearing.
B. Boards of trade
There has been an increase in concern recently from advocates of
business in major cities that current and future tax rates are
rendering Canadian cities uncompetitive locations. These
interests will be interested in ensuring that any replacement tax
is less market distorting than the current property tax.
C. Environmentalists
Urban sprawl is one of the most significant contributors to
environmental damage and pollution.
The increased use of the
private auto in the suburbs is the largest single contributor to
air pollution and elevated carbon dioxide levels.
18
More importantly the settlement pattern in suburban areas is too
sparse to permit transit to be effective. Sprawl also results in
unnecessary loss of natural areas and foodlands.
The property tax is one of the two most direct causes of urban
sprawl. Property taxes punish efficient use of land. The more
dense the location, the higher the market value per square meter
of soil and the higher the property tax. Environmental groups
will support a move away from value based property tax to a
consumption tax that enforces more sustainable settlement
practices.
D. Urbanists and urban groups
Modern day "Jacobites", that is the supporters of Jane Jacobs
definition of livable cities, will, and have, strongly advocated
a reduction in property tax. Like environmentalists, they will
want to study potential replacement taxes for their effect on
urban livability. Although small in number, this is an growing
and increasingly influential interest in the community.
E. Poverty groups and social equity advocates
The gross over taxation of multiple family dwellings has been an
issue with social advocates for years.
They will be interested in
ensuring that any replacement tax is progressive. They will also
want to find a vehicle that will permit most of the reduction in
taxes to be passed through to tenants.
F. Women's groups and gender equity advocates
Because women occupy multiple family housing disproportionately
relative to men, particularly as single parent families, gender
equity advocates will support a reduction in property tax -
subject to the same conditions as the poverty groups will impose
for their support.
An additional interest for gender equity advocates may be the
role of property tax in creating and maintaining areas that are
hostile to the interests of low income women. Urban sprawl is
perceived to have this effect and to the extent that property
taxes spawn sprawl, they may support change.
G. Renters and Leasers
Both those who rent residential multiple family units and those
who rent office and commercial space are overtaxed if the market
permits those costs to be passed on. They will support a
reduction of the distortions of the property tax.
19
H. Commercial and Multiple Unit Residential Owners
Their interest in this issue is intense. They are significantly
over-taxed. Commercial real estate and multi-family residential
properties are damaged by property tax levels through different
mechanisms but the results are the same - reduced incentive to
invest, negative cash flows and serious liquidity challenges.
I. Homeowners groups
The spectre of rapidly rising property taxes over which they can
exercise little control may cause these groups to support removal
of human services from property taxes in favour of a tax over
which they have discretional power. On the other hand, these
groups represent the beneficiaries
of the over-taxation of other
property types.
J. Construction Unions
Earlier, it was argued that taxes on consumption
the incentive to invest. Unions will examine the
proposition to determine if increased investment
and if so, support it.
do not distort
reform
is more likely
K. Large scale land holders
If the-replacement tax creates a more predictable impact than the
present property tax regime, large scale land holders will
support reform. There is not currently enough data to make an
informed judgement about how and to what degree they might
benefit.
This list of potential supporters of the kinds of reform to
property tax considered in this paper illustrates that it should
be possible to build a coalition among local government,
environmental, social and economic groups to explore and
ultimately advocate the reform of the property tax.
2.4 Potential opponents
Who wants to prevent erosion of the property tax base? Because
of the number of variables involved in this discussion, it is
difficult to predict from which quarters opposition will come.
Boards of education will resist change until they are assured
that replacement sources of revenue are feasible and
satisfactory. Provincial governments will be reluctant to make
the requested changes because they involve broadening the
municipal and local education tax base in tax fields
traditionally occupied by provinces.
Businesses that have
relatively little exposure to real estate but large consumption
patterns such as
airlines may oppose the reforms if they see that
the replacement tax will raise their costs.
20
2.5 Conclusion
This preliminary strategic overview has demonstrated
that the property tax is not an appropriate tax base
from which to fund human services. It has reviewed the
suitability of other potentially superior sources of
funds. It has argued that a coalition of forces in the
community should support this view and it has suggested
some considerations that should be borne in mind when
building a coalition.
It is not a definitive report.
There is a need for considerable research, testing of
impressions and wider participation in the preparation
of a final strategic outline before action is
undertaken on the directions suggested here.
PROPERTY TAX REFORM: A TIME FOR ACTION
Prepared for: CIPREC
123 Edward Street, Suite 1201
Toronto, M5G 1E2
Table of Contents
A
B.
c.
D.
E.
F.
Executive Summary
Introduction
Interprovincial Comparison of Property Taxes
Role for Property Taxation
C.1 Fairness or Equity
C.2 Allocative Efficiency
C.3 Accountability
Property Tax Concerns
D.1
D.2
D.3
D.4
Should Property Taxes Fund Education and Social Service?
a) social services
b) Education
Inequities and Inefficiencies Created by Uneven Assessment
Practices
Non-Residential Versus Residential Properly Tax Rates
Variation in Non-Residential Property Taxes Between Canadian
and American Jurisdictions
Evaluation of Property Taxation
E.1 Benefits Received Basis for Taxation
E.2 Effective Tax Rate Differentials and Problems Created
E.3 Discrimination Against Non-Residential Property
E.4 Oversupply of Municipal Services
E.5 Non-Residential Property Taxation and Competitiveness
E.6 Differential Effective Tax Rates on Residential Properties
Reform of Property Taxation
i
1
2
6
6
7
7
8
8
8
9
11
14
16
18
18
18
19
20
20
21
22
23
References
Executive Summary
There is wide variation in the extent to which local property taxes are used to finance education and
social services across Canada. In a few provinces, these services are funded by the provincial
government; whereas, in other provinces, funding is shared by provincial and local governments.
This begs the question of the role that property taxes ought to play in funding local services. For
services where specific beneficiaries can be identified and where spillovers (benefits or costs that spill
over into neighbouring jurisdictions) do not exist, user fees are generally deemed to be the fairest, most
efficient and accountable means of financing. Examples include water, sewage, solid waste, transit, etc.
For services that provide benefits of a collective nature for the local community but for which
individual beneficiaries cannot be identified property taxes may be the fairest, most efficient and
accountable financing instrument available. Local streets roads, sidewalk streetlighting police and
fire protection are examples of services that provide this kind of general benefit. For services that are
primarily income redistributional in nature and/or do not provide benefits of a specific or collective
nature for the local community, funding responsibility should rest will the provincial and federal
governments. Examples include social services and education.
Even though the property tax is one of the oldest taxes in existence, it continues to generate a number
of concerns, not the least of which revolves around whether property taxes should fund social services
and education. Further concern has been expressed over uneven assessment practices as they apply to
different property types. Finally, the differential tax on residential properties of different types and the
higher tax on commercial and industrial properties and the implications that this has for Canadas ability
to be competitive in the global economy has been the subject of recent discussion.
These concerns have been the subject of a number of provincial reform commissions and major
committees over the past three decades. Unfortunately, many of their recommendations to correct or
i
alleviate these problems, especially in Ontario, have never been implemented. More recently, however,
the threat of citizens protest and the potential for a taxpayers revolt has renewed the urgency for
government delivery of services in a fair, efficient and accountable manner. To achieve this in the
property tax field, it is critical that provincial governments enact a number of reforms if they have not
done so already. Of a more technical nature. it is important that:
all properti es (regardless of class or type) be assessed and taxed at a uniform percentage of
market value;
the current practice of overtaxing certain properties (commercial. industrial and multi-unit
residential be eliminated b
ecause it is unfair, inefficient and lacks accountability;
variable mill rates be implemented with differential rates applying
to different property types
based on the cost of services consumed by each property type.
the current practice of overtaxing commercial and industrial properties be eliminated in order to
enhance a Canadian firms ability to be competitive in the global economy.
Oh the policy side and of utmost importance. it is critical that the following two
recommendations be adopted in provinces that have not already done so.
These
recommendations would lead to a more progressive and fairer means of financing both social
serivces and education. Specifically,
social service funding should be removed from the property tax base;
the cost of elementary and secondary schooling should be removed from the property tax base
and funded from alternative revenue sources.
ii
A. Introduction
In every Canadian province over the past few years, a variety of provincial initiatives have been
put in place that have had a significant impact on local governments. In particular, the
combination of reduced provincial grant funding and downloading, to municipalities, of a variety
of provincial programs have increased pressures on the local revenue base. This pressure has
arisen largely because of political difficulties of eliminating a service or services (regardless of
whether it was initiated by the province or local government) to which citizens/taxpayers have
become accustomed and the subsequent desire to find ways of financing its continued existence.
This increased pressure on the local revenue base has led local officials, in many municipalities,
to reconsider ways in which their public services are financed and the local user fee or property
tax charged for many of these services. The difficulty facing municipalities in this exercise,
however, is compounded by the fact that they are creatures of the province and significantly
constrained in their actions. Grant revenues are set by more senior levels of government and
municipalities only have access to one tax of any real importance; namely, the property tax.
User fees, the other major source of locally generated revenues, are generally at the discretion
of local government and have been increasing in importance as a financing instrument.
The current system where local governments only have access to one major tax raises a number
of issues, not the least of which is the appropriateness of using property taxes to finance the
delivery of local government services. In particular, this paper will address the following:
B
Interprovincial comparison of property taxes for municipal services and education.
B
What is the appropriate role for property taxation in financing local government services?
8
Is the tax fair, efficient and accountable as an instrument for financing local
government services?
B
Should property taxes be used to fund education and social services?
B
What are the inequities and inefficiencies created by uneven assessment practices?
B
What are the implications of imposing differential property tax rates on residential and
non-residential properties?
1
B
What reforms would improve the current system of property taxation?
B. Interprovincial Comparison of Property Taxes
Property taxes are used to fund a variety of services delivered by local governments across
Canada. For the most part, these taxes fund either all or a portion of the costs for major services
such as fire, police, parks and recreation, libraries, public transit, roads and streets, sidewalks,
street lighting, etc.. Less consistency is observed in the extent to which property taxes are used
for funding social expenditures including social services and education (elementary and
secondary). For example, a portion of social service expenditures is funded from local property
tax revenues in four provinces (Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia) and
entirely from provincial funds in the remaining provinces.
Elementary and secondary education in Canada is the responsibility of provincial governments.
Local school boards generally deliver educational services. The main sources of funding for
school boards are property taxes and provincial grants. These grants are composed of general
provincial revenues which include income taxes, sales taxes (except in Alberta) and in some
provinces, a provincial property tax. The predominant trend in education finance over the last
decade in Canada has been towards centralization and this is noted in Table 1. Although not
explicitly noted in the table, the following three features are common in most provinces:
B
school costs in most provinces are shared between the province and local school boards
according to a cost sharing formula;
provinces attempt to equalize revenue received by local school boards, usually by giving
poorer districts relatively larger grants;
B
revenue for school expenditures are raised through provincial and/or local property
taxation (except for Newfoundland) and through provincial general taxation (income,
sales, etc.).
2
Table 1: School Board Property Tax Funding by Province
Newfoundland
Prince Edward
Island
Nova Scotia
New Brunswick
Quebec
Ontario
Manitoba
Saskatchewan
Alberta
British
Columbia
The provinces responsible for full funding of education. Property
taxes are not used for funding education.
The province is responsible for full funding of education. A
uniform provincial property tax is imposed on all property owners to
cover the cost of a basic standard of education.
Education funding is a joint responsibility of the provincial and local
governments. Property taxes are used to fund the local portion
while the province also imposes a provincial property tax to find
part of its expenditure commitment.
The province provides all funding for education and levies a non-
residential (commercial and industrial) property tax for education.
Funding responsibility is shared between the province and
municipalities. The local portion which is a small percentage of
overall costs is financed from property taxation. There is no
provincial property tax.
Funding responsibility is shared between the province and
municipalities with the municipal property tax portion being the
highest in Canada. There is no provincial property tax.
Education funding is shared between provincial and local
governments. Local finding comes from property taxes while a
portion of provincial funds comes from a province wide property
tax on residential and non-residential properties with the latter
bearing a higher tax rate.
The local share of the education finance bill is funded from local
property taxes. The provincial share comes from general funds.
Recent reforms have called for provincial funding of education with
school boards no longer levying property taxes for education.
Potential legal action has modified these reforms to some extent.
Education is fully funded by the province with the province levying
a property tax on residential and non-residential property. School
boards can levy an additional property tax on residential property.
3
Table 2 summarizes, in a general comparative manner, residential and non-residential property tax rates
for municipal services in each province. As the reader will note, considerable variation exists although this
may be summarized in the following way:
B
uniform rates apply to all classes of property in some provinces while variable tax rates apply to
different property classes in other provinces.
B
where differential rates exist, lower rates are always assigned to residential and&m properties
with higher rates being assigned to commercial and industrial prop-ties. In some provinces,
there are limits on the extent to which the differential between the highest and lowest rates can
persist; for example, in Ontario, the rate on residential property is legislated at 85 percent of the
rate on commercial and industrial property. In Alberta the rate on residential property cannot
be less than 75 percent of the rate on commercial and industrial property.* In British
Columbia, property taxes on commercial and industrial properties are approximately twice as
high as comparable rates on residential properties. In New Brunswick both the provincial and
municipal rates for non-residential property must be 1.5 times the residential rate.
B
in Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, the two provinces employing provincial property
taxes, the provincial rate is fixed at a specific dollar value per hundred dollars of assessment
while municipal property tax rates in these provinces are allowed to vary in order to meet
municipal expenditure requirements. In Prince Edward Island, tax rates are lower for
commercial and non-commercial residents than for similar properties owned by non-residents
of the province
B
a separate business tax on the occupant is imposed in some provinces while it is rolled into the
general property tax rate in other provinces.
*
There are regulations in some Cities that allow the mill rate differential to be adjusted by
a greater amount.
4
TABLE 2: Residential Vs. Non-residential Property Tax Rates for Municipal Services
Newfoundland With the exception of St. Johns, municipal property tax rates are not
differentiated by property class (residential, commercial and business). There is a
business tax on non-residential properties, however.
Prince Edward
Island Provincial property taxes are levied at fixed rates that vary by property type. The
rate on residential property is $0.10 less per $100 of assessed value than the
commercial rate. In addition, local councils set their own rates. There is no
separate business tax on tenants.
Nova Scotia Property tax rates are differentiated by property class and are specified as rates per
$100 of assessed value. A separate business tax is imposed on the tenant.
New Brunswick A provincial tax is levied on residential and non-residential property; the rate on
non-residential property is 1.5 times the residential rate. Owner-occupied
residential properties receive a credit on the provincial tax. Municipalities also
levy their own property taxes. There is no separate business tax.
Quebec For general property tax purposes, lower rates are levied on farms, natural gas,
electricity, and telecommunications systems. There is no other differentiation by
property class. The general property tax rate is set by local councils at a uniform
rate on all properties. there is a separate business tax.
Ontario Property tax rates are set by municipal councils, with differential mill rates applied
to residential and non-residential properties. Residential and farm rates are 85
percent of those of non-residential properties. There is also a separate business tax
on the occupant of non-residential properties.
Manitoba Property taxes are levied by municipal councils. With the exception of Winnipeg,
municipal governments are not allowed to apply differential tax rates by property
class. While winnipeg is entitled to levy differential rates on eight classes of
property, it currently levies three rates: residential property up to four dwellings,
other residential property, and commercial and industrial properties. There is a
separate business tax.
Saskatchewan General property tax rates are levied at a uniform rate on all taxable assessments.
There is a separate business tax.
Alberta Municipal councils have the power to levy differential mill rates on residential,
farm and non-residential properties. Residential properties may be separated into
more than one category. Where differential rates are used, the residential rate
must be the lowest, but it cannot be less than 75 percent of the highest rate. There
is a separate business tax.
British
Columbia
Municipal property tax rates are set by local councils. Separate tax rates maybe
levied annually for each of eight categories of property. There is no separate
business tax.
5
c. Role for Property Taxation
As noted earlier, user fees and property taxes constitute the major sources of locally generated
revenues for municipal governments in Canada. User fees are particularly appropriate for
funding those services where specific beneficiaries can be identified and where spillovers
(benefits or costs that spill over into neighbouring jurisdictions) do not exist. Examples include
water, sewage, solid waste, transit, etc. Property taxes are appropriate for funding those services
that provide benefits of a collective nature for the local community but for which individual
beneficiaries cannot be identified. Local streets, roads, sidewalks, streetlighting, police and fire
protection are
C.1
examples of services
Fairness or Equity
On fairness grounds, it is important
that provide this kind of general benefit.
to differentiate between equity based on benefits received
and ability-to-pay. Where beneficiaries are identifiable and where the service is not primarily
redistributive in nature (social services, for example), it is generally argued that beneficiaries
should pay for the service. Under the benefits-received principle, the distribution of taxes or
user fees should correspond, in an approximate fashion at least, to the distribution of benefits.
In some cases, this correspondence can be achieved through user fees which function like market
prices for privately produced goods and services (Bossons, Kitchen, Slack, 1993). In other
cases, a beneficiary-pay tax such as the property tax which is more loosely related to the use of
services may secure this linkage (Tassonyi, 1993).
The benefits received principle cannot be applied in
cannot be applied if beneficiaries cannot be identified
all situations, however. In particular, it
and if non-users cannot be excluded from
enjoying the service. Further, where the beneficiaries extend beyond the immediate users or the
service is largely a collective public good (as with education), it is not appropriate to apply the
benefits-received principle. Where beneficiaries are not identifiable or where the purpose of a
government program or service is primarily
criterion of fairness, generally ability to pay.
redistributive, it is necessary to look to a different
According to the ability-to-pay principle, taxes are
6
fair if their burden is distributed in accord with some measure of taxpayers ability to pay taxes.
Broad-based income and sales taxes, both of which are in the domain of the provincial and
federal governments, are generally regarded as capable of being designed to yield taxation
instruments that conform to this principle.
C.2 Allocative Efficiency
Since property taxes represent costs to citizens/taxpayers for local government services
consumed, individuals and firms may respond by altering their economic decisions. More
directly, they may change where they live and work, what they buy, what improvements they
make to their homes, how many people they employ and numerous other decisions. If the
property tax is allocatively efficient, it will not alter any of these decisions (Kitchen and Slack,
1993). In other words, the tax will be efficient if it is designed to capture the extra cost of local
government services consumed by individual property owners or firms. Here, the taxpayer pays
a price that equals the additional cost of the service consumed by the taxed property. When the
taxpayer (business) is taxed for services that he or she (it) does not consume, an incentive is
provided for the taxpayer to alter his or her (its) behaviour; perhaps to move to another location
or to alter spending or employment decisions, etc. The critical question that this is posed with
respect to the property tax is whether or not the its current application is efficient in funding
local services that provide benefits of a collective nature or whether it leads to distortions
(inefficiencies) of the type noted here.
C.3 Accountability
The more direct the relationship between the beneficiaries of a government service and payment
for that service, the greater the degree of accountability. The principle advantage of linking
expenditures to taxes is that the cost of the service is seen more clearly by beneficiaries.
Citizen/taxpayer demand for aid government service will thus be based on some knowledge
of what the service costs and a realization of what must be paid for its consumption. Matching
taxes, at least in rough approximation, with beneficiaries increases the level of accountability -
7
people and businesses know what they are getting for the tax paid and better able to judge
whether the expenditure level is appropriate (Bossons, Kitchen and Slack, 1993).
D. Property Tax Concerns
The property tax reflects the tax price charged for the production and delivery of a variety of
local government services and elementary and secondary schooling in those provinces where the
latter is funded by a provincial property tax. The property tax is based on the assessed value of
property (tax base) with this assessed value defined as some fraction of market value.
It is this tax that has generated a number of concerns, not the least of which is the concern over
whether the property tax should be used to fund social services and education. Further concern
has been expressed over uneven assessment practices as they apply to different property types.
Finally, the differential tax on residential properties of different types and the higher tax on
commercial and industrial properties and the implications that this has for Canadas ability to be
competitive in the global economy has been the subject of recent discussion.
D.1 Should Property Taxes Fund Education and Social Services?
a) Social Services
Given that the property tax can best be defended as an appropriate base for funding those services
that generate benefits of a collective nature that are confined or restricted to the local community,
there is virtually no rationale for using it to fund social services. Social services are primarily
income redistributional in nature and generate benefits that are province-wide if not nation-wide.
Furthermore, when individual municipalities are left to fund this service at levels that are
determined locally (there is a provincial minimum level that must be delivered but many
municipalities offer more than the minimum), there is an incentive for them to provide the
minimum level of service and to export their welfare case loads to those municipalities with
8
higher levels of service leaving the latter with the responsibility for funding these caseloads from
their local property tax base,
Local funding of social services and the incentives created under current practice is neither fair
nor efficient. Greater fairness and efficiency would be secured by provincial and federal
governments who have access to taxes more appropriately based on ability to pay (personal
income taxes, for example). Indeed, this was a recent recommendation in Ontario (see the
Hopcroft Committees report on disentanglement, 1991) but one upon which the government has
not acted.
b) Education
It has been suggested frequently that elementary and secondary school financing should be the
sole responsibility of the province and entirely removed from any local tax. Indeed, this is the
practice in some provinces (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, for
example). Total provincial funding of a local service is most appropriate for those services
where the province is responsible for setting province wide uniform standards; where the service
in question provides externalities for citizens living beyond the local jurisdiction; and where
income redistribution is a primary goal or objective (Kitchen, 1993).
Since the local education system is generally perceived to provide some collective benefits that
are confined to the residents of the local community (but for which specific beneficiaries cannot
be identified), there may be a role for some local funding. In other words, if some of the
benefits are confined to local residents, it may be both fair and allocatively efficient to require
the residents of the local community to fired a portion of the costs of this service. It is not
uncommon, for example, to observe residential property owners moving from one neighborhood
to another, or one town or city to another, so as to benefit from a better quality of education.
Given that collective local benefits exist, local finding for some portion of school expenditures
may be appropriate. For instance, a system where some funding is the direct responsibility of
local residents would assist in achieving a degree of accountability and allocative efficiency
9
because of the more direct link between the level of government raising the revenue and the level
of government making the expenditure. As well, access to locally generated revenues from the
residential sector may enhance the flexibility and autonomy of local school boards, districts, or
divisions, for this may improve their ability to accommodate more easily the desires of the local
community (Auld and Kitchen, 1995).
Making a case for local funding from the non-residential (commercial and industrial) sector is
far more difficult, perhaps impossible. For example, there is no question that commercial and
industrial property owners benefit from a well educated and highly skilled labour force. This
benefit, however, is linked to the education system across the entire province and not directly
to the expenditures made in a particular school jurisdiction (Bartik, 1992). As long as the local
education system provides no collective or direct benefits to local non-residential property
owners, the imposition of non-residential property taxes to fund a portion of local education costs
is both inefficient and unaccountable. It is inefficient because the commercial/industrial sector
pays taxes for services that primarily benefit the local residents. This type of cross subsidization
has the potential for leading to an oversupply of services for the residential sector. It lacks
accountability since those who pay are not the recipients of the service for which they have paid
(Kitchen and slack, 1993). While there is a solid argument for not using a local property tax on
non-residential property, this is not an argument against a provincial property tax on commercial
and industrial properties.
If non-residential property is taxed to finance education, there maybe good reasons to pool non-
residential assessment and assign the tax to the Province. For example, as was noted earlier, it
is unlikely that the local commercial/industrial sector directly benefits from the local education
system although it is almost certain to benefit from a province wide system. Furthermore, if the
tax is exported or partially exported as the empirical literature suggests is the case (Thirsk,
1982), much of the burden is likely to be borne by residents of other taxing jurisdictions and the
initial intent, which was to tax the local non-residential sector, will not be achieved. As well,
a uniform province-wide tax on business may be desirable on allocative efficiency grounds.
10
Otherwise, industrial or commercial location may well be based on the tax rather than other
economic considerations.
Province-wide pooling of non-residential assessment would also have the advantage of injecting
more wealth neutrality (each school board or district would have the ability to make similar
levels of expenditure per student regardless of their local tax base) into the funding system in
those provinces that currently do not have it. British Columbia, for example, has a scheme of
this type and it has been recommended for Ontario. This eliminates the situation where a school
board located in an industrially or commercially rich area, can raise more tax revenue without
raising the tax on residential property when compared with an area where the
commercial/industrial mix is relatively low.
D.2 Inequities and Inefficiencies Created by Uneven Assessment Practices
Inaccurate assessment is probably the most publicized and serious administrative fault of the real
property tax. This criticism has been founded on the observation that the ratio of assessed value
to market value displays a large amount of variation both within and amongst municipalities and
within and amongst property classifications. While these differences may be attributed to a
number of factors, they can generally be grouped in two categories: non-legislated (unintentional)
and legislated (intentional). Non-legislated or unintentional differentials have arisen because of
infrequent sales of certain properties and hence, the ensuing difficulty of establishing accurate
market values or the tendency of assessors to evaluate similar properties at different rates.
Legislated differentials in property taxation have developed in response to provincial objectives
of imposing lower taxes on certain types of property.
While uneven assessment practices have been observed in all provinces, they tend to be more
prevalent in the province of Ontario, primarily because there has been no province wide
implementation of market value or uniform assessment (Kitchen, 1992). Undercurrent practice,
three kinds of inequities have emerged.
First, inequities exist within each class of property.
11
Second, inequities have surfaced between classes of property; and third, inequities are noted
across municipalities within the province.
Inequities within property classes arise when all properties within a class are not assessed at the
same ratio of market value. For example, there may be two similar homes each with a market
value of $400,000. One maybe assessed at $30,000 (or 7.5 percent of its market value) and the
other at $20,000 (or 5 percent of market value). This difference in assessed value may be
attributed to the location of each house; for example, homes located in the downtown area of
cities tend to be under-assessed relative to homes located in the suburbs. Further discrepancies
are created because older homes tend to be under-assessed relative to newer homes.
Table 3 illustrates the extent of the inequities between classes of property by drawing upon
information from the Greater Toronto Area (Slack, 1994). While this table provides no
information on the extent of the inequities between properties within each property class, it
indicates that, on average, residential dwellings of 1 and 2 units (class 1) are under-assessed
relative to all other properties. Of the remaining residential properties, residential dwellings of
3 to 6 units (class 2) are assessed at a slightly higher percentage of market value while multi-unit
residential dwellings of 7 or more units (class 3) are assessed at a much higher percentage of
market value. Commercial properties (class 4) tend to be more highly assessed than all
residential properties except for multi-unit dwellings (class 3) but are under-assessed relative to
industrial and manufacturing properties (class 5).
This table also records the wide variation in the extent to which the ratio of assessed to market
values vary across each Region for each category of property. Variation, such as this, is
generally noted for all two tier local government structures where region wide market value
assessment is not in place.
Establishing a uniform assessment system is critical to the functioning of any local government
system that utilizes the assessment base for apportioning the costs of delivering uniform local
government services to the residents of more than one municipality. If properties of equal value
12
2.91
5.41
3.65
4.51
4.15
3.96
9.79
9.92
9.41
10.74
10.29
10.15
5.91
5.86
5.30
5.27
5.42
5.02
I I
18.92
10.84
25.71
17.47
24.01
12.32
24.58
8.19
24.54
11.12
17.98
12.71
14.55
13.15
15.78
8.71
15.78
13.72
26.97
I
18.20
23.25
15.57
22.36
11.62
9.26
I
4.01
9.15
4.69
7.61
3.81
6.38
3.89
13
This type of cross-subsidization suggests that the residential sector pays a tax price that is lower
than the cost of services consumed by this sector. Whenever this happens, an inefficient level
of output emerges (over supply in this case). If allocative efficiency were to become a stronger
objective of local governments, the current discriminatory practice in the taxation of residential
versus non-residential property should be removed. As well, on benefits received grounds,
tax would be fairer for the sector benefiting from the services would be the sector paying
these benefits (Kitchen, 1992).
In addition, this over-taxation of non-residential property may create problems for
the
for
the
competitiveness of products and services produced by Canadian commercial and industrial firms.
As long as property taxes capture the cost of local government services consumed, the taxis like
any other input cost and is captured in the final selling price of the good or service. It is the
portion of the tax that exceeds the cost of services consumed, however, that creates potential
problems. This excess must be paid by someone. If it is passed on in the form of higher prices,
products or services may become less competitive vis-a-vis foreign competitors. The extent to
which property taxes are passed on, however, is uncertain. Clearly, it will depend on the
mobility of factors (land, labour and capital) in that producing activity and the market conditions
for the good or service being produced.
In terms of a Canadian firms ability to compete in the global economy, the current application
of the property tax (because it captures more than the cost of services consumed) has the
potential for inhibiting competitiveness more than any other tax including the corporate income
tax and payroll taxes. To illustrate, it is the portion of the property tax that exceeds the cost of
services consumed that is a potential problem. It is a problem because it is a fixed charge that
must be paid annually; that is, it must be paid regardless of whether the firm makes a profit or
has employees. The corporate income tax, by comparison, is only paid if the firm earns a profit
20
are taxed at different percentages of market value across a region, uniformity in the treatment
of properties is violated leading to the situation where the apportionment of region-wide costs
across area municipalities falls disproportionately on those municipalities where property taxes
are a higher percentage of market value. Finally, if one of the roles of provincial grants to
municipalities is designed to redistribute income, then assessed property value within the
municipality is likely to constitute the major, if not sole, component of the grant base. To the
extent that assessment practices are not uniform, the redistributive mechanism inherent in these
grants will not work as intended.
D.3 Non-Residential Versus Residential Property Tax Rates
The current practice in every province is to impose higher taxes on commercial and industrial
properties vis-a-vis single unit residential properties or duplexes. This is achieved in one or
more of the following ways: commercial and industrial properties are assessed at a higher
percentage of market value when compared with residential properties other than multi-unit
residential properties (noted in Table 3 above); property tax rates are legislated to be higher for
non-residential properties; and in some provinces, a business occupancy tax is added onto the
non-residential property tax (Kitchen, 1992).
Table 4 records effective property tax rates for five classes of property within the Greater
Toronto Area. They tend to be highest on residents of multi-unit residential dwellings, followed
by industrial and commercial properties and then single unit residential properties and duplexes.
Differential treatment of this kind has never been defended as reflecting differences in the costs
of servicing different property types within the same municipality or neighbourhood. Rather,
it almost certainly reflects the relative ease with which governments can impose higher effective
tax rates on certain categories of property; for example, owner occupiers of single detached
properties tend to be more vocal in their protests against property taxation than are renters who
are generally unaware of the property tax liability on their rented quarters or than
commercial/industrial property owners who may feel that they can pass it on to consumers of
their products or employees of their firm.
14
TABLE 4: Effective Property Tax
Municipality:
Metro Toronto
Toronto
North York
Scarborough
Etobicoke
East York
York
York
Vaughan
Markham
Richmond Hill
Whitchurch-
Stouffville
Aurora
Newmarket
King
East Gwillimbury
Georgina
Peel
Mississauga
Brampton
Caledon
Halton
Oakville
Burlington
Milton
Halton Hills
Durham
Pickering
Ajax
Whitby
Oshawa
Newcastle
Scugog
Uxbridge
Brock
Note: Effective tax rates include taxes for own purposes, upper tier purposes and education.
Mill rates are for 1992; the assessment data are for 1993.
Source: Same as Table 3.
15
D.4 Variation in Non-Residential Property Taxes Between Canadian and American
Jurisdictions
It has often been argued that non-residential property taxes are higher in Canadian municipalities
than in American municipalities and that this discrepancy discourages businesses from locating
in Canada. Table 5 reports average real estate taxes (these are non-residential property taxes
excluding the business occupancy tax) per square foot for large buildings in selected North
American cities for 1993. Taxes are separated by downtown and suburban areas. Average real
estate taxes in the downtown areas of cities ranged from $0.31 per square foot in Dayton to
$8.59 per square foot in Toronto. When the comparison is made for suburban areas, the range
extends from $0.97 per square foot in Dayton to $4.70 per square foot in Toronto. When the
average for all U.S. cities is compared with the average for the Canadian cities, property taxes
per square foot, on average, are higher in Canadian cities.
While international (and frequently interprovincial) tax comparisons are relevant especially now
that everyone is concerned about Canadas ability to compete in the global economy, figures such
as those reported in Table 5 must be interpreted with caution for a variety of reasons. First, the
data are based on survey results of office and retail buildings and suffer from the usual problems
associated with surveys. For example, the sample size depends on the response rate, the quality
of information depends on the quality of the responses and there are no tests of reliability of the
data. In many cases, the sample size is very small. Second, there is no consistency in the
definition of cities. The respondents judgment about the location of the building is used and this
may not correspond to municipal boundaries. Third, the division between downtown and
suburban properties is unclear.
Fourth, these estimates do not compare other taxes paid or
local services used by businesses in the various cities.
In spite of these cautionary notes, one cannot ignore differences in property taxes especially if
they become the catalyst for driving businesses out of Canadian cities and into U.S. jurisdictions.
16
Table 5: Average Real Estate Taxes on Buildings in Selected North American Cities, 1993
City
Taxes per square foot for all
Taxes per square foot for all
downtown buildings
suburban buildings
$
$
Canada
Calgary
2.59
1.62
Edmonton
3.98
2.28
Halifax
2.75
---
Montreal
3.23
3.15
Ottawa
4.28
---
Toronto
8.59
4.70
Vancouver
5.77
2.87
Victoria
1.47
---
Winnipeg
3.22
United States
Albany
3.46
1.77
Atlanta
2.37
1.86
Buffalo
2.35
---
Cleveland
2.13
1.88
Dayton
0.31
0.97
Detroit
1.42
2.52
Madison
3.23
Milwaukee
2.56
2.62
Minneapolis
5.85
4.54
Nashville
1.70
1.48
Pittsburgh
3.88
2.68
Portland
2.30
2.43
Salt lake City
1.45
1.74
Seattle
2.41
1.96
Syracuse
--- 1.79
Boston
5.06
2.50
Dallas
2.50
1.77
Miami
3.87
2.96
St. Louis
0.86
2.35
Note: The estimates in this table represent averages for a number of buildings in each of the
cities. Information is obtained from building owners and not from tenants. Real estate taxes
do not include business occupancy taxes or other property-related taxes paid by tenants. All
estimates are in Canadian dollars: U.S. estimates have been converted to Canadian dollars
using an exchange rate for 1993 of $1.00 Canadian = $0.775 U.S.
Source: Calculated from
Boma Experience Exchange Report
Building Owners and Managers
Association international, Washington, D. C., 1993.
17
E. Evaluation of Property Taxation
E.1 Benefits Received Basis for Taxation
An evaluation of the property tax as a basis for funding local government services is likely to
differ depending on whether it is evaluated under the criterion of ability to pay or under the
criterion of benefits received. Since ability to pay is generally based on a measure of ones
potential command over goods or services (income and wealth, for instance) or ones
consumption of goods or services (expenditures) and since property taxation represents neither,
ability to pay tends to be discarded as a basis for evaluating this tax. On benefits received
grounds, however, it has received much more attention and general acceptance. Indeed, with
some modifications as suggested below, it maybe a viable tax price for approximating efficiency
and fairness in financing a variety of public services that generate collective benefits for local
taxpayers.
E.2 Effective Tax Rate Differentials and Problems Created
Differences in effective property tax rates (tax price) can be justified as long as the differential
reflects differences in the cost (production, environmental and social) of delivering services to
the various properties. In other words, if some properties or property types are more expensive
to service, a case can be made for differential property tax rates. Unfortunately, current
differentials in effective property tax rates have arisen because of differentials in assessment
practices and not explicitly through variations in the tax (mill) rate. Failure to correlate benefits
from local government services, as they are reflected in effective property tax rates, with the
extra cost (or approximation of it) of service delivery leads to a redistribution of income that is
not neutral. Where the effective tax rate exceeds the extra cost of delivering the service,
incentives exist for people or businesses to relocate to lower taxed areas unless they are willing
to accept lower property values.
To avoid difficulties of this sort and to set the base for an
efficient and fair property tax system, all properties within a municipality and a city-region ought
to be assessed at a uniform percent of market value.
Variable mill rates, as are used in British
18
Columbia, could then be designed to capture cost differences across properties, property types
and municipalities (or neighborhoods within municipalities, for that matter) within a city-region
(Slack, 1991). As well, similar variation could be captured through the use of special assessment
or benefiting area charges on properties in receipt of more costly municipal services. While this
is current practice in a number of Canadian municipalities for financing hard services such as
roads, sidewalks, street lighting, etc., a case could be made, although it would require a
legislated change in most provinces, for extending its use to a number of additional services
where it can be demonstrated that service delivery costs are higher in specific neighbourhoods.
Changes of the sort suggested here should provide for a fairer and more efficient property tax
system.
E.3 Discrimination Against Non-Residential Property
The current practice of imposing higher effective property tax rates on non-residential
(commercial/industrial) vis-a-vis residential property creates efficiency and equity concerns. For
example, a recent study suggests that the residential sector when compared with the non-
residential sector is the recipient of proportionately more benefits from local government services
(welfare, elementary and secondary education, libraries, recreational facilities, etc.). When this
is combined with higher effective property tax rates paid by the non-residential sector, it is
concluded that the non-residential sector is over-taxed and the residential sector under-taxed. In
fact, recent evidence for eight Ontario cities suggests that if non-residential properties were
responsible for funding the portion of local services that are of benefit to their properties, current
property taxes could be expected to fall by more than fifty percent. Furthermore, if education
funding were removed from property taxes in these Ontario cities, the property tax for the
remaining services would approximate, in a crude fashion at least, a benefits based tax (Kitchen
and Slack, 1993).
19
This type of cross-subsidization suggests that the residential sector pays a tax price that is lower
than the cost of services consumed by this sector. Whenever this happens, an inefficient level
of output emerges (over supply in this case). If allocative efficiency were to become a stronger
objective of local governments, the current discriminatory practice in the taxation of residential
versus non-residential property should be removed. As well, on benefits received grounds,
tax would be fairer for the sector benefiting from the services would be the sector paying
these benefits (Kitchen, 1992).
In addition, this over-taxation of non-residential property may create problems for
the
for
the
competitiveness of products and services produced by Canadian commercial and industrial firms.
As long as property taxes capture the cost of local government services consumed, the tax is like
any other input cost and is captured in the final selling price of the good or service. It is the
portion of the tax that exceeds the cost of services consumed, however, that creates potential
problems. This excess must be paid by someone. If it is passed on in the form of higher prices,
products or services may become less competitive vis-a-vis foreign competitors. The extent to
which property taxes are passed on, however, is uncertain. Clearly, it will depend on the
mobility of factors (land, labour and capital) in that producing activity and the market conditions
for the good or service being produced.
In terms of a Canadian firms ability to compete
of the property tax (because it captures more
in the global economy, the current application
than the cost of services consumed) has the
potential for inhibiting competitiveness more than any other tax including the corporate income
tax and payroll taxes. To illustrate, it is the portion of the property tax that exceeds the cost of
services consumed that is a potential problem. It is a problem because it is a fixed charge that
must be paid annually; that is, it must be paid regardless of whether the firm makes a profit or
has employees. The corporate income tax, by comparison, is only paid if the firm earns a profit
20
and the payroll tax is only paid if the firm has a payroll. The imposition of an annual charge
that is unrelated to services consumed, profits earned and payroll costs, then, has the potential
for inhibiting a firms ability to be competitive in the international marketplace (Kitchen and
Slack, 1993).
E.6 Differential Effective Tax Rates on Residential Properties
Finally, within the residential sector, the practice of overtaxing multi-unit residential properties
vis-a-vis residential properties and newer homes when compared with older homes is both
inefficient and inequitable unless, of course, it can be demonstrated that cost differences exist
in the provision of local public services to these various property types. At the moment, there
is no empirical evidence suggesting that multi-unit residential properties and older homes are
more expensive to service than single unit dwellings and newer homes. In fact, one may easily
conceive of situations where older homes located in more densely populated and downtown areas
require more police and fire protection, for example, when compared with newer homes in
suburban or less densely populated areas. As well, for many local government services such as
public transit and local streets, it maybe less expensive on a per unit basis to service multi-unit
residential dwellings.
21
F. Reform of Property Taxation
Discussions of property tax reform have been around for some time and have constituted the major efforts
of a number of provincial reform commissions and major committees over the past three decades.
Unfortunately, many of their recommendations, especially in Ontario, have never been implemented. More
recently, however, the threat of citizens protest and the potential for a taxpayers revolt has renewed the
urgency for government delivery of services in a fair, efficient and accountable manner. To achieve this in
the property tax field it is critical that provincial governments enact the following reforms if they have not
done so (some of these reforms have been implemented in some provinces).
Social service funding should be removed from the property tax base.
Elementary and secondary schooling should not be funded local a local property tax on commercial
and industrial properties, although a case maybe made for a provincial property tax on commercial
and industrial properties with the revenues being pooled and refunded to school boards or districts
on the basis of a provincial equalization formula.
AU properties (regardless of class or type) should be assessed at a uniform percentage of market
value.*
The current practice of overtaxing certain properties (commercial, industrial and multi-unit
residential) should be eliminated because it is unfair, inefficient and lacks accountability.
Variable mill rates should be implemented with differential rates applying to different property types
based on the cost of services consumed by each property type.
Eliminating the current practice of overtaxing commercial and industrial properties would enhance a
Canadian firm's ability to be competitive in the global economy.
The entire question of which activities, location and other intangibles, such as management, should
be included in assessed value is currently under debate.
22
REFERENCES
AuId, Douglas and Harry Kitchen (1995), Financing Education in Canada, Toronto: Canadian
Tax Foundation.
Bartik, Timothy (1992), The Effects of Property Taxes and Other Local Policies on the
Intrametropolitan Pattern of Business Location in Henry W. Herzog, Jr. and Alan M.
Schlottmann, ed., Industry location and Public Policy,Knoxville, TN: University of
Tennessee Press.
Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), Boma Experience Exchange
Washington, D. C., 1993.
,
Bossons, John, Harry Kitchen and Enid Slack (1993) Local Government Finance: Principles and
Issues, a paper prepared for the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, Toronto: mimeograph.
Hopcroft Committee, (1991) Report of the Advisory Committee to the Minister of Municipal
. .
, Toronto: Queens Printer for
Ontario.
, Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation.
Kitchen, Harry (1993) Efficient Delivery of Local Government Services, Government and
Competitiveness Project, School of Policy Studies, Kingston: Queens University.
Kitchen, Harry and Enid Slack (1993) Business Property Taxation, Government and
Slack,
Slack,
Competitiveness Project, School of Policy Studies, Kingston: Queens University.
Enid (1991) An Analysis of the Feasibility of Implementing Variable Mill Rates in
Ontario, a paper prepared for the Municipal Finance Branch, Ministry of Municipal
Affairs, Toronto: mimeograph.
Enid (1994) Non-Residential Property Taxation and Competitive Advantage in the
Greater Toronto Area, a paper prepared for the Canadian Urban Institute with support
from the Dormer Canadian Foundation, Toronto: mimeograph.
Tassonyi, Almos (1993) The Benefits Rationale and the Services Provided by Local
Governments,
a paper preared for the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, Toronto:
mimeograph.
Thirsk, Wayne (1982) Political Sensitivity Versus Economic Sensibility: A Tale of Two
Property Taxes in Wayne R. Thirsk and John Whalley, eds.,Tax Options in the 1980's,
Toronto: Canadian Tax Foundation.
23
IMPLEMENTING
A PROPERTY TAX
REDUCTION STRATEGY
Prepared for: The Canadian Institute
of Public Real Estate Companies
By: Gardner Church
York University
April, 1995
IMPLEMENTING A PROPERTY TAX
REDUCTION STRATEGY
PREPARED FOR
THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC REAL ESTATE COMPANIES
OBJECTIVE:
To persuade Provincial Governments in jurisdictions with
higher than normal property taxes to reduce property tax
levels by removing the funding of human services from that
tax and employing less inequitable and less market
distorting taxes to make up for lost revenues.
BACKGROUND:
Part 2 of the document Towards a Strategy for Property Tax
Reduction: An opportunity for Action, (Church, 1995) begins with
the following observation:
The process of major political reform has changed in the last decades in Canada. Not long ago, an
organization with economic power might have succeeded in changing tax policy by carrying out good
research, explaining the need to change to government, and then assisting in drafting the reforms.
Now, however, the tax policy field, like many others, is full with special interest groups, each
resolutely pursuing a focused agenda. Major change will only occur if a cross section of special
interests can come together and agree on appropriate change. Than, instead of government being
confronted with a babble of conflicting demands,
it can respond carefully and cooperatively to a
broad and collective group.
Today, no component of society has Prior claim to governments' attention. Social advocates, economic
advocates, environmental advocates and advocates for local communi ties all have succeeded in making
their claims Legitimate in the eye of the public. If the economic lobby on governments is to have
any chance to achieve the reforms it seeks,
it will have to join forces with others in the other
fields of @lie advocacy.
A more cynical description of the political context is that in an era when governments are hard
pressed to pay interest on debt, proposals for major tax changes will be measured one vote at a
time.
2
It then proceeds to document the array of groups in society which
are potential supporters of a strategy to remove human services
from the property tax in favour of more progressive and less
market distorting tax sources. Banks, receivers, commercial
building owners,
commercial landowners, Boards of Trade,
urbanists, urban academics, poverty groups, social equity groups,
gender equality advocates, renters, leasers, and perhaps
homeowners and construction unions all have reasons to support a
major reform to property tax and may support the specific
proposal suggested here.
The objective of this outline is to suggest to CIPREC how it
might best build the coalition necessary to achieve the stated
objective.
APPROACH:
To build a coalition among diverse groups which support the
objective and together:
B Demonstrate that property tax is a poor foundation from
which to fund human services (including education, health
care, social welfare, day care geriatric care etc.) ;
B Show that high levels of property tax as they are now
administered are environmentally, socially and economically
more damaging than a number of alternative sources;
B Explore a possible companion approach focusing on reducing
the cost of local government in areas with high per capita
costs.
PROCESS ISSUES:
Successful coalitions arise when a common cause is identified,
when trust among the participants has been developed and where
data sharing is complete.
Problems in coalitions usually arise
from misunderstanding and inadequate communication. Thus, care
should be taken in the first stages to construct processes that
the various participants in the coalition can support and which
ensure clear understanding.
B B IMPLEMENTING A PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION STRATEGY B B
One of the major stumbling blocks in any coalition is
of funding. Some groups are very influential but have
to funds . Others are relatively weak politically but
relatively large funding capacity. One way to address
3
the issue
no access
have
this issue
is to identify sustaining participants and allocate to them only
the authority necessary to ensure adequate management control.
Otherwise the roles of sustaining partners would be
indistinguishable from those of other partners.
A process for building a successful coalition to replace the
property tax as a source of funding for human services would
follow steps such as these:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Develop a statement of the problem and a statement of the
range of potential solutions;
Identify individuals who could best approach the various
interests to determine their support, willingness and
ability to participate;
Develop a ball park estimate of the adjustments needed in
each Province;
Identify the key contributing partners who will join CIPREC
in a National partnership or coalition;
Discuss with all potential participants their perception of
the problem, any additional issues they wish to explore and
the process for decision making that they would support:
As a coalition, arrive at a common goal, a definition of
success, a workplan, working and decision making procedures,
agree on an independent chair and manager and arrangements
for funding of the work:
As research and developmental work is underway, invest in
communication among the members of the coalition:
Agree on political action and spokespeople before beginning
the public education and lobbying process;
B B IMPLEMENTING A PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION STRATEGY B B
4
9. Ensure that all materials are prepared with the multiple
perspectives of the coalition in mind. Each report, public
utterance or release should be defensible from all the
participants perspectives.
ACTIVITY:
Phase I
B Recruit the sustaining partners.
B Recruit a senior statesman as a spokesman, a manager of the
s t r at egy and ei t her di r ect l y or t hr ough t he s t r at egi c
manager r et ai n a nat i onal l obbyi st .
B Devel op a sophi st i cat ed capaci t y t o exami ne al t er nat i ve t ax
systems as they are proposed from the perspective of CIPREC.
In the priority Provinces,
devel op t he l ocal par t ner s t hat
wi l l del i ver t he pol i t i cal number s t he i ndus t r i al s ect or s
don t have ( envi r onment al i s t s , muni ci pal i t i es , s oci al
act i vi s t s ) .
. Pr epar e Pr ovi nci al act i on pl ans i n appr opr i at e Pr ovi nces
i ncl udi ng budget s, per sonnel , medi a st r at egy et c. and
det er mi ne cost s shar i ng t o oper at e Pr ovi nci al campai gns.
Phase II
B Manage Provincial campaigns in the context of the National
partnership.
B Oversee legislative lobbies as legislation is introduced.
SETTING PRIORITIES:
It is important that the political action part of the strategy
work on highest priorities first. Various members of the
coalition will have different key success factors. A critical
step in the political strategy is making early progress on all
participants critical priorities.
This implies a flexibility of
approach and a willingness to succeed in one area at a time. Most
successful coalitions succeed one small step at a time.
B IMPLEMENTING A PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION STRATEGY B B
A CRITICAL PATH FOR A PROPERTY TAX
May - Aug.'96
May 96
May - Sept. *86
May - June 96
Throughout
Dec.95
Sept. - Dec.*85
June - Nov.*95
Before Dec.95
Throughout 96
In 96
In 96
96 & 87
Late 97
REDUCTION STRATEGY
Recruit Sustaining Partners
Develop Strategic Plan & Budget
Establish National Partnership & Set Protocols
Recruit Strategy Manager & Tax Specialist
Recruit Spokespeople & Lobbyists as Needed
Complete Alternative Tax Analysis
Carry Out National Communication Campaign
Develop Partners in Priority Provinces
Prepare Provincial Action Plans
Manage Provincial Campaigns
Modify National Strategy as Needed
Advertise Progress Throughout
Manage Legislative Lobbies
Success or Renewal of Partnership
MANAGING A PROPERTY TAX
REDUCTION STRATEGY
1
I
Coalition
Partners
I I
TOWARDS A STRATEGY
FOR PROPERTY TAX REDUCTION
APPENDIX:
AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
ON PROPERTY TAX
Prepared for Gardner Church
and a Report to
The Canadian Institute of
Public Real Estate Companies
by Abby Bushby
March, 1995
BIBLIOGRAPHY ON PROPERTY TAX
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
Brown, H. G.,
"Should Bare Land values Be Taxed more Heavily?"
Journal of Land and Public Utility Economics, November 1928,
pp. 375-390.
This article is of historical interest in that it debates
the merits of a flat, land value tax, (in the style of Henry
George), versus a generalized version of contemporary property
tax after the decisive post WWI period when American land use
planning had clearly given way to low-density uses, and he
cautiously approves it. He compares the capitalized value of
land under each system and finds that the flat tax increased
the value of land compared to the general tax by a ration of
4:1, (which seems to imply that taxes upon the land portion of
property tax could be much higher in a flat tax jurisdiction
without adverse impacts upon individual owners) .
The impacts
of each type are also compared upon vacant land speculation,
and finds that speculators would prefer the current system
where their taxes are reduced for the land not being in use.
As for ability to pay, the writer notes the inherent
difficulties of inferring ability to pay based on land
holdings.
Canadian Urban Institute, "Intensification Report", Toronto, Issue
No.8 May-June 1994,
The issue is devoted to property taxation and land use
planning. Articles include:
Editorial,
"Is property Taxation a Viable Policy Instrument
for Intensification?", page 2;
Scott Blythe,
"Commentary on the Ontario Fair Tax Report",
pages 3-6;
Enid Slack,
"Property Taxation and Urban Sprawl", Pages 7-9;
Richard Gilbert and Penny Pepperrell, Taxing for a Purpose"
pages 9 -11.
David Nowlan,
"Taxes, politics and Urban Form", Reflecting on
Fundamentals, pages 12-14.
Peter Tomlinson,
"Property Tax and Business Location", pages
14-17.
Bird, Richard,
Analysis,
This
BOOKS:
Who Pays the Property Tax, Institute for Policy
Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1975.
is one of the most oft referred to of many works to
deal with the subject of incidence which dominated the
political/intellectual agenda of tax reform attempts in
Ontario's 1970's.
Bird tackles the question:
is property tax paid
proportionately more by the poor?
He disputes the
"conventional view" that payment of property taxes is shifted
to tenants in proportion to their rental payments. That view,
he contends is indicative of regarding small sample
localities, whereas the ownership of land when considered
nationally reveals a concentration of capital. If the total
supply of land is constant, then there is no shift of tax
payments. If, on the other hand, the supply of land is movable
due to changeability in use, value, or growth potential,
capital will move in search of similar after-tax returns. The
net distributive effects of these forward shifts is
controversial and does not clearly demonstrate inequity. This
is a fundamental basis for finding that there is a stronger
relationship tracing the proportion of tax to the receipt of
income from capital than in proportion to consumption of
housing.
Bird concludes that, as a basis for property tax reform,
equity and incidence are uncertain concepts. According to
Bird, regressivity is inaccurately portrayed with emphasis on
the spending of income and requires an analysis of sources of
income as well. On the other hand, thinkers such as Richard
Gilbert, (see Symposium below), would probably say that
because land is scarce and has a high value as a commodity,
its supply is therefore movable and it would follow that the
incidence of tax on land is indeed capable of being shifted
forward.
Bird, Richard M. and N. Enid Slack. Urban Public Finance in Canada,
"Appendix A: Local Government Finance in Comparative
perspective" (2d), Toronto: John Wiley & Sons, 1993, pages
139-143.
(This Appendix is photocopied) .
Bossons, John, Michael Denny and Enid Slack, Municipal Fiscal
Reform in Ontario: Property Taxes and Provincial Grants,
Toronto: Ontario Economic Council, Discussion Paper Series,
1981.
Introduction: This book offers
of market value
assessment,
insights to
( "MVA") in
the long history
modern Ontario.
3
Beginning with the Ontario Committee on Taxation (the "Smith
Committee") which is identified as the source of the Ontario
governments commitment to MVA, the MVA debate still dominates
the popular agenda in property tax reform.
Interestingly in 1967,
when there was much suburban
residential activity in Ontario the Smith Committee found that
low-density residences and land without buildings (ie. vacant
lots held in speculation) received favorable tax treatment.
Also highlighted are:
a series of reforms proposed in the 1976
budget; the findings of a commission chaired by W.L. Blair
which reported in March 1977; the Provincial-Local Government
Committee on Property Tax Reform which reported in April 1978,
all of which recommended amendments to the above anomalies;
then, the decision of Darcy McKeough, Treasurer of Ontario in
1978 to not implement any wide-ranging tax reform at that time
introduced an
era of administrative reform". The
administrative reform was to create changes in the provincial
equalization grants
to municipalities.
(Municipalities
receive grants for schools and resource equalization based on
the total assessment value within the tax jurisdiction.)
Objectives of tax reform investigated in this book
include effects:
on neighbourhoods,
on investment, local
autonomy, provincial-municipal transfers, and the municipal
fiscal system in general.
"Property Tax Reform: What is Desirable", pp. 9-88. John
Bossons article finds much potential for incorporating user
charges into the municipal tax structure.
Bossons would limit
the applicability of market value assessment to aspects of
taxation within properties of the same class.
His careful application of the bases of "equity in any
property tax scheme is very helpful, including horizontal
equity, vertical equity, and a derivative of vertical equity:
user pay. Of the latter, Bossons isolates municipal "hard"
services that are allocable to certain properties,
such as
roads, water and sewers and recommends that a user charge
system be invoked which would be applied on a foot frontage
basis for hard services and a lot area or density basis for
services such as fire and police protection.
He also recommends that the costs associated with
particular land use decisions be financed with a "Density Tax
component
to property tax
where the tax paid would be
inversely proportional to density.
Interestingly, he singles
out the spread of suburban low-density uses as a costly form
of land use for their consequential increases in the costs of
hard services, for making public transit more expensive and
for requiring that valuable municipal resources be priorized
for roads.
4
With regard to horizontal and vertical equity, Bossons
measures the impact of MVA on ability to pay and finds that
because lower capitalization rates on owner-occupied
properties artificially inflates their values, the ability to
pay of homeowners as compared to renters is actually lower.
Furthermore, because MVA would apply to the value of homes
regardless of how much a home is mortgaged, it would extracts
a higher proportion of tax from those with high mortgages.
Statistically this group is composed of younger people.
Bossons briefly discusses a tradition of using taxing
powers as an instrument for intervening in land use decisions.
It is limited by the desire to avoid inter-municipal
competition in Canadian jurisdictions. (I am aware that fewer
prohibitions against inter-municipal competition exist in
American jurisdictions, a fact which is acknowledged to
accelerate decentralization) .
"Property Tax Reform in Ontario:
An Economic Assessment",
pp.89-128. In this chapter Michael Denny takes up the case for
MVA. Mississauga is a case study; it introduced MVA in the
late 1960's. Denny notes that this raised the taxes on single
family residences and lowered that for business and industry.
(In the current system, residences are taxed at one half their
value and businesses are taxed at a higher rate.) This is
passed without comment as to the effects on land use patterns.
His primary reason for endorsement appears to be that MVA is
the easiest to measure accurately.
George, Henry, Progress and Poverty, New York: Garden City, 1926.
George, Henry, The Land Question: Property in Land. The Condition
of Labour, Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, 1935.
George, Henry, Our Land and Land Policy: Speeches, Lectures and
Miscellaneous Writings, New York: Doubleday and McClure
Company, 1902.
This is a volume of writings compiled by Henry George Jr.
after his fathers death. It contains several writings about
aspects of the famous "single, flat tax" notion of George. In
a nutshell, he proposes a tax on land, without any increment
for the value of structures and improvements. The amount of
tax paid would be the same for vacant land as for built upon
and densely populated land. It is a tax that has little or no
bearing on the use of the land, including profit making and
does not affect the cost of living. Furthermore, it is the
most easily assessed, collected and administered tax. To
5
George this proposal is based on a humane understanding of the
creation of wealth and a desire to eradicate poverty: Land
increases in value because of human labour. To place a tax
upon the value created by labour simply permits the landowner
to shift the burden of payment to those who work or use the
land. (To him it is self-evident that the incidence of tax
paid on the value of land is regressive because if the
landowner is engaged in any sort of production, he will recoup
any taxes paid to make a profit.) Presumably, George would
rather tax all "value added" labour according to ability to
pay. It is evident, however, that the flat tax in his scheme
would be quite high, as it is his intent to "tax away" all
private interest in land on the principle that land value is
created by the community not the individual and the community
is thus entitled to the return.
Although George wrote in the late 19th century, the idea
has gathered interest from time to time for various reasons.
Currently, the tax reform ideas of Richard Gilbert of the
Canadian Urban Institute appear to be influenced by George.
Gilbert has stated (at a Symposium listed below) that if the
property tax were simply based on land with a single flat tax,
intensification would be the predictable result because it
would be in landowners interests to efficiently use space.
The scarcity of land alone, not its value, constitutes a solid
basis for taxation. The transformation could be accomplished
by redefining the urbanized area of the GTA and setting out a
predictable transformation period of 20 years.
Jacobs, Jane, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New
York: Vintage Books, 1961.
Jacobs has a few comments about property taxation that
stand to increase the vitality of cities: 1)
To increase
diversity, property taxes should not be assessed by
neighboring property values, but be taxed within the class of
similarly zoned properties. To do otherwise is to restrict
use by zoning but to compel homogeneity by similar tax
treatment; and, 2) to seriously clear slums, taxation on the
basis of profits is necessary, (slumlords make no improvements
and pocket the depreciation then
"sell" the property
0 a
related corporation for the book value which gives rise to
very little capital gains tax and the opportunity to begin a
new round of depreciation. (I take note that the income tax
administration
is best equipped to inspect improperly
depreciated values).
The most important relevance of this book to property tax
reform is her work in addressing the values of diverse,
economically vital and safe cities which set standards by
6
which the consequences of taxation can be measured. Ms.
Jacobs advocated against the imposition of full market value
assessment in Toronto, as it would drive out all small, older
businesses that create much diversity in the City.
Goldberg, Michael A.,
and John Mercer, The Myth of the North
American City: Continentalism Challenged, Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press, 1986.
(paraphrased) Local autonomy declines with increased reliance
on transfer payments. Metro areas in Canada and US are
similar in terms of the share of total revenues derived from
intergovernmental transfers.
(Table 8-4) American central
cities however were more dependent on transfer payments, in
both metro area and in central cities in 1976-77, (although
the US trend in metro areas was to increase transfers to up 6%
points to 43%, unlike in Canada which decreased 3% points in
transfers to 43%. In the central cities, transfer payments
are substantially less than for the metro area.
They
decreased from 20 to 17% in Canada and increased from 27 to
37 % in the US.
To my mind, these facts alone are in apparent
contradiction with the notion that local autonomy is a greater
value in the US than in Canada. The authors suggest that the
"central city fiscal squeeze widely discussed in the US is
forcing cities to disregard the intangible notion of local
autonomy and enter into a state of fiscal dependency. This is
brought on by city administrations seeking to realize ever
more revenues from a limited or declining tax base.
(201)
What is significant is that in the US the federal government
has entered into a transfer payments role with the cities
whereas in Canada, provinces provide grants to cities.
Therefore the US orientation is to the federal government and
in Canada it is to the Province. (Ask John DeGrove how this
impacts on state willingness/reluctance to undertake growth
management programs-- are the rich suburbs content to leave
the poor cities to the feds?)
Also, it must be noted that the role of the US fed govt
changed drastically during the years immediately following
these studies. Devolution, under Reagan, meant the feds got
out of conditional transfers to the cities and got out of
funds over a ten year period ending in 1992.
What has
replaced them under Clinton?
(ask Gardner, or DeGrove)
(Paraphrased again) Property tax has been commonly claimed to
be one of the factors encouraging business activities to leave
the central cities for lower tax locations in the suburbs or
elsewhere. Loss of assessed prop tax base only serves to put
7
increased pressure on the remaining city property tax owners.
Thus, American cities, with their declining areas, would need
to find other mechanisms for raising revenues to reduce their
reliance on the prop tax.
Canadian cities, with their
generally expanding tax base, might behave in a mor
e
traditional way and rely on the prop tax....ln both cases,
flexibility must be recognized.
203 and Table 8-6: shows Canadian and American central cities
decline in taxes as proportion of revenues. Canadian central
cities also declined in transfers.
Authors make the
suggestion that it must be due to more use of non-tax sources
such as licensing:
American suburbs were raising fewer
revenues from taxation, Canadians were raising more.
204 and Table 8-7:
The property tax as a percentage of tax revenues is
higher in suburbs than in central city for both Can and US.
However, Canadian suburbs decrease reliance on property taxes
while the central city increases reliance.
(Both Canadian
areas get 80-90% of revenue from prop tax.)
Table 8-9, per capita data:
Canadian urban property
owners pay more than American counterparts -- double in, 1971
and 1.5 x in 1977.
(NOTE: this does not, however, include
prov grants to homeowners).
However, it does imply that high
property taxes mean that Canadian cities have higher revenues.
Table 8-10 confirms this with revenues per capita comparisons
between Canada and US.
It is true that Canadian cities spend
more on infrastructure.
(Anti-tax propositions limit US
cities ability to improve this situation.)
American cities allocate greater share of expenditures
for protection (central city).
per capita spending for
protection, however,
is greater in Canada than in US (central
city). And,
total expenditures per capita, are greater in
Canada than in US (metro area).
However, the difference
between suburbs and central cities spending decreases between
Canada and US. therefore, US suburbs are seen to be spending
.--
more per capita than central cities,
(US suburbs are
affluent, social status gradient is steeper in US.)
204).
Metro Fiscal disparities (206) (not very clear, Tables
and 17)
Ratio of revenues Per capita,
central city to
more
page
8-16
the
suburbs: In the US, greater fiscal disparity is noted, but
great disparity to a great degree in both countries.
Ratio of expenditures per capita:
substantially higher
for the suburb areas.
8
Kivell, Philip, Land and the City:
Patterns and Processes of Urban
Change, London: Routledge, 1993.
Kivell's work is helpful in understanding the
consequences of energy consumption to urban sprawl and, to me,
speaks to the need to integrate property tax reform with an
energy tax. He finds that land devoted to urban uses is 5-10%
of developed countries. It is important as a source of power,
record of evolving patterns of living and the key to planning
and control by government.
Of several broad trends, ie. the
decline of manufacturing,
suburbanization versus
decentralization, the effect of telecommunications on economic
activities and land use change, and concern for the
environment, the cost and availability of energy will have a
great impact.
Newell, Martin, An Introduction to the Economics of Urban Land
Use., London: The Estates Gazette Limited, 1977.
Contents: urban development, land values, techniques of
public decision making eg. discounted cash flow, cost-benefit
analysis, Need for efficiency in the use of scarce land and
costly building resources, income redistribution, the role and
method of the market system and urban decay, economic role of
the public sector in attempting to complement or replace the
market system.
Ratcliff, Richard U., Urban Land Economics, Westport: Greenwood
Press, 1968
Ratcliff's Chapter 14,
"Urban Land Policies" explains a
perspective of urban economics which takes the view that land
policy is established by the planning process including
zoning, subdivision control as well as the taxation of real
property. Economic land policy then includes having regard to
the incidence of payment, effects of speculation, diversity of
uses and direction of investment through tax policy. He
regards MVA as deficient in assessing ability to pay. To
Ratcliff,
"ability to pay
" was a value that could be more
closely associated with real property prior to the spread of
wealth in intangibles. He notes that the adoption of Georges
flat tax system would revolutionize the land system and he
mentions the successful experiment of Pittsburgh to encourage
the improvement of vacant
on the land and lower tax
NOTE: F.Y.I., TEE FOLLOWING
land by applying a higher tax rate
on improvements.
BOOKS ARE ALL ABOUT SUSTAINABLE
9
DEVELOPMENT, GENERALLY:
World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future,
New Yor k :
Commission" )
Pearce, David, Anil
Green Economy,
Oxford University, 1987, (the "Bruntland
Markandya, and Edward Barbier, Blueprint for a
London: Earthscan Publications, 1989.
Cairncross, Francis, Costing the Earth, London: Random Century
House and The Economist Books Ltd., 1991.
Daly, Herman, and John Cobb, For the Common Good, Boston: Beacon
Press, 1989.
GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS:
Corporation of the City of Toronto, (Commissioner of Finance),
"Unit Assessment System and Environmental Objectives",
Economic Development Committee Report No. 4, Clause No. 3
a
Adopted by City Council on March 22 and 23, 1993, (A
submission to The Sewell Commission) .
A Working Group composed of interested City Department
Heads qualitatively evaluated MVA and Unit Assessment ("UA")
by the criteria of effects on urban form, preservation of
agricultural land/natural areas, public transit, energy
efficiency, and air pollution. (UA is not defined herein,
further reports are forthcoming.) MVA was found to encourage
urban sprawl because it enhances lower property values at the
fringe of Metro. UA is independent of location. UA
encourages intensification because there is no penalty for
smaller lots, (with MVA smaller lots may be as valuable as
larger lots and there is no incentive to build compact urban
form). With MVA assessment changes with fluctuations in the
market and is unstable. With UA assessment changes only with
physical changes in the assessed property.
Provincial-Municipal Grants Reform Committee, Report of the
Provincial-Municipal Grants Reform Committee -- Volume I, D.W.
Stevenson, Chairman, (appointed May 26, 1976). (" The
Stevenson Report")
The Stevenson Report signalled a major turning point in
Ontario's history of municipal funding. It recommended
increasing the amount of unconditional grants to
municipalities,
under a market value system, and outlined
10
principles of equity upon which services in smaller local
governments would be funded.
Table 1 in the Report shows the impacts of
committees recommendations on the grant system:
conditional
unconditional total
grants
grants
pre-report 1102
436
1,538*
post-report 493
741 1,234
MY NOTE: Compare the above figures with those in the
Commissions Final report in Table
31.1:
the
Fair Tax
cond
36
(FTC calculation
(* $ million dollars)
Advisory Committee to the
unconditional
947
based on MARS 1991)
Minister on the Provincial-Municipal
Financial Relationship, Report of the Advisory
Committee-to
the Minister of Municipal Affairs on the Provincial Municipal
Financial Relationship, Grant Hopcroft, Chairman, Toronto:
Queen's Printer for Ontario, January 3, 1991, ("the Hopcroft
Reports").
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, Fair Taxation in a Changing
World:
Report of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1993.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, "Assessment:
What's Fair", Tax Talk,
Vol.2 No.4, Fall 1992, p.2.
The 45 member Property Tax Working Group produced an
interim report,
(see Working Group Report
below). In this
newsletter article, the Group's finding that MVA is not fairer
because the relationship between the value of a house and the
income of the home-owning occupants is weak is highlighted.
Also highlighted are the Groups recommendations for a
different method of education equalization grants:
they
recommend that household incomes, (perhaps determined from a
reformed provincial income tax information?), be taken into
account as well as assessed value of property.
In my view,
this reform more clearly establishes a community's aggregate
11
ability to pay for municipal expenditures and should therefore
be one of the factors that lessens the pressure on small and
poor localities to permit sprawl so as to increase their tax
base.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, Working Group Report: Property Tax,
Toronto, December, 1992.
The Report details the great extent to which effective
tax rates across the province vary, (for definitions see
below) . Its recommendations include:
The payment of some
municipal services should be separated from the property tax
base, (these services are used by citizens regardless of
municipal residence and have income redistributive goals, eg.
education and welfare) . The emphasis on ability to pay should
be removed from property tax.
Where some municipal services
must be subsidized,
(eg. Homes for the Aged), aggregate
household income should be the indicator of ability to pay,
presumably through the provincial income tax system.
MVA is
not supported for its regressive effects.
The province should
create consistent assessment systems
for residential and
industrial/commercial property across Ontario. Local
governments should have the flexibility to vary tax rates
between classes of property. Strong recognition is given to
the need for comprehensive local government reform of
financing systems. Interestingly, the greatest total of
property tax revenues is from residences ($8.6 billion).
Commercial/industrial taxes total only $5.9. Education
spending totals 53 per cent of all revenue.
BRIEFS TO THE FAIR TAX COMMISSION:
NOTE: No provincial Ministries and no federal bodies made
submissions to the Fair Tax Commission.
Bossons, Ila, (Councillor with the Municipality of Metropolitan
Toronto), (Brief No.436).
Articulates the anti market value assessment ("mva")
debate with details of its application to selected sites in
the core (all within City of Toronto) and demonstrates absurd
applications, (ie. tax increases of 100 - 300 percent).
However, while she also points to benefits the suburban fringe
receives from Toronto tax dollars, her greatest attack is
focussed on the attempt of other Metro municipalities to
increase Torontos tax burden to their benefit.
(She details
the extent to which Torontos
municipalities taxes lower.)
impact of mva on destruction
urban sprawl.
Borough of East York, per Mr. Eric
12
tax burden has kept other Metro
Brief also gives good detail on
to urban core and therefore to
Nichols, Property Tax Reform -
Fair Tax Commission Hearings, (Item 1, Report No. 7 of the

Economic Development Committee, City Council June 7, 1993),
(Brief No. 484).
Gives some details on the different effective tax rates
between Metro and neighboring suburban municipalities.
Like other Metro municipalities, East York points to the
effect of high Metro business taxes on the flight to the
suburbs. States that the Economic Development and Finance
Department staff representatives from all Metro
municipalities met, agreed on this issue and have done studies
on the removal of education funding from property tax.
city of Kingston, per Helen C. Cooper, Mayor, Submission to Fair
Tax Commission, (personal views), (Brief No. 80).
Provincial policies have downloaded fiscal
responsibility to municipalities through the Expenditure
Control Plan" through the reduction in unconditional grants
and the Social Contract.
Kingston has a high number of
governmental facilities which pay the low "grant in lieu of
tax" which is based on a count of occupants.
The City is
therefore coerced into raising revenue by accepting whatever
development is offered to the community, with little regard to
planning goals. FTC recommendation #6 which advocates full
grants for those designated facilities. Other sources of
municipal finance are required to lessen the City's financial
dependence on private land development decisions.
City of London, per Sheila Davenport, Councillor, Property Taxes.
Tenants and the assessment of Multi-unit Residential Property,
(Workshop report, April 1992), (Brief No.165).
Under mva, property taxes in multi-unit residential
property are taxed at a higher rate than any other property
including commercial and owner occupied multiple unit
residential (condominiums). This is a bias against tenant-
occupied buildings which stems from pre-1970 when the province
took over assessment practice in Ontario.
She provides useful data and insight. The obvious
connection to land use planning policy, ie. discouraging
13
intensified residential form, is not made.
City of Burlington, Walter Mulkewich, Mayor, (Submission to Fair
Tax Commission), May 28, 1993, (Brief No.40).
As with Kingston; the reduction in provincial grants is
cited as forcing an increase in property taxes.
A review of
funding services is supported. States that Burlington is in
agreement with the AMO that mva is the best alternative.
Isolates Metro in its difficulties with mva.
Criticizes the
unit assessment model for its linking of municipal services to
physical size, says that municipal services are more closely
related to the number of people.
Ultimately sees little
difference between unit assessment and mva because the units
of the former will resemble the value in the latter.
City of Mississauga, per Hazel McCallion, Mayor, Resolution 140-93
adopted by the Council of the Corporation of the City of
on May 28, 1993, attached to Mayor
McCallion's Speech for the Fair Tax Commission, June 21, 1993,
(Brief No. 201).
Similar to the Region of Peels stance, remarks are
directed at the financing of municipal services. Supports
full funding of education by the province. Supports clear
line on what services should be funded from what type of tax.
Recommends this be done in a
" j o i n t m u n i c i p a l / p r o v i n c i a l
analysis of service responsibility and funding
responsibility.
As with the Region of Peel, does not comment on the
merits of mva/unit assessment nor on the relations of land use
planning policy and property tax. Evidently, suburban regions
would welcome a shift from property tax funding to income tax
funding for services and do not anticipate impacts on the
differential rates of tax for businesses in and outside of
Metro.
city of Scarborough, per Ms. Brenda Librecz, City
of Scarborough
Presentation to the Fair Tax Commission:
Response to
Discussion Paper "Searching For Fairness", (Brief No.488)
Refers to own research which documents flight of business
out of Metro to lower-taxed suburban areas such as Markham and
Vaughn. Juxtaposes Metro's contribution of tax dollars to
finance these suburban communities! schools.
Gives some
details on the educational grants to suburban schools, (from
$1,500 to $3,00 per pupil) .
Supports education funding from
income tax, not property tax.
14
Advocates a review of the impact of local government
structures on growth patterns.
I will investigate the extent
of their commitment to this initiative.
Agrees that
assessment must be uniform across the province and asserts mva
as the best alternative without any supporting documentation,
except to criticize that it has been implemented unevenly
across the province and to suggest that even application would
be equitable. (Like many submissions, no definitions of
"fairness or
"equity" are given) .
City of Toronto, per John Woods, Deputy City Treasurer, Brief to
Fair Tax Commission: Public Hearings, June 1993. (Brief No.
489)
Advocates for the unit assessment approach for
residential assessment and the rental value approach for
commercial/industrial. Applauds the FTC for undertaking a
study of this program.
(Unit assessment assesses only square
footage.)
Articulates the role of school boards as agents for
mandatory provincial educational policy which is paid for out
of local property taxes well.
(School taxes have effectively
become a provincial tax.) The City of Toronto pays out $315
million in property taxes for consumption in
other
jurisdictions, which do not use land as efficiently, and which
is not accountable to those citizens who raised the tax.
Therefore a better ability-to-pay source of revenue is
recommended.
Refers to named European countries with the unit
assessment/rental value approach (useful reference).
Points
to a weakness in that without further study, assumptions
cannot yet be made about the after-tax impact of property
taxes on large rental housing (necessary to determine whether
tenants would bear a greater tax burden than owner occupied
homes, which is highly relevant to intensification policies).
An FTC study is awaited, but I would not expect it to resolve
the complex
"incidence of tax issue.
The brief is fairly general, which is curious given the
apparently great impact of the Citys position on the Working
Paper and final report.
City of Toronto, Assessment Reform Working Group, Brief to Fair Tax
Commission: Public Hearings, June 1993.
The City of Toronto recommends a critical review of the
current market value
assessment system, claiming it is
volatile, unfairly taxes location, has a poor relationship to
user pay principles and encourages urban sprawl.
15
Region of Peel, per Emil Kolb, Chairman, Fair Tax Commission
-
Discussion Paper, dated April 7, 1993, with attached letter to
FTC dated June 21, 1993, (Brief No. 218).
States that attempt to re-finance municipal services
(with less dependence on property tax and more on ability-to-
pay) need be fully regarded in context of Disentanglement
discussions. States relevance of The Report of the Advisory
Municipal Affairs on the
Report). Does not oppose shift of financing municipal
services to income tax from property tax.
Merely suggests
further study and consultation on transitional effects and
implementation. Supports an assessment practice that is
uniform throughout the province (as does all other submissions
and the Working Paper) so as to ease administration and
provide fairness.
Peel makes no comment on the relationship of land use to
property tax/fiscal policy nor on the mva/unit assessment
debate. Notes that the "rental value" approach was not
reviewed at the Working Paper stage and requires further
study. Peel is clearly concerned with the funding bases for
municipal services, which is consistent with the suburban
demand for more services. This raises a question in my mind
as to what studies, if any, there are on the relationship of
density to provision of services.
Regional Municipality of Waterloo, per K. Selling, Regional Chair,
Response to the Fair Tax Commission Regarding Property
Taxation, May 20, 1993, (Brief No.138).
The downloading taking place through the Expenditure
Control Plan and the Social Contract is superseding the work
of the Fair Tax Commission and the proposed disentanglement
plan. Supports mva as workable. Supports provincial takeover
of educational funding.
Interesting for positions taken only.
Little or no
supportive rationales and no documentation are given to
statements.
OTHER REPORTS:
Center for Urban Policy Research,
Rutgers University, Robert W.
Burchell (Principal Investigator), Impact Assessment of the
New Jersey Interim State Development and Redevelopment Plan,
February 15, 1992; Report I:
Research Strategy; Report II:
16
Research Findings; Report III: Sumlemental Aiplan
Assessment.
Frank, James E. "The Costs of Alternative Development Patterns (A
Review of the Literature)", Washington D.C. Urban Land
Institute, 1989.
(Abstract from Templin (supra) : This report summarizes
studies on the costs of public facilities associated with
different patterns of development. Surprisingly no firm
conclusions have ever been reached, and none of the studies
are free of technical problems.
But, taken as a whole, the
studies all reach a similar conclusion: development spread
out at low densities increases the costs of public facilities.
This book looks at the vast range of costs resulting from
sprawling development and suggests that houses built in such
sprawl may cost from 40 to 400 percent more to serve.
National League of Cities, "How the Public Works:
Major Issues in
Infrastructure Finance", Washington, D.C.: National League of
Cities Institute, 1986.
(Abstract from Templin (supra) :
This publication presents the
results of the National League of Cities in depth survey on
city capital spending patterns and practices. It examines the
factors that influence city capital spending, how state and
federal policies help or harm city capital spending
capabilities and alternative
strategies for meeting
infrastructure needs".
Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, Strategic Plan for Land
Resource Management, Chicago, June 18, 1992.
A regional planning authority in the rapidly
decentralizing Chicago area co-ordinated a strategic plan
which addresses similar tax problems to the Metro Toronto
area. In their recommendations,
strong exception is taken to
"tax base planning"
by which municipalities compete for
development. An independent group is now commissioned to study
a comprehensive tax reform by examining state, regional and
local revenue-sharing measures for their potential to reduce
local reliance on sales
and property taxes which are
acknowledged to accelerate sprawl. There is agreement that
changes to the funding of local government must precede any
real change.
Pollution Probe,
"The Costs of the Car, Toronto:
1991.
A useful report which estimates the actual costs of auto
related services and land use planning ventures including
17
roads and energy consumption. The methods of their findings
are not revealed, however.
It is best regarded as a
preliminary study that merits further investigation.
The
stated goal is to reveal the amounts of hidden subsidies in
our choice of low-density, auto dependent land use.
Poole, Milligan,
"1994 Metro Information Forum: Ontario Fair Tax
Commission", January 28, 1994.
Poole, Milligan is a law firm specializing in property
tax. It has close ties to the Liberal party in Ontario. This
report is notes from a seminar giving the firms position and
legal analyses of the FTC's Final Report.
Robinson, Susan E.
and Joni L. Leithe, "Building Together:
Investing in Community Infrastructure, Washington D.C. Urban
Land Institute, National Association of Home Builders,
National Association of Counties, Government Finance Research
Center, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1990.
(Abstract from Templin (supra) : This workbook outlines a
process designed to bring together community groups--from both
the public and private sectors--to look at a broad range of
methods to finance infrastructure. Designed to be a well used
reference source, the book offers the step-by-step development
of a financing plan to meet an individual countys
infrastructure needs.
Each of the five stages provides a range of tasks to be
completed by individuals or groups within the larger working
group. A section on public participation shows how to devise
and implement community involvement. The book is supplemented
by exercises and case studies, as well as questions and
exhibits.
Slack, Enid, Land Use Implications of Alternative Municipal Tools:
A Discussion Paper. Toronto:
Intergovernmental Committee on Urban
and Regional Research, 1993.
Templin, Elizabeth E., Managing
Community Growth and Change, Vol.
3, "Bibliography of Educational Materials for Local Officials
on Growth Management", (pursuant to the University of
Minnesota's project under contract with the U.S. Department of
Commerce, Economic Development Administration), October, 1992.
18
~IToronto Region in the World Economy: A Symposium on How the
Toronto Economy is Affected by Changes in the World Economy",
Engin Isin (Co-ordinator), York University (Faculty of Urban
Studies), (Proceedings Forthcoming), June 24 - 26, 1993.
Tomlinson, Peter, "Policy Options:
City of Toronto and the
Toronto Regions, Ibid.
Tomlinson explains a
view of how the public finance
system creates an active bias toward decentralization. He
agrees with planners who note that Toronto is drifting toward
an American decentralized style where most industrial and
commercial enterprises have relocated to the suburbs along
with the residences of higher income groups.
The most
important driver of decentralization within the Greater
Toronto Area, in his view, is the lower tax rate
for
industrial and commercial property outside of the Metro
boundaries. This is primarily due to the system of funding
education from property taxes. The province mandates the
educational service and school boards must collect the funds.
Approximately 60 percent of property tax goes to education, an
amount which increased from a marginal amount at the inception
of the system. He is of the opinion that property taxes are
regressive (ie. the incidence is payment is greatest among the
poorer income tenant groups) and notes that the best
recommendation to pay for education (which is a universal
benefit) is to shift the tax payment for education to an
ability to pay scheme, ie. the provincial income tax. (Note
the similarities to Henry George).
He doubts that any provincial government would increase
income taxes to include educational funding, and therefore is
of the opinion that the second best way to reform property tax
is to focus on values of intensification.
With Mississauga
and other communities surrounding Metro in an MVA system,
their residential taxes are higher but their industry/commerce
taxes are lower, by 50 per cent from Toronto.
(Decentralization is driven by the latter as long term trends
indicate people do follow employment) .
I note that Tomlinson does not discuss the merits of
Toronto adopting MVA (so that residential rates would increase
and industry/commerce decrease to match Mississauga rates).
(That discussion does occur in the City of Toronto Report,
"Unit Assessment System and Environmental Objectives" supra.)
However, it should also be noted that Mississauga's overall
effective tax rate is only 50 per cent that of Metro
Toronto's. Variations in the ratio of industry/commerce to
residence tax rates would not necessarily affect the
aggregate. The situation, that Metro provides a one billion
dollars net
input to the pool of monies available for
equalization grants to feed education outside of Metro would
19
remain.
Richard Gilbert shared the same panel.
(See George,
Henry, Our
.
Land and Land Policy, supra, for a discussion of
his point of view.)
TAX PAPERS:
Boadway, Robin W.
and Paul A.R. Hobson, Intergovernmental Fiscal
Relations in Canada Canadian Tax Paper No. 96, Canadian Tax
Foundation, pages 28-108.
The report is mainly about federal and provincial fiscal
relations. In a section on provincial-local equalization,
they argue for full equalization of local prop taxes, based
on a view that the incidence of property tax falls on owners
and not on occupants:
(paraphrased) Property tax is a good base to finance Pure
public goods. Poll taxes or direct user charges should be
used to finance the local provision of publicly provided
private goods, and therefore need not be equalized. If,
however, jurisdictions have differential access to source-
based revenue sources, especially land taxes, used to finance
the provision of publically supplied private goods, these
sources should be equalized.
Full equalization might be
achieved through centralized collection with equal per capita
redistribution of revenues.
And,
"to the extent that
provinces fully underwrite the equalization of
local
government revenues, it seems appropriate that they remain the
sole occupants of the income tax field at the prov level."
107
Conditional grants are recommended to
address
interjurisdictional spillovers, (consider Metro Torontos
spillovers as: cultural facilities like the zoo, ROM, welfare
provision which attracts the poor to the city,
and the
subway) .
"In practice, it is nearly impossible to measure the
extent of spillover benefits generated by a public service.
Therefore, some arbitrary matching scheme will have to be
chosen.
In principle, however, there is no reason why the
matching rate ought to take special account of the need,
fiscal capacity, or tax effort of the recipient region. It is
unlikely that any of these
conditions would be directly
related to the spillover ratio generated by the local public
service. page 97.
Bryan, Nancy, More Taxes and More Traffic, Toronto:
Canadian Tax
20
Foundation, 1972.
Contents:
1. Highway financing,
2. Road User Charges:
Motor Vehicle Registration, Motive
Fuel Tax, Public Service Vehicle Fees, Vehicle Operators'
Licenses, Toll Roads and Bridges,
3. Highway expenditure and revenues
4. Provincial and municipal roads
5. City Roads and streets
6 . The Government of Canada
7. Transportation and resource allocation
Buehler, Alfred G. et al. The Property
Tax: Problems and
Potentials, (A Symposium conducted by
the Tax Institute of
America. November 2-4. 1966, Princeton: The Tax Institute of
America, 1967.
per Groves, H.G. at pp 17-27 Property Tax--Effects and
Limitations" "For most people a property tax is an income tax
measured by property" retrenchment:
"A prop tax becomes self-
defeating when it so discourages building and promotes
migration that more would be collected at lower rates".
page 27-- (The case for special taxation of economic rent of
urban land is a strong one but it should take the positive
form of a state-wide tax remitted to the municipalities of
origin. Here is an industrial development program that has
had inadequate attention.
...The property tax problem could be
mitigated by recasting our system of municipal government both
as to boundaries and functions.
Clark, W.A.V., The Impact of Property
Taxation on Urban Spatial
Development, Los Angeles: Institute of Government and Public
Affairs, (UCLA), 1974
Chapter headings include:
1 Property taxation and urban growth
2. Contrasting views of the property tax
3. Urban form and administrative functions in New Zealand
4. The
5. the
21
role of political change in property taxation
economic and social impact of a change in the system
of taxation
6. Auckland, a study in diversity
Graham, John F., A.W. Johnson, J.M. Andrews, Intergovernmental
Fiscal Relationship, Canadian Tax Paper no. 40, (Toronto:
Canadian Tax Foundation, 1964).
Discusses rationale for equalization: Fiscal inequity
arises when fiscal responsibilities have been decentralized to
lower levels of government. Differences in net fiscal
benefits arise when residents of different jurisdictions are
assessed different personal taxes to pay for a given level of
public services, (at page 31) . (Reportedly the first
Canadian usage of this the Buchanan principle
)
.
Canadian Life
and Health Insurance
Association Inc.
Mark R. Daniels
Pr esi dent
October 2, 1995
Association canadienne
des companies dassurances
de personnes inc.
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Task Force
20th Floor
Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I would like to provide your Task Force with some views regarding property taxes from
the perspective of the life and health insurers in Canada.
Life and health insurers paid $413 million of taxes in Ontario in 1994. Of this amount,
$169 million was in the form of property taxes on the industrys $5.3 billion
investment in Ontario real estate. As a result, the industry has a major stake in
ensuring that the system and administration of property tax assessment is fair and
equitable.
The industry is particularly concerned with the high level of commercial property and
business occupancy taxes in the downtown Toronto core. According to a recent study
by CB Commercial Real Estate Group, Toronto businesses pay the highest property
taxes in North America. In addition, data presented in a recent issue of The Economist
magazine (August 26, 1995) suggests that, as a percentage of total occupancy costs,
commercial property taxes in Toronto are among the highest in the world. (Of the 16
major cities throughout the developed world for which The Economist collected data,
commercial property taxes were the most significant in Toronto, where they
represented almost half of total occupancy costs. ) The high level of commercial
property taxes in Toronto can only have a negative impact on businesses located
there.
In addition to our concerns over the high level of commercial property taxes within the
downtown area, we are also concerned about the wide variations in effective tax rates
throughout the greater metropolitan area. Given the tremendous advances in
telecommunications, companies can relocate from Toronto to other municipalities in
order to lower their property tax bills. However, a more logical solution to this problem
would be to review the current system with the objective of lowering the effective
commercial property tax rates in Torontos downtown core, This should help to
eliminate the disincentives to doing business in downtown Toronto. Also
r
we would
hope that the expenditure reduction process currently underway will translate into a
further reduction in commercial property tax rates in Toronto.
The industry is also concerned about the discriminatory impact of the business
occupancy tax on financial institutions. The fact that financial institutions are taxed
at the highest rate is not justifiable on any logical or economic basis. These gross
inequities could be eliminated by replacing the current five business assessment
for commercial
to give careful
in Toronto.
The only
national
association
exclusively
dedicated to
resolving
20th Floor -2001
problems
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
related to
commercial
& industrial
Attention: Dr. Anne Golden, Chair
property
assessment
& taxation
Dear Dr. Golden:
since 1967
association
denvergure
nationale
exclusivemenl
promotion
dune
municipal
et ce,
depuis
1967
We are providing herein on behalf of the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Property
Tax Association a brief concerning Property Assessment and Taxation in the Greater
Toronto Area. We hope that this submission will be of assistance to the Task Force
and thank you for your consideration.
Yours very truly,
CANADIAN PROPERTY TAX ASSOCIATION, INC.
Encls.
National Office / Bureau National
6 Lansing Square, Suite 225, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, M2J ITS, Tel: (416) 493-3276 Fax: (416) 493-3905
Chapters/Chapitres:
British Columbia
Western
Ontario
Quebec
ON T A R I O C H A P T E R
the only
national
September 14, 1995
exclusively
dedicated to
resolving 330 University Avenue
problems
20th Floor -2001
relatedd to
Commercial
Toronto ON M5G 1E6
& industrial
Property
Attention: Dr. Anne Golden. Chair
assessment
& taxation
since 1967
Re: Propertv Assessment and Taxation in the Greater Toronto Area
Introduction
We support the Ontario Governments ongoing desire, through your Task
Force, to solicit comments from commercial and industrial businesses on significant
matters impacting the Greater Toronto Area. We also support increased fairness
and restrained levels of taxes in all fields of taxation. We hope that the comments
made in this brief will assist the Task Force in its deliberations.
Background of the CPTA
The Canadian Property Tax Association, (CPTA), is a national association
representing the interests of 225 businesses in the area of property assessment
and taxation. The significant majority of CPTA members are taxpayers in Ontario,
operating businesses in virtually every major economic sector in every region of the
Province, with a significant concentration in the Greater Toronto Area, (GTA). We
invite you to review the member company list, attached as Appendix A.
The CPTA was formed over 25 years ago in order to respond to the inequitable
and inconsistent assessment and taxation of commercial and industrial property in
Canada, particularly in Ontario. Throughout its history the CPTA has urged positive
reforms by all levels of government consistent with the objectives stated in its
Letters Patent:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
- 2 -
to provide a forum and information exchange in the field of assessment
and taxation of properties;
to promote the equitable assessment of property for tax purposes along
sound and uniform lines;
to study existing and proposed assessment and taxation legislation, and
make representations to Government; and
to perform such other functions as are consonant with the foregoing
purposes.
For a number of years the CPTA has established a Statement of Policy. It
remains a current policy, and is included in the members annual directory. The
Statement of Policy is attached as Appendix B. In considering any reform of the
system of property assessment and taxation in the GTA, we urge your
recommendations reflect the particulars of the Statement of Policy.
Propertv Tax Environment
Commercial and industrial businesses in Ontario have historically borne a
disproportionately high share of the property tax burden. Assessment and taxes
on commercial and industrial properties are consistently higher than other classes
of property, in particular residential property. Property taxes for Ontario businesses
are amongst the highest in North America. The existing property tax regime
materially limits the ability of Ontario businesses to create jobs, and to compete in
North American and global markets.
The global trend towards more intense economic competition across political
boundaries, coupled with the severe economic downturn in Ontario which
commenced in 1990, has exploded the myth that businesses are a limitless source
of tax revenue. Businesses in Ontario are not merely taxed to the limit; they are
literally supersaturated by taxes, and all too frequently are unable to absorb
existing tax obligations. This is evidenced by high levels of tax arrears as a well as
high numbers of insolvencies and bankruptcies over the last few years.
The existing property assessment and tax regime in Ontario contains significant
unfairness, inequity and inefficiency which exacerbates the levels of taxation
currently imposed. Unfairness and a lack of true accountability in the system
inevitably breeds frustration, cynicism, a lack of confidence and lack of trust in the
assessment and taxation authorities.
- 3 -
Many of the worst examples of the inequities and unfairness exist within the
GTA. The egregious unfairness for businesses in the core of the GTA is widely
reported. For example, see the attached Appendix C, which is a copy of a report
in The Toronto Star from November 3, 1994 concerning a study on property taxes
in the GTA. The source data referenced therein reveals the complete lack of a
level playing field. In terms of property taxes, commercial and industrial properties
within Metropolitan Toronto are typically located on mountain tops while other
properties throughout the GTA tend to be in valleys.
The CPTA believes that sound reforms can significantly alleviate existing
unfairness and inequalities and, in turn, restore faith in the assessment and taxation
process.
Focus of Policv Considerations
The purpose of real property assessment is to provide a fair and
equitable distribution across the municipal tax base.
Assessment policy is separate from and ought not to be confused with taxation
policy. None the less, it is recognized that the two policy areas are inextricably
linked, rather like Siamese twins. For the most part, ratepayers are acutely
concerned with the degree of fairness or unfairness actuallv occurring within the
current scheme of assessment and taxation.
As a matter of tax policy, consideration must be also be given to the level of
taxation imposed upon taxpayers.
Any reforms that may be contemplated by the Task Force or the Ontario
Government must be evaluated in light of both considerations. It is interesting to
note that the Report of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, and its earlier discussion
paper entitled Searching for Fairness, documented the acute inequities of actual
levels of taxation within the GTA, particularly for properties characterized as
commercial, industrial or multi-residential. Ironically, the totality of
recommendations of that Commission, if implemented, would have had the effect
of increasing the combined municipal/provincial property taxation on industrial and
commercial businesses.
Virtually all observers, from whatever background or interest, recognize the
need for significant reform in the current structure of assessment and taxation. It
would be naive for anyone to believe that dramatic changes, such as may be
considered by your Task Force, could be properly undertaken without careful
consideration of the financial implications arising from any resulting tax shifts.
- 4 -
The Ontario Fair Tax Commissions said discussion paper stated, at page 47:
Measured in terms of the total tax dollars raised, the non-
residential property tax is by far the most important tax
imposed on business under provincial jurisdiction. Despite this
fact, there has been a surprising lack of study of its impact on
industry.
The CPTA completely agrees that the impact of property taxes on Ontario
businesses has been long ignored. The CPTA would welcome further and
ongoing study by government in conjunction with the private sector. The CPTA
believes that careful planning and proper reforms in the field of property
assessment and taxation would benefit the people and the economy of Ontario,
including in particular that of the GTA, through job creation and increased
commercial and industrial competitiveness.
Boards of Education
Members of the CPTA are extremely concerned about the steady historical
upward spiral of property taxes, with only a brief respite in the last one or two
years within certain municipalities in the GTA. Many observers have identified the
Boards of Education as a major cause of this upward pressure on the tax level.
The CPTA would welcome any reform which would, in fact, provide relief from
rising property taxes.
Replacing the educational component of residential property taxes with other
provincial revenues, primarily personal income tax, would be of assistance to the
owners of multi-residential properties. Even if the nature of such a reform was that
the tax reductions for multi-residential properties passed through to tenants, such
a reform, properly implemented, would treat multi-residential properties more fairly
in comparison with single-family residential properties than does the current
property tax regime.
Replacing the education component of non-residential property taxes is
strongly supported by the CPTA, with one significant caveat. Some proponents of
reform in this area also conceive of some form of a replacement tax to fill the
vacated tax room. Such approaches are inherently and fatally flawed. The CPTA
emphasizes that the current level of taxation on commercial and industrial
properties, and indeed on multi-residential properties, is generally far too high.
This excessive taxation is specially vexatious in various portions of the GTA, and
in particular the City of Toronto and the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The
CPTA is extremely concerned about potential tax shifts amongst businesses that
may occur if the education component of the non-residential property tax were
replaced. it is essential that there be careful consideration and evaluation of the
whole mix of reforms that might be implemented. The most desirable outcome
would be the reduction overall in the level of non residential property taxation.
- 5 -
UserFees
Consideration of the totality of potential reforms would likely also have to
include the appropriate level of funding for sewer, water and garbage collection
services. At present, many commercial and industrial, and even some residential,
property owners pay a disproportionately large share of such services, as in recent
years municipalities have increasingly imposed obligations in that regard upon new
developments. The CPTA supports strongly the concept of equity amongst users
of sewer, water and garbage collection services, such that any two users of the
service who are in the same economic circumstances should pay on the same
basis for the use of that service.
Market Value Assessment
The CPTA continues to strongly advocate a market value system of
assessment across Ontario. The CPTA also urges a uniform methodology and
treatment across Ontario. Creating greater uniformity within the GTA is a
particularly acute need, as the present dramatic inequities skew business
decisions, with inevitably adverse economic and social impacts on our society.
Some form of a market value system of assessment is utilized in the vast
majority of jurisdictions around the world. For the most part, difficulties currently
arising in the market value approach in Ontario, and particularly within the GTA, lie
not on the basic principle of market value assessment, but rather with the widely
variant departures from uniform and consistent assessment treatment of taxpayers.
Any meaningful consideration of an alternative to a market value assessment
system would necessarily require many years of extensive studies to determine the
potential economic impact on taxpayers. While we urge careful consideration of
any planned reforms, the significantly greater time required for alternative systems
to be considered would delay implementation of much needed reforms which can,
in fact, be achieved within the framework of a market value assessment system.
Fairness
The CPTA is strongly committed to the principle that all taxpayers with an
interest in land and who are in the same economic circumstances should pay the
same amount of property tax. This concept of horizontal equity is fundamental
to property assessment and taxation, and underlies the existing Assessment Act.
Unfortunately, the actual practice of real property assessment in Ontario,
particularly in the GTA, falls dramatically short of an even-handed distribution of the
municipal tax burden, with respect to both realty taxes and business taxes.
- 6 -
Reforms to the Assessment Act
The CPTA strongly urges the Task Force to recommend amendments to the
existing Assessment Act. These amendments would be a significant step towards
achieving a greater measure of fair treatment for a wide array of taxpayers
throughout the GTA, and indeed likely Ontario.
The current system of multiple business rates, (75%, 60%, 50%, 30%, 25% and
O%), is a structure initially established just after the turn of the century. The
classification pigeonholes are completely antiquated and without modern
economic justification. There are endless examples whereby large companies are
classified at one of the lowest rates while small companies are classified at one of
the highest rates.
Abolishing the business tax is an option that the CPTA anticipates the Task
Force may consider. Whereas realty tax is imposed directly on the property
owner, business tax is imposed directly on the business occupying and using the
property. Obviously, those entities are frequently not one and the same. The
complexities of the business assessment system make it difficult for taxpayers to
understand. Municipalities have long been on record as critical of the business
assessment system because of administrative difficulties and collection problems.
We would anticipate that the Assessment Division of the Ministry of Finance may
also favour elimination of the business tax system.
However, consideration of abolition of the business assessment and resulting
business tax must be viewed with great caution. Firstly, because the existing
structure is so antiquated and inequitable, meaningful reform will tend to produce
significant shifts in the tax burden. In addition, many advocates of abolition of the
business tax propose to transfer the burden into the determination of the realty tax,
in one form or another. That transfer would produce additional, difficult to predict,
tax shifts.
In addition, many landlords have entered into leases with tenants whereby the
tenants pay a proportion of the landlords realty taxes. The tenant typically directly
pays the business tax. Therefore, a transfer of the business tax directly into the
realty tax burden may impact landlords and tenants in ways never contemplated
at the time leases were entered into. Landlords with gross or semi net leases
potentially would be most negatively impacted. Litigation would undoubtedly
mushroom in this area as a result of any change in the business tax regime, with
obvious frustration and costs for both private parties and governments. Also,
portions of property not actively used by a business currently attract only the
residential mill rate and no business tax. Potentially, that adjustment would be
eliminated.
- 7 -
The Task Force is strongly urged by the CPTA, as a minimal step, to
dramatically simplify the current classification of businesses for business
assessment and business tax purposes. The administratively simplest and most
equitable step would be to establish an uniform rate for all businesses that are
subject to business assessment.
Variable Mill Rates
The CPTA is opposed to municipally determined variable mill rates for
commercial and industrial properties. The implementation of a legislative
framework would allow local municipalities on a non-reviewable basis to
discriminate amongst taxpayers, and would be open to abuse. Similarly, this
would constitute inequitable treatment of taxpayers and further distort the principle
of fair and equitable taxation.
Bill 94, which proposed to impose discriminatory taxation treatment against
certain classes of property within Metropolitan Toronto, (approximately 3 years
ago), is an example of a completely unacceptable approach to fair assessment
and taxation of property.
Machinerv and Equipment Exemption
The CPTA supports continuing the existing exemption for machinery and
equipment used for manufacturing purposes, which parallels the similar provision
pursuant to the Ontario Retail Sales Tax Act. The distinction between machinery,
as tangible personal property while in use and therefore not subject to realty tax,
and machinery which becomes part of the realty and therefore subject to realty tax,
is arbitrary and difficult to make in many cases. In addition, this exemption avoids
dramatic increases in the administrative costs of the assessment process. The
continuation of the exemption from realty taxation for machinery ensures that all
machinery and equipment is treated the same way for property tax purposes and
it is consistent with the principle of avoiding taxes on direct business inputs. In
addition, the continuation of this exemption avoids increasing the burden of
property taxes on many industrial and commercial businesses still struggling to
overcome the lengthy economic downturn that has been present in Ontario for
several years.
A User Friendlv Svstem
The existing system of handling assessment appeals is, at times, the antithesis
of user friendly. This is true for both taxpayers and the assessment authority.
The appropriate emphasis should be an expeditious exchange of information and
reasonable measures taken to minimize litigation. The exemption for machinery
- 8 -
and equipment assists in minimizing otherwise difficult litigation. The rig
taxpayers to all of the information in the relevant files of the assessing aut
should be strengthened. There should be an extension of the minimum
period for mailing notices of assessment, from 14 days before the return o
assessment roll to not less than 60 days, with a corresponding extension
time for filing a notice of complaint from 21 days to 60 days. This would p
taxpayers and assessors to exchange information and resolve matters
initiating notices of complaint, a process which is currently almost impo
because of the constraints on the assessors time. The date of the annual
of the assessment roll should be shifted from the third Tuesday in December
third Tuesday in January so that the assessment year and taxation year a
and same. This would make life much simpler and clearer for all concerned
would have no adverse impact for municipalities or the Ministry of Financ
assessors. There is clear evidence that municipal budgets, planning and
tax billing would not be impaired by these recommendations and may, in
produce greater efficiencies. The application of assessment roll numbers
assessor s shoul d be cl ar i f i ed and st andar di zed, hel pi ng t o i mpr ove
understanding of the system, minimize difficulties presently arising in litigation
ensuring equitable treatment of properties. Such a procedural matter should
involve extensive consultation within the assessment community before final
Multi-Use Properties
Multi-use properties, particularly in reassessed communities, are all
frequently treated inconsistently and unfairly. In establishing classifications o
properties, multi-use properties tend to be categorized as if they were singl
properties. For example, a combined residential/office/retail building ma
treated as if it is only residential, only office or only retail. The other portions o
building are therefore illogically and inequitably classified as if they were not
they really are, increasing or decreasing the municipal tax burden inapprop
Indeed, the Ontario Governments approach in this area has been partic
reprehensible. In late 1994, without public consultation, it promulgated
retroactive regulation applicable back to the 1987 tax year in order to deny
taxpayers fair and equitable treatment as determined by a decision of the O
Court of Appeal. Aside from the inappropriate assertion of a single classifi
for multi-use property in a reassessment, this arbitrary and capricious action b
Government exacerbates existing public attitudes and feelings of frustr
cynicism and skepticism. Quite simply, the Government undermined public
lmplementing Reform
The CPTA strongly urges the Task Force to make recommendations th
establish the efficacy of government with respect to property assessmen
taxation. Meani ngful reforms can be made; reassessment and assess
- 9 -
practices can be established. Those practices can and should be, as a high
priority, uniformly and equitably applied to achieve fairness. With respect to the tax
implications arising from any changes, it is clear that potential tax shifts must be
carefully considered. There should be considerable consultation with the
assessment community in particular, and the public and general, as part of that
process. It is also equally clear that when major tax shifts occur those impacts
must be phased in over a considerable number of years. Historically, the Province
of Ontario has looked to a four year cycle to phase in such tax impacts. It may
well be appropriate for the Task Force to recommend a longer period of time with
respect to the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto. The problems of assessment
within Metropolitan Toronto have grown for over 40 years. It would be unrealistic
to expect that introduction of reforms implementing significant tax shifts would
occur overnight.
At the same time, the challenges with respect to improving assessment
practices and correcting tax inequities ought not to be an excuse for delay or non-
action. Reform is urgently needed and we urge those changes referenced above.
The CPTA would be pleased to continue the process of consultation with your
Task Force, and with the Ontario Government, in further pursuit of a fair and
equitable property assessment and taxation regime.
Ontario Chapter
Canadian Property Tax Association, Inc.
A & P Propert i es Li mi t ed
Abi t i bi -Pri ce Inc.
AEC Val uat i ons Inc.
AEC Val uat i ons West ern
AGT Li mi t ed
Ai ki ns, MacAul ay & Thorval dson
Ai r Canada
Al bert a Power l t d.
Al bert a Sugar Company
Al bert a wheat pool
Al can Smel t ers & Chemi cal s Lt d.
Ameri can Apprai sal Canada Lt d.
Amoco Canada Pet rol eum Company Lt d.
At ki nson Mi l vai n
Bank of Mont real
Bank of Nova Scot i a
Bayer Rubber Inc.
BC Tel ephone Company
BC Hydro and Power Aut hori t y
BC Gas Inc.
Bel l Canada
Bruni Greenan Kl ym
Bryce Ki pp Nel son Li mi t ed
Burgess, Aust i n Associ at es
Burl i ngt on Nort hern Rai l road
C. Caumart i n & Associ at es Inc.
Cabl e Tel evi si on Associ at i on of Al bert a
Cadi l l ac Fai rvi ew Corporat i on Li mi t ed
Cambri dge Leasehol ds Li mi t ed
Canada Post Corporat i on
Canadi an Occi dent al Pet rol eum Lt d.
Canadi an Val uat i on Group Lt d.
Canadi an Hunt er Expl orat i on l t d.
Canadi an Bankers Associ at i on
Canadi an Li qui d Ai r Lt d.
Canadi an Nat ural Resources Li mi t ed
Canadi an Bankers Associ at i on
Canadi an West ern Nat ural Gas Co. Lt d.
Canadi an Ti re Corporat i on
Canadi an Forest Product s Lt d.
Cargi l l Li mi t ed
Cent ra Gas Bri t i sh Col umbi a Inc.
Cent ra Gas Ont ari o Inc.
Chauvco Resources Lt d.
Chevron Canada Li mi t ed
CIBC Devel opment Corporat i on
Ci t y of Cal gary Assessment Depart ment
Ci t y of Cal gary, Law Depart ment
CN Real Est at e
Appendix A
Inc.
MEMBER COMPANY LI ST
Col t Consul t i ng Group
Consumers Gas Company Lt d.
Coopers & I. ybrant
CP Rai l Syst em
CSL Equi t y Invest ment s Li mi t ed
Dai showa-Marubeni Int ernat i onal Lt d.
Davi d J. St uart & Associ at es
Derbyshi re Consul t ant s Li mi t ed
Di vari s Corporat i on
Dow Chemi cal Canada Inc.
DuCharme, McMi l l en 6 Associ at es Inc.
DuPont Canada Inc.
DuPont (El . ) de Nemours and Company, Inc.
Fal conbri dge Li mi t ed
Fa s k e n Ca mp b e l l Go d f r e y
Fi bergl as Canada Inc.
Fi nni ng Lt d.
Fi rst Met ro Conusl t ant s Lt d.
Fl et cher Chal l enge Canada Li mi t ed
Foot hi l l s Pi pe Li nes Lt d.
Ford Mot or Company of Canada Lt d.
Fordi ng Coal Li mi t ed
G. Turri n Associ at es Inc.
Gendi s Inc.
General Foods Inc.
General Mot ors Corporat i on
Gi bson Pet rol eum Company Li mi t ed
Gl obe Real t y Management Li mi t ed
Goodman and Carr
Goul et , (P. E. ), Propert y Tax Advi sors
Grand Met ropol i t an Inc.
Groupe Leonard McKeague
Grover, El l i ot t & Co. Lt d.
Gul f Canada Li mi t ed
Hi ggs Peppi at t Cameron Cyr & Wi l son Lt d.
Hol i day Inn Worl dwi de
Hol t Renf rew &Co. , Limited
Home Oi l Company Li mi t ed
Househol d Int ernat i onal , Inc.
Hudson sBay Company
Husky Oi l Operat i ons Lt d.
Hut chi nson, D.
L L Nash Associ at es Li mi t ed
Imperi al Oi l Li mi t ed
Inco Li mi t ed
Indi an Taxat i on Secret ari at
Int ernat i onal Assessment Appeal s Inc.
Int erprovi nci al Pi pe t i ne Inc.
IPCF Propert i es Inc.
Ivanhoe Inc.
j ames Dowl i ng & Associ at es Inc.
JJD Consul t ant s Lt d.
John Labat t l t d.
K-Mart Canada Li mi t ed
Keg Rest aurant s l t d.
Ki ngmont Associ at es Lt d.
KPMG Peat Marwi ck Thorne
Ladner Downs
Laf arge Canada Inc.
Lakes, j ohn R. , Mr.
Lambt on Count ry Board of Educat i on
l ane Apprai sal s Li mi t ed
Lawson, Lundel l , Lawson& McInt osh
l ehndorf f Management Li mi t ed
Leonard, Cheval i er, Bernard & Associ at es
Les Eval uat i ons Qual i pro Inc.
M. C. Lount & Associ at es Lt d.
MacLean Kei t h
MacMi l l an Bl oedel Li mi t ed
Magna Int ernat i onal Inc.
Marat hon Real t y Company Li mi t ed
Markborough Propert i es Li mi t ed
Marvi n F. Peer & Company
McCart hy, Tet raul t
McDonal d s Rest aurant s of Canada Li mi t ed
Mi chel i n Ti res (Canada) Lt d.
Mi nden, Gross, Graf st ei n & Greenst e. i n
Mi ni st ry of Fi nance
Mi ni st ry of Muni ci pal Af f ai rs
Mi nt o Devel opment s Inc.
Mobi l Oi l Canada
Mol son Breweri es
Muni ci pal Grant s, Real Est at e Servi ces
Muni ci pal Tax Equi t y
Murphy Oi l Company Lt d.
Nat i onal Bank of Canada
Newel l , Smel ski & Company
Noreen Energy Resources Li mi t ed
Nort h Port age Devel opment Corporat i on
Nort h, Li ncol n & Company Lt d.
Nort hern Tel ecom
Nort hst ar Energy Corporat i on
Nort hwest ern Ut i l i t i es Li mi t ed
Nova Gas Transmi ssi on Lt d.
Novacor Chemi cal s l t d. /Al bert a Gas Et hyl ene
Novacor Chemi cal s (Canada) Lt d.
O&Y Propert i es Inc.
Ont ari o Hydro
Oshawa Group (The)
Osl er, Hoski n & Harcourt
Member Company List
Page 1
P. S. Johnson Val uat i on consultants Lt d. /
Paci f i c Forest Product s Li mi t ed
paci f i c Coast Termi nal s Co. I. t d.
PanCanadi an Pet rol eum Li mi t ed
Pannel l Kerr Forst er
Peat Marwi ck Thorne
Pembi na Corporat i on
Pet ro-Canada
Pharma Pl us Drugmart s Lt d.
Pool e Mi l l i gan
Pool e Laycraf t
Poul i ot Mercure
PPG Canada Inc.
Proct or & Gambl e Inc.
Provi go Di st ri but i on i nc.
Publ i c Works & Government Servi ces Canada.
PWA Corporat i on
Quaker Oat s Co. of Canada Lt d.
Quebec and Ont ari o Paper Co. l t d.
Renai ssance Energy Li mi t ed
Ri ckard Real t y Advi sors Inc.
Royal LePage Apprai sal & Consul t i ng Servi ces
Royal Bank of Canada
Sears Canada Inc.
Shel l Canada Li mi t ed
Shoppers Drug Mart
Smi t h Donki n Associ at es Lt d.
Sout hl and Corporat i on
Speedy Muf f l er Ki ng Inc.
Spurgeon, (J. ) Propert y Tax Consul t ant s Lt d.
St el co Inc
St one-Consol i dat ed Corporat i on
Sun-Canadi an Pi pe Li ne Co. Lt d.
Suncor Inc.
Suncor Inc.
Suncor
Syncrude Canada Lt d.
T. Eat on Company Lt d.
Tal i sman Energy Inc.
Tax Tech Lt d.
Tel egl obe Canada Inc.
Theri en Dansereau Courcel l es & Associ es Inc.
Thorst ei nssons
Toront o Domi ni on Bank
Trans Mount ai n Pi pe t i ne Company Lt d.
Ul t ramar Canada Inc.
Uni on Paci f i c Resources, Inc.
Uni on Gas Li mi t ed
Uni t ed Farmers of Al bert a -Co-operat i ve l t d.
Uni t ed Grai n Growers Lt d.
Unocal Canada Li mi t ed
Vancouver Port Corporat i on
Vert l i eb, Anderson
Vi a Rai l Canada Inc.
Vi ceroy Propert y Tax Consul t ant s Lt d.
Wal -Mart Canada Inc.
Wal ker Fox & Schwart z
Wascana Energy Inc.
Wei r & Foul ds
Wei dwood of Canada Li mi t ed
West Fraser Ti mber Co. Lt d.
West Koot enay Power Lt d.
West coast Energy Inc.
West ern Forest Product s Li mi t ed
West mi n Resources Li mi t ed
West on, J. C. (Ji m)
Wool wort h Canada Inc.
Zi f f Energy Propert y Tax Lt d.
TransAl t a Ut i l i t i es Corporat i on
TransCanada Pi peLi nes Li mi t ed
Member Company List
Page 2
Statement of Policy
fhe Canadian Property Tax Association Inc. . . .
B B B Appendi x B
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
I l .
12.
favours any assessment concept which provides equity, uniformity and is economic to
administer
considers that all real property should be assessed at 100% of market value;
considers that in principle all real property receiving the same services should be taxed at one
mill rate;
is opposed to the concealment of shifts in taxation by manipulation of assessment and/or
assessment level factors, specifically the use of property classification for taxation purposes;
considers that machinery and equipment used for business, production, manufacturing,
processing and transmission should not be assessed;
considers that inventory and personal property should not be assessed;
considers that the value of self-provided services should not be assessed;
considers that environmental control equipment and facilities should not be assessed;
considers that real property owned by federal and provincial governments or bodies should
be assessed in the same manner as that owned by other taxpayers;
favours the concept of property tax exemption for religious and charitable institutions but
considers that all such properties should be assessed and that any exemption from tax should
be subject to provincial or local government control;
is opposed to the principle of business tax. However, if such taxes are imposed, the
Association considers that they should be charged to the occupant of the business premises,
on a uniform basis;
is opposed to the concept of business permits and licenses, except to the extent that they are
used to meet the costs of necessary inspection and control.
Chapter Guidelines, /995
Page 1
Canadi an Uni on of
Publ i c Empl oy-s
267 Adelaide Street West
Third Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5H 1X9
Tel : (416) 977-1629
Executive Committee:
Anne Dubas
lst Vice-president:
Denis Casey
2nd Vi c e-pr esi dent :
Ann Dembinski
Reading secretary
Muriel Collins
Tr easur er
Br i an OKeefe
Membership Secretary
Joe Jovellanos
Assigned CUPE
Representatives
Michael Harper
Linda Jewett
Remaining Units:
City of Toronto Unit
Metropolitan Toronto
Unit
Metro Licensing
Commission Unit
H.F.A. Part-Time Unit
Riverdale Hospital
Service Unit
Riverdale Hospital
Professional Unit
Riverdale Hospital
Service Part-Time Unit
Riverdale Hospital
Professional Part-Time
Unit
SERVl NG OUR
MEMBERS
SI NCE
September 15, 1995
Suite 2001- 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
CUPE Local 79 represents employees at the Metropolitan Corporation the City of
Toronto, and The Riverdale Hospital. Our members delivery quality public services
to the community and taxpayers. We have been carrying out this role proudly for 53
years. During that time there have been many changes in government, policy direction,
urban growth and the economy. But this has not stopped us from continuing to do our
jobs as public servants.
There has been widespread discussion on the nature and function of metropolitan
government. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Task Force was established by the
previous provincial government to make recommendations on governmental and
financial reform for the area composed of Metro Toronto, Durham, York, Peel and
Halton.
As a union of members which is dedicated to providing public services, we also have
a vision. Ours is one of excellence in the delivery of services to the public and fairness
and dignity for all working people.
We would like to share these views with you in order to make our community a better
place to live for everyone.
Excellence In Services
We believe that the services provided by public sector employees of
municipal governments are highly valued by Ontarians, whether it be
day care, roadwork, care of the elderly or garbage collection. We have
worked with both the City of Toronto and the Municipality of
Metropolitan Toronto to set standards which are a model for the
community. The spirit of co-operation between these two levels of
government has ensured a level of excellence for all of our citizens, not
just the wealthy.
Over the past 40 years, Metro has developed community services which
are a model for other municipalities. The ten Homes for the Aged are
renowned for their excellent care, comfortable facilities and diverse
programs. The child care centres offer children (and worried parents)
a safe, secure and educational place to spend their days. Our ambulance
service has an excellent reputation.
2
- 2 -
Similarly, in the City of Toronto expertise in the Planning Departments and Buildings
Departments has made us a world class city. The scope of our Public Health Department
is impressive,
public sector
taxpayers and
Good Jobs
our parks are numerous and delightful. All of these
employees who understand their responsibility to
are committed to excellence.
services are delivered by
the community and the
The maintenance and growth of full-time, well-paid jobs is essential. Low wages and the
decline in full-time employment contribute to economic instability. The continual downsizing
of government and the cutbacks in the private sector have placed a burden on our system
which has now become apparent. The despair on our streets is starting to make us look like
American cities.
No Contracting-Out
Union
Public
We do not believe that contracting-out is the answer to governments budget problems.
There is no compelling evidence that the private sector is superior to the public sector. Study
after study has shown that after private operators take over, the quality of services to the
public decreases and costs increase.
Representation
The legitimate right of unions to organize and represent its members must be acknowledged.
Unions such as Local 79 have an important role to play in municipal and regional planning.
We have developed a strong and respected organization which can respond creatively and
with flexibility to change.
Unions such as Local 79 have an important role to play in municipal and regional planning.
We have developed a strong and respected organization which can respond creatively and
with flexibility to change.
Services Are Key To A Healthy Economy
A healthy, vibrant community with an increasing workforce is vital for economic
development. all levels of government must shoulder the responsibility to ensure that public
services are properly funded. Communities with a strong infrastructure of physical and
social services benefit everyone.
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force has an important challenge ahead. CUPE Local 79 supports the
existing delivery of services between the two levels of government because we know that it works well. We
look forward to future discussion of this important issue as we work together to shape the direction of the
community into one that will benefit all citizens.
Yours truly,
President
GTA Reform and the Core City:
Balancing Structural Change With
Political Strength
Golden Task Force Submission
Submitted by:
Andrew D. Kerr
September 29, 1995
Canadian Urban Research Bureau
CURB
3 Strathearn Road
Toronto, ON, M6C IR2
phone 416.785.3136
fax 416.781.5132
GTA Reform and the Core City: Balancing Structural
Change With Political Strength
Submitted by Andrew Kerr, Canadian Urban Research Bureau, City of York, Ontario.
Urban Research Bureau
The Bureau is a newly formed organization devoted to the research and analysis of policy issues
in local government. Andrew Kerr is the GTA Research Leader at the Bureau and holds an
undergraduate (Windsor) and graduate degree (UWO) in public administration. Andrew has
lived and worked in the City of York since 1976,
mission
This submission is organized into three sections. The first outlines the guiding principles for
reforming local government in the GTA as used in this submission. These principles or concepts
provide the basis for the comments and proposals which are made in the second section, The last
contains the conclusion, summarizing the recommendations being made.
Prmciples_forRcforming Local Government in t he GTA
. . .
L
.
v
Local governments are living, connected systems. For the system of local government to remain
healthy and relevant it must play an important role in urban society. Local governments must be
able to deliver a wide range of valued services and provide for strong local decision making.
The success of the core urban city, consisting of the City of Toronto, the City of York and the
Borough of East York, has lead to the success of the region as a whole.
Any reforms proposed to the political and service delivery aspects of the GTA region should
consider the impacts on the *core city and the result these impacts will have throughout the
network of cities in the region.
The various roles within local government are also connected. One cannot restructure the service
delivery and administrative roles of local government without strengthening the representative and
political roles.
Reforms do not provide instant cost savings. Structural and political reform can provide long
term cost savings, if compared to what might occur in the future with the status quo.
for R - eform
This section outlines some comments and proposals for reform based upon the guiding principles
discussed in the previous section, These proposals are discussed below in four brief sections,
Representation, Administration Finance and Boundaries.
L Representation - More than an administrative unit
Any newly reformed GTA wide Local Government should consider carefully the representative
role, not just the administrative role. Any reforms to improve the administrative role
will be wasted it-the political machinery can not provide for local input into services and
programs.
Proportional representation through a weighted voting system can best protect core city,
suburban, and the small urban-rural interests in regional decision-making process without creating
a large, unwieldily council. This system incorporates regional accountability and coordination
while sustaining a diversity of services and ideas for the various local communities it serves.
Without a meaningful strong representative role, local and regional governments will simply
become administrative units of "convenience for the provincial administration. Then the question
will be asked does local government really matter?
2. Administration - Strengthen ability to evaluate and provide policy advice
Reforms have usually focused on the administrative role of local government. Yet, it is the
administration that is often the most neglected when reforms are actually implemented. A well
resourced, diversified professional administration is crucial to the success of the GTA. A
professional adm inistration provides more then services, it provides specfic, local advice and
analysis for the decision makers.
The policy analysis role can be supported through a professional public service with the resources
for continuing analysis and review. Any reformed GTA administration unable to analyse various
policy implications will end up dependant on the provincial government and outside agencies.
This will weaken the local governments ability to determine homegrown policy options. New
reforms must ensure the administration has the resources to provide the answers.
Local governments with a diversified administration, able to evaluate services from both an
effectiveness and efficiency perspective will ensure the success of the larger region in the longer
term.
3. Finance - Fairness, equity and the protection of the core city
Linked to every issue is the ability of a newly reformed region to be financially able to provide or
structure the services which its local communities need. There have been endless studies on
property tax but there has been virtually no empirical analysis for the various assessment options,
market value, unit, or two tiered, and their impacts on the GTA and the core city. Proposals are
currently being made looking for the simplest or most understandable solution, instead of an
equitable solution which maybe more complicated. Local government finance by its very nature
is complicated, and solutions will not be found easily with one particular panacea such as
market value assessment. A solution is needed based on sound analysis, that protects the values
fairness, equity and the ability to pay. Oversimplifying this issue will result in the
"Polarization of the social economic makeup of the core city and the GTA region..
4. Boundaries - Municipalities must have the capacity to plan and implement policy, and to
pursue innovative alternatives to Solve boundary and service issues
The GTA is not over governed. Allan OBrian in his discussion of overgovernment in Municipal
. . . .
B .
Consolidation in Canada and its Alternatives, determined the average number of municipalities
per 100000 (1991 census) population in Canada is seventeen. In the GTA with 30 Local area
governments, and five regional governments included, and using 1991 census data the number of
municipalities per 100000 is eleven. This is lower then in ail other provinces except for Ontario
(eight), Nova Scotia (seven) and British Columbia (five).
This is not to suggest that the optimum level of local government is a particular number of
governments per 100000 population, It does suggest however, that the public concern over the
number of governments in the GTA is not necessarily the root problem. instead the root issue is
the financial viability the of current two-tier system. This question of financial viability in the
current economic environment poses a serious challenge for local government; can boundaries
and services be matched in a perfect or optimum way, resulting in reduced costs? An optimal size
for a municipality is often defined from a financial perspective and is achieved when the
municipalities costs would increase, if the municipality changes size, either smaller or larger,
The "optimal size situation is impossible to achieve for a number of reasons. The number of
different services, constant growth of communities and the changing mix of services ensure the
perfect fit a constantly moving target. A more realistic concept maybe "viability. An essential
element in considering whether a municipality is viable is the ability of a municipality to have the
capacity to plan and implement its policies.
in a reformed GTA, boundaries should reflect communities which have the capacity to plan and
implement their policies. [fit is the intention to reform the GTA with one large second tier
government then some boundary changes would be needed to protect the core city. In the core
area under this option, it maybe logical to consider the amalgamation of the cities of York,
Toronto and the Borough of East York. This larger core city would have a better capacity to
plan and implement policies in a reformed GTA than as three individual cities. As one city it
would have both the political strength (using proportional representation as discussed earlier) and
increased administrative sovereignty to be better able to decide locally the level and type of
service delivery needed.
Yet, the boundary size question cannot be easily answered. Optimal size and even viability cannot
be clearly and concisely tested as local government and its services are constantly changing. In
reality, it is a question of local democracy, best left up to local decision makers, who will have to
find innovative alternatives to this perfect match. This is the classic challenge for local
government decision makers and their citizens.
en n y wi s e. p o
Reforming the GTA can strengthen services and enhance the political process of the core cities in
the future, compared to what the status quo might otherwise bring, Reforms made for
immediate cost savings in the short term often incur greater long term costs, neutralizing any
gains that could have been realized. These reforms would be penny Wise, pound foolish.
Local government is complicated and often messy. To oversimplify the issues would make local
ernment irrelevant, as many services could just as easily be provided through provincial gov
ministries and agencies. Local government does matter though, not because it provides local
services, but because it provides local democracy in the determination of those services. Local
government is more then an "administrative unit, It would be easier if local governments were
simply an administrative unit. Instead local communities are doomed to endlessly planning and
restructuring administration and representation, searching for the perfect fit which can never be
fully achieved, no matter what reform is adopted.
Options do exist that can enhance local area governments in the GTA and their capacity to plan
and implement policies. These include:
o maximizing local decision making with respect to functions;
o promoting regional focus and citizenship for achieving regional and local goals;
o having enough functions to get the job done, to be relevant and important;
o reforms that are reviewed periodically, to enhance both administrative and service roles of
local government, review process should be set out in the legislation;
o an administration strong enough to provide effective services and policy analysis; and
o the balancing of structural reforms with political strength.
Establishing a new area wide larger upper tier local government will weaken the local area
governments. This may be considered necessary to promote regional citizenship. However,
there are other innovative alternatives that will enhance regional planning while promoting the
long term strength of local area municipalities, The use of intermunicipal a g r e e m e n t s a n d
partnerships for regional issues is just one example of the many cost effective alternatives
available.
OBrian, Allan. Municipal Consolidation in Canada and its Alternatives
<
Toronto: ICURR,
1993.
Sanct on Andrew. Local Government Reorganization in Canada Si nc e 1975.Toronto: ICURR,
1991.
Metro Toronto, Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal for Change Toronto:Chief
Administrators Office, August 1995.
City of York, City of York Draft Submission on GTA Reform. York: Planning and Economic
Development Department, September 1995.
November 12/95
Edited version of the brief submitted by George Carr to the Anne Golden
GTA Task Force.
PROPERTY TAX REFORM FOR METROPOLITAN TORONTO
--------------------------------------------
MARKET PLACE EQUITY
If two identical properties in the same vicinity are for sale, and the tax
burden on one is double the other, which property will sell for the lower
price? Of course, the property with the HIGHER tax burden will sell for the
LOWER price. Therefore, the purchaser of the higher tax burdened property
receives an economic offset. In a sense, theres no such thing as property
tax inequity in an open market because purchase prices reflect relative tax
burdens.
THE NEED FOR SNAILS PACE REFORM
We need to rationalize our property tax system, only because existing ass-
essments are generating too many appeals. Unfortunately, in the process of
doing so, market place equity will be disrupted, which is wrong, even when
unavoidable. Therefore, the arbitrary creation of market value winners and
losers should be mitigated as much as possible by phasing-in necessary
changes very slowly. ..at a snails pace.
APPLES AND ORANGES?
With a high level of commercial concentration, the City of Toronto is a
cash cow for Metro, while Metro is a cash cow for the province. Maybe this
is as it should be. However, the situation has prompted the Metro Board of
Trade to express the opinion that Metro homeowners arent paying their fair
share of the property tax. The Board notes that homeowners own 62 per cent
of cent the property value, but pay only 29 per cent of the property tax.
However, is that a valid comparison , or is it akin to comparing apples and
oranges? Is property value the right way to distribute tax burden between
different classes of property?
Depreciated replacement costs (DRCs) represent a greater portion of total
property value in the commercial sector, and because DRCS have grown slower
than location values, commercial property values have fallen behind those
of homeowners. So what?, isnt it more important too determine if coporate
revenue in Metro has declined relative to homeowner income.
IS BUSINESS FLEEING METRO?
Corporate profitability is staging a comeback, but substandard profitabili-
ty in recent years may have induced some businesses to locate in areas with
lower tax burdens.
1/4
This is the viewpoint of The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto which
notes that the commercial and industrial property value base is shrinking
in Metro, but growing in the rest of the GTA. Im skeptical. The difference
in growth rates may be related to over-building in Metro, and an expanding
GTA population base. Once again, is the ratio of corporate revenue to
homeowner income actually declining?
ARE APARTMENT OWNERS OVER-TAXED?
In 1950, all property was taxed at the same rate of assessed market value.
Of course, location values represented a lessor portion of total property
value back then (20% vs 80% now) so market value assessment was more like
property size assessment. As previously noted, current market value may not
be the best way to distribute tax burden between different classes of pro-
perty, but, if apartment owners and homeowners were taxed at the same rate
of current market value would the rents of apartment dwellers necessarily
decline? Remember, lower tax burdens lead to higher purchase prices, and
higher purchase prices lead to higher carrying costs. Do higher carrying
costs lead to lower rents?
If the rents of apartment dwellers wouldnt be lowered by lowering the ass-
essments of apartment owners, what would be the point of handing windfall
capital gains to the existing apartment owners? Do other property owners
realize that their burdens would have to rise by about 11 per cent to cover
the assessment shortfall?
SHOULD PROPERTY TAXES BE DISTRIBUTED
ON THE BASIS OF ABILITY TO PAY?
If they should, then we need to abandon the notion that properties of equal
value should carry equal tax burdens because properties of equal market va-
lue do not necessarily have owners with equal incomes.
There are several
reasons for this, including the fact that affordability changes over time.
For example, it took more relative income to purchase a home in 1988 than
it does today. If purchase prices were expressed as relatives to whatever
average annual wage prevailed at the time of purchase, it would be possible
to capture the ability to pay with more accuracy.
But would we want such
relatives reflected in assessments? - probably not.
People seem to think that property taxes should reflect the size and value
of a property.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FOUR DIFFERENT ASSESSMENT APPROACHES
--------------------------------------------------------------
If it is accepted that there is no such thing as true property tax inequity
in an open market, the need for snails pace change becomes obvious.
And if
property tax reform is to be phased-in very slowly, it may not make too
much difference which assessment methodology is chosen. For example, if the
change to individual assessments does not exceed half a per cent per annum,
would the City of Toronto still resist MVA?
2/4
CURRENT MARKET VALUE ASSESSMENT
In terms of fairness within property classes, current market value assess-
ment would be superior to simple unit assessment because higher valued same
size properties would carry higher tax burdens. However, appraised market
values are debatable by nature, and they would generate numerous appeals at
considerable expense to the taxpayer. The City of Toronto seems ready to
resist any form of assessment that will shift tax burden into the Metro
core.
UNIT RENTAL ASSESSMENT
The Fair Tax Commission suggested that zone rental indices could be used to
convert measurements of property size into easy-to-calculate measurements
of property value. Unfortunately, the more one thinks about the suggestion,
the more unanswered questions arise.
UNIT VALUE ASSESSMENT
The City of Toronto suggests that ninety five per cent of homeowner proper-
ty could be assessed on the basis of property size measurements, five per
cent on the basis of assumed rental value. However, if construction qualit
y
and location values are to be removed from assessments, tax burden would be
shift from the rich to the poor. Do we want that? No wonder the proponents
of unit value assessment have such a tough time trying to find the optimum
weighting of land and building areas in the unit measurement formula.
Mind you, to some degree, the value of more desirable locations could be
factored into the unit formula. For example, frontage set back area could
be weighted, construction quality could be categorized, and so on.
BLENDED RATIO ASSESSMENT
While market value assessment would transfer too much tax burden into the
Metro core, unit value assessment would transfer too much burden the other
way. So why not strike a balance? Composite assessments derived from size
and value ratios would not only be easy-to-calculate, they would also main-
tain market place equity.
The size ratio would be determined by dividing the formula deduced size of
a Property by a size norm, and the value ratio, by dividing the purchase
price of a property by the whatever Metro resale price average was prevail-
ing at the time of purchase. In the following illustration, a property of
4500 square feet was purchased for 240.0 thousand dollars when the resale
price average was 200.0 thousand dollars. The size norm is assumed to be
3000 square feet.
Size ratio 4500/3000
=
150
Value ratio 240.0/200.0 = 120
BLENDED RATIO ASSESSMENT (150 + 120)/2 = 135
3/4
Whenever properties are resold, new value ratios would generate new easy to
calculate blended assessments, and in this way the assessment base would be
constantly updated. As for the blended assessments of commercial and indus-
trial properties, they would be adjusted upwards by a fixed factor, then
adjusted annually to reflect changes in the relationship between commercial
and residential property values.
IN CONCLUSION
Metro needs a simple assessment system that can be
its member municipalities. Why not break with the
value assessment tradition, and design a simpler,
essment system?
---------------------------------------------------
applied uniformly across
fractious current market
more cost efficient ass-
SUPPLEMENTARY COMMENT
1. The Toronto business community has proposed a uniform provincial rate of
business education taxation.
Perhaps this proposal would gain more support
if the total amount of education taxes to be paid by business could be low-
ered by a tax on employee commute distances.
By encouraging local hiring,
the commute tax would reduce traffic congestion in Metro.
2. Canadians have begun the process of re-establishin
g
balance sheet integ-
rity, and if economic justice is to be preserved during the belt-tightening
era, the existing distribution of income needs to be stabilized. Therefore,
we should be careful not to shift property tax burden from the privileged,
to the less privileged.
4/4
Telephone
905-668-5803
Toronto
905-686-2621
Fax
905-686-7005
THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF WHITBY
I n the Regional Municipality of IDurham
PLANNING DEPARTMENT
November 27, 1995
Anne Golden, Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
MUNICIPAL BUILDING
575 Rossland Road East
Whitby, Ontario
Canada
1 would like to briefly comment on the suggestion contained in your
FAX #7 that contemporary GTA land use planning should foster the
development of communities characterized by mixed use, among other
goals. We often hear how the concept of Mixed Use must be part of
the solution to the future built form of the GTA, and as a
practicing municipal planner I support it in principle for all the
right reasons.
However, as is the case with many land use concepts, there is a
huge gap between theory and reality. I would suggest that this is
not due so much to outdated planning policies or land use
restrictions, but to a reluctance by the private development sector
and indeed, the general public to fully embrace this concept. I
draw upon Whitbys planning policies as a case in point.
Since the mid-1980's, Whitbys Official Plan has had in place
enabling, flexible Mixed Use policies permitting a mix of
commercial, office and residential development, particularly in our
Central Areas where one would surmise there would be the greatest
chance of occurrence. Despite this favorable policy environment,
affected landowners/developers appear uninterested in initiating
true mixed use developments in the tradition of Torontos Beach or
Danforth Avenue districts.
Our experience is that most consider
such development too risky financially, and opt instead for single-
purpose, segregated development; either pure commercial, or less
frequently, pure residential, but rarely a true mix of uses.
.../2
-2-
We hear the private development sector claiming a lack of interest
due to the difficulty of being a landowner to two distinct tenant
groups (ie. commercial or residential),
a lack of end users,
tenants or market for such product, (e.g. a lack of market for
office floorspace)
and general lack of public acceptance (e.g.
nobody wants to reside above a store including the shopkeeper). In
many cases, Mixed Use is simply viewed as a means to building
single purpose commercial development and accordingly, the majority
of the Mixed Use areas languish in existing, segregated land use
activities. Unfortunately, land use planning can only create the
opportunity for Mixed Use;
in other words the horse can be led to
the water, but not forced to drink.
I suspect there has to be a dramatic shift in public attitudes and
private sector acceptance of the Mixed Use land use concept before
it can become a significant factor in reshaping the urban fabric of
the GTA. Favorable planning policy does not appear to be enough,
whether there are 30 municipalities
or one supercity doing the
planning.
Yours truly,
Larry Cavanagh
Manager, Long Range Planning and Strategic Design
LC/mmw
September 30, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
393 University Avenue -- 20th Floor (2001)
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden;
The purpose of my writing is to share my thoughts regarding there-structuring of local
and Regional Government as well as Boards of Education in the Greater Toronto Area.
This correspondence reflects my personal opinion about the matter. It is not a reflection
of -- nor is it intended to be -- the concensus opinion of Milton Council and/or the
Corporation of the Town of Milton. The Town and Council have sent you their opinion
under separate cover -- a perspective that I am largely in agreement with.
Background:
1. Dramatic population growth in the GTA over the last 21 years has burdened
the current local and Regional Government structure in GTA such that many
municipalities are unable to effectively deal with new growth;
-2-
2. Escalation over the last 10 years of Provincially-provided programs, services and
policies and Provincially-mandated programs, services and policies into local and
Regional Government and Board of Education jurisdictions has created duplication as
well as blurred roles and responsibilities, both fiscally and in terms of service delivery;
3. Fiscal mismanagement at Federal level over the past 25 years and at Provincial level
over the past 10 years has resulted in an inability by both levels to continue to support
local and Regional Government at historic funding levels, requiring local and Regional
Governments to either assume funding responsibility or cancel programs and services;
4. Alarming lack of leadership by successive City of Toronto Councils in addressing fact
that reassessment of properties within that municipality has not been undertaken for
more than 40 years, resulting in Citys increasing inability to sustain itself financially;
5. Ontario residents are overtaxed and, in the case of those who also own property, they
are both overtaxed and unfairly taxed, particularly when it comes to their having to
support education, policing and welfare through their property taxes. Ontario is now
the most highly taxed jurisdiction in North America, which has also made it
increasingly uncompetitive when it comes to attracting industry and jobs.
Basic Philosophy:
A one-size-fits-all approach to restructuring local and Regional Government in the GTA
will not work, nor will it be accepted by those affected. A restructuring of local and
Regional Government in what is now Metropolitan Toronto is sorely needed. However,
what is required there will not work elsewhere in the GTA. Yet another solution is
required outside of Metropolitan Toronto. Secondly, fundamental fiscal, program and
services restructuring is also required at the Provincial and Federal levels of Government.
No level of Government is an island unto itself, nor should it be treated as such as GTA
Task Force Chair Anne Golden and her team review the current structure.
Provincial Recommendations:
1. That the Province of Ontario assume the full financial and service delivery
responsibilities for welfare, thereby relieving local and Regional Governments of the
service delivery role and thus removing funding for the program from the property tax
base, as well;
2. That the Province of Ontario assume 80 percent of the cost of providing elementary
and secondary school education and that it be funded by income taxes, with the
remaining 20 percent to come from local property taxes;
for coordinating the economic development initiatives and long-term planning
requirements for that area of the province.
Metropolitan Toronto recommendations:
1. That the Municipal administrations and Councils of the City of East York, City of
Etobicoke, City of North York, City of Scarborough, City of Toronto and Borough of
York be amalgamated with the Regional Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto to form
the City of Metropolitan Toronto;
2. That the City of Metropolitan Toronto undertake region-wide market value re-
assessment to standardize levels of property taxation throughout that jurisdiction.
Other GTA Regional Government recommendations:
That Regional Government assume full responsibility for waste management and
collection;
That Regional Government assume full responsibility for police protection;
That Regional Government assume full responsibility for fire protection;
That Regional Government assume the responsibility for transit service, with costs
shared equally by the Province of Ontario;
That Regional Government assume the responsibility for health and human services
coordination and planning;
That Regional Government undertake region-wide market value re-assessment to
standardize levels of property taxation throughout each Region.
-4-
Other GTA local Government recommendations:
1. That local Government assume full responsibility for all municipal planning, with final
approval for Official Plans resting with the Province of Ontario;
2. That local Government assume responsibility for all public works, with
infrastructure capital costs shared equally by the Province of Ontario;
3. That local Government share the fiscal and service delivery responsibilities of parks
management with local Conservation Authorities, where there is a local Authority;
4. That local Government assume full responsibility for bylaw and Ontario Building Code
enforcement;
5. That local Governments form Education Advisory Committees as Committees of
Council -- in place of Trustees and Boards of Education --to deal with local
educational matters;
6. That local Governments undertake local market value re-assessment to ensure fairness
within the property tax base of each municipality.
Other Conclusions:
Over time, as the population of the GTA continues to grow and as municipalities outside
of the proposed City of Metropolitan Toronto complete their growth plans and achieve a
state of urbanized maturity, it may be advisable to amalgamate them with the City of
Metropolitan Toronto. Obvious candidates would include local municipalities within the
Regional Municipalities of Peel, York and Durham.
For reasons related to cost, it may also be advisable to consider amalgamating police
services provided by the Regional Municipalities of Halton, Hamilton-Wentworth and
Kitchener-Waterloo into regional districts under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Provincial
Police.
Further, the Ministry of Natural Resources and/or Ministry of Environment may wish to
assume legal and administrative responsibilities currently managed by the Niagara
Escarpment Commission, with some planning responsibilities shared with local
municipalities.
Other agencies, boards and commissions should also be reviewed to ensure they are the
most effective means to legislate or provide services.
-5-
If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please contact me at your earliest
convenience.
Sincerely,
cc: David Hipgrave, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Milton
Gordon Krantz, Mayor, Town of Milton
Childrens Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto
Date: October 6,1995
Introduction
The Childrens Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto (CASMT) is the largest child welfare
organization in North America, and we have been providing services to children and families for
over a century. The CASMT is mandated under the Child and Family Services Act to provide a
range of services including protection of children from abuse and neglect. In addition, our
continuum of services has included prevention services and family preservation supports to reduce
the numbers of children at risk for abuse, and reduce admissions of children to care. Historically,
child welfare organizations have been funded through the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) with 50-
30-20 percent cost-sharing between Federal-Provincial and Municipal levels of government. In
recent years the CAP funded has been capped and now the federal government is moving
towards block funding of health, education and social services.
The CASMT services families across Metropolitan Toronto including the cities of: North York,
Scarborough, East York, York, Etobicoke, and Toronto. There area number of other mandated
child welfare services across Metro and the GTA including: the Catholic Childrens Aid Society of
Metropolitan Toronto; the Jewish Family and Child Service; Durham Family and Childrens
Services; York Region Childrens Aid Society; Peel Childrens Aid Society; Halton Childrens Aid
Society; and the Simcoe County Childrens Aid Society.
Annually our organization works with over 8,500 families and 17,500 children and youth up to 21
years of age. The Society provided substitute parental care for 2,339 children in 1994; Thirty-five
per cent of these Metro children live in placements outside Metropolitan Toronto boundaries,
Fifty-five percent of CASMT clients are in receipt of social assistance, and approximately eighty-
three percent are living at or below the poverty line. In Canada 13% of all families are lone
parent-led, compared to fifty-eight percent of CASMT client families. We are at the forefront of
working with newcomer, refugee and diverse ethno-cultural communities. Twenty-seven percent
of families and one in four children in care served by the Society were from diverse racial and
ethnic groups.
The CASMT welcomes the opportunity to submit recommendations for consideration by the Task
Force. The CASMT has some unique perspectives and expertise that may assist you in your
deliberations. However, the CASMT will be limiting our comments to two main areas. First, we
will share information on the growing partnerships and integrated services responses among the
mandated child welfare organizations across the GTA. More specifically, we will provide some
1
comments and recommendations regarding land-use and housing policies within the GTA.
Greater Toronto Area: Child Welfare Service Agencies
The CASMT and other child welfare organizations across the Greater Toronto Area have been
meeting together to discuss opportunities to work collaboratively. Organizations include:
Durham Child and Family Services, Catholic Childrens Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto,
Jewish Family and Child Service, York Region CAS , Peel CAS; Halton CAS, and Simcoe
County CAS..
Our organizations are committed to the development of integrated service responses, in areas
where this approach will achieve higher quality service and both cost and service efficiencies.
Adoption and foster-care recruitment services are two priority areas we are working on currently.
In our efforts to work inter-dependently across our service boundaries we are seeking to achieve
better service to children, families, and foster-parents across the GTA. This network of child
welfare organizations will look forward to the findings arising from the GTA Task Force.
Quality of Life/ Housing Issues
The CASMT works with thousands of families and children who have been marginalized within
our economy. Many families are recipients of social assistance, some move in and out of the
labour force in low wage jobs, or supplement their government income with some part time work.
Newcomers to Canada and refugees face many barriers to break out of a poverty level existence.
The settlement issues are tremendous, including the difficulty of gaining Canadian work
experience, even when they have experience and credentials in their country of origin. All these
families and children require access to affordable, suitable and accessible housing to enable them
to contribute in the community, as parents, volunteers, and as participants in the labour market.
Seventy percent of the families that CASMT works with are housed within the private rental
market. Thirty percent live in rent-geared to income public or non-profit housing. Common
housing issues facing CASMT clients include: housing costs that exceed 50% of family income;
private and OHC housing that is in serious disrepair; overcrowding due to insufficient space;
families living in doubled-up accommodations; multi-year waiting lists for social and co-op
housing; no one-stop system of accessing accurate information on social housing options across
Metro Toronto and the GTA; low vacancy rates; discrimination in efforts to access
accommodation; and growing hopelessness and emergency shelter-use among youth and families.
The CASMT has firsthand experience in working with families with housing problems. In our
work to protect children and prevent child abuse, our social workers continue to visit families in
their homes, and we are in a unique position to observe the quality of home and community
environments. These environments have an impact on the health and well-being of parents and
children.
CASMT: Housing Policy& Advocacy
Over the past twenty years the CASMT has been a leader in advocating for housing policies and
programs to meet the needs of vulnerable children, youth and families. Housing that is accessible,
safe, and affordable to every income group and household type, is one of the foundations to
reduce family stress and to promote healthy children.
The CASMT has been active in our advocating for our Board housing policies at the Municipal,
City and Provincial levels. To advance our policies, outlined below are some specific activities we
have undertaken to promote: new supply of affordable housing, access, affordability, safety-
maintenance, and case support,
Agency Policy;
Resolved that everyone has a right to adequate, affordable housing, and futhermore that
is the role of all levels of government to set and enforce policies in such a way to ensure
this occurs.
(CASMT Board; June 11, 1981)
Resolved that the CASMT support changes in the Municipality of Metropolitan
Torontos official plan policies that will allow for Housing Intensification to create
adequate, affordable housing, and CASMT supports changes in municipal zoning by-laws
that will allow the creation of accessory apartments in single family homes and the
necessary regulations to ensure standards of health and safety. (CASMT Board;
December 1990).
3
Policy Implementation Activities:
New supply of affordable housing
1. Promoted and supported non-profit, co-op housing and emergency shelter developments
through: staff support; Agency support letters, deputations at City Planning and Ontario
Municipal Board meetings; advocated for non-profit housing allocations in the provincial budget-
setting process; developed permanent rent-geared to income housing through City Home for 25
youth in five co-op living houses sponsored by the Pape Adolescent Resource Centre, a support
program for current and former wards of CASMT.
2. Organized community forums, research and advocacy activities in conjunction with other
community stakeholders and housing groups to reduce the barriers preventing the development of
social housing including: non-profit, rent-geared to income and emergency shelters for youth,
families and victims of domestic violence.
3. Supported as of right zoning models, such as legalizing the estimated 100,000 apartments in
houses in Ontario (50,000 in Metro Toronto) through Bill 120. Provided leadership in organizing
the Inclusive Neighbourhoods Campaign to advocate for safe apartments in houses, and inclusive
zoning. These apartments have been legalized within a regulatory framework to ensure safety and
basic standards (eg. Fire Code).
4. Supported housing intensification models in communities, such as main streets models which
promoted the development of rental housing above storefronts on main street roads.
Enhanced Access
1. Achieved amendments to the Human Rights Code of Ontario to ensure that families had equal
access to accommodation, through deputations to the Legislative Committee (Ontario, 1986).
2. Advocated for the development of Ministry of Housing policies to improve information and
access to the numerous types of social housing available.
3. Organized four child welfare agencies in Metropolitan Toronto to Intervene in an Ontario
Human Rights Tribunal to prevent the use of income qualifications in rental housing to disqualify
social assistance recipients,
Affordability
1. Participated in Tenant Lobby Days sponsored by the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations
to support numerous tenant issues including: fair taxes for tenants as recommended by the Ontario
Government Fair Tax Commission.
4
1. Organized community and agency forums on the issue of deterioration of aging private and
public sector rental housing.(eg. United Tenants of Ontario, Federation of Metro Tenants
Association, Metro Tenants Legal Services, Inclusive Neighbourhoods Campaign).
2. Participated in advocacy activities with other housing groups including: lobby days with
Municipal and Local Councillors and Mayors, organizing meetings with property standards staff,
participation in Inquiry on Safe Apartments in the City of Scarborough, and Inquiry on
Apartments in Housing in Ontario,
Case support
1. The CASMT has provided one-to-one support, information and referral to clients on numerous
housing issues, including: Landlord and Tenant Act, Rent Control Act, Bill 120, Tenant taxation
issues, legal issues, housing access information. The CASMT also has relied on many Metro-
wide, local, and organizations outside of Metro that provide tenant information, housing and
other support services such as: legal clinics, housing help centres, non-profit, and municipal
housing organizations..
Recommendations: Housing & Land-use
Planning for affordable housing should be a priority within the GTA, and it should include
strategies to address the growing shelter needs of children, youth, families, and other individuals
who are most economically disadvantaged across the GTA.
New Supply / Inclusive Zoning
1. That levels of government within the GTA establish targets for housing development,
including housing for low income groups to support region-wide, as well as local strategic plans
designed to produce new housing which address the needs of all household and income types,
including tenants and homeowners.
2. That the GTA Task Force endorse the principles underlying the Housing Policy Statement
adopted by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs (1994). In particular the following section of the
Housing Policy should be considered for adoption:
Goal: to provide opportunities in each municipality for the creation of housing that is
affordable, accessible, adequate and appropriate to the full range of present and
expected households in the market area.
5
1. The opportunity for housing types to meet the present and expected needs of the full
range of households in the housing market area will be provided. (CASMT would
promote rental housing, and home-ownership models].
2. a) Opportunities will be provided for no less than 30 percent of new dwelling units
created through development and intensification to be affordable housing.
b) Opportunities will be provided for, wherever-feasible, no less than half of the new
housing required through policy 2. a) to be affordable to the lowest 30th percent
of the household income distribution for the housing market area. Full use will
be made of innovative development, redevelopment, and small-scale
intensification, public lands, government programs and other available tools to
implement this provision.
4. Small-scale intensification will be permitted in all areas permitting residential use,
except where infrastructure is inadequate, or there are significantphysical constraints.
This is in addition to Planning Act provisions permitting certain houses to have two
residential units.
5. The use of residential development standards that facilitate affordable housing and
compact urban form is encouraged in development and redevelopment.
6. Where Iand owned by the provincial government is declared surplus and is suitable
for housing, opportunities will be provided for the development of affordable housing.
(CASMT would recommend that the development of affordable housing to meet the needs
of the lowest 30th percent of household income distribution be one key group targeted for
this land-use] . (Source: Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Comprehensive Set of Policy
Statements. Housing Policies, 1994,)
3. That GTA levels of government should assume the leadership in utilizing government and
other resources to provide permanent affordable housing. Partnerships and new vehicles for
financing affordable housing models to be developed between government, business, pension
funds, credit unions and banks. Provincial government spending on permanent affordable housing
in Ontario was approximately 20/0 of all housing spending in 1993-1994. This includes spending
on public housing (5%) and Non-profit housing (15%). The CASMT recommends that the GTA
advocate that provincial funding for permanent affordable housing should not be reduced below
the 20% level. (See Tables next page.) The federal and provincial levels of government should
continue to fund rent geared to income subsidies for low income people within non-profit
housing.
Government investments in the infrastructure of permanent affordable housing is more cost-
effective over-time than subsidies in the private rental or condominium sector. (See Table below).
4. That governments within the GTA work with housing resource people to develop models of
affordable housing for low income households. Resource people to be included from municipal,
provincial, federal governments; within the public, non-profit, co-op housing sector; and within the
development and business sector. These models should build on experience and knowledge of
successful, and failed models in the past, and include rental housing, co-op housing, and possibly models
for equity and home-ownership. Models of housing for low income singles, such as youth leaving care
are also needed. Special needs housing, such as emergency shelters, transitional housing, and supportive
housing should also be supported where a need is identified. Small site, scattered projects, and larger
projects could be combined in this model. Management models should support tenant involvement and
decision-making whenever possible,
5. That goals to integrate the planning of human services with housing developments, while important
considerations, should not create barriers to create housing in communities, including affordable
housing. The funding shortages faced by some agencies, along with continued reductions in
government spending will result in fewer community programs and very little expansion, However, the
population in Metro and the GTA will continue to need housing as populations and numbers of
households increase. By linking human services planning with housing planning too closely, the GTA
may ultimately inhibit the development of new housing that is needed.
Maintenance/ Preservation of housing
7. That the GTA/ local cities develop coordinated policies and action strategies to prevent the serious
erosion of existing housing stock, particularly in high-rise buildings constructed over 20 years ago.
Task Groups could be established across the GTA that include Ministry of Municipal Affairs and
Housing staff, tenant organizations, non-profit redevelopment and co-op housing groups, property
standards departments, landlords, developers, and financial institutions to work on some creative
solutions.
Affordability- Equitable Taxation
Fair taxation between homeowners and commercial interests has been a large issue in the GTA, and may
bean issue that the Task Force examines, The issue of tenants and taxation is rarely profiled. While we
have not had an opportunity to study this issue in-depth, at this time we would urge you to review the
findings of the Fair Tax Commission, since they have raised the issue of the impacts of local taxes on
tenants. They have developed some recommendations that may be worthy of revisiting.
8. That the GTA consider the Fair Tax Commission recommendation that all residential property be
8
assessed on the same basis whether the property is occupied by an owner or a tenant.
9. That the GTA consider the Fair Tax Commission recommendation that a system be created for
passing onto tenants in the form of rent reductions any savings in property taxes that result in tax
reform.
10. That the GTA consider the Fair Tax Commission recommendation that tenant be notified by the
city through property tax notices of the taxes they are paying through their rents.
11. The Fair Tax Commission suggests that municipal taxes are more regressive than income taxes
since they are not based on ability to pay. As such, they recommended that core services such as
education and social assistance be funded through a progressive tax such as the provincial income tax.
Conclusion
The Childrens Aid Society of Metropolitan Toronto provides vital protection and prevention services
to thousands of disadvantaged children, youth and families across Metropolitan Toronto. The CASMT
has always demonstrated leadership in working collaboratively with other child welfare organizations
and stakeholders in the community to develop quality services to children and families. More recently,
we have recognized the importance of closer partnerships and potential integration of some child
welfare services across the GTA. These are very difficult and challenging times ahead for child welfare
organizations within the region and we will strive to work with all our partners, including government,
to provide quality child protection and prevention services.
Our organization has unique expertise and knowledge about the needs of thousands of vulnerable
children, youth and families living in Metropolitan Toronto, and the GTA. We appreciated the
opportunity to provide the GTA Task Force with some recommendations regarding land-use and
housing. CASMT works with some of the most vulnerable in our community and housing is a basic
need and stabilizing factor for families, often preventing more costly community problems such as child
abuse, neglect, and admissions of children to out-of-home care.
The CASMT urges the governments within the Greater Toronto Area to implement policies that
promote the highest quality of life for all residents, The clients of CASMT are more vulnerable to the
cycles within the economy and are directly affected by issues such as structural unemployment and the
erosion of the social safety net. The GTA Task Force has a unique opportunity to put forth
recommendations that reflect the needs and interests of all members of the community. The CASMT
will look forward to reviewing your findings and recommendations when you complete your
deliberations.
CHP He r i t a ge Ce n t r e
The Society of Heritage Associates
30 August 1995
MS Anne Golden, Chair,
GTA Task Force,
Suite 2001,
Toronto M5G 1E6
BOx 498- Suite 100
2 Bloor Street West. Toronto, M4W 3E2
Telephone: (416) 515-7546
.,
SEP O 61995
This letter is to bring to your attention several matters which
must be considered in any changes to be brought to the region;
this letter is submitted on behalf of the member organizations
of the CHP Heritage Centre (brochure enclosed) , and to a great
extent on behalf of the larger heritage community in the region
which, as far back as six years ago, had meetings to discuss
issues and solutions to them that were of general concern.
The main issue may be defined as a loss of identity: the City of
Toronto, Metro,
and to a great extent, the Province of Ontario
have been losing their essential identity.
For those who have
been living in the City of Toronto for only ten or fifteen years
this will not be evident; for those who have lived in the City
since the end of World War II,
the loss of identity is cause for
alarm; and for those who are able to match the present against
the whole of the Citys history the matter is simply scandalous.
All generations to come have been deprived of the opportunity to
learn about the Citys roots,
about its 10,000 years of aboriginal
history, about its 200 years of French history before the opening
of the British Regime, and about the communitys first hundred
years as a settled capital city.
Similarly, they will have no
way of understanding the physical landscape that influenced the
development of the city, of the vanished rivers and ravines, of
the great forests and indigenous plant species that enabled the
first settlers to survive,
of the fisheries that once flourished,
of the major migratory routes for birds and butterflies that have
been moved elsewhere,
of vanished Ashbridges Bay. They will
regard their inheritance from the past as an overbuilt and highly
contaminated waterfront,
and a metropolis that is rapidly becoming
unlivable and too densely populated to work.
In what does the loss of identity consist?
Torontos ravines
were once the envy of the world;
now they are filled in with
highrises and industrial parks and of those that remain the
general view is that they are no longer safe for public enjoyment.
(We know very well who uses the ravines.) With the vanishing
ravines went the creeks and little rivers and the alluvial plain
that gave us the nickname Muddy York.
Hardly anyone is aware
that the lower part of the metropolis is built on alluvial plain
left behind as the post-Ice Age Lake Iroquois drained away from
the ancient shoreline we know as the escarpment that crosses the
entire city. Only Scarborough Bluffs remains relatively intact
Golden - 2
as a reminder of that geological influence on the city, and even
the bluffs are suffering from human interference.
The shallow
natural harbour and the peninsula that became the Toronto Islands
have been drastically altered,
along with the original shoreline;
the alterations and uses approved for those features have not been
for the benefit of the average taxpayer.
Most shocking of all, is
that the Toronto Islands/peninsula were never ceded in the Toronto
Purchase;
no government in Canada owns them, yet all behave as if
they did. The Indians have said they never ceded them for more
than two hundred years,
and we found the evidence that proves
they are right.
The Minister of Indian Affairs has acknowledged
his awareness of this fact in a letter to US, and we are waiting
for at least this much of the land claim to be settled before any
government starts messing around with the Islands again.
But
there has been no response whatever from the Province of Ontario.
The Islands were sacred to all of the First Nations and, in
another sense, should be sacred to everyone else as a natural
asset which should be kept natural.
We have long been opposed to
the continuance of the airport operations at the Island and have
pointed out that a rail line already exists between Union Station
and Pearson Airport (except for about half a mile of track) , and
using it in preference to the airport at the Islands would be much
faster, cheaper, better for the environment, holds less risk to
those along its route,
and can move many more passengers as well
as function as a commuter line. Yet politicians and government
experts alike, cave in to special interests and insist upon the
airport at the Islands -
over the objections of resident taxpayers.
Other losses of identity come with the demolition of historic
sites and landmarks. The City of Toronto has three National
Historic Sites: Fort York, the John Street Roundhouse, and the
Gooderham and Worts Distillery - the latter being the only one
that had been on the list for World Heritage Site designation.
What has happened to them? Fort York is to be hidden even more
by a gigantic Loblaws complex to be built in front of it, cutting
off this former naval installation from even a view of Lake Ontario.
The John Street Roundhouse, reduced from forty-eight buildings and
miles of track with the potential for conversion to a steam-era
operating museum as a world tourism attraction, to a mere four
structures with no track, and with no potential for museum use
because of an inappropriate park design for the roof of the
convention centre being built under the site. The Gooderham and
Worts site, reduced in size from extensive acreage and seventy-
three fascinating buildings by the owners to forty-three buildings,
was purchased by off-shore interests,
closed down as an operating
distillery, and City Council has given approval for the sites
complete redevelopment with office buildings and condominiums.
Half of the citys history is tied to that site and the family
that once owned it! And the metropolis is full of empty office
buildings and condominiums that are almost being given away in
order to get people into them.
So who is crazy? The politicians
who approve the building of more unnecessary and unwanted buildings,
or the people who value the city and the landmarks that have
defined it?
Golden - 3
Yorkville, which began in 1804, once had examples of every type
of architecture in Canadas history. Its once-quaint charms and
intimate atmosphere twice accommodated important communities of
artists and attracted tourism from all over the world, but because
business interests wanted to cash in on the attractions wanted to
clean up the village, politicians caved in and invited developers
to do the cleanup. Now the village looks like any other place in
the world, and the tourists vanished, and the very businessmen and
politicians who wrecked the village are screaming for help. . .
with the result that the City of Toronto spent several millions of
dollars in creating a high-tech park which has nothing whatever to
do with the history or character of Yorkville - one step further
away again.
Neighbourhoods are being savaged by commercial pressures, by
unwanted traffic and parking problems, by security problems
emanating from drug traffic and unemployment.
Community organiz-
ations which are forming in ever greater,numbers to try to cope
with their problems are the measure of the failure of politicians
and planners to understand and listen and whose objectives are
clearly not to the benefit of the stability and wellbeing of any
neighbourhood - particularly in the City of Toronto. I repeat,
the very number of community organizations, whether these are for
seniors, youth, residents associations, environmental groups or
the heritage community, are the measure of the failure of those
elected to serve them.
There is a general perception that all
politicians are corrupt and cater only to moneyed vested interests.
The other general perception is that
things are out of control
and there is nobody at the helm.
The professional staff hired by local government have demonstrated
irrefutably for the last forty years that they are illeducated and
insensitive to neighbourhood concerns. The result is that we have
expressways in our ravines and river valleys, we have lost hundreds
landmark buildings and building complexes and lost all sense of the
early city, we have acres of empty space in unwanted buildings (put
up in the name of jobs) ,
the tourism potential is diminished in
direct proportion to the wrecking of the citys identity, we have
services that taxpayers have trustingly paid for not being delivered,
the cost of everything including homes and property taxes goes up
while the delivery of services goes down. We have planners that
are in thrall to American ideals and in awe of off-shore money,
who actively promote these interests without ever understanding
the character of the city they are wrecking or the concerns of
those who live in the treasured neighbourhoods.
Those of us in
the heritage field can supply hundreds of examples of planners
appearing on behalf of a development team without ever having
consulted the neighbourhood being affected,
There were more than three hundred settlements and villages in
place by 1900; out of these the modern metropolis has grown. It
is these early communities which persist in the form of neighborh-
oods, that most community groups try to protect. While there has
been resistance in the past to changes in electoral districts and
Golden - 4
shifts in the boundaries of local governments within Metro,
this resistance is low when compared with the effort to protect
neighbourhoods and even streets. The identity of the city rests
in these neighbourhoods, just as it does in landmark structures
and natural features.
Governments come and governments go, dragging their party agendas
behind them, and it is cliche in certain circles that those vested
with power are not trained for their jobs. It would be well to
remember this when introducing changes into the GTA.
Political
whim is not the way to govern a country or a province or a city.
There should be an arms length body created, with a fully pro-
fessional staff and with citizen representation equally, that
can hear problems at neighborhood level and guide issues to
solutions through interfacing with all levels of government. If
a neighbourhood has a problem with drug traffic and its effects,
several levels of government are automatically involved. Within
Metro, policing is a Metro responsibility, while drug traffic is
a matter for the RCMP. Local politicians, if they are sufficiently
aware of the problem, have no jurisdiction regarding police. The
problems are similar when Metro planners decide to ram a super-
highway through several municipalities without respect for the
character of the neighborhoods affected or for the taxpayers
within those neighborhoods whose assets are threatened. The
arms length body should be given sufficient power, to tackle
the problem at the outset by conferring first with those at the
neighborhood level in order to determine what is unacceptable
and then work with all other agencies and governments towards a
proper solution. Governments should all be obliged to take the
recommendations of this independent and objective body and imple-
ment them. If you wish, you might call this body a Regional
Planning Authority, or a Regional Arbitration
and Regulatory
Agency - the name does not matter as much as its function and
effectiveness. Taxpayers must feel that they are being heard
and that their wishes are being respected, even is they are not
being fulfilled. Of course there must be employment, but the
greater good of the community must never, ever, be interpreted
in the light of short-term goals favouring a vested interest
wishing to enter a given area and destabilize it by building a
structure that provides construction jobs for two years and
permanent jobs numbering forty of less. The sacrifices most often
asked of neighborhoods far outweigh the benefits being offered.
An arms length body would address the issue at the outset and
measure the benefits against the losses over the long term. If
further explanation of this body is needed, please contact us as
we have given it a great deal of thought, and are certain that
it would reduce confrontation and costs, and expedite the growth
of the economy. It would reduce the load imposed on the Ontario
Municipal Board, and produce results that would be more acceptable
all around.
Golden - 5
Some of the problems faced within the GTA would be solved by
new legislation. The interminable review on Ontarios heritage
policies must be brought to an end with a new - and acceptable -
Ontario Heritage Act. A new Planning Act that takes into account
the stability and wellbeing of neighbourhoods, and the protection
of existing and potential parkland,
the enhancement of a suffering
environment, and gives primacy of place to the interests of tax-
payers over the interests of land developers, is needed immediately.
The Sewell Commissions recommendations went as far as was possible
at the time, but not far enough.
If created quickly, the arms
length body already suggested here might tackle what else should
be done in a new Planning Act.
Tax reform is badly needed.
When the last attempts were made to
introduce market value assessment within Metro, a tax revolt was
nearly precipitated. At the same time,market value assessment
in other parts of Ontario resulted in the loss of properties that
had been handed down from one generation to the next in given
families, simply because those areas suffer from no employment
and exist on welfare.
The provinces economy is strongest when
there is employment everywhere, including in the north and more
remote areas. This points to the need for de-centralization,
and de-emphasis on the Toronto-centred region.
The capital city
needs only to be just that,
a capital city, and does not need to
have most of the population and services and employment, etc.
Why should Sault-Ste.-Marie, or Red Rock, or Bancroft, suffer so
that all of the factories and offices can be in Toronto?
There
is a limit to how much the taxpayers in the GTA can afford to
service continuing expansion within the region.
And its needs to
be said that no more agricultural land should be paved or built
upon, and expansion within the GTA should be halted, Intensific-
ation should also be halted as it creates a denser and less liveable
environment;one needs only to think of areas within Metro which
are virtually forests of highrises with all of their festering
problems. Tax reform should help to place controls on what
happens where, encouraging decentralization and growth. elsewhere,
and penalizing those who wish to grow where they are not wanted.
Tax reform should benefit those who preserve historic buildings
and neighbourhoods,and severely penalize those who would destroy
these assets. Tax reform should stringently control the banks
and their profits,penalize and regulate non-Canadian ownership
of either land or businesses, and assist small business. During
the Second World War it was said that the Nazis could never
conquer Britain because it was a nation of shopkeepers - ie.
small businesses- and the bombing of a given factory complex
would not paralyse the country.
Mahatma Gandhi started cottage
industries to help his country to find employment and become
more economically stable;and we in Ontario do not have nearly
the problems to solve that Gandhi faced!
Golden - 6
Transportation within the GTA is a major problem.
The roads
encourage pollution and gridlock, while commuters are not well
served by trains, and the TTC is impossible for the elderly and
handicapped to use. Many middle-aged people will not use the
TTC because of its infestation by criminals and youthful
troublemakers,especially in the evening hours.Building more
subways is not the answer because of the ridiculous costs involved
Streetcars have always been identified with Toronto, are open and
allow passengers to see stores and displays and feel secure that
what happens inside the streetcar is clearly visible to anyone.
Streetcars are also not polluters, as are diesel buses.
The use
of streetcars puts the entire city on display and are vehicles
for tourism as well.
There is no use in a system which whisks
passengers across the entire city in fifteen minutes so that they
can wait in a station for fifteen minutes or half an hour for a
connecting bus. If the problems created by the combustion engine
are to be solved,
there has to be considerable improvement in
public transportation. The TTC and GO systems need enhancement
and co-ordination. Tax reform should take this into consideration.
A master plan for waste reduction and sewage treatment must be
developed and implemented in as short a time as economies permit.
This plan should include a proper network of storm sewers and
control of emissions. Polluters should be severely penalized
and made to pay the costs of cleaning up and establishing controls
on their emissions if they wish to stay within the region. It is
a measure of the failure of governments generally that the very
few beach areas left in the region cannot be used by taxpayers.
If the problems of soil,water and air quality are not addressed,
then governments should budget for the health costs that will
result and mount. Tax reform should benefit those who reduce
waste and penalize polluters.
In reforming the GTA or even Metro alone, it will be necessary to
reduce both the number of politicians and duplication of services
and thus the duplication of taxes.Reform should provide for
co-operation and eliminate grandstanding and useless debate, and
those holding elected office should be obliged to take crash
courses on their responsibilities.There are many people able
and willing to write handbooks for use by politicians. The facts
of the regions history should prevail over opinions. It is
possible to travel every street in the region and never know that
the First Nations were in the region for 10,000 years Or anything
about any of the First Nations.In the GTA we have a long French
history, which some people deny or ignore; what kind of message
does that send to the rest of Canada? or to Quebec? There have
been black people in the region as long as there have been white
people; ignorance of this fact and mishandling of race issues are
responsible for the highest ever levels of racism and bigotry.
Chinese slave labour built Canadas railroads, including those in
the GTA; is ignorance of the right of the Chinese people to be
citizens of this region at the root of racism against the Chinese?
Whether they like it or not,politicians have the responsibility
Gol den . 7
to learn the facts of our history, and lead in the effort to
abolish racism. But their blundering and ignorance have led
instead to a rise in neo-Nazism and white supremacist.
This points to a need to reform the school curriculum so that
it includes the teaching of local history and the real history
of Canadas people -not just political history, or the history
of other countries and races.
The same sort of reform is
necessary in broadcasting and publishing; we need to own and
allow our own history and culture to flourish.
Tax reform
should encourage this while discouraging or preventing the
ownership of our educational and media resources by non-
Canadians and non-residents.
The pot on the back of the stove that is at boiling point, ready
to overflow, is youth. Many of the most costly resources of the
GTA are arenas and sports facilities which have occupied precious
space that might otherwise have been devoted to forests and parks.
The idea seems to have been that boys, when not in school, will
use these facilities and stay happily out of trouble. It has not
worked. The swarming and violent crime, the accident statistics
where alcohol and automobiles have been mixed, the dropout rate
in schools, the hopelessness of becoming educated for jobs that
do not exist, all prove the point. There is no use in reforming
anything if the real needs of young people are ignored; the
destructive force that will be unleashed in young people with no
goals, no trust, no future, and no training will be frightening.
These young people are -joining anti-government and anti-social
groups, such as the neo-Nazis and white supremacist movements.
Anyone who thinks that the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups do not
have influence in Ontario and in the GTA has more than his head
in the sand. The negative movements are actively recruiting
young people who, without viable alternatives, are succumbing to
manipulative and twisted thinking and serving their causes with
as much dedication as those who went on the first Crusades. Of
course there are fine young people who work hard to put themselves
through university and slave away at jobs they find in order to
get ahead, but they are not in the majority. Several generations
have grown up on a diet of American violence and sleaze, fed to
them by American films and television, supported by American
recordings with their coded messages, coerced by American fads
and fashions and the American fixation on the motor car. When
they cannot achieve the lifestyle advanced in the mass media,
these young people become disillusioned and violent in their
expression of frustration.Our communities are being defaced
with their graffiti and vandalism, the sanctuary of our homes is
being violated by break-and-enters.The light at the end of the
tunnel is out:take warning. Why not create a task force of
retired teachers with long experience in urban schools to develop
a list of these problems with solutions for governments to imple-
ment? Why not create a task force of young people to recommend
solutions?
Golden - 8
If the provincial government plans to off-load responsibilities
onto the shoulders of local government, as seems to be the case
at present, then not only the capacity to carry out those
responsibilities should be built into the changes but also some
checks and balances to control excess and blunders due to
ignorance. This points, once again, to a Regional Planning
Authority where professional staff can deal with facts and be
equally responsive to neighborhood issues and concerns.
Consultation on issues within neighbourhoods at the very outset
of any process is cost-effective and reduces confrontation. It
will elicit co-operation instead. Such an authority might well
have offices in sub-districts, but there would be no need for
huge planning departments in each municipality or for huge parks
departments each dealing with only sections of a river or ravine.
The Metro Conservation Authority would become much more responsive
and effective under such a Regional Planning Authority,
Your duty in the GTA Task Force is unenviable, as you must surely
be hearing most from those who believe that they have some profit
or gain to be made out of the coming changes, whatever those may
be. But do not forget the people of the region who have only
their community organizations to speak for them and from whom
you may not be hearing; these are the people who have the most
at stake and who will be asked to pay all of the bills. It
might be wise to notify them, through their residents groups
and others, that you wish to hear from them. They may not know
that their response will make any difference.
Good luck, and damn the torpedoes!
Chair.
B B
organizations dedicated to
B B
Patron
I
Colone] the Honorable PAULINEM. McGIBBON ~
CC, C). Ont., BA, LL.D, DU, D. Hum.L, (
D. Litt.S, BAA (Theatre), D.Admin,
Hon. FRCPA (C), DSt.J, DGCLJ
I
visitors constitutes the total annual budget under
$1,000; there are no government subsidies to the
by all.
donations of used books and bookshelves to help in
building libraries on
As well, genealogical c hases ar e of f er ed at var i ous t i mes
PRESERVI NG THE PAST
CHP H ERITAGE C E N T R E
A LA RECHERCHE DE NOTRE PATRI MO I NE
The society of Heritage Associated
Toronto, Ontario M4W 3E2
(416) 515-7546
Thursday Friday, Saturday
Noon until 4:00 pm
Canadi an Royal Her i t age Trust, which the League
established in 1994, maintains a library and
heritage event.
ship and support of educational
available. For more information on m
B B
surveyed believed the
and art galleries were
important to the communitys quality of life.
Heritage-inapited renovation creates (per million
dollars) 88 jobs (28 direct; 60 indirect). Ncw
(per million dollars) 61 jobs
Cl ub mai nt ai ns an
year which affords the opportunity to meet and enjoy
membership.
st u d y r evolves
and negotiations began with the Indians for their land.
publishing ita full
available.
Reply to: Midge Day, President,
119 Yonge Blvd.,
TORONTO, ON
M5M 3H2
September 28, 1995.
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Task Force,
20th Floor,
Suite 2001,
TORONTO, ON
M5G 1E6
Dear Sirs:
Attached is the submission of the
Association together with a covering letter.
The Association was formed by a
group of concerned citizens from across Metropolitan
Toronto and they worked tirelessly from 1989 onward
for property tax reform.
Our supporters number some 2,500
households across Metropolitan Toronto. Our last
newsletter which was distributed to friends and
neighbors by our supporters numbered 50,000 copies.
Property tax reform is the primary mandate of this
Association and we are looking to the Task Force to
take enough time to look at systems of property tax
other than market value assessment. Canadians, and
particularly Ontarians, are tax-weary and tax-poor.
Its time the silent majority were given some
relief through the implementation, after public
consultation, of an equitable property tax system.
Yours very truly,
Faxed 13 pages to: (416) 327-1516
ci t i zen s for P r op er t v Ta x Refor m
.
Reply to: Midge Day , President ,
119 Yonge Blvd. ,
TORONTO, ON
M5M 3H2
September 27, 1995
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Task Force,
20th Floor,
Suite 2001,
TORONTO, ON
M5G 1L6
Dear Sirs
As suggested in our telephone conversation
of Tuesday, September 26th, 1995, I am faxing my submission
and will forward the original copy to you by mail.
Citizens for Property Tax Reform is a
non-profit citizens association formed to fight the
implementation of market value assessment and to lobby for
property tax reform. Since the mandate of the Task Force,
as set out in the News Release dated July 11, 1995, includes
the issues of both property tax and municipal finance, it
was decided to make a submission to you on these issues.
As I understand market value assessment,
it is defined as what a willing purchaser would pay a willing
seller - which proves it is an entirely hypothetical,
market-driven unrealistic and subjective assessment that is
probably impossible to prove.
properties that might have
sold during the feeding frenzy in 1988 for $500,000. are
now selling for approximately $250,000. to $300,000. If
MVA had been adopted in 1989, based on 1988 market Va lUeS,
homeowners would have been paying huge taxes on an assessment
that is no longer valid. The only beneficiaries of this
largesse would, of course, have been government, in particular
Metro Council
In 1991 the position of the association
was NO WAY MVA and that position has not changed.
If you have any questions concerning the
enclosed submission, please leave a message on my home
number, (416) 488 3966, and I will return the call as soon
as possible.
Encl. (1)
SUBLMISSION TO
MARKET VALUE ASSESSMENT
AND
M U N I P A L F I N A N C E
Prepared and submitted by:
Midge Day,
119 Yonge Blvd. ,
Toronto, ON
M5M 3H2
September 27, 1995
MARKET VALUE REASSESSMENT (MVR)
AN OVERVIEW
Rationale for MVR
The rationale for Market Value Reassessment
propounded by Metro Council was
that the present system of
property tax was out of date and basically unfair to citizens
resident in Metropolitan Toronto whose homes
had been built
after the last reassessment, which occurred in 1953 when
the regional government for Metropolitan Toronto was created=
Assessments within the individual municipalities
comprising Metropolitan Toronto were based on 1940 market
values. Assessments of new properties were supposed to be
based on the same 1940 market values.
According to the 1986
Report of the Metropolitan Toronto Advisory Task Force on
Assessment Reform,
this apparently did not occur.
The present property tax system does, without
doubt, include inequities which now need to be addressed.
If,
in fact, the objective of the Province of Ontario, and
more particularly Metro Council, is true property tax
reform, then I submit that MVR fails on all counts.
Rather
it is a regressive property tax regime which will adversely
impact, in one way or another,
on all residents of Metropolitan
Toronto, despite the fact that initially many residents may
receive a property tax decrease.
I raise the question as to why the elected
representatives of the residents of Metropolitan Toronto,
toqether with their provincially elected representatives,
would decide to impose an even more inequitable property
tax system, promulgated as property tax reform, on their
constituents --
it simply makes no common sense -- and I
suggest that common sense is one of the elements that is
sadly lacking throughout this whole so-called property tax
reform process.
- 2 -
FLAWED PROCESS OR MISREPRESENTATION?
The entire process of informing its
constituents about MVR was, at best, flawed and at its worst,
misrepresentation, beginning with the so-called Task Force
chaired by Scott Cavalier. The traveling dog and pony show
made the rounds of the municipalities making up Metropolitan
Toronto, purportedly
attended the meeting
Chambers were packed
to inform the residents about MVR. I
held at North York City Hall.
The Council
and the overflow crowd filled the
committee rooms where they listened to the Task Force over a
public address system. The format for these meetings, which I
learned as I followed the Task Force to neighboring
municipalities , included a general pitch from. the Chairman
on MVR, concentrating on the inequities of the current system
and advocating MVP. as not
only a more reasonable, but a
fairer, property tax system. Mr. Dale Richmond, Metro Torontos
chief administrative officer, then illustrated these inequities
to buttress the Chairmans remarks. Mr. Richmond used two
examples, one property with a current market value of $155,000.
and a second property with a current market value of $205,000.
Guess what? The property with the higher market value paid
less property taxes than the owner of the property valued at
$155,000. When Mr. Richmond finished his presentation, the
meeting was open for questions from the floor.
I raised the
question, directed to Mr. Richmond, as to the criteria used
in the selection of the two examples quoted by him to show the
great inequities of the existing property tax system. I
specifically asked:
1. Were the houses on these properties built at about
the same time or at the same time?
2. Were the houses of the same, or about the same,
size in terms of square footage?
3. Were the lots on which these houses were built
the same, or about the same, size in terms of
square footage?
- 3 -
Much to my amazement, and I suspect of others present, Mr.
Richmond admitted that these two illustrations were random
samples; that no criteria of any kind had been used. He
could not provide me with any information on these two
properties except their current market value, nor any
rationale for their selection, except of course the obvious
one that everyone present recognized -- it supported the
perspective that the Task Force wanted to sell to the public.
I asked, after this admission, Mr. Richmond
to tell me what the value was of even using these properties
and comparing them for MVR - he had no answer. Its not
difficult to imagine why he could not answer. The obvious
reason of course was that this illustration supported the
perspective,
true or not, that the Task Force and Metro
Council wanted to present to the public and appeared to justify
their decision, then in process, to implement MVR. This
strategy however did not impress the North York residents
present - it only increased their anger and frustration at
the arrogance of Metro Council. One man went to the microphone
and simply stated:
New York has 10,000,000 people and one mayor;
we have 4,000,000 people and 10 mayors
and then sat down. The implication is clear -- residents of
Metropolitan Toronto are over-governed and when elected
representatives forget that their mandate comes from their
constituents, there is trouble ahead.
Those that govern,
regardless of the level of government, do so with the consent
of the governed. The recent election of the first ever NDP
government in Ontario shows what can happen when a government
ignores the source of its mandate..
I was curious enough to follow the Task
Force around to the public meetings scheduled for Scarborough
and York. An easily discernible strategy was used, one long
honoured and applied by military men through the ages -- divide
and conquer. Pit those that have not, or appear to have not,
against those the proponents want to picture as having something,
- 4 -
real or imagined,
at the expense of the have nets.
The Metro Councillor for York, Michael Cone, informed his
constituents in a printed flyer that for years they had been
subsidizing the people who live east of Bathurst Street.
The implication was of course that only wealthy people live
east of Bathurst and the poor residents of York had been
paying more than their fair share of property taxes while these
other people paid less than their fair share.
The solution -
why Hallelujah -- MVR was the answer -- immediate benefits would
rain down and equity would reign supreme!
I had arranged to
get on the list of speakers,
both at York and Scarborough, and
introduced myself to those present as one of the fat cats who
lives east of Bathurst.
I then informed those present of the
impact of MVR on me personally and included some personal
history, which is:
Single parent supporting a daughter, now 22, since
she was 18 months with no assistance, either from her
father or government; that by working an average
14 to 16 hours per day, and lookinq after my daughter
and an aging mother who lived with. me, I had managed
just barely, to keep my home.
When I purchased my home in 1969 it took all of the money
my husband and I had then to afford the down payment.
All of
our friends considered that we had moved to the suburbs.
The only public transportation nearby, some several bloc ks
away in fact, was the Yonge trolley bus.
The only reason
we could afford the downpayment was the fact that this area
of North York was not a popular place to live at that time.
Now, with the expansion of the entire Metropolitan area and
the expansion of public transportation, the subway in particular,
all that has changed.
My home is now located in what other
residents of Metropolitan Toronto consider a desirable area
because of its pleasant residential environment and its
accessibility to downtown Toronto.
All of this took place
- 5 -
while I was struggling to raise and educate my daughter and
provide a home in a safe neighbourhood for her and my mother.
This phenomenon occurred without any contribution from me
personally and the conditions that created this change were
entirely beyond my control.
In the more than 20 years I have lived in
my home I have experienced, along with my neighbors, annual
increases in my taxes. My taxes have increased by more than
400% since 1969 and yet the level of services I receive for
these increased taxes is getting less and less. While I
support moves to clean up our environment, I question why I
personally must perform the services that assist in these
aims. Why must I, and all others in North York, for example
take paint cans with remnants of paint inside to the toxic
dump locations in Metropolitan Toronto. Is this not what my
property tax should pay for? Just what do my taxes cover
in the way of property services?
Property Tax Historically
Historically I understand property tax
was supposed to pay for the services actually received by
the property owners such as police services, garbage pick
up, electrical services, etc. - in other words services
related directly to what the people living on the property
needed. Somewhere along the way the Province of Ontario
downloaded its statutory responsibilities for education to the
municipalities. Since the concept of education in this
province is universality, it seems only appropriate that all
citizens of the province should contribute to the funding of
education. Over 50% of my property tax bill goes to fund
education, a system that in my opinion is not properly educating
our children. My daughter in grade 3 began to rebel at going
to our local public school and when I met her teacher I could
understand why. This young woman was in no way a role model
to which her students could relate.
I was waiting to meet
with her and while in the hall overheard her talking to the
children. Her attitude and language showed little concern,
- 6 -
and no respect for her young charges . That year I placed
my daughter, at great cost, in a private school. In a
caring, controlled atmosphere, where discipline and courtesy
were expected and taught, she flourished. It was the best
investment in my childs future I could have made -- but this
was not done without considerable sacrifice. However I felt
I had no alternative if my child was to develop whatever
intelligence she had been born with and learn the necessary
skills to be successful in attaining a good education and a
generally successful future. Education should, I submit, be
contributed to by all, based on their ability to pay, not where
they happen to live. Why has the provincial government
grants
ceased to pay education;to only two municipalities in Ontario?
Does the provincial government consider the residents of
Ottawa and Metropolitan Toronto as fat cats who should
pay all of the costs of education? While we no doubt have
our fair share of residents who might fit in this category,
the majority are working class parents trying to build a better
life for their children. The levy for education is very high.
Impact of MVA
If the provincial government implements
Market Value Assessment (MVA) only additional hardship can
follow for an area already suffering from the current economic
depression. The pundits would have us believe that the
economy is improving but I believe they are premature.
What would have been the impact today on residents of
Metropolitan Toronto if MVA had been implemented, as Metro
Council planned, in 1989? The proposal of Metro Council,
at that time approved by the previous Liberal government,
was to be based on 1988 market values, the highest ever
in local history. People already buffeted by the winds of
recession, if not depression, suffering from loss of jobs
as a result of free trade, high interest rates and the other
elements that created a difficult economic climate, would have
faced the potential loss of their homes. Property taxes are
at an all time high and yet Metro Council states that to
fund education and required social services for people
without jobs, food or homes, homeowners and tenants will
face a double digit increase in property taxes in 1996.
- 7 -
Where are senior citizens or others on fixed incomes supposed
to get the money to pay these increased taxes? How can
young families, faced with the loss of a job or jobs, keep
their homes if, in fact, they have even been able to save
sufficient funds to enter the housing market? Currently I
can cope, but most certainly on a reduced scale of living,
but the time is fast approaching when I will be retiring and
what security do I have? Despite monumental efforts for
more than 25 years, there is no security for me or others like
me. I would like to be able to enjoy the fruits of my labour
and some sense of security in the so called golden years.
This is becoming increasing difficult, if not impossible,
due to tile ever increasing share of my disposable income
required to pay taxes levied by 4 levels of government.
In 1989 I was informed by Mr. Howard Moscoe,
a Metro Councillor, present at the Task Force meeting in
North York, that my taxes based on 1984, not 1988, market
values would increase by 33 1/3%. In 1989 my annual increase
in wages was 4 to 4 1/2% and MVA, based on 1984 market values,
Would have increased my property taxes by one-third. What is
fair or equitable about a property tax increase of this size
on a 45 year old house which, except for some paint and paper,
is in the same condition it was when I purchased it in 1969.
Its not grand -- only 1,000 square feet but sufficient for
my daughter and me. It is my home and I had planned on living
in it until age or health dictated a change. Will that be
possible if MVA is implemented - no one really knows just as
no one knew what the impact of MVA based on 1988 market values
would have been. Little or no research had been done by
the provincial government at that time, or Metro Council either,
to evaluate the long term impact of MVA in Metropolitan
Toronto. It is already one of the most expensive places in
North America if not the world to live in. In 1989 it was
reputed to be close to New York and Tokyo in terms of the cost
to live here. MVA will ensure that life becomes even more
difficult, if not impossible, for the average person renting
or owning property in Metropolitan Toronto. The potential is
there, I submit, to destabilize neighborhoods and perhaps
create a second New York City occupied by the rich and the
- 8 -
working poor living in ghettos.
NO one would disagree that property tax
reform is both needed and desired but is MVA actually
property tax reform? Will it change the basis of the
current tax system that penalizes, rather than encourages,
homeowners to maintain and enhance their properties? What
an idiotic system! Improve your property and property
taxes increase. Fail to maintain your property and the
municipality can order you to do so and your taxes go up.
Its a no win situation for all concerned. One would expect
that governments at all levels would want to encourage
property owners to maintain and improve their homes,
thereby contributing to a cleaner, safer, more stable
community in which citizens can move freely in their
community without fear. Residents if they wish, can
gO out at night without wondering whether or not they will
come home in the same condition as when they left home. Urban
centres in the United States are not safe at night and residents
fear for personal safety both at night when out or even in
their homes. Tourists from the United States love to visit
tile downtown core when visiting in the GTA. A constant
theme running through their comments is the cleanliness and
safety of such a large urban centre.
Under I believe, section 63 of the
Assessment Act reassessment based on MVA will occur every
four years based on an updated assessment. This process
will contribute even more to the uncertainty of homeowners
and tenants. I understand that tenants currently pay at
least three months
;
rent towards property taxes - how much
more will they pay under MVA? The Toronto Star stated in
1990 that Canadians worked for 6 months and one week in order
to pay the taxes levied by tile various levels of government.
This year the Toronto Star announced it takes 6 months and
3 weeks to accomplish the same goal. I submit that this is
more than enough to contribute to governments which never stop
demanding more. Like the camel in the tent, we too shall soon
be out in the cold
;
. While the new provincial government is
promising tax cuts of 20%, I hope it will not be done at the
- 9 -
expense of the weak and
take time to evaluate t
reported in tile media,
vunerable in our society. It will
he impact of the proposed cuts as
but there is a thread of meanness
in the pronouncements made to date. The Minister of Social
Services, for example, would have single mothers either get
a job or consult Childrens Aid if their cheque is not
sufficient to cover rent clothes, transportation and food
for their child or children. Why only single mothers? Are
there no men on welfare? It is hard to believe that only women
are on welfare and only women with children. Perhaps the
reason women with children are on welfare is because they
have been deserted by the husband and father who pays little
or no support for tile child or children. What about the
children who are the innocent victims in this scenario? They
are the future of this province and the country. Surely
they deserve to be nurtured and protected or we the taxpayers
may well end up supporting them also for the rest of their
lives.
New mothers are turfed out of hospital
within 24 hours of giving birth which, I submit, is not long
enough to recover from even a normal birth. I am told the
reason mothers accept the discharge in such a short time is
that with four new mothers in a room, with four newborns
rooming in with their mothers, the mothers get little or no
sleep since at least one, and sometimes more of the newborns
are crying day and night. This discharge policy applies even
to new mothers who have undergone a C-section. It is inhuman
to expect a new mother who has undergone a surgical procedure
to be physically able to care for the baby, herself and prepare
meals, etc. within 24 hours of giving birth. Are male
patients undergoing surgery also discharged within 24 hours
of what might be termed a routine surgical procedure? Frankly
I doubt it and probably tile only way this idiotic policy can
be reversed is if a man gives birth. Perhaps then the male
population, and the male politicians which made these decisions,
might appreciate how exhausting and stressful even a routine
birth can be for a new mother.
-
10 -
In conclusion, I submit that MVA is not
property tax reform - it is simply another tax grab by
government through a punitive location tax. It will not
address the inequities in the existing property tax system
but, in fact, will compound these inequities to the detriment
of the residents of both Metropolitan Toronto and the GTA.
In conjunction with the real reform of the
property tax system, tile provincial government should undertake
the investigation of the whole issue of municipal finance.
In the Scandinavian countries, for example, I understand that
about 10% of municipal finance is generated by property tax.
The balance of the funding at the municipal level is obtained
through a municipal income tax which at least takes into
account the ability of the citizens to pay. I am not advocating
the implementation of a municipal income tax, only that this
system, along with others be investigated. Surely somewhere
in this world there is a system of municipal finance which is
more equitable than that which exists today in the GTA.
As an alternative to MVA, I would recommend
the investigation of unit value assessment.
This approach
was adopted in the 10% Concentration Tax which was levied,
that is it was based on the square footage of the property.
The system appears to be equitable and is certainly easier for
tile lay public to understand. It also may save millions of
dollars currently spent on appeals of current assessments for
property taxes.
I raise the following for consideration
by the Task Force:
1. Remove the costs of education from property tax.
Consider recommending that funds for education
should be raised through a system that takes into
account the ability of the citizens to pay.
One
possibility to consider is funding through the
provincial income tax for education.
Education
is a provincial responsibility and should not be
downloaed to the municipality
- 1 1 -
2. Abolish regional government since it only has
limited use and represents primarily a duplication
of services which the taxpayers can no longer afford.
In 1991 I was a lone voice in the wilderness calling
for the abolition of Metro Council.
Now I understand
the Cities of Toronto, North York and Mississauga
are also calling for the elimination of regional
government. If the Task Force is unable to recommend
elimination of regional government across Ontario
then PLEASE, PLEASE - END REGIONAL GOVERNMENT IN THE
GTA AT LEAST.
3. Return the governing of the GTA to the local councils
who are at least responsive to the concerns of their
constituents. The residents of Metropolitan Toronto
again and again had to battle Metro Councils
plan to implement MVA regardless of the wishes of the
residents. The Chairman, Mr. Tonks, was determined to
proceed in spite of overwhelming information as to its
impact on both the homeowners, tenants and the commercial
sector. The arrogance of these elected representatives,
supposedly there to represent and serve all of their
constituents, was unbelievable. Its sad that they
could not find time to look for property tax reform
instead of merely paying lip service to this concept.
Submitted by: Midge Day,
President, Citizens
for Property Tax Reform
September 27, 1995
September 26, 1995
20th Floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Re: GTA Mayor and Regional Chairs Consolidated Report -
Leadinq By Example"
At a meeting held on September 25, 1995, the Council of the
Municipality of Clarington considered the GTA Mayor and Regional
Chairs Consolidated Report entitled "Leading by Example" and
passed the following resolution:
THAT the Council of the Municipality of Clarington endorse
the Durham Regional Councils amended position on the GTA
Mayor and Regional Chairs Consolidated Report entitled
Leading by Example;
and
THAT Dr. Anne Golden, Chair, GTA Task Force, the GTA Mayors,
Premier Michael Harris, Mayor Peter Robertson, Chair
Sub-Committee of GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs, and
John OToole, MPP, be advised of Councils decision."
PLB/ms
cc: Mayor Hazel McCallion, Chair, GTA Mayors
John 0Toole, MPP, Durham Riding
Mayor Peter Robertson, City of Brampton Chair, Sub-committee
of GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs,
Premier Michael Harris
CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
4 0 T E MP E RA NCE S T RE E T . B OWM AN V IL LE ON TA RIO . LI C 3A 6 . ( 905 ) 623-3379 . FAX 623-4169 RECYCLEO PAPER
October 13, 1995
The Honorable Bob Runciman
Solicitor General
175 Bloor St. E., Suite 400
Toronto, Ontario
M4W 3R8
Dear Honorable Sir:
RE: DURHAM REGIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION GTA ALIGNMENT -
OUR FILE: C1O.AD
At a meeting held on September 25, 1995, the Council of the Municipality of Clarington
passed the following resolution:
THAT the correspondence dated September 8, 1995, from Brian Curtis,
President, Durham Regional Police Association, requesting Councils endorsement of
a resolution regarding the Durham Regional Police Service, be received;
THAT the suggested resolution be endorsed by the Council of the Municipality of
Clarington; and
THAT the Solicitor General and the Golden Commission, be advised of Councils
decision.
Enclosed is a copy of the subject correspondence, with the endorsed resolution included.
Council Direction
II-11
INCORPORATED 1974
September 8, 1995
Mayor Diane Hamre
40 Temperance St.
Bowmanville, Ontario
LIC 3A6
TELEPHONE (905) 436-9494
Fax (905) 436-1618
u
AFFILIATED 1974
Dear Mayor Hamre:
I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Durham Region Police Association,
to express our view point with regards to the proposed GTA alignment.
The current review of the GTA provides the opportunity to re-evaluate the way Civic
and Government services are organized, administered and delivered. We believe that
the optimal model for service and effectiveness and efficiency is the current regional
policing model, and whatever government structure is adopted for the GTA, the regional
policing model should be kept for the policing and applied to other services.
After working with this model for more than 20 years, the regional forces have learned
how to make the system work. It is not a stagnant model, but one that continues to be
adapted, modified, and improved.
Although resisted initially and certainly not perfect today our current model provides
the most effective and cost efficient service to the residents of Ontario.
We are currently at a point where service effectiveness and macro cost efficiencies
arising from economies of scale are at or near their optimum. In other words, the
current system is the right size and the right type of organization for the populations to
be served.
Might I suggest that your
forwarding the resolution
Commission:
counsel consider the following resolution for the purposes of
to the Solicitor General, Bob Runciman, and the Anne Golden
Whereas, The Durham Regional Police Service was established in 1974 through the
amalgamation of the Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville and Cannington
Police Services:
And Whereas, the Durham Regional Police Service is an extremely effective efficient
community based organization:
And Whereas, the Council of Clarington believes it to be in the best interest of Durham
residents to have the Durham Regional Police Service to remain intact as an entity:
Therefore be it resolved, that the Council of Clarington advise the Golden Commission
and the Solicitor General that it is in the best interests of the Durham Region residents
for the Durham Regional Police Service to continue to provide police services for
Durham.
I thank you in advance for your consideration in this matter and would be glad to
answer any questions you might have on this subject.
Yours truly,
BRIAN CURTIS
PRESIDENT
Submission to the GTA Task Force:
Structure of Municipal Government in the Metropolitan Toronto Region
Eli Comay, September 8, 1995
A. Scope of Brief
1. The GTA Task Force has a broad mandate.
This brief deals with only one
element in its work -- how municipal government should be organized in the
Metropolitan Toronto region.
This is not a detailed program for reforming
government in the Toronto area but simply an outline or sketch of the direction
that could be taken. If these ideas are considered sound and worth pursuing it
would then be necessary to examine their implications;
determining what would
have to be done to carry the ideas out, and testing whether the indicated actions
are feasible in institutional, financial and political terms.
2. The brief is not based on extensive research or detailed facts but stems
largely from my experience in the area and knowledge of what has transpired over
the years. Where appropriate I have used factual information that was readily
available to me, but the brief as a whole provides only minimal documentation.
3. The brief is limited in scope and depth. It outlines suggested boundaries
for a restructured municipal government system in the Toronto area, and deals in
general terms with the allocation of functions insofar as this bears on municipal
structure - how the region should be organized so that municipal
responsibilities are carried out effectively and accountably, Selected municipal
activities, including roads and transit, housing, and underground services are
discussed as illustrating how a constrained metropolitan regional government
system might be expected to operate.
B. Approach and Assumptions
1. The structural arrangements that are put in place should allow the
provincial, regional and local governments to attend to their own explicit
interests while constraining them from acting beyond these interests. In his
1977 review of Metropolitan Toronto Mr. Robarts urged that municipal councils be
given general powers to legislate with respect to local affairs (residual powers
within their areas of jurisdiction). This was a sound principle then and is a
sound principle now. Though municipal home rule is not Canadian practice the
working assumption in this brief is that governments should act a s though
virtual home rule is in place. There is no valid reason to maintain
arrangements which operate on the premise that was described in earlier years as
Father knows best. This applies oth to the province vis-a-vis the
municipalities, and to Metro and the regional municipalities vis-a-vis the local
municipalities.
2. Despite its declared intentions over the years the provincial government has
not in practice accepted the premise of municipal autonomy. (1) And despite
repeated intentions, the government has yet to put in place a workable mechanism
to reconcile disparate provincial interests and conflicting provincial
requirements. Simply put, reforming municipal government in the metropolitan
region should begin with the provincial government cleaning up its own act.
(1) To cite an illustration:
Dating back to the 1977 Planning Act and the 1979
White Paper tha government has consistently maintained its intention to minimize
direct provincial involvement in the details of municipal planning actions, ye t
most parties would probably agree that provincial involvement is as comprehensive
and intense as ever.
- 2 -
3.
Provincial interests are commonly seen as expressing the interests of the
residents of the province taken as a whole, just as area-wide concerns are taken
to represent true
regional or metropolitan interests. These rudimentary
definitions do not have much operational value in sorting out specific issues and
precise responsibilities. In practice, the provincial interest is usually what
the government deems it to be as occasion arises (though the upper-tier
governments are as a rule a bit more restricted). Taking this as given, the
essential requirement should be that provincial or regional intervention in local
affairs is based on a clear identification of what specific provincial (or
regional) interest is affected, and why it is affected, with respect to any
given municipal issue or action. This represents what is referred to here as a
constrained multi-level system.
4. In an operational sense, rather than trying to set out in advance and in
precise terms a comprehensive array of the respective provincial, regional and
local interests,
there should be an onus on the provincial and regional
governments to demonstrate why specific local matters are of provincial or
regional concern and why they should be dealt with in specific ways satisfactory
to the provincial or regional government. (2) Beyond this, both provincial and
regional governments must clearly have responsibility for sorting out difficult
inter-jurisdictional issues. At the provincial level, minimizing the negative
externalities of specified regional actions, and at the regional level of
specified local actions. And of course the other side of that coin, optimizing
the distribution of inter-regional and inter-local benefits.
5. Three basic suggestions have been put forward for restructuring government in
the Toronto area: (i) Amalgamating the six Metro municipalities into a single
city; (ii) Abolishing Metro, with its functions distributed among the local
municipalities and a variety of special purpose bodies: and (iii) Retaining, with
improvements, the two-level government structure within Metro and the surrounding
regions. Much of the current thinking as expressed in public statements and press
commentary, and in the Task Forces own mandate, takes it as given that the
issues at stake extend over the broad five-region Greater Toronto Area.
6. For the purpose of this brief the following assumptions are made:
a. A case can presumably be made for an amalgamated Metro (thus, for example,
the new citys size, 2-plus million, would not of itself be a disabling factor),
but the evidence degree of institutional resistance and lack of broad popular
support probably render the idea unfeasible.
(2) For example, there is an indisputable provincial responsibility for dealing
with agricultural land and rural development issues. Similarly, the provincial
interest in regional planning, say, would obviously embrace the Niagara
Escarpment as a tangible expression of a legitimate defined provincial interest.
But it is not accepted that concern with such questions as the ideal distribution
of urban activities, as expressed in countless provincial regional planning
exercises (TCR, COLUC, the like), represents the interests of the residents of
the province as a whole, as against simply the interests of the region(s)
concerned. By the same token, questions concerning the continuing operation of
Toronto Island Airport can be seen as a proper metropolitan interest, whereas the
imposition and operation of Main Street
development policies on specified
Metropolitan Roads as suggested in Metros official plan is really a matter of
local concern.
- 3 -
b. The root problem driving the debate is almost certainly the unsuitability of
the present arrangements for the di s pos i t i on of municipal financial resources
among the different sections of the broad metropolitan region. This problem
could presumably be ameliorated through changes in provincial funding and
equalization machinery or revised assessment pooling mechanisms and does not in
itself call for restructuring municipal government across the broad GTA.
c. On the whole, two-level government has functioned well over the years,
certainly within Metro and probably in the adjacent areas.
In Metro it provided
a suitable balancing of area-wide and local concerns and a satisfactory
disposition of city/suburban issues. A plausible case can be made that Metro
functioned particularly well under the original electoral arrangements in which
regional decisions were made by local councillors elected to serve local
interests, with the Metro Chairmen effectively brokering city/suburban issues in
pursuit of the Metro concept. (3) The more recent intractability in
Metro/local relations may be largely a product of the direct election system
introduced 7 years ago,
with a resultant need to identify a strong presence and
role for Metro Council. It is assumed here that resuming indirect election could
help to make a revised two-level system workable.
d. Creating intermunicipal special purpose bodies to provide and coordinate area-
wide services and facilities does not of itself provide superior or more cost-
efficient operations. Using such mechanisms will not solve the fundamental
financial questions affecting the regional economy, and they are bound to exhibit
a measurably lower level of political accountability in their operations. The
need is not for new machinery to replace the upper-tier governments but for
suitable geographic scope in their operations and for suitable constraint on the
functional authority of these governments.
e. Whatever the geographic limits of Torontos economic and social region may
actually be, they certainly do not extend across the official GTA, a quasi-
coordinating mechanism (nothing is actually administered across the GTA) based
on obsolete county boundaries put in place 150 years ago. The GTA boundaries
correspond neither to the Toronto commutershed nor to any reasonable
approximation of the functional Toronto community. (4) It is clear, for example,
that Burlington is part and parcel of the Hamilton area, and that Oshawa-Whitby-
Bowmanville comprise a social. and economic community distinct from the Toronto
metropolitan region. Similar reservations apply to the rural northern and
northwestern parts of the GTA. If new arrangements are put in place they need
not and should not extend across the artificial contrivance known as the GTA.
(3) Resulting in such achievements as the substantial renewal of the aging
school plant in Toronto and the inner suburban neighbourhoods, to match the
provision of new schools in the outer suburbs, and the substantial investment in
inner/intermediate transit facilities, roughly equivalence to the expenditure on
roads.
(4) The official
commutershed (the Toronto CMA) extends to Oakville, Caledon,
East Gwillimbury and Ajax, and does not include Burlington, Whitby or Oshawa.
The Preliminary 1996 CMA will be extended to include Milton, Georgetown,
Orangeville, Alliston, Bradford, the Georgina Islands and Uxbridge, and will
continue to exclude Burlington, Whitby and Oshawa. Defining the commutershed is
an elusive proposition at best, and using the commutershed as a proxy for the
economic region presents conceptual problems.
- 4 -
f. It is assumed that the area to be dealt with is essentially the urban
region, a geographic territory that is predom.inanely urban (or certain to be
urban) in all important respects. While provision was initially made through
Metros extra-territorial planning jurisdiction for a form of central urban
control over the surrounding rural areas that situation no longer applies.
Metros early experience with the rural areas is not relevant today. (5) Both
in terms of the actual regional interest and as a practical administrative
matter the predominantly rural areas,
even those with significant urban
settlements, should rest outside the metropolitan regions operating
jurisdiction.
8.
What takes place in the rural areas may be of metropolitan interest to an
extent but is in the end for the rural municipalities themselves, their counties
and the province to settle. Rural management involves a different kind of
municipal politics and perhaps even a different array of administrative and
management skills. To continue to assume that that the large metropolitan region
must command authority over the broad surrounding rural areas misapprehends its
proper role and its responsibility to the urban community.
h. The working assumption here is that the Toronto Metropolitan Region (for
want of a more precise term) should continue to operate under a two-tier
municipal system, and that the jurisdictional limits of the new regional
government should approximate the functional Toronto community as it is likely to
evolve in the mid-term, over the next 15 years say. Long-term predictions of
future growth and the distribution of development in this area have not been
successful on the whole, and it would be a mistake to base immediate structural
arrangements on an uncertain picture of the long-term future.
i. Pinally, it is assumed that in the two-level system local municipalities
should be large enough to provide an appropriate range of facilities and
services, should have adequate municipal wealth to meet local needs, and should
be large enough to exercise suitable political strength in the regional decision-
making machinery. It follows that present local boundaries should not be seen as
fixed, and that boundary changes should be contemplated for the following
purposes: To ameliorate severe disparities in local fiscal resources; to
eliminate historic anomalies that have had a deleterious effect on local affairs;
and not least to enable all the local municipalities to exercise adequate
political weight in a reformed two-level system.
j .
This brief takes a conservative approach. Essentially, do what has to be
done to deal with the immediate or near-term problem; do not do more today than
has to be done today.
(5) In its first two decades Metro had authority to exercise a form of planning
control over the surrounding rural (and urban) fringe, an area around twice as
large as Metro itself. Metros influence on what actually took place in the
fringe was exercised only fitfully, with the important exception of requiring
full urban services for all urban development (an important factor in making
Toronto housing costs among the highest on the continent). Significantly, the
key planning decision -- fixing a long-term urban/rural boundary -- never really
rested with Metro. The inclusion of the fringe in Metros planning area was an
important factor in Metro Councils unwillingness to adopt the Metropolitan
Toronto Official Plan until the fringe areas had been removed from Metros
planning jurisdiccion.
- 5 -
C. Proposed Regional Government.: External Boundaries
1. This brief proposes that a metropolitan/regional government be established
for the present and prospective urban sections of the broad Toronto Metropolitan
Region; in essence, consolidating the present Metro government with most, but
not all, of the urban parts of the adjoining regional jurisdictions. The new
regional government would extend to Oakville, Brampton, Richmond Hill and Ajax,
and would take in the following municipalities: Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton,
Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Markham, Pickering, Ajax, and the six Metro Toronto
municipalities. The territory involved has a present population of around 3.7
million (2.3 million in Metro and 1.4 outside Metro), and a prospective
population over the next 15 years perhaps up to 4-1/2 million. The new
municipality would cover an area of around 850 square miles, or 3-1/2 times
Metros present size, and would encompass the preponderant share of the growth
likely to take place over this period within what is now the GTA.
7
Creating this regional government would consolidate Metro with the major
urban sections of Peel and York, with an important part of Halton, and with a
small part of Durham. Its jurisdiction would in effect amount to a contemporary
version of the original Metro Toronto Planning Area, with the significant
addition of Brampton and Oakville.
3. The rationale for the proposal is straightforward. To the west, it seems
clear that despite their common boundary and day-to-day connections Burlington
and Oakville belong to different economic regions. Burlington functions in every
sense (except government) as an integral part of the Hamilton region and its
direct municipal affiliation with Hamilton-Wentworth is probably overdue. The
residual parts of Halton -- Milton, Georgetown and their rural surroundings -
-
would fit well and could function suitably in Hamilton-Wentworth and Wellington
county. Caledon (the residual part of Peel), despite its commuting and
recreational ties to Toronto is essentially rural and should by all expectations
remain that. way for the foreseeable period. It would clearly work well if
Caledon were placed in Dufferin and Simcoe Counties.
4. To the east, Pickering and Ajax have long been closely connected to Metro
Toronto; in fact, Pickerings annexation to Metro was once a serious possibility
(though in the end only the lower Rouge area was brought into Scarborough), By
contrast. Whitby and Oshawa constitute a distinct economic entity which despite
its commuting links to Metro is only indirectly related to the Toronto economy.
There is little question that Oshawa and Whitby, with the rural hinterland and
urban settlements to the north and east, will continue to constitute a viable,
functional (if slightly attenuated) Durham Region.
5. To the north of Metro the situation is more complex. Vaughan, Markham and
Richmond Hill (comprising five of the original York County Southern Six
municipalities) have been strongly related to Metro for many decades, dating back
to the introduction of the Toronto inter-urban railway into the Thornhill area
some 80 years ago. Their economic and social ties to Metro are deep-seated.
This does not apply to nearly the same extent north of Richmond Hill. The urban
North Yonge corridor (Aurora and Newmarket) is thriving and will continue to
grow, and there are commuting ties to South York and Metro, but the ties to Metro
are measurably less pronounced than is the case to the south, and there is in
fact a distinct break in the character of urban development to the south and
north of Oak Ridges.
- 6 -
6 . The three southern municipalities contain nearly 3/4 of York Regions
population and will accommodate at least the same proportion of its future
growth. They should obviously be an integral part of an extended metropolitan
regional government. The residual sections of York, rural and urban alike, could
presumably fit suitably in an enlarged Simcoe County. (6) The process of
breaking up what was York County began 40 years ago with the establishment of
Metropolitan Toronto and the time has probably come to complete the process.
York County comprehends an important part of Canadas and -Ontarios urban
history and heritage; this history should be honoured and this heritage
preserved, but not in the form of active governmental arrangements.
D. Internal Boundaries
s. If the present municipal boundaries are maintained the proposed regional
municipality would comprise 14 local municipalities. The existing boundaries are
not suitable in all respects, and a limited consolidation of the municipalities
would be desirable. Specifically, it is suggested: (i) That the long-needed
consolidation of York and East York with Toronto finally be carried out; (ii)
That the two eastern municipalities, Pickering and Ajax, be merged; and (iii)
More problematic, that the three northern municipalities (Vaughan, Richmond Hill
and Markham) should also be amalgamated. This would result in a new metropolitan
regional municipality comprising 9 local municipalities.
2 . The argument for amalgamating Ajax and Pickering (denoted here under a
working name of East Metro) is essentially one of political weight, municipal
efficiency and community of interest. A municipality with a population of 125 to
130,000 and a possible population capacity twice that (in the unlikely event
Seaton is fully developed) would play a more effective role in the new upper-tier
municipality than would the two existing smaller communities, while still
providing an appropriate level of local services.
3. The case for merging Markham, Vaughan and Richmond Hill (suggested working
name: North Metro) is not as straightforward. To an important extent it is a
matter of size; a municipality of 360,000 or so is much more likely to exercise
suitable political and administrative weight vis-a-vis North York, or
Scarborough, or Mississauga, or for that matter Toronto, than three smaller
municipalities with populations of 90
-
95 to 165-170 thousand. There is also a
strong case for treating the Yonge Street corridor (Thornhill and Richmond Hill)
as part of a single entity on both sides of Yonge possessing a historic community
of interest, not unlike the situation in Lansing and Willowdale to the south.
But the case & problematic. The size argument may not of itself outweigh the
strong institutionalized relationships supporting the present arrangements.
Obviously the implications of the proposal would need careful examination.
4. The proposal to merge York and East York with Toronto is long-standing. It
was recommended in the 1967 Goldenberg review of Metro Toronto and received a
fair amount of support ten years later during the Robarts review. (7) This
particular structural change is still necessary. Whatever else may transpire
through the present exercise, Toronto, York and East York should be amalgamated.
This action is overdue.
(6) A key issue would be the ability of Simcoe County to deal with urban
pressures in the North Yonge corridor (as would be Wellington Countys ability to
deal with exurban pressures in Caledon). It is not accepted that planning
control emanating from an enlarged Metro region is needed for this purpose.
(7) Including, as an example, In Reponse to the Robarts Report (Bureau of
Municipal Research, 1977).
- 7 -
5. There are two different but related cases to be made: an East York/York
case and a Toronto case, They are dealt with here in turn.
The East York/York Case
6. This argument is largely, but not exclusively, financial. Like most
metropolitan areas Toronto has its have and have not municipalities. York
and East York are emphatically Metros have not municipalities. Their
financial resources are well below those available to the other Metro
municipalities and are particularly lower than those available to Toronto. There
was a significant disparity in relative municipal wealth when Metro was formed in
1953 and when it was restructured in 1967. Over the next 15 years the disparity
widened substantially and is now wider still.
Torontos per capita assessment
(an accepted measure of relative ability to pay for municipal services and
facilities) was 1.3 times as large as the per capita assessment of the two inner
suburbs in 1967; it was 1.9 times as large by 1982; and Torontos per capita
assessment is now (1994) 2.3 times as great as per capita assessment in York and
East York combined. York in particular, which was widely known in the early
years as a financial basket case is still precisely that -- Metros basket
case.
7.
Their relative municipal poverty bears strongly on the conduct of their
affairs. Both York and East York, for instance, promote substantial capital
works as a way of stimulating development and thus improving their financial
condition. In York it is the proposed Eglinton subway line, which is seen as
fostering the York City Centre development in the Black Creek Valley. In East
York, the proposed Leslie Street extension, seen as essential to renewal of the
Leaside-Thorncliffc industrial-commercial area. There maY be a case for these
two development schemes; there may perhaps even be a case for the two
transportation projects. But if the projects are carried out it should be on
their intrinsic merit, not because they are needed to ameliorate the financial
situation in the two municipalities.
8. Community of interest also comes into play. On the face of it there is
little intrinsic difference, in social, economic or cultural terms, between East
Toronto and substantial parts of East York; between North Toronto and most parts
of Leaside; between Torontos West End or Junction areas and various sections of
York, (Eve
n
so-called problem locations
-- Yorks Jane-Woolner as an instance
reflect social issues common to both York and Toronto.) Taken as a whole there
is no significant social or even physical difference between Toronto and its two
remaining inner suburbs. The process 01 rationalizing the inner suburbs which
began in 1967 (Swansea; Forest Hill; Leaside) should be brought to its proper
conclusion, the union of Toronto with its last two inner suburbs. (8)
9. A lesser, but useful, benefit would be the elimination of numerous boundary
anomalies chat have helped distort the relationship of many residential areas in
York and East York with their supporting commercial facilities -- St. Clair West,
Danforth, the like. York for one tried to secure some rectification of this
problem through its Official Plan but this was rejected by the Province. It
would be useful to rectify these anomalies.
(8) It would also be appropriate to complete the rationalization of the outer
suburbs begun in 1967 with the consolidation of Etobicoke and the three Lakeshore
municipalities. If York and East York are merged with Toronto, it would be
proper to detach Weston from York, where it does not belong, and attach to to
North York, where it clearly does belong.
- 8 -
The Toronto Case:
10. From Torontos standpoint, the issue concerns the citys place and role in
the federated municipality; essentially the importance of preserving Torontos
authority in the system. The problem may be symbolic but it is also tangible.
It shows up in steady public commentary and is frequently expressed in terms of
city VS suburbs issues or similar distributional questions.. What is at issue
is how to retain Torontos relative power as its relative size declines; or
another way of putting it -
-
how to retain for Toronto a level of political power
commensurate with its economic position. It is a problem that is bound to be
exacerbated if the federated government is enlarged, as is proposed here.
11. While its relative population has declined significantly over the years,
Torontos relative municipal wealth has substantially increased. For example,
its per capita assessment increased from 1.3 times the per capita assessment of
the three outer suburbs, in 1967, to 1.65 times the outer suburban average in
1994. Equally telling, Torontos non-residential assessment per capita (an
effective measure of ability to pay for residential services) is around 2-1/2
times as great as that of the other five municipalities taken as a whole.
12. It is not a decrease in Torontos financial strength but its loss of
representational weight that is at issue - the decline in its relative political
strength and authority. The problem today is the same problem underlined by Dr.
Goldenberg 20 years ago when he urged that consideration be be given to
protecting its [i.e. Torontos] position so that its needs are not subordinated
to the various 1oca1 interests in the area. (9)
13. Most thinking about this matter over the years has focused on such questions
as voting formulas (a weighted Toronto vote at Metro Council) or the structure of
Metros Executive Committee. Tinkering with the representational system,
difficult enough at Metro, would be much more complicated with respect to the
council of an extended Metro Region. A more straightforward and effective
approach would be to increase Torontos representational strength and political
authority by increasing its size. A Toronto with on ly 600 to 650 thousand
persons will obviously be matched and indeed overtaken as time goes on: by North
York, by Mississauga, perhaps even by Scarborough. A Toronto with a population
approaching 900,000 is bound to remain by a significant margin the largest arid
strongest unit in the federation over the foreseeable time period. Amalgamation
with York and East York would be the clearest and most direct route toward
affirming Torontos position and role as the central city, both in real terms and
symbolically.
14. To summarize: There is a conclusive case for amalgamating Toronto with York
and East York, and a sound case can be made for merging Ajax and Pickering. The
suggested merger of the three northern municipalities, Markham, Richmond Hill and
Vaughan, can be seen to offer benefits, but is clearly problematic. What is
certain though is that the present review affords an opportunity to effect useful
changes in municipal boundaries. Similar opportunities were available when the
previous Metro reviews were carried out 20 and 30 years ago. Some useful changes
were put in place but other opportunities were foregone. It would be a good idea
to take advantage of the present opportunity, rather than waiting for the next
review 15 or 20 years from now.
(A map illustrating the Proposed municipal structure is attached.)
(9) Keynote address,
Metropolitan Toronto Under Review Conference (Bureau of
Municipal Research and Social Planning Council, 1975)
- 9 -
E. Functions and Responsibilities
1. The allocation of functions between Metro and the local municipalities was
described by Mr. Robarts 20 years ago in such terms as wholesale vs. retail
(piped services), and arterial vs local (roads and parks). These formulations
still apply, with exceptions, to the situation in Metro but do not necessarally
prevail in the surrounding regions, where the responsibility for various services
is distributed in a patchwork fashion. (10) The different regional patterns
reflect variations in local circumstances and history, and there is no evidence
that the way functions are distributed outside Metro does not work, or is less
effective than is the case within Metro.
2. These categorizations are not particularly useful in considering the
organization of services in the extended Toronto Metropolitan Region proposed
here. Rather than the prevailing assumption regarding shared responsibility
(wholesale/retail, arterial/local) for shared services, a more suitable principle
would be that responsibility for any given function be lodged at the lowest
feasible level, with minimum duplication of activities, consistent with the
principle that the legitimate interests of the upper levels are properly secured,
3. This brief does not provide a detailed review of the organization of
functions in the proposed new regional government, but deals in summary form with
a few selected functions as a way of illustrating the application of these
principles. These are: (i) Underground services (water and sewer), which it is
suggested should be handled solely at the upper-tier regional level; (ii) Roads,
which it is proposed should be a local function (except expressways, seen as
exclusively a provincial responsibility); (iii) Transit, exclusively a regional
responsibility; and (iv) Housing, a shared responsibility.
Underground Services
4. There is no particularly good reason to assume that public goods such as
water supply and waste disposal should be distributed in the manner of commercial
and household commodities. The market is homogeneous, not partitioned or
fragmented, and there are few economies of scale or other benefits to be derived
from breaking up the distribution system into retail and wholesale
components. There are no great policy matters at issue (e.g. shaping the
product to local consumer preferences, or tailoring its distribution to local
desires). There are no water and sewer corner stores or supermarkets, or for
that matter big boxes, with different supply and distribution requirements.
p
or
water and sewage alike,
distribution is a continuous process that does not
require special handling arrangements at the regional/local interface. (Simply
put, there is no such interface, except the purely administrative one imposed by
current arrangements.) Water supply and sewage disposal (both sanitary and
storm) are intrinsically watershed-based and lend themselves co sub-regional
district organization, but they do not in any real sense (apart from tradition)
benefit from inter-jurisdictional shared management. The provision and
management of underground services, from water supply source to consumer and from
consumer to sewage disposal, should be seen as a quintessential regional or upper-
tier responsibility.
(10) The responsibility for roads adheres to the arterial/local scheme in all
the regions, but the transit function outside Metro is strictly local. Water
purification is regional everywhere except Halton; conversely, water
distribution is local everywhere except Durham. Trunk sewers are regional
throughout, but subtrunks and local connector sewers are also regional in Durham
and Halton. Parks are solely a local responsibility in all the regions,
irrespective of park size or function. (Source: Metropolitan Toronto: The
Changing Context 1953-1993; Metro Toronto CAOS Department, 1993)
-10-
Roads
5. Roads represent the opposite side of the coin: elements in a single system
that should be operated under single rather than shared jurisdiction, but this
time local rather than regional. While arterial roads, collector roads and
neighborhood streets serve different (or almost different) purposes they have a
common objective -- enabling the users to execute a variety of different trips,
most of which require using more than one kind of road. A Metro Roads system was
obviously essential to Metros development, and development of the surrounding
areas also depended heavily on establishing the regional road systems (or as was
frequently the case, improving the inherited county road systems).
6. These systems are already well in place;
completely so in Metro (Leslie
Street notwithstanding) and substantially so in Peel, York and southwest Durham.
Whatever regional arteries may still be lacking in in those regions, or are
incomplete, or are of inadequate standard, are already planned for and can
presumably be provided by either level, regional or local, using identical
mechanisms and presumably with equal effectiveness.
The job now in Metro at
least is largely management: operation, maintenance and, to a measurable extent,
repair and renewal. These are tasks the local municipalities carry out on their
local streets (comprising the vast majority of road frontage across the region).
There is no pressing need for duplicate road management organizations and road
maintenance programs. If an extended regional government is extended there are
good reasons for getting it out of the road business (eliminating unnecessary
duplication, among others) and placing the road function exclusively at the local
level. (11)
7.. Expressways represent the other end of the issue.
The two Metro expressways
constitute a relatively small portion of the metropolitan, let alone regional,
highway network. The Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway are products of
particular circumstances and particular events in the history of the Toronto
area. The system of which they were intended to be a part was never completed
and never will be. Only one short expressway link has been built in Metro over
the last 20 or 25 years (Highway 409) and the network will clearly remain as it
stands today. Whatever freeway development may still take place outside Metro
(e.g. Highway 407) will be solely a provincial responsibility. The two Metro
expressways are in every sense, except jurisdictional, part of the Provincial
freeway system and should become a provincial responsibility as well. (13) In
addition to operating as part of this system, this would allow their substantial
maintenance and repair programs to be merged with the concurrent, equally
substantial provincial programs.
(11) It is instructive that numerous Metro Roads have reverted to local
jurisdiction over the years (e.g. Dupont, Royal York Road, Pape, Millwood Drive,
Coxwell, Beverley/St. George, Tretheway Drive, Vaughan Road) despite the fact
that there has been no noticeable difference in how they are used by motorists,
and with no noticeable detriment to the operating quality of the overall road
system. Other streets that remain Metro Roads, such as Dundas Street through the
City of Toronto, seem to reflect a presumed need to provide continuous Metro
arterial connections for cross-Metro trips. It is hard to discern substantial
differences in how Dundas functions compared with, say, College or Queen. (Or,
for that matter, to comprehend the need for a Metro Main Streets program on the
former as against a Toronto Main Streets program on the latter.)
(12) The attenuated Allen Expressway does not serve a true highway function and
i s best seen as a high-capacity roadway similar to the Black Greek Drive (which
also started life as a putative expressway) . Both could be managed
satisfactorily as local roads under local jurisdiction.
- 1 1 -
Transit
9.
Over the last 20 years or so numerous studies have been carried OUt
concerning integration between TTC services, the provincial commuter rail
services, and the local bus systems in the surrounding municipalities. Three or
four main themes have emerged; Cross-boundary service coordination and pick-up
rights; inter-regional fare integration; TTC/GO Transit operational
integration; and some form of consolidated service planning. While coordinating
mechanisms would be useful and can obviously be put in place (as some already
have been), it is a fair assumption that the transit needs of an expanded
municipal. federation would be better satisfied by a central transit agency
operating across the extended jurisdiction; it could even be argued that this
presents one of the more potent reasons for establishing the kind of extended
regional government suggested in this brief. Inter-regional transit authorities
of one kind or another have had varying success in other places, but a municipal
transit agency operating at the regional level is obviously best equipped to
engage in appropriate long-range planning and to provide the appropriate level of
political accountability to its customers.
10. The mechanics for turning the TTC and the eight local bus systems into an
area-wide transit system, and for operational integration of the TTC and GO
Transit, can be worked out. (13) The financial issues are probably less
tractable. There is a wide disparity in operating costs and operating subsidies
between these three transit elements. For example, GO Transits per passenger
subsidy in 1985 was 4-1/2 times as large as the TTCS, and the per passenger
subsidy for the combined local bus systems was twice as large as the TTCS. (14)
The disparities reflect both the operating characteristics of the different
systems and the differential provincial funding arrangements. The extent to
which provincial funding would be amenable to the needs of an area-wide transit
system is obviously uncertain, but it seems quite clear that with a single
transit system over the extended region some form of fare zoning would be
necessary, presumably across Metro as well as the surrounding areas.
(13) Local bus systems are now operated in all the municipalities involved:
Ajax, Pickering, Markham, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Brampton, Mississauga and
Oakville.
(15) 1985 figures were the latest chat were available to me in preparing this
brief. In that year the average per passenger operating COSt was 99 cents for
the TTC; S1.33 for the combined local bus systems; and $3.61 for GO Transit. The
per passenger subsidy was 32 cents for the TTC, 63 cents for the local bus
systems, and S1.39 for GO Transit. More recent experience is not likely co
present a different pattern. (Source: Crossing the Boundaries/Coordinating
Transit in the GTA; Report 01 the Transit Advisory Group to the Ministry of
Transportation, 1987.)
- 1 2 -
Housing
13. The question of housing responsibility is obscured by current uncertainties
as to future funding and development of social housing. Nonetheless a
substantial social housing stock is already in place in Metro and some outer
areas. Low and moderate-income housing needs are likely to persist in
substantial numbers, both within Metro and increasingly in the outer areas, and
it can be assumed that planning, developing and managing social housing will
continue to represent an important municipal responsibility.
This responsibility
is now carried out in varying degree by Metro, the City of Toronto, Peel and
Durham, as well as the province and a variety of non-profit agencies.
Housing is
truly a shared responsibility and has been for many years.
12. The present management arrangements work reasonably well within Metro. An
operational mechanism has in effect been established through which Toronto
carries out i t s own extensive program while Metro deals with suburban housing
needs, more or less (perhaps more less than more). Peel manages a sizeable
housing portfolio but the other parts of the extended region depend almost
entirely on private non-profit housing. Public housing, accounting for the
greatest proportion of the social housing stock, remains a provincial
responsibility, albeit with serious management problems.
13. There is little reason to change the present municipal arrangements within
Metro, or to alter Peels housing machinery, but it is assumed that the extended
regional government would be ultimately responsible for whatever programs can be
put in place to meet low and moderate-income housing needs across the area, and
would bear the responsibility for trying to secure the equitable distribution of
social housing throughout the area.
14. The provincial public housing operation presents different issues. The 1973
provincial housing study concluded Metro should take over the public housing
responsibility in Metro. Metro was willing, but despite a declared commitment i n
principle to decentralization, the provincial government demurred. When the
province seemed ready, Metro balked. The issue remains. Operating Metros
public housing stock and managing the assets present formidable problems, which
the reconstituted Metro Housing Authority is now grappling with. But,
institutional dynamics aside, there is no reasonable basis for OHC to continue to
operate Metros public housing stock, and there are good reasons for it not tO
-
local control of MTHA for one. Any reasonable interpretation of how to allocate
provincial and municipal responsibilities and how to meet provincial and
municipal interests leads to the conclusion that in an enlarged metropolitan
region the ultimate responsibility for low-income housing should rest at the
regional level, problems and all.
15. The specific functions discussed here -- roads, transit, housing, water and
sewers -- are used to illustrate how a constrained Toronto Metropolitan Region
might be expected to operate. How representative functions could be allocated in
the urban region as it stands today and is likely to evolve in the near-term; in
a system in which both local and areawide interests can reasonably be expected
tO be satisfied while responsibilities are discharged at the lowest applicable
jurisdictional level. Some of the suggestions would appear to run counter to
current practice or expectations, and could have serious ramifications if carried
out in the simple terms posed here. The issues are of course not simple, or
certainly not that simple. But the illustrations may be of value in thinking
through the implications of what is considered to represent a conservative
approach to the problem.
1.
2.
3.
4 .
5 .
6.
7 .
8.
9.
Toronto
Etobicoke
North York I
Scarborough
Oakville
Mississauga
Brampton
North Metro
East Metro
Est 1994
Population*
825, 000
302, 000
549,000
508,000
118,000
480,000
236,000
354,000
130,000
3 , 5 0 2 , 0 0 0
Area
(Sq.mi. )
56
49
70
72
55
113
1057
218
l l 0
848
* Thes e f i gur es ar e t aken f r om t he 1995 Muni ci pal
Directory Other sources indicate that the 1994
figures may be 5% to 7% h igh e r t h a n s h own h e r e .
On t h is bas is , Met r o Toronto
J
s population was
2,317,000 in 1994, rather than 2,184,000 as shown
in the Municipal Directory
r
and tie total regional
population was around 3.7 million rather than
3.5 million.
STEPHEN CONNELL M.B., Ch.B., F.R.C.P.(C), Diploma Child Psych.
SUITE 412,
200 ST. CLAIR AVENUE WEST,
September 29, 1995
SUBMISSION TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE ON THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
(1) I strongly oppose Metros submission;
(2) I support the position of the City of Toronto;
(3) I urge the task force to document the cases of litigation between constituent municipalities
and Metro to ascertain a measure of the unworkability of a politicized Metro (or GTA
level of government).
BACKGROUND
I live near a Metro operated sewage facility at Ashbridges Bay in the City of Toronto. The
facility bums 83% of Metros sewage. The City of Toronto has had to take Metro to the OMB
and to Divisional Court and to continue to participate in the environmental assessment of this
plant, in order to stop the activities of the plant as they occur now.
Over the four years of my involvement on behalf of a community absolutely opposed to Metros
practices, I have come to conclusions that I respectfully share with the task force. (Please see
also my submissions to EAAC.) I urge the task force not to reduce my submission to the
characterization of just another NIMBY. I am vitally concerned about all the GTA.
(1) Metros boundaries, with respect to water delivery and wastewater treatment, must not be
increased.
(2) The Metro level of government must be depoliticized, Elected representatives must be
removed.
REASON
(1) The constituent municipalities expect cost-effective program delivery. What we have is
a bloated bureaucracy more concerned with empire building, e.g., Metro Works, Metro
Legal, than serving the needs of the municipalities. The decision-making at the level of
the Metro politicians is ill informed of poor quality and is subject to cronyism and
brokering (see John Barber, Globe and Mail columnist re: Electing a Chair for Metro).
The political process works at cross purpose to the needs and wishes of municipalities and
residents.
. . . 2
2 . . .
(2) See the Program Review, Metro Works 1992. This department is a bloated spender of
tax dollars. There is a relative absence of corporate management, cost benefit analysis,
co-ordinated planning. Politicians are hopelessly uneducated in the technical and fiscal
intricacies of Works operations. This gives the current Metro Works bureaucracy
unbridled power.
(3) We do not need a superordinate level of municipal government in the GTA. We cannot
afford it. We do not need another hierarchy that demands greater salaries and a whole
other bureaucracy. When 15,000 public servants are losing their jobs, and many hospitals
are closing, how can we in any conscience support this parody of governance? My
experience has been that the bureaucracy thwarts the public interest rather than serves it.
THE ALTERNATIVE
A number of commissioners of the calibre of Mr. Richards or Mr. Gunn (currently of Metro),
would run utility delivery systems with the private sector where appropriate (see Hamilton
Wentworth/Ottawas use of private companies to run sewage facilities).
Municipalities within Metro could veto or in some way have a say over their activities.
This removes the need for expensive litigation processes such as chronicled in the
enclosure (see Gowling Strathy & Henderson enclosure).
Metro could not then run facilities in a constituent municipality at cross purposes to the
will and democratically derived policies of that municipality.
Watersheds must be the basis for water/wastewater management (not politically influenced
boundaries - see EAAC report enclosed).
Stephen Connell
SC:dg
ANNIE DELL
September 20, 1995
GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
GTA TASK FORCE
Dear Ms. Golden:
I enjoyed your presentation to the Education Finance Reform Work Group (Sept. 19) and lam
following up on the short chat we had in the hallway after your presentation.
As you know our Board, The Metropolitan Toronto French-Language School Council (CEFCUT)
is a partner within The Metropolitan Toronto School Board. We operate french schools in East
York, Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, Toronto, and also provide french language
education to non-resident students from Durham, Halton, Peel, and York Region.
Your statement that ... municipalities had not maximized the relations that must exist
between Boards of Education and municipalities is an extremely important one. However,
French language school boards, being relatively new in the provincial picture, are often
considered an aberration by municipal councils or even worse, completely ignored by them.
We would ask that should your task force group recommend a greater degree of consultation
and collaboration between school boards and municipal councils, that it be worded in such a
way that it specifically states public, separate and French language boards.
Example: We recommend that a greater degree of consultation and collaboration be
undertaken between municipalities and the public, separate and French
language school boards serving their communities.
Your consideration of this very important issue is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Alice Ducharme
Director of Education
The Metropolitan Toronto French-Language
School Council (CEFCUT)
For Annie Dell
Chair of CEFCUT
AD/rep
Cc. Ms. Ann Vanstone, Chair
The Metropolitan Toronto School Board
e
Consulting
Engineers
of Ontario
October 12, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Toronto, Ont. M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Enclosed please find the CEO submission to the subject task force. CEO is an
association of 300 member firms, representing more than 10,000 employees, that is
devoted to the professional and business aspects of the practice of consulting engineering
in the province. Our membership covers firms of all sizes including all of the major
consulting engineering practices in the greater Toronto area. As planners and designers
of the infrastructure in the GTA, we believe that we can offer valid input to your group.
We recognize that our submission is past your deadline. We apologize for being
late, but we hope that it can be considered as you prepare your report.
Our submission covers three areas of interest; roads, water and sanitary sewer
systems and public transit. Because of time constraints we could not combine them into
one comprehensive document. The submission on public transit was prepared by
McCormick Rankin, one of our members, and was previously submitted directly to you
by that company.
The submissions were prepared separately by committees within our association.
They do include a number of recommendations that are specific to a particular aspect of
infrastructure such as a full user pay approach for water systems. However, there are
certain common and critical elements that form the basis of our position.
First,
infrastructure development is essential if economic development is to continue in the
province and if we are going to maintain existing quality of life standards. Anyone
attempting to commute in metro Toronto or to move goods across the city will tell you
that we have reached a crisis position in transportation.
Infrastructure development has
already fallen short of our needs.
2
Vi si t THE LI VI NG EARTH An exploration of the ever-changing planet
,AT THE Ontario Science Centre B co-sponsored by CEO
- 2 -
Secondly, the three papers unanimously agree that planners, engineers and
builders could do a much better job if political boundaries did not exist as barriers to the
best engineering solutions. In transportation, for example, plans must consider the
movement of people and goods throughout the region, not just within individual
municipalities. An overall transportation plan should integrate all of the systems,
considering road development and the various forms of public transit each as one element
of the plan. Similarly, sharing of resources, a harmonization of design standards and
development of sewer and water systems for the entire GTA could lead to a more
efficient and cost effective approach.
We believe that the most effective structure of urban government is one that
would permit the planning and development of infrastructure needs to be carried out over
the GTA as one region, without the inefficiencies caused by artificial political boundaries.
We would be pleased to meet with you to discuss these issues, and would also offer our
resources to assist with your studies.
Sincerely,
CONSULTING ENGINEERS OF ONTARIO
President
e
Consulting
Engineers
of Ontario
86 Overlea Blvd., Toronto, Ontario M4H 1C6 Tel: (416) 425-8027
Fax: (416) 425-8035
A TRANSIT
VISION
FOR THE GTA
One of the critical issues facing the GTA today concerns the declining use of public
transit just when the environmental and social costs of the auto-dependent lifestyle of
most GTA residents is becoming more apparent. Various existing Provincial Visions
and policies for the GTA are predicated on increasing not reducing transit use yet there is
no overall strategy in place or being developed as to how this should be done. At best,
there is minor tinkering going on through discussions on how to solve various problems
at the margin be it cross-boundary transfers or minor service integration. A master
planning exercise has been initiated but it appears to have no real champions at the
Provincial level to ensure that it will produce an implementable strategy for the future.
The prognosis for public transit in the GTA is not good.
This need not be the case. Compared to similar jurisdictions in the United States, we
have been prepared in the past to take actions and to adopt policies that have aggressively
supported increased public transit use. These have included innovative incentive funding
programs and land use planning policies compatible with a wide range of lifestyle choices
that have produced measurable improvements in transit use despite increased automobile
ownership.
We obviously know what is required and how to do it and it is not unreasonable,
therefore, to postulate a transportation Vision for the GTA twenty years from now that
includes a doubling of per capita transit use and a measurable percentage reduction in the
use of the automobile for commuting purposes. In this future GTA, it would be possible
to commute by transit to the majority of job locations(>90/O?) whether in the suburbs or
the central part of Metropolitan Toronto in much the same travel time as by car.
The realization of such a Vision would contribute to the environmental health of the
GTA through air pollution and energy consumption reductions. More important to the
long-term viability of the GTA, however, would be the contribution of the Vision to the
social well being of the population.
2
Vi si t THE LI VI NG EARTH An exploration of the ever-changing planet
AT THE Ontario Science Centre
B co-sponsored by CEO
- 2 -
Metropolitan areas exist because large concentrations of populations can support a wide
range of choices in all aspects of human life. This is particular true of employment
choices which, in turn, contribute to the strength of the local economy. For this to occur,
however a high level of accessibility must exist for all segments of the population. To
continue to rely almost exclusively on the automobile for access to the growing
proportion of jobs that are not served by high quality transit, will limit the accessibility of
the large proportion of the population who do not have easy access to a car. It will tend
also to ghettoize the population and reduce social interaction. It is no coincidence that the
major cities of the world that are considered civilized places to live all have good
transit systems that link all parts of their metropolitan regions.
These environmental and social reasons for supporting public transit are generally well
accepted in the GTA. One only has to glance at the many documents produced by the
OGTA and the preambles to the many Official Plans of the area municipalities and the
regions for confirmation. Despite this acceptance, all the transportation trends since the
mid-1980s have run counter to these aspirations. There appear to be several reasons for
this; the lack of a clear transit focused strategy for the GTA; multiple jurisdictions with
often competing goals and objectives; a tendency to concentrate major transit investments
in existing high volume corridors where rail may be the only viable solution; an inability
to take the long view and consider infrastructure investments separate from the
technology choice and a lack of attention to the detail of the trip on transit, particular
where intermodal connections have to be made.
To succeed we must define the transit mission and stick to it. A transit first transportation
policy for the GTA would establish transit modal split targets and a requirement that all
road projects be undertaken in conjunction with transit improvements that move the
transportation system towards those targets.
Today, responsibility for transit like roads is split between area municipalities, regions
and the Province. At best, area municipalities and regions can only influence the use of
transit for the proportion of trips that stay within their boundaries. On the road side, the
Province has no problem accepting its jurisdictional responsibility of the creation of a
freeway network that facilitates car travel throughout the GTA. There is, unfortunately,
no parallel on the transit side other than GO Transit. The mandate of this latter
organization is mostly focused on the provision of rapid transit links from the suburbs
to downtown Toronto. No agency, for example, is actively pursuing the construction of a
rapid transit service to compete with the suburb-to-suburb service provided by
Highway 401, 403 and the soon to be opened 407. Similarly, because responsibility
crosses agency boundaries, there is no coherent program to exploit the potentially cost-
- 3 -
effective reverse commute market on GO Transit that would use the available system
capacity.
Given the area and rate of development of the GTA, less expensive rapid transit
technologies than rail will have to be explored, at least initially, if transit is to have any
hope of catching up with the GTA development outside Metropolitan Toronto. The vast
area of the GTA and existing land use density and distribution also mandates a new
approach to the provision of rapid transit. A busway approach, such as has been followed
in Ottawa-Carleton for the past twenty years, is an obvious option. The key is a
continuing program year in and year out, not the feast and famine cycle that has typified
the GTA. A recognition of the hard dollar trade-offs between transit capital investments,
transit operating costs and road costs can more than justify such a program approach.
Such a non-rail approach can be staged to better integrate transit with new land use
development when it is actually occuring rather than having to adopt expensive
underground construction at a later date. The staged approach also allows the sytem to be
developed in a affordable way over a period of years with eventual conversion to rail if
necessary.
The key is to advance the construction of rapid transit so that high quality transit is
available early on in time to influence lifestyle choices favorably. This will require a
solid commitment from all levels of government responsible for transit so that not only
are the large investments made in a cost-effective manner but the service integration and
operating details are properly taken care of.
If there is the will, we already have the tools to create the transit Vision for the GTA.
69
e
Consulting
Engineers
of Ontario
86 Overlea Blvd., Toronto, Ontario M4H 1C6 Tel: (416) 425-8027
Fax: (41 6) 425-8035
BRIEF TO
GOLDEN COMMISSION
ROADS IN THE GTA
Mobility in any area is essential for economic growth and stability, and the pursuit of
social and cultural development including leisure and recreation. In an urban area such as
the GTA, the cost of congestion on the existing road system runs into billions of dollars
per year. These costs are directly, or indirectly, absorbed by all its residents. In addition,
there is the increasing negative impact on the environment through the higher emission
levels from the the slow-moving vehicles caused by congestion.
Traffic is not just a cumulation of vehiclar home-work-home trips. Goods movement and
service industries are dependent on a reasonable level of mobility throughout the working
day, as shown by the increasing reliance of heavy industry on just in time delivery.
Transit is an essential part of the overall transportation scenario, but public transportation
alone cannot provide the speed and flexibility of movement essential to a large sector of
the populace in the urban environment.
The GTA continues to grow. In the process of growth, the internal movement of people
and goods is increasing, not only in the number of trips but in the length of each
individual trip. The distribution of travel is affecting areas that heretofore were self-
sufficient, but are now being forced to change because of newly acquired development
and interdependency on similar development in other jurisdictions within the GTA.
Whereas there is an overall spirit of cooperation among the Regions and Area
Municipalities, comprising the GTA, there is no authority to encourage one region or
municipality to carry out work on a cross boundary or multi-jurisdictional road, if they
are not in agreement, sharing the same priority on the initiative. This lack of an authority
tends to fragment rather than unify the development of an efficient road system.
Inefficiencies and duplication of effort are inherent in such an approach. Funding is
directed to projects of a local nature, rather than initiatives that benefit the area as a
whole. While Municipality/Region X may believe in all sincerity that they have a serious
problem, it may be somewhat innocuous compared to another problem being experienced
in Municipality/Region Y. At present, there is no mechanism for funding derived from X
to be made available to Y. A new political entity that encompasses all of the GTA could
be given such powers.
Visit THE LI VI NG EARTH An exploration of the ever-changing planet
AT THE Ontario Science Centre B co-sponsored by CEO
- 2 -
Leading up to the formation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953 by the Province, it became
evident to many that a new political entity was necessary if Toronto and its environs were
to grow in an orderly manner. It also recognized that a fully prioritized and coordinated
approach to implementing infrastructure improvements was essential. Without a newly
created senior level of government in 1953, we would never have achieved the sustained
growth and world-wide recognition that followed. One must be aware that much of the
outlying areas within the current Metro boundaries in 1953 were rural, not unlike many of
the current land uses in the GTA. Then, farming was still being carried out in what is
now Don Mills and large rural tracts of land were prevalent throughout Etobicoke and
Scarborough. Economic conditions of the time were somewhat different, but the long
range goals and objectives were very similar to conditions in the present day GTA.
We believe that a GTA Road Authority should be established and responsible for all
designated primary roads throughout the area. This responsibility should include
prioritization, planning, finding, design, construction and maintenance. Individual
components could and should be privatized to the fullest extent possible, in order to
minimize long term commitment costs.
In conjunction with the formation of this GTA Road Authority, existing upper tier
municipal road authorities such as the Regions and Metro would be disbanded.
Immediate cost savings would be realized through the removal of costly duplication in
management, staff, plant and other resources by consolidation at the GTA level. Local
municipalities, as presently constructed or with new electoral boundaries as the case may
be, would retain the responsibilities they presently have in respect to the existing local
road system.
The Province should continue to be responsible for the 400 series freeways and/or toll
roads through the GTA. All other Kings highways should be transferred to the new GTA
Road Authority, along with the normal funding considerations.
Road standards, although not radically different from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, must be
standardized throughout, thus providing for potential savings.
The public are openly speaking out against further tax increases. Public funds must be
managed to provide the biggest bang for the buck. A GTA Road Authority would
assure that funds are allocated in such a manner. The future prosperity of the area is
dependent on the prosperity of all its constituents. An integrated transportation network
based on a non-partisan approach will significantly enhance the orderly growth and
development for the future.
WATER AND SANITARY SEWAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
Submission by
CONSULTING ENGINEERS OF ONTARIO
October 1995
BACKGROUND
B
The major decisions covering water and sewage services to Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
municipalities were made in advance of regional government or were early key initiatives
that followed from the formation of regional and metropolitan governments. It was
recognized that at least within a region, unified or shared servicing systems was required.
B
The major water and sewage systems, in essence, have been self funding and have not
contributed to the provincial and federal government deficit.
B
Continuous urban development now extends at varying depth from Lake Ontario, across
the entire Lake Ontario shoreline. The existing development areas now have adequate
services.
B
The major water and sewage systems have been developed for the benefit of specific
regional service areas and have not fostered shared use of resources. The York-Durham
sewage system and the York-Metro water system were implemented for a specific
development and need in each region. The programs did not provide for development
beyond about 20 years into the program.
B
A number of incentives and disincentives have resulted in an overall negative influence as
shown below.
WATER AND SANITARY SEWAGE INFRASTRUCTURE
Page 1
E:\ KAR\ GTA-TASK.d oc
GTA BALANCE
D.1
D.2
D.3
D.4
D.5
Disincentives
Lack of long term vision for the GTA.
Fixation on a planned horizon year.
Disparity in municipal design principles
applied to major elements for water and
sewage systems.
Competition among GTA partners.
Solving my problems only, without a
sense of the broader community needs of
the GTA/Ontario/Canada as striving for
competitiveness on a global scale.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Incentives
Pr esence of regional/metropolitan
governments.
Common interest to promote the
international attractiveness of t he
GTA.
Provincial/Federal i ni t i at i ves t o
promote shared use of resources.
Common regulations/requirements to
provide water and sewage facilities at
the provincial level.
THE PROBLEMS
1. Lack of water and sewage infrastructure that can be cost effectively expanded to serve the
continuing development needs of all communities within the GTA.
2. Lack of agreed design principles for water and sewage infrastructure elements to be
followed by all jurisdictions in the GTA.
3. Lack of a common vision for long term future servicing that extend beyond current
planning horizons.
4. The sharing and integration of water and sewage services are restricted by municipal
boundaries.
APOLOGY FOR BREVITY
B
The shortage of time prevented the research one would normally conduct to fully
document the matters related to the delivery of adequate water and sanitary sewage
services to all communities within the GTA.
B
This overview on water supply and sewage disposal is based on the personal experience of
the authors and relies on the work of others, in particular, Mr. James W. MacLaren, P.
Eng., whose paper, Metropolitan Toronto and Region Infrastructure, Forty Years Later,
August 1993.
B
It is hoped that the lack of documented detailed background research will not be
detrimental to the acceptance of the vision as set out herein. The authors are quite
prepared to carry the work further or to attend for questioning should this be helpful.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. A METROPOLITAN WATER AND SEWAGE ENABLEMENT ACT SHOULD BE
ENACTED.
There has not been effective sharing of water and sewage resources among the Regions
and Metro. Any sharing that currently exists is a result of past initiatives by the Province.
B
Legislation would enhance the international attractiveness of the GTA.
B
Member municipalities would not benefit from attempts to take advantage of
anothers infrastructure limitation.
B
The key design principles would be unaffected by the presence of municipal
boundaries.
B
The most cost effective servicing solution would be achieved.
The legislation should address: a) water supply, treatment, pumping stations, major
transmission mains and storage facilities; b) trunk sewers, pumping stations, sewage
treatment and effluent outfall sewers. Local servicing elements should continue under the
responsibility of individual jurisdictions.
Water
from the pumping station and reservoirs, with the transmission mains being isolated from
the distribution network.
Over time two or three such supply systems could be developed.
Sewage
The sanitary sewage system could, similar to the water supply, involve the locating of a
sewage treatment plant on a site most suitable for the service area. Major trunks or
interceptor sewers (crossing watershed boundaries) would relieve existing overloaded
systems or divert sewage from existing works to enable continued development
throughout the GTA. An effluent tunnel would conduct the treated sewage to Lake
Ontario. Such an approach could result in two or three parallel facilities over time.
2. THE LONG TERM VISION FOR THE MAJOR WATER AND SEWAGE WORKS
SHOULD EXTEND TO THE ENTIRE GTA, OR AT LEAST TO THE HEIGHT OF
LAND OF LAKE ONTARIO
The past/present fixation on system service capacity in response to a perceived planning
horizon has not been beneficial to the people of Ontario in our opinion. There are
numerous examples of initiatives to duplicate existing systems in order to accommodate
development now considered to be appropriate. Less than 20 years ago such lands were
regarded as undevelopable and were to remain in agriculture.
Such an approach does not involve the determination of the ultimate development of the
GTA. Rather one would establish the essential locations/alignments for the major works,
and priorize the order of implementation. The decision on the final stages will be made far
into the future. Major trunks, i.e. tunnels, are most cost effective in large sizes.
WATER AND SANITARY SEWAGE INFRASTRUCTURE page 6
Additionally, with the selection of pipeline/tunnel alignments, right of ways should be
protected IN PERPETUITY. While this has been previously attempted, the right of ways
have often been lost.
3. A COST SHARING FORMULA IS REQURIED
Such a formula should ensure that all areas of the GTA were equitable participants. This
does not imply that all would pay the same rate. Local differences and high cost to service
areas should be reflected in the local area charge rates.
However, this program should be based upon a 100% user pay system for all capital
operating and maintenance costs. It is expected that this would be reflected in
development charges as well as user metering. Full cost charges will maximize
conservation, systems use and efficient construction/maintenance practices of local
systems.
4. A SINGLE ENTITY FOR THE OWNERSHIP OF THE WORKS WOULD
FACILITATE IMPLEMENTATION
This comment serves to recognize that the ownership of the major works, existing as well
as future works, must be resolved. Hopefully in the deliberations on the form of
government of the GTA, this need will be addressed.
WATER AND SANITARY SEWAGE INFRASTRUCTURE Page 7
E.
Ms. Cook
21 Merritt Rd.
Toronto, Ontario
M4B 3K4
September 28, 1995
Attention: The Golden Task Force Commission.
Dear Sir/Madame:
I am a long time resident of the East York Community. My family has
resided in East York for three generations. My grandparents, Mr. and Mrs.
Steele, moved to East York after leaving the Metro area.
East York
provided World War II Veterans such as my grandfather with war houses. I
am very proud of my grandfathers accomplishments and his struggle
to provide his family with a safe and healthy environment for his children
and grandchildren to grow up in. The East York Borough has many important
memories for me and I would hate to lose a part of my heritage by having
East York become just another forgotten part of Toronto. I have faith in
the Toronto board, however, I feel that the East York Community should
remain a separate and independent part of Toronto. If East York should
become a part of the Toronto board I fear that the importance of the East
York Community will have been lost. My neighborhood is full of memories
and friendly citizens who coexists peacefully with one another under a
separate set of laws and regulations. I can on ly envision problems within
the community, resulting from a decision that h a s not been thoroughly
examined. Change is a difficult thing for people to handle but, it is
especially hard on senior citizens, and as you are well aware of East York
has the highest number of senior residents.
All I ask is that East Yorks history not be forgotten, especially since
men, such as my grandfather worked so hard to establish a healthy society.
Streets and roads such as Merritt, Warvet, valour, Amsterdam, and Holland
were all given these names for a very significant reasons.
And these
streets and families who occupy them are all part of a community that
strongly wishes to be remembered, respected, and rewarded.
As a fulltime student at East York Collegiate Institute and a lifetime
resident of the East York Community I thankyou for taking the time to read
about my concerns and I hope that East York will remain the only Borough in
Toronto, because it is something that Toronto should take great pride in.
Sincerely,
Jennifer Steele, Cook.
20 September 1995
393 University Avenue, 20th F1.-2OO1
Toronto, ONT M5G 1E6
To all GTA Task Force members
The enclosed report is the result of a group of members of different residents associations
from Toronto, meeting about six times over a period of two months. Although we have
certainly been reading reports that have come out about this subject, this report was
developed independently.
We feel it represents fairly widespread thinking of residents of the City of Toronto and
hope you will find it of some value for your report to the provincial government.
David Vallance, Chair
DV/kmc
RECEIVED
I
POSITION PAPER ON REFORM OF PROPERTY TAX
ASSESSMENT AND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT FOR
THE GTA TASK FORCE
This Report was prepared by, and is the responsibility of, a Committee of the
Confederation Of Resident & Ratepayer Associations (CORRA) of the City of
Toronto. The CORRA Committee on the Reform of Property Tax Assessment and
Metro Government consists of:
. Brian Maguire, North Hill
. John McGinnis, Deer Park
. Roger Middleton, Oriole Park;
. Michael Opara, Bedford Park;
. Dale Ritch, Bloor Junction; and
B David Vallance, Bloor-Bathurst/Madison
Business Association.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION
2. RECOMMENDATIONS
a) PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT
b) GTA REGIONAL GOVERNANCE
3. PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENT
a) THE ROLE OF THETAX SYSTEM
b) BACKGROUND
c) ASSESSMENT SYSTEM OPTIONS
d) ANALYSIS OF ASSESSMENT OPTIONS
4. FORM OF GOVERNMENT FOR GTA
PAGE
1
3
3
4
5
5
6
7
8
13
1. INTRODUCTION
The CORRA Committee is pleased to have
opportunity to present its views on these impo
issues.
The major problems of the City, Metro and the G
today are well known:
B
B
B
B
B
B
slow economic recovery, with the commer
sector seriously debilitated and the industrial s
shrinking drastically;
spiraling expenditures that threaten finan
stability;
a heavy tax burden that does not permit fur
increases in revenue;
increasing concerns about crime, traffic conge
and pollution;
urban sprawl with associated transportat
environmental, and quality-of-life problems; and
a growing concern that central core urban de
will emerge on a United States scale.
In contrast to the current malaise, CORRA has a
positive vision for the future of the City and the
as:
. the engine of the provincial economy;
. the urban and cultural centre of Canada; and
. a dynamic community with a high quality of life
fulfillment opportunities for its citizens.
To overcome the current problems and achieve
vision for the future require fundamental revisions
restructuring to restore our finances, efficiency;
competitive position.Whi l e drasti c and pai nfu
decisions and actions are now necessary, we ar
from falling into a position of irretrievable decline.
City and the GTA have the infrastructure, the phy
plant, and the resources, if properly directed, to
recapture better times and once again become a
powerhouse of wealth generation for the benefit of the
Region, the Province, and the Country. Our
submissions on the reform of the assessment
system and regional governance are formulated to
facilitate this recovery process and create
favorable conditions for sustainable
development. Our position is based on the follow
principles:
B
B
B
B
Efficiency, increased democracy and accounta
can only be achieved in municipal governmen
strong local autonomy, with decision-making
local citizens who can establish local priori
determine what services are required, and de
them at the lowest cost;
In contrast, centralized, monolithic organizat
seeking to apply standard policies and proced
uniformly over a large geographic area, conta
diverse interests
bureaucratic and
structure;
Elected bodies
and communities, will be mo
wasteful even than the prese
with their traditional Power
particularly the levying of taxes, should be con
to the federal, provincial, and municipal level
government (three tier structure). Their respec
spheres of responsibility should be clearly de
(disentanglement) to end costly duplication
services, reduce property taxes, and create a
playing field for taxpayers across the GTA; and
The provision of local services and facilit
including the setting of expenditure levels and
of property tax system to pay for them, should b
the jurisdiction of the municipal level;
Our recommendations are immediately below
Section 3 discusses the issues of property ta
assessment, including the role of the tax system, t
background to our current tax problems, and
comparison of assessment options, focusing on
Market Value and Unit Assessment systems. Sect
4 provides our views on the appropriate form
government for the GTA municipalities. We would
pleased to provide further information and discus
in response to any questions arising from
submission.
2.
RECOMMENDATIONS
a) PROPERTY TAX
ASSESSMENT
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Each local municipality shall have responsibility
for assessment and property tax collection
Each local municipality may use whichever
assessment method it wants including unit
assessment for property taxes.
Unit Assessment should be adopted by the City for
all classes of property taxpayers.
The actual ratio of assessment to be assigned to
land and buildings under Unit Assessment requires
some study to determine the correct formula.
General pooling of property tax revenues among
municipalities is abandoned. This will provide
discipline to each municipality.
The current system of taxpayer classes should be
maintained, as there are fundamental differences
among them. For example, single residences are
usually owned by individual citizens, whereas the
other classes are usually corporations. The
treatment of revenues and expenses of the various
classes is the result of tax and other policies at
the federal and provincial level which would have to
be changed if classifications are altered. (i.e. the
deductibility of interest and maintenance
expenses). Also, future policy initiatives may
have to be applied differentially to the different
classes;
A timetable, covering no more than ten years, is
to be established for transferring municipal
responsibilities to municipalities, and for
transferring provincial and federal responsibilities to
the appropriate level of government.
Grants from the province to all municipalities are to
be on the same basis where grants are deemed
necessary. The disentanglement of responsibilities
among the levels of government needs to be
pursued to eliminate grants entirely. The proposal
from North York (July 10, 1995) contains a list of
services that could head that list. (Education
financing needs to be examined as well.)
User fees can be used for services that can be
accurately measured and charged on a
reasonable basis.
b) GTA REGIONAL
GOVERNANCE
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
The provincial government shall be requested to
pass a Bill that stipulates as of January 1, 1998
Metro Council and the other four regional
governments in the GTA be abolished;
All powers of the five abolished Regional
Governments and their Commissions and
Agenci es shall be assumed by the local
municipal governments which represent the
same areas;
Services which cross municipal boundaries and
which require cooperation between municipalities
may be provided by the creation of Regional
Service Boards;
Separate Regional Service Boards shall be
established to deal with the provision of such
services as (1) mass transit, (ii) water and sewage,
(iii) garbage disposal and waste recycling, (iv)
police, and (v) whatever other services the local
municipalities decide to administer in this form;
The Regional Service Boards shall consist of
both politicians and lay members appointed by
participating municipalities. The precise
composition of each Board will depend on the
specific requirements of the service involved.
Representation shall be in direct proportion to the
population of each participating municipality. The
Boards also may have representation from the
Provincial Government if desirable;
The function of the Regional Service Boards shall
be to propose operating programs to the local
municipalities which then ratify and finance these
programs through inter-municipal agreements of
appropriate duration;
The Regional Service Boards can have
participation and representation from any
municipality in the GTA that desires to participate
and bear its share of the costs. Local
municipalities can also partially opt into services
provide by the Boards on a fee for service basis;
Local municipalities will initially provide seed money
on a per capita basis to establish each Regional
Service Board and initiate its operation;
3.
a)
PROPERTY TAX
ASSESSMENT
THE ROLE OF THE
TAX SYSTEM
9. The Regional Service Boards will have no power
to raise revenue by any form of taxation; and
10. Local municipalities will have exclusive
responsibility to enact provincial legislation dealing
with municipal acts and by-laws.
The basic purpose of all taxation is to raise the
revenue required to pay for government programs and
services. However, taxation plays other roles in terms
of economic regulation and the distribution of national
wealth. The various roles of taxation are primarily
related to the respective responsibilities of the different
levels government. Federal taxes are designed to deal
with macro issues, including national security,
customs, national standards, etc., plus income
distribution individually and regionally. Provincial taxes
can be used for equalizing services such as health,
education and welfare across the province. Municipal
taxes were originally intended to pay for services used
within the municipality.
Municipal tax commentators have observed that
interest in local taxation is usually focused on issues
of administration and distributive fairness, and on
the adequacy of local revenue sources. While these
considerations may be important, i.e. distributive
fairness, it more properly belongs to a national tax
structure to emphasize wealth redistribution than
to local area tax systems. Many of the speeches and
papers on local taxes focus on the necessity for
equity in property taxes. Several studies state
conclusively that no system of assessment
adequately addresses the issue of ability to pay.
Our conclusion is that equity in property taxes
means that the system for calculating the tax must be
clear, understandable, stable and fair in the sense
that the amount of the tax burden for each
taxpayer is related closely as possible to the cost
of municipal services consumed. We will argue that
it is Market Value Assessment (MVA) and other
misguided efforts by municipal levels of governments
attempting to perform the redistribution function of
national government taxation are causing the hole in
b) BACKGROUND
the donut effect of running down the City for the
benefit of surrounding municipalities.
Studies show that cities are generators of enormous
wealth. The relative contribution to Ontarios economy
by the City of Toronto has been shown to be
substantially greater than its population. A recent study
shows that the GTA contributes much more to
Provincial coffers than it receives and we feel the
same situation applies for Toronto within the GTA. As
a result, municipal taxes have been allowed to become
disproportionately high in Toronto because of the
long period of strong economic growth in the City.
However, since the last downturn in the economy in
1990, Toronto has not achieved a satisfactory
recovery. Our conclusion is that Toronto can
longer carry the cost of subsidizing
development of other municipalities from
property tax base.
no
the
its
The economic renewal and long term competitiveness
of the whole province depends on every part becoming
more efficient in the use of its infrastructure. Properties
in downtown Toronto are more valuable, not because
they are more expensive to service, but because they
are part of an urban resource system which renders
many functions more economical. It has been noted
that property values are higher in cities than in lower
population areas because the compactness of urban
areas are highly efficient, offsetting such higher costs.
As a result, people migrate to cities, find jobs, pursue
higher education, start businesses, become more
prosperous, and more interested in cultural activities.
There are well known penalties and inconveniences for
living and working in large urban centres: traffic
congestion, lack of parking, poor access for deliveries,
tow-away zones, panhandlers, crowded streets,
ageing services that often break down, not to mention
old buildings nearing the end of their life cycle, and a
perception of more crime. Despite these
disadvantages, the market has judged that property
is more valuable in downtown Toronto than in most
outlying areas.
c) ASSESSMENT
SYSTEM OPTIONS
These higher property values do not mean that
owners have higher incomes than other citizen
property tax based on wealth or value can hav
strong discriminatory effect in the narrow context
municipal jurisdiction, as the current property
system in Toronto demonstrates. Using property t
for income redistribution purposes has the result
property in the City is taxed, not at a level necessa
provide the required local services, but at a level
properly described as ability to pay, or what
traffic can bear.
The resulting revenues are enormous compared
other less intensively built cities, as shown in
attached table (Illustration 1). These revenues
funded more and more services that benefit o
municipalities, allowing them to develop much
intensively. The most notable and visible examp
the annual $300 million transfer from Toronto to
Metro school board to finance schools in other citie
Urban sprawl has been the result of this system
subsi di es from the Ci ty property tax base
surrounding municipalities has made it more finan
attractive to locate residences and businesses in
outlying areas at the expense of the downtown.
now realize that this pattern of development is
expensive, and poses many other problems rega
environmental protection, the preservation of val
agricultural land, and providing a viable public t
system.
As noted above, redistribution of wealth is m
properly done at the federal level, or at the very l
by the provincial government. In contrast, we be
that the fundamental purpose of municipal property
taxes is to pay the cost of the local service
Accordingly, the burden of tax on a particular pro
taxpayer ideally should be closely related to the
cost of the services used by that property. In turn,
the assessment system should be designed for e
and efficiency. The basic options for assessment
listed below; MVA and Unit Assessment are t
compared in detail.
d) ANALYSIS OF
ASSESSMENT
OPTIONS
MVA is an attempt to tax property value and has little
connection with the cost of providing services. Its
application will accentuate many of the value biases in
the present system.
LAND VALUE ASSESSMENT
LVA has many of the disadvantages of MVA, but is
less complicated in that it attempts only to assign value
to the land and not the building on any property.
UNIT VALUE ASSESSMENT
UVA is a combination of unit assessment and some
sort of value attributed to the property. This is probably
the most complex of all possible approaches because
it involves the added expense of doing both an
assessment for the unit and one for the value.
UNIT ASSESSMENT
UA is based on a predetermined mathematical
formula, with a fixed ratio attributed to land area and
building area respectively, and does not involve any
valuation component.
We believe that the case for abandonment of the
current system is proven and accepted. The real issue
remaining to be decided is between MVA and some
other approach. Our submission is that Unit
Assessment provides a superior alternative to MVA,
and the following section discusses the reasons for
this conclusion.
If income and sales taxes operated on the same basis
as property taxes across the province, the results
would be chaotic. For instance, if the method of
calculating income moved every few years for each
individual, because of some arbitrary system of
calculating income based on an appraisal by someone
who used a different method of calculation for each
municipality, and often a different basis for each
person within the municipality, there would be no
consistency or fairness of treatment.
their affairs.
I
It is important to distinguish between assessment and
taxation:
a)
b)
c)
The method of assessing a property should be as
clear and simple as possible, so the tax-payer
could do the assessment for a property as easily as
the assessor.
The tax will then be as predictable as the
assessment.
There would be no reason that a municipality could
not set property classifications that more accurately
reflect the service demand that a particular class
imposes on the municipality and vary the mill rate
as costs change.
A tax that is predictable and stable allows taxpayers
greater scope to optimize their affairs. The tax may
change but not because of a sudden change to the
assessment, only because of changes to the tax rate,
applied to all in the class, or across the municipality.
The property tax system must actively support the
economy, environmental protection and efficient use
of the existing infrastructure, and should discourage
sprawl and dissipation of the land base. If this is
done effectively, the result will be higher economic
activity and greater wealth generation. Employment
levels will increase with resulting decreases in the
need for unemployment insurance and welfare
payments. Tax revenues from income and sales taxes
will increase, allowing senior governments more
freedom in fiscal and monetary policy.
SHORTCOMINGS OF MVA
In addition to the wealth redistribution effect of MVA
described above, it also biases the whole direction of
local development in an unfavorable direction. With
market value as the basis of assessment,
municipalities have a direct stake, tax-wise, in the
market value of property and would tend to encourage:
. over-elaborate specifications and building codes
(e.g. wide roads with curbs and sidewalks) which
increases the cost of development. A lower cost
approach would allow municipalities to develop
more in line with the ability to pay by the users of a
development.
. regulations requiring the most expensive features
and materials such as brick construction, garages,
and paved driveways.
Elimination of these requirements for example, would
greatly facilitate the building of truly low cost
housing.
Currently 55% or more of municipal expenditure is for
education purposes. Each housing unit has an
average of one school-aged child, representing an
expenditure of about $2,400 per household for
education. Since small housing units represent the
same level of expenditure for education purposes as
large houses, under MVA municipalities have an
interest in promoting large houses on large lots. This
type of development is also encouraged by the
provincial grant system that pays most of the cost for
new roads and sewers. Thus, the MVA system can
encourage the development of large, expensive
housing serviced by gold plated roads, sidewalks and
sewers that are not financed locally, and discourage
developments for school-aged children who are
educated from local property taxes. This bias has
distorted growth away from more environmentally and
economically desirable compact development.
Another major defect of the MVA system is the
enormous ongoing cost of administering it.
Montreal recently had a complete reassessment and
most properties had their market value cut in half.
When asked if that meant that property taxes were
reduced by 50%, a municipal official said, No, we just
doubled the mill rate. The money spent on the re-
assessment was essentially wasted in terms of
providing any tangible advantage.
ADVANTAGES OF UNIT ASSESSMENT
Unit Assessment is the easiest and most flexible
possible system. Assessment is done by mathematical
formula; all property owners will be on a fair and
equitable basis within their class. There is no asset
valuation component. This eliminates the current
inequities of when the building was assessed, by
whom, and under what assumptions. It avoids the bias
for gold plated specifications and building codes.
Assessment is most properly a municipal responsibility
In addition to promoting
lower cost development,
UA provides. the potential.,
for other efficiency gains.
1
with mill rates set by the municipalities. The r
would be that:
1.
2.
3.
New assessments are only required when new
building takes place and could be done from
approved plans. The number of assessors need
would be greatly reduced over time as
assessment is completed.
Renovat i ons and upgrades woul d have
impact on assessment unless one of the fixed
assessment criteria is altered. This would make
legal renovations more attractive which w
mean better maintenance of existing building s
It would also generate much needed work for
construction industry.
The advantage that now accrues to sprawling
suburban development would gradually
disappear as unit assessment eventually for
the actual cost of servicing to be paid by the us
Unit Assessment requires a judgement as to ho
much of the assessment should be attributed to
land area and how much to the building area.
requires a compromise between objectives
feasibility. If the objective is to create only commu
that are densely built in compact urban form,
100 percent of the weighting would go on to the
area. This extreme choice would cause suc
massive swing from existing taxes that it is
disruptive. It appears that the possibility of makin
change is much less disruptive if the largest porti
the assessment be allocated to the building.
In addition to promoting lower cost development
provides the potential for other efficiency ga
Assessment can be done for all buildings and all
property, including government-owned property
such as parks, roads and service yards. Thi s
provides a mechanism for measuring the efficien
municipalities. The relative percentage of local
used for parks, roads, municipal service, or ut
becomes a ratio of the total land and population in
municipality. If a municipality wants to waste lan
utilities, roads, etc., it is accountable because
would have to be paid (forgone) every year. Uses
are judged socially desirable, such as parks, fores
and wetland could be classified so as to attract a
low tax. To discourage waste, all governments s
be required to pay taxes, not grants in lieu of taxes
The main problem with Unit Assessment is that it
not yet been widely used. Of course, no one had
assembly line manufacturing before Henry Ford,
innovation is a key element in gaining compe
advantage. We recognize that significant addit
work is required to prepare for its implementation,
as:
B
B
B
impact studies on the appropriate ratio betw
land and buildings;
impact studies on the appropriate prope
classifications. Our view is that the current s
dwelling, multiple dwelling residential, comme
and industrial classes should be maintaine
provide flexibility for adjustment as condit
change in the future; and
determining a suitable phase-in period to mit
the winners and loser effect.
Market Value Assessment (MVA), as noted above
the advantage that it is widely known and used.
advantage is more than offset by its well kn
problems: it is complicated and to most people
incomprehensible. It is expensive, as shown by
example of Montreals re-assessment. MVA is h
subjective and given to all sorts of distortions.
MVA debate in Metro two years ago provided m
examples. Since it is a moving value that cannot e
be related to any visible benchmark, it is a poten
unstable base for revenues. The current assess
appeals in Toronto provide a graphic example of
problem.
Unit assessment avoids these problems, although
an untried system, compared to the others. I
obvious that the current assessment method is
working. We feel Toronto would make a good exa
of what is possible and the change should be mad
soon as possible. In spite of being a new appro
Unit Assessment is a logical evolution from a
system of assessment that is no longer doing the
job. It has clear advantages over other assessmen
systems when measured by standard parameters. The
ratings are shown the table below as Low, Medium or
High, depending on the suitability of each assessment
system in relative to the respective parameters.
COMPARATIVE RATING OF ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
LAND UNIT MARKET UNIT
VALUE VALUE VALUE ASSESSMENT
Simple to Administer Medium Low Low High
Transparent Medium Low Low High
Cost Effective Medium Low Low High
+Renovations
Medium Low Low High
+Low Cost
Development
Low Low Low High
Discourage Sprawl Low Low Low High
Ease of Comparison Low Low Low High
4. FORM OF
GOVERNMENT
FOR GTA
Local Government must be responsive to local needs
and market forces, accountable for its spending, and
avoid duplications with other jurisdictions. These
conditions can be best satisfied by ensuring that
citizens who initiate programs and services are also
the taxpayers who must pay the associated costs. This
precludes the general pooling of property tax revenue
which can lead to citizens receiving services without
the responsibility for paying the costs. The result is
proliferating demand for services and spiraling
budgets.
The provincial government has announced that major
reforms must be in place in time for the next municipal
election in 1997. There is a tremendous window of
opportunity for major reform which the residents of
Toronto can take advantage of if we move quickly in
an organized, conscious fashion.
PROPERTY TAX REVENUES
-.
by
POPULATION AND AREA
I I
1
Comparison between the Municipalities of Metro Toronto and
selected cities of the GTA
I I I
, ,
Revenue
,
Toronto
Toronto - residential taxes only 7,195,307 $
North York $ 1,749
Scarborough $
Etobicoke $ 1,930
York 6 6,848,714 $
East York
$
Mississauga $
1,475,640 $ 881
Boston - USA
I
!
t
! !
Welcome to the Credit River watershed. I was very pleased to be
asked to provide my perspective on Water Issues for Canada:
Anticipating the 21st Century.
To start my presentation, I need to provide you with the Credit
Valley context,
believe are the
after which I will relate this experience to what I
regional water issues that we face.
First of all, some conservation authority and CVC background.
I never take it for granted that people are aware of the
Conservation Authorities of Ontario so lets start there.
Conservation Authorities were first established in Ontario in the
late 1940s. We are community based environmental organizations
that are responsible for natural resources management within our
respective watersheds. Our funding comes from three main sources -
the provincial government, the municipalities in our watersheds,
and user fees. There are 38 conservation authorities in the
province, 33 cover most of southern Ontario;
and there are five in
the populated portions of
northern Ontario. Our issues and
programs may differ, as we reflect the needs of our watershed
communities. For example, the Conservation Authorities within the
Greater Toronto area are faced with issues related to the impact of
development on the natural resources.
In southwestern Ontario, the
issues are largely related to agricultural practices and the
resulting environmental impact.
Conservation authorities are managed by a Board of Directors who
are either local politicians or interested citizens.
Cdn. Water Resources Workshop
Water Issues for Canada:
Anticipating the 21st Century
May 30, 1995 - Page 2
-----------------------------
Conservation authorities can accomplish their mission through their
own initiatives and programmed or by entering into joint
ventures
with Provincial Ministries, municipalities, and special interest
groups such as fishing clubs and naturalists groups.
In Ontario, Conservation Authorities are where the rubber hits the
road in water management.
Now for some background information on the Credit Valley
Conservation.
Our watershed encompasses land drained by the Credit River and its
tributaries, including both the visible landscape, and the area
underlying the surface in which groundwater flow occurs.
Our watershed drainage area is approximately 1,000 square
kilometers. The main stem of the Credit river originates in Mono
Township and enters Lake Ontario some 68 kilometers further south.
Our watershed includes all or part of 11 municipalities; two
regions; and two counties.
Within our watershed are significant and diverse environmental
features including a noted fishery, recreation areas, wetlands and
wildlife habitat as well as significant landforms such as the
Niagara Escarpment, and the Lake Ontario Shoreline.
What is important to note in our watershed is the relative health
of the natural system, despite the fact that it is highly urbanized
in the southern end, in communities such as Mississauga and
Brampton. The indicator that we use of watershed health is the
fish communities that can be found in the watershed.
In our case,
it is some of the finest trout fishing in southern Ontario, and the
trout population is totally self sustaining. In addition, the
Credit is one of the two rivers that the Ministry of Natural
Resources is using to reintroduce Atlantic salmon back into the
May 30, 1995 - Page 3
-----------------------------
watersheds of Lake Ontario.
This resource has tremendous economic and recreational benefits -
the river was voted by anglers as the most popular fishing location
in Ontario; it is also the 5th most fished area in the province;
ahead of it are the Lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron, and Simcoe.
We have just restyled our logo and the prominent feature is the
trout - it is now recognized in our community as the canary in the
mine shaft.
The goals in our mission statement read as follows:
We are committed to improving the quality of life of watershed
residents by delivering cost effective programs which:
PROTECT life and property from the hazards of flood and erosion;
DIRECT the use of watershed natural resources for the betterment of
the community; and
ENHANCE watershed natural resources and their appreciation.
We have reduced our emphasis on the protect goal considerably and
now focus almost entirely on direct and enhance. Our refocus was
very deliberate.
The unprecedented development boom in our watershed in the mid
1980s, caused the Authority, in the late 1980s, to rethink our
approach to watershed management. We commissioned
studies to
assess the effectiveness of the techniques that had been promoted
as state of the art for managing growth, and protecting the
environment.
In the 1980s, water was considered a waste product - the goal was
to get the water off the developing site and into the receiving
river as quickly as possible.
May 30, 1995 - Page 4
-----------------------------
We were aware that the techniques that we had supported to manage
this change were altering our natural systems significantly;
and
we also knew that the upper portion of our watershed, the sensitive
headwaters area, was being planned for growth.
We acknowledged that we were working within a confusing Provincial
structure, that separated responsibility for water management
between two ministries; and had another ministry responsible to
oversee the municipal planning process. This fragmented structure
continues to exist today.
Our watershed, macro studies investigated water quality and
quantity issues within our watershed, past and present, and then
looked into the future, to predict the impact of potential land use
changes.
In a nutshell, these studies revealed that we were going to have to
change the way we did business, if we were going to have any
positive impact in our role as resource management coordinators and
influencers. Even more fundamental than our reputation, was the
knowledge that our watershed was in jeopardy.
It was made very clear that we either change our approach, or we
risk destroying the resource. The studies supported the need to go
back to the basics, respect the natural ecosystem, and recommended
that we get our act together in the management of the natural
resources. The we in this case is the royal we - the provincial
ministries; our member municipalities and the authority.
Our studies clearly reinforced the work of the Royal Commission on
the Future of the Toronto Waterfront, and the Commissions simple
conclusion that EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED TO EVERYTHING ELSE
W
.
This watershed scale
impact assessment has shown that present
practices will not be adequate to protect the watershed environment
May 30, 1995 - Page 5
-----------------------------
from proposed land use changes - we are looking at a watershed,
that at present is 15% urbanized, and that will be 35% to 40%
urbanized within the next 20 years.
The potential impacts due to proposed land use changes include:
.
.
.
.
an increase in flows within the tributaries of 50 to 200 %
for typical rainfall events. This occurs because as part of
development, the surfaces are all covered or hardened and
there is nowhere for the water to run but right to the river.
More water - more often.
a considerable reduction in baseflow and groundwater flows,
especially in the headwater areas. Over 65% of the flow of
the Credit River comes from the groundwater. We cant afford
to loose this resource or have it contaminated.
exceedances of Provincial Water Quality Objectives by 2 to 20
times; and finally
the continuation of a totally inefficient, non integrated
review and approvals process, that involves many agencies and
has little regard for the environment and natural systems.
Urbanization of our watershed was determined to be the #1 threat.
Even before the watershed studies were complete, the CVC and our
member municipalities took action to ensure the continued health of
our watershed.
There are many initiatives that we have taken as a direct result of
our water management strategy.
They range from:
*producing two videos about water. The first was Fate of the
River. The purpose of this video was to bring to the attention of
the watershed residents, the issues that the royal we needed to
come to terms with. The second video was Water and the Human
Spirit. This
video focuses on the importance of community
May 30, 1995 - Page 6
involvement and action in water issues
*controlling sediment from developing sites. Urban sediment from
developing sites was determined to be a source of pollution in our
watershed. The CVC worked with our member municipalities to
develop Sediment Control ByLaws. All of our member municipalities
are now on side, and the City of Mississauga has a very extensive
program that involves site control, education etc. It is, in my
opinion, a model.
*controlling run off from agricultural operations. We are working
with the MOEE on a -joint Program for limiting cattle access to the
watercourses, septic tank replacement etc.
.
*groundwater. Everyone in our watershed was flabbergasted to learn
that no one was looking after groundwater.
In fact since the mid
1970s the well water
records that had been collected in our
watershed were not even being entered into a data base. MOEE, as a
pilot project, agreed to update the records for our watershed and
provide to us a basic understanding of our underground sleeping
giant; and finally
*future planning and management units. Our studies divided the
watershed up into 20 subwatersheds and recommended that these units
be the basis of future planning and management.
completed 2 subwatershed plans, and are involved
There are many
the strategy,
context for my
more interesting initiatives that
however I just wanted to provide
following remarks.
To date, we have
in 6 more.
have flowed
you with a
out of
brief
After that long introduction,
I can now move into discussing
regional water
issues that I believe we are facing and
continue to face into the next century.
the
will
May 30, 1995 - Page 7
-----------------------------
I have identified five issues which I will first list and then
describe for you. They are:
*community scale
*integration of water issues
*integration of water policies/programs/responsibilities & budgets
*relevant research and development;
and
*practical, cost effective programs.
Community scale - in order to gain public understanding and support
for water issues it is essential to relate the issues to the
communities. Even in our watershed work, it is difficult to get
people to connect to areas outside of their community ie. either
upstream or downstream. We have been far more successful in our
subwatershed work, were we can graphically make the connection
between their quality of life and the direct human health links
with a healthy environment. No longer do people think globally -
they have too much pressure in their lives. They need relevant,
directly related issues to become involved in.
Another part of this point, is the whole notion of watersheds as
one of the basic principles for modern water management. I was
fascinated to see this quote in the background report prepared for
this workshop. I question whether in fact this is a basic
principle? The reason for me raising this, is the ongoing debate
the Conservation Authorities have with our lead Provincial
ministry, the Ministry of
natural resources, concerning the
appropriate management
unit. Are you aware that the Ministry is
still trying to flog some other choices like people units.
This
kind of bureaucratic nonsense continues to get in the way of
productive work taking place.
Perhaps you would be so kind as to
send a copy of the Final Report of the Inquiry on
Federal Water
policy to the province.
Watershed units
managed by community based conservation
May 30, 1995 - Page 8
-----------------------------
organizations are the institutional structure for the 21st century.
What we should be discussing is what tools do the federal and
provincial governments need to provide to these organizations so
that water resources can be effectively managed.
Integration of water issues.
We must avoid getting caught up in
focusing on one aspect of water such as quality, quantity, hazards
etc. In my opinion, this silo approach has gotten us into a lot of
trouble. I never felt comfortable when people would call me up
when they were having problems with their wells at the same time
adjacent activity was taking place. I used to give out the
standard answer that that wasnt our responsibility, they would
have to call MOEE
W
. Well they started to call me back and say that
they had called MOEE and got nowhere. What we eventually
discovered is that no one was looking at groundwater issues, and
even more disturbing to me was that there was no water budget from
which good decisions could me made.
This will never happen at the
CVC again - we now concern ourselves with the entire hydrologic
cycle. Any interruption to this cycle is disruptive, and needs to
be understood before any changes are supported.
We must reference this basic principle in all of our actions
related to water. It is very easy and politically beneficial to
champion a flavour of the day approach.
But I truly believe that
this separation of
issues has been to the detriment of the
resource. We cannot allow this to continue.
Integration of resource management Policies, proqrams, and
responsibilities
and budqets. Inter government and agency
coordination is still an oxymoron! Effective action on water
issues will not occur in my opinion until we, all those in
government or government related positions, are forced to work
collaboratively
or better still devolve our organizations from
certain roles and responsibilities.
Let me give you an example -
there are no less than eight pieces of legislation affecting valley
May 30, 1995 - Page 9
-----------------------------
and stream corridors, some federal, and some provincial - yet, even
with all of these big sticks we continue to have watercourses
channelized, and enclosed. I support the current emphasis on
government service rationalization - in my opinion the level of
effort in terms of red tape has not achieved what was intended.
Putting our human resources and scarce funding into process is a
colossal waste of talent and time.
Proper training and providing
the data and context for water issues are the key.
Implicit in this integration is a recognition that Canada wide or
province wide policies and programs are probably not the answer.
If we are really honest with ourselves we would acknowledge that
they dont work now, that communities end up doing what they think
they need to do. Of course its not always right, but thats the
reality. AS you proceed across the country with these workshops,
you will discover a whole range of local approaches which all meet
the needs of the communities.
Please accept them for what they
are. Governments need to move away from a control style, to an
advocacy, information based approach.
It can and will work.
Funding and budgets is another
area that requires serious
readjustment. We are working in a province whose budget rules
favour capital works over prevention - you cant cut a ribbon for
something that you prevented from happening. In the environment,
this is really an inappropriate message to send out. Also at the
federal level, I wonder about some of the programs that have been
developed. The RAP process, while honorable in its intent, in my
opinion, has been less than successful.
It is not watershed based,
and highlights only problem areas
- this approach assumes that the
other contributing
drainage to the Great Lakes is safe from
contamination, an assumption that has no validity!
Our challenge as we move into the next century is to develop a
system that fairly allocates out the dwindling taxpayer dollars for
a range of approaches that successfully achieve water
management
goals.
May 30, 1995 - Page 10
-----------------------------
Relevant research and development. This is an area where, in my
opinion, there is a role for the federal government, especially
where such R & D can be applied across provinces. However the R &
D needs to be focused and the themes requiring R & D need to be
carefully developed from the bottom up, from the practicers. Lets
make sure that the research is or will be relevant. In our case,
we need some R & D and monitoring into the effectiveness of the new
generation stormwater management ponds, but we dont need some
theoretical paper - we need some user friendly research that will
assist in our understanding of the role of such facilities in water
quality enhancement or conversely, some information that indicates
that in fact this approach is not effective. At the regional
level, we cannot cope with volumes of literature that require
translation from a scientist - we simply dont have the time to
bridge this gap. Or conversely, there is research taking place
that seems to have no wide range application - in fact if you talk
to the professionals that are meant to benefit from the work, they
do not feel that the exercise is required or relevant.
Moving into the 21st century will require us to review our approach
to research - to make sure that it is relevant to the needs of the
practicers. And to my final point,
Practical
r
cost effective Protection and regeneration solutions.
We must seek out ways to manage our water issues that are practical
and cost effective. One example that I can provide for you is
floodplain management. I am probably alone in this room and within
my conservation authority peers when I challenge the relevance of
Ontarios approach to floodplain management.
What I see is a program that has been designed to ensure employment
for engineers for many centuries into the future.
Delineating the
floodplain through all of the modelling and computer work that is
necessary - at great expense I must add - just provides an
May 30, 1995 - Page 11
-----------------------------
indication of water levels after applying certain assumptions.
Ladies and gentleman I want to tell you that this almost arbitrary
line affects the lives of many innocent people. It has also
inappropriately focused our efforts on the floodplain at the
expense of the valley corridor.
Surely there is a simpler way in which we could protect people from
the hazards of flooding as well as ensure that the river is
afforded the space it requires to function properly.
Simple, integrated, cost effective solutions will be essential if
we are to maintain public support for water issues into the 21st
century.
I would like to conclude my presentation by acknowledging that
managing water is not a simple task. I do not pretend to have all
of the answers; but what I do have is an understanding of what
water means to my watershed community.
In my humble opinion, our success or failure in dealing with the
present and emerging water issues will be how we retool our
institutional structures and deploy our human resources. Not
exciting work but essential work.
Thank you very much for inviting to speak at your workshop today.
Vicki Barron
General Manager
Cvc
22 Dennis Avenue
City of York, Ontario
M6N 2T6
Anne Golden, Chair
G.T.A. Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Anne Golden:
My name is Kathy Cryer and I am a parent of two children who attend schools in the
City of York. I am also the Chair of the Council of S. A.C. O. Chairs.
On Monday, October 16th, 1995, in response to the recommendations in the Sweeney
Report, I, with the support of a great number of other parents, organized a Rally against
amalgamation. We were overwhelmed with the response. Well over 1,100 people gave Up an
evening in order to come and near the concerns that we have about amalgamating our Board of
Education with the East York and Toronto Boards, creating a mega board of 113,000.
I urge and beg you to view the enclosed video tape in order for you to gain an
understanding of the strong sense of community that exists in this City. It my hope that this will
not be lost in the difficult decision-making that you have ahead of you.
Thank you for taking the time to hear our concerns.
Yours sincerely,
Kathy Cryer
Chair
Council of S. A.C.O. Chairs
Encl.
.
-. - .. .. -
BOARD OF
TRUSTEES
Arthur Peters
JohnA. Maatromatteo
Rick Falco
Sally A. Fallen
de
Lorraine Gandolfo
Rogar M. LaChlne
Richard Gareau
September 21, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, On M5G IE6
Dear Dr. Golden:
RECEIVED
Thank you for your invitation to comment on the deliberations of the
GTA Task Force. Enclosed please find The Dufferin-Peel Roman
Catholic Separate School Boards recommendations to the Task
Force and the Boards response to the various submissions to the
GTA Task Force.
We are very dedicated to the discussions on the GTA and would be
interested in any further exchange of ideas or dialogue on our
position. Our Board will actively participate in the work of the Task
Force to underscore the nature of school boards as other municipal
institutions. We welcome additional discussions with the GTA Task
Force at any time.
Warmest regards,
JJD:TM:em
THE DUFFERIN-PEEL
ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
RESPONSE TO
THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
TASK FORCE
Committee:
M.G. Bator, Director of Education
J.P. Howarth, Associate Director -
Corporate Services
D.D. Mullin, Associate Director - Instructional Services
T.P. Miller, Superintendent of Human Resources
J.F. Burns, Superintendent of Operations
J.D. Fitzgibbon, Superintendent of Finance
J.P. Melito, Superintendent of Business
K.P. OConnor, Superintendent of Planning
Prepared and
Submitted by: T.P. Miller
Superintendent of Human Resources
September 20, 1995
TPM:ms
THE DUFFERIN-PEEL ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
RESPONSE TO
THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
INTRODUCTION
The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board welcomes
the opportunity to comment on the future of the Greater Toronto
Area. The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board was
established in 1969 as a result of school board reorganization and is
an amalgamation of the original Catholic School Boards in the Region
of Peel and the County of Dufferin.
In 1995 Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board has
6500 employees and over 75,000 students in 86 elementary and 18
secondary schools. During the past twenty six years, the Board has
developed a well managed and cost efficient organization which is
well positioned in the GTA to provide an example of a modern
educational municipal institution.
PRESENT PROPOSALS for the GTA
The need for municipal reform in the GTA has been articulated by
several municipalities and the past provincial government. Municipal
reform is not new to the GTA . Metropolitan Toronto was established
in 1953 as the first regional government in Ontario. In 1977, the
Metropolitan system was reviewed by former Premier John Robarts
to determine whether the Metro system worked, Robarts concluded
that i t di d but made some adj ustments to refl ect operati onal
real i ties.
Page 2. RESPONSE TO GTA TASK FORCE - THE DUFFERIN-PEEL ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
In 1970, the Ministry of Treasury and Intergovernmental Affairs
(TEIGA) postulated the premise that Toronto and its hinterland,
marked by the river system tributaries and economic determinators,
determined a political reality beyond the original Metropolitan idea.
The provincial government of the day however, rejected the TCP
plan in face of municipal reorganization in 1969 for school boards
and in 1974 for selected counties especially those around the
Metropolitan region.
Today the notion of a GTA government is back on the political stage,
especially in the proposals of the area, 905 Regional Municipalities,
City of Mississauga and Metropolitan Toronto. We offer no criticism
of those plans except as they affect regional school boards in the
GTA .
FINANCIAL CONCERNS
Much has been written and said about the cost of education
someti mes by i ndi vi dual s who know l i ttl e about educati onal
financing. Still some criticism has been justified and school boards
have responded by trying to make every dollar count. Those that
understand school board financing know that educational financing
comes by way of (provincial) general legislative grants and local
taxes based on assessment on commercial, industrial and
residential reality property.
School boards are muni ci pal i nsti tuti ons j ust l i ke the Ci ty of
Mississauga or Metropolitan Toronto. School boards levy taxes
locally and raise approximately 44% of their revenue from local
taxes. Local governments and their associations propose that the
local school board levy be stricken from the local tax bill. Hidden, in
that suggestion, is the position, that school board financing be
separated from the mill rate; that school board taxes not be
colIected locally through t he mi l l rate and pr evi ous
recommendati ons from the Ontari o Muni ci pal i ti es of Ontari o
Association (A.M.O.), and that school boards send their own tax
bill to the public.
School board financing should continue to be funded from its present
revenue sources, the property tax base and provincial grants. In
addition, there should be full provincial pooling of all non-resident
assessment and all residential ratepayers should be obligated to
choose which board they wish to support depending on their
constitutional entitlement, rather than the current system which
results in non-designated assessment defaulting automatically to
public boards of education.
School board financing is not a GTA matter but one that has wider
provincial implications. The Report of The Ont ari o Fai r Tax
Commission, and the Report of The Royal Commission on Learning,
and the Ontario School Board Reduction Task Force have made a
number of important recommendations to the provincial government
about reform of educational financing.
Further, changes to the property tax base and its computation have
very grave implications on the nature of the base for educational
funding. Any discussion for change must involve participation by all
t he muni ci pal par t ner s. Pr oposal s t o r evi si t mar ket val ue
assessment or to institute unit value assessment should not be
entertained without school board participation.
SERVICE DELlVERY MODULES
The City of Mississauga has proposed the idea of reforming the GTA
to reduce the number of municipalities from 30 to 15. Mississauga
also proposes to abolish the 5 regional governments surrounding
Metro and replace them with the Greater Toronto Area Services
Commission. Implicit, in that proposal, is the notion that grand
economies of scale can be reached by abolishing the regional level of
government replacing it with a service delivery module that would
provide better and cheaper service. In 1974 the Province of Ontario
promi sed that Regi onal governments woul d del i ver essenti al
services cheaper because of economies of scale. While there were
better delivery of services in water and sewer transmissions lines
and police and social services,
there were only marginal gains in
economies of scale.
The claim that regional governments are too expensive does not
readily lend credence to the position that larger service delivery
modules would save money. No one can assume that grand economies
of scale will save money without defining the service levels under
which those delivery modules will operate.
Regional governments and regional school boards are tied to
provincial controls. Those controls sometimes impede the delivery
of servi ce at t he l ocal and regi onal l evel . Discussions on
disentanglement of powers and responsibilities should continue by
all levels of government as the sure fire way of solving this
perplexing and historical problem in the GTA. If taxpayers know who
is ultimately and solely responsible for the delivery of service, then
each municipal entity has a valid reason for existence and there
would be little reason for a new structure of delivery.
GOVERNANCE
The GTA Task Force mandate excludes School board governance as an
item for discussion. However, in the discussions on municipal
reform, school boards in the GTA are important municipal partners
who deliver the educational component paid for by a very large share
of the local tax levy. School Boards in the GTA, by and large, deliver
quality service. Trustees represent parents and the community from
which they were elected to direct how that educational service is
delivered.
Supplanting school boards with service delivery commissions takes
away l ocal parent al cont rol f rom t he del i very of consi st ent
educational services in the schools under the jurisdiction of the
Boards. School Boards allow for the development and administration
of equality of educational opportunity throughout their jurisdiction.
School councils in the GTA will continue to need a consistent
reference that is local in nature and representative and politically
accountable to the ratepayers of the school system. To assume, that
Page 5. RESPONSE TO GTATASK FORCE - THE DUFFERIN-PEEL ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
a service commission can deliver that, is to assume that the Service
Delivery Commission will become the one huge school board as well
as the one huge police commission, fire commission, health board,
public works commission, transit commission and roads services
commission. If that is the proposal, the time honoured and tested
nature of local government, in control of essential services, is gone.
The Board believes that this would be a mistake!
The notion of municipal government subsuming School Boards is not
new. From time to time, municipalities have publicly questioned the
viability of school boards as separate entities from local municipal
government. The Framers of our Constitution - The British North
American 1867 (as Amended) and the Constitutional Act 1982 -
Canada Act 1982 set the responsibility for education as a provincial
government power. Municipalities were also established as creations
of the province.
School Boards are not the same type of municipal institution as local
governments in that school boards have specialized powers rooted in
the provinces responsibility for education. School Boards, in
conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Training and parents,
develop curriculum and programs, manage schools, plan for new
schools and develop policies which deal with education exclusively.
Local government, in conjunction with the province, are responsible
for local, municipal soft (social) and hard services.
These two municipal institutions represent the public interest, each
in its own special way. To suggest that local municipal governments
should absorb the school board function is to suggest that
education has a lower value quotient to parents than social or local
hard services. The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School
Board does not support any political configuration which would
allow for local government control over school boards. We believe
that it would not be in the best interests of parents and students,
and that legally it would be unconstitutional.
Consistent, with the other proposals for the GTA, is the notion that
planning would be more efficiently done through a large planning
authority which would monitor and approve planning applications
consistent no doubt with an area wide (GTA) Official Plan. Inherent
i n these proposal s i s the l ack of provi nci al pl anni ng revi ew.
Planning in the GTA would mean subdivision approval by the local 15
municipalities and O.P. approval by the GTA Services Delivery
Commission.
There are no provisions for school board involvement in the planning
process even though school boards are directed to provide schools
for people in the GTA. At this point in the Planning Act, school
boards have the authority to indicate their school site needs but they
are not permitted to be part of the planning process through which
they could negotiate with developers like other municipal partners
about standards and costs of the development of schools. The Board
feels that this basic reform ought to happen first before any future
change in local government in the GTA.
PROVINCIAL POLICY VERSUS GTA GOALS
The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic School Board understands the need
to review political structures, including regional school boards, in
the light of changing provincial policies and goals in the GTA. The
government of Ontario is currently reviewing the Sweeney Report
and the implications that report might have for regional and Metro
school boards. We are not privy to government policy but we suspect
that any changes i n these muni ci pal i nsti tuti ons wi l l have a
tremendous effect on GTA deliberations as well as a rippIe effect
across the province.
THE DUFFERIN-PEEL ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
POSITION ON GTA REFORM
The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic School Board believes:
B that the GTA cannot be dealt with in isolation from the rest
of the province. Government policies which affect the GTA
will also affect every other community one way or another,
since the Toronto Centred Region is the centre of the
Ontario political and economic community.
B that the government of Ontari o ought to conti nue the
process of sort i ng out what t he present l evel s of
government do well and disentangle powers to allow these
l evel s of government t he aut hori t y t o carry out t he
executi on of those powers wi thout external provi nci al
intrusion.
B that the government of Ontario needs to determine how
education will be financed in a more equitable way in this
province. The Board believes that the Report of the Ontario
Fair Tax Commission and the Report of the Royal
Commission on Learning and The Ontario School Board
Reduction Task Force has given the province the tools for
arriving at a fair foundation of educational funding.
realities of planning problems school boards in the GTA face
every day. School Boards need the authority in planning
which is possessed by their municipal counterparts in order
to carry out school board mandates to provide educational
facilities for the communities they represent.
B that the regional educational municipal structure of school
boards, represented by community trustees, represents
clearly and directly local community representation in a
democratic fashion. The Board believes that the present
proposals are flawed in their lack of understanding about
the nature of regional school boards as municipal partners
in the development of the GTA.
Finally The Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board
cl earl y wi shes to parti ci pate i n future di scussi ons about the
changing political structure of the GTA. The Board offers the GTA
Commission continued cooperation in this regard.
Page 9.
RESPONSE TO GTA TASK FORCE - THE DUFFERIN-PEEL ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
September 28, 1995
Dr. A. Golden
The Regi onal
Chair
Muni c i pal i t y
o f Du r h a m
605 Rossland Rd. East
P.O. Box 623
20th Floor
Whitby, Ontario
Canada L1 N 6A3
(905) 668-7711
Fax (905) 668-9963
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Gar yHer r ama
Regional Chair
Dear Dr. Golden:
Re: Region of Durham Submission to the Greater Toronto Area
Task Force.
The Council of the Regional Municipality of Durham met on
September 22,1995 and reviewed the enclosed amended draft of the
Greater Toronto Area Mayors and Regional Chairs Action Plan. The
following resolution was passed with respect to the plan:
THAT the amended draft of the Greater Toronto Area Mayors and
Regional Chairs Action Plan be endorsed in principle subject to point by
point review and approval.
Following adoption of the above resolution, Council conducted a lengthy
detailed review of the action plan and the enclosed submission details the
position endorsed by my Council. I have also enclosed a copy of the
minutes of our meeting for your perusal.
In addition to the above, Council passed the following resolution:
WHEREAS taxpayers are calling for cost efficient, effective Government;
and
WHEREAS the public is demanding government at all levels provide the
same or better services with the same or fewer resources; and
2/....
100% Post Consumer
- 2 -
WHEREAS better Governmental lower cost requires fundamental reform;
THEREFORE be it resolved that the Region of Durham through a special
Committee of Regional Council to be composed of nine (9) members of
Regional Council consisting of the Regional Chair and one (1) member to
be appointed by each area municipality investigate reducing Councillor
representation for the November, 1997 election and report back to
Council.
I would appreciate the opportunity of meeting with you and your Task
Force to present the submission on behalf of the Regional Municipality of
Durham.
Yours truly,
Encl.
REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF DURHAM
SUBMISSION TO THE
As En dor s e d by Re gi on a l Cou n c i l on
Se pt e mbe r 2 2 , 1 9 9 5
B
B
B
B
B
B attains the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential
assessment mix across each municipality within the Region
B utilizes variable mill rates to control/phase tax burden shifts
between property classes (within limits to avoid bonusing)
Shift assessment function from Province to the Regions
Utilize improved technologies to update and maintain assessment
records
Continue to investigate the range of assessment methodologies
Support main elements of financing SWAP as suggested in 905
discussion paper
Municipalities to finance Province to finance soft
hard services services and municipalities
deliver the services
Roads Welfare
Transit (cost sharing) Childcare (includes CAS)
Waste Management Public Health
Sewer & Water Homes for Aged
Storm Sewer
Policing Grant (pay for say)
Eliminate all Unconditional
grants
Health Inspection
Property Assessment
Education operating costs as
balancer
The SWAP = Revenue neutral formula, no provincial or
Regions Local Municipalities
B
B
District Health Councils B
report to 905
Regional Health
B
Committee or local Board
of Health
Childrens Aid Society-
(CAS) function to
report to Council
Ontario Housing
Corporation amalgamated
by existing municipal non-
profit
Police Service Boards -
majority municipal
representation on boards
Conservation Authorities
are already municipally
controlled but could be
consolidated
Depts
Province - or to report to City/Regional
Council
The largest portion of the property tax bill is education
Significant reform is required
The matter of education reform must be dealt with by the Province and
School Boards
B
B
commit to rationalize and streamline programs/services
B
. Province to set timeline and establish broad guidelines
B
recommendations from municipalities in time for 1997 election
B
Provincial commitment to implement municipally achieved
solutions
B Improved Municipal Act
B With permissive authority
. With enhanced range of revenue generating options
B
Full and ongoing consultation with AMO and GTA Mayors and
Regional Chairs
B
Review appropriate Provincial ministry functions with a view to
eliminating duplication with municipal regulatory functions by 1997
SECTION 1
Pages 1-100
Previous Minutes
MINUTES
THE REGIONAL COUNCIL OF DURHAM
September 22,1995
The Council of the Regional Municipality of Durham met in the Council Chambers,
Administration Headquarters, 605 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Ontario at 1 :30 p.m.
Regional Chair Herrema called the meeting to order and led Council in the saying of
the Lords Prayer.
ROLL
CALL: All members of Council were present with the exception of Councillors
Aker, Brenner, Clarke, Clayton, Diamond, Elliott, Hamre, Johnson,
OConnor and Parish
Councillor Clarke attended the meeting at 1 :38 p.m.
Councillor Clayton was absent due to municipal business.
Councillor Diamond attended the meeting at 1 :40 p.m.
Councillor Gray left the meeting at 3:47 p.m.
Councillor Hamre attended the meeting at 1 :38 p.m.
Councillor Johnson attended the meeting at 1 :38 p.m.
Councillor OConnor attended the meeting at 1 :46 p.m. and left the
meeting at 5:15 p.m.
a)
MOVED by Councillor Anderson, SECONDED by Councillor Arthurs,
(384) WHEREAS taxpayers are calling for cost efficient, effective Government;
and
WHEREAS the public is demanding government at all levels provide the
same or better services with the same or fewer resources; and
101
Minutes - Regional Council -2- September 22, 1995
WHEREAS better Government at lower cost requires fundamental reform;
THEREFORE be it resolved that the Region of Durham investigate
reducing Councillor representation for the November 1997 Election and
report back to Council prior to November 30, 1995.
CARRIED AS AMENDED ON A
RECORDED VOTE LATER IN THE
MEETING (See Following Motions)
MOVED by Councillor Nicholson, SECONDED by Councillor Witty,
(385) THAT the foregoing motion (384) of Councillors Anderson and Arthurs be
amended by adding after the word Durham the words through a special
committee of Regional Council and by deleting the words prior to
November 30, 1995.
CARRIED AS AMENDED LATER IN THE
MEETING (See Following Motions)
MOVED by Councillor Arthurs, SECONDED by Councillor Emm,
(386) THAT the foregoing amending motion (385) of Councillors Nicholson and
Witty be amended by adding after the words Regional Council the words
to be appointed by the Regional Chair.
MOTION DEFEATED
MOVED by Councillor Hamre, SECONDED by Councillor Drumm,
(387) THAT the foregoing amending motion (385) of Councillors Nicholson and
Witty be amended by adding after the words Regional Council the words
to be composed of nine (9) members of Regional Council consisting of
the Regional Chair and one (1) member to be appointed by each area
municipality.
CARRIED
The foregoing amending motion (385) of Councillors Nicholson and Witty was then put
to a vote and CARRIED AS AMENDED.
MOVED by Councillor Edwards, SECONDED by Councillor Beal,
(388) THAT the foregoing motion (384) of Councillors Anderson and Arthurs,
as amended, be tabled until consideration of the amended draft of the
Greater Toronto Area Mayors and Regional Chairs Action Plan is
concluded.
MOTION DEFEATED
102
The motion (384) of Councillors Anderson and Arthurs was then put to a vote and
CARRIED AS AMENDED ON THE FOLLOWING RECORDED VOTE:
Members Absent
J. Aker
M. Brenner
T. Clayton
C. Elliott
S. Parish
b)
COUNCILLORS R. Anderson
W. Arthurs
B. Boychyn
C. Clarke
A. Dreslinski
J, Drumm
G. Emm
D. Farr
J. Gray
D. Hamre
L. Hannah
B. Nicholson
G. OConnor
S. Para
N. Pidwerbecki
K. Shier
J. Witty
P. Beal
M. Brunelie
N. Diamond
T. Edwards
H. Hall
1. Harrell
R. Johnson
R. Lutczyk
M. Pearce
J. Potticary
MOVED by Councillor Witty, SECONDED by COUNCILLOR Drumm,
(389) THAT leave be granted to introduce a motion concerning municipal
reform in Ontario.
CARRIED
MOVED by Councillor Nicholson, SECONDED by Councillor Lutczyk,
(390) THAT the Region of Durham endorse the principles outlined in the
document entitled, Twenty Principles for Fair Municipal Reform in
Ontario, as the Regions submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task
Force; and
THAT the Region request that the Province adopt these principles as a
base for developing its final decision regarding municipal reform in the
GTA; and
103
THAT the Province commit to working with area municipalities in the next
year to develop an agreed municipal reform package to be implemented
in time for the municipal elections in 1997; and
THAT copies of this resolution be sent to the GTA Task Force, the
Premier of Ontario, the Minister of Municial Affairs and Housing, the
Opposition Leaders, all Durham MPPs and all municipalities in the
Greater Toronto Area.
REFERRED TO THE AREA
MUNICIPALITIES
(See Following Motion)
MOVED by Councillor Hamre, SECONDED by Councillor Lutczyk,
(391) THAT the foregoing motion (390) of Councillors Nicholson and Lutczyk
be referred to the area municipalities.
CARRIED
c)
MOVED by Councillor Hamre, SECONDED by Councillor Hall,
(392) THAT the discussion paper from the 905 Regional Chairs be received for
information.
CARRIED
MOVED by Councillor Drumm, SECONDED by Councillor Edwards,
(393) THAT leave be granted to introduce motions with respect to the amended
draft of the Greater Toronto Area Mayors and Regional Chairs Action
Plan.
CARRIED
104
Minutes - Regional Council
-5- September 22, 1995
MOVED by Councillor Nicholson, SECONDED by Councillor Diamond,
(394) THAT the amended draft of the Greater Toronto Area Mayors and
Regional Chairs Action Plan be received for information and referred to
the area municipalities.
MOTION DEFEATED ON A RECORDED
VOTE LATER IN THE MEETING
MOVED by Councillor Brunelle, SECONDED by Councillor Edwards,
(395) THAT the foregoing motion (394) of Councillors Nicholson and Diamond
be put.
CARRIED
The foregoing motion (394) of Councillors Nicholson and Diamond was then put to a
vote and DEFEATED ON THE FOLLOWING RECORDED VOTE:
Members Absent
J. Aker
M. Brenner
T. Clayton
C. Elliott
J. Gray
S. Parish
COUNCILLORS P. Beal
N. Diamond
J. Drumm
1. Harrell
R. Lutczyk
B. Nicholson
N. Pidwerbecki
J. Potticary
R. Anderson
W. Arthurs
B. Boychyn
M. Brunelle
C. Clarke
A. Dreslinski
T. Edwards
G. Emm
D. Farr
H. Hall
D. Hamre
L. Hannah
R. Johnson
G. OConnor
S. Para
M. Pearce
K. Shier
J. Witty
105
MOVED by Councillor Edwards, SECONDED by Councillor Anderson,
(396) THAT the amended draft of the Greater Toronto Area Mayors and
Regional Chairs Action Plan be endorsed in principle subject to point by
point review and approval.
CARRIED
The amended draft Action Plan was then reviewed as follows:
B
Province to implement a fair and equitable assessment system
B attains the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential
assessment mix across each Region
B utilizes variable mill rates to control/phase tax burden shifts
between property classes (within limits to avoid bonusing)
B
B
Utilize improved technologies to update and maintain assessment
records
B
MOVED by Councillor Nicholson, SECONDED by Councillor Lutczyk,
(397) THAT the foregoing Part 1 be amended by adding thereto the words
municipality within the after the words attains the benefits of an optimal
residential to non-residential assessment mix across each.
CARRIED
Part 1 was then put to a vote and ENDORSED AS AMENDED.
B
Support main elements of financing SWAP as suggested in 905
discussion paper
B
Add to Swap: Municipal assumption of financial responsibility for
school capital, busing and maintenance of physical plant
MOVED by Councillor Brunelle, SECONDED by Councillor Hannah,
(398) THAT Part 2- Financing Swap be endorsed.
CARRIED AS AMENDED ON A
RECORDED VOTE LATER IN THE
MEETING (See Following Motion)
MOVED by Councillor Witty, SECONDED by Councillor Drumm,
(399) THAT the foregoing motion (398) of Councillors Brunelle and Hannah be
amended by deleting the following words from Part 2: Add to SWAP:
Municipal assumption of financial responsibility for school capital, busing
and maintenance of physical plant.
CARRIED
The motion (398) of Councillors Brunelle and Hannah was then put to a vote and
CARRIED AS AMENDED ON THE FOLLOWING RECORDED VOTE:
NO
Members Absent
J. Aker
M. Brenner
T. Clayton
C. Elliott
J. Gray
S. Parish
J. Potticary
COUNCILLORS R. Anderson P. Beal
W. Arthurs N. Diamond
B. Boychyn 1. Harrell
M. Brunelle R. Lutczyk
C. Clarke B. Nicholson
A. Dreslinski N. Pidwerbecki
J. Drumm
T. Edwards
G. Emm
D. Farr
H. Hall
D. Hamre
L. Hannah
R. Johnson
G. OConnor
S. Para
M. Pearce
K. Shier
J. Witty
107
Municipalities to finance Province to finance soft
hard services services and municipalities
Roads Welfare
Transit (cost sharing) Childcare (includes CAS)
Storm Sewer Policing Grant (pay for say)
grants
Health Inspection
Property Assessment
Education capital and Education operating costs as
physical plant maintenance balancer
MOVED by Councillor Witty, SECONDED by Councillor Anderson,
(400) THAT Part 3- SWAP Specifics Revenue Neutral be amended by deleting
the words Education capital and physical plant maintenance and further
Part 3, as amended, be endorsed.
CARRIED LATER IN THE MEETING
MOVED by Councillor Anderson, SECONDED by Councillor Drumm,
(401) THAT the foregoing motion (400) of Councillors Witty and Anderson be
put.
CARRIED
108
The motion (400) of Councillors Witty and Anderson was then put to a vote and
District Health Councils B Library Boards become municipal
report to 905 Depts
Regional Health . Hydro Commissions consolidated by
Committee or local Board Province - or to report to City/Regional
of Health Council
Childrens Aid Society-
(CAS) function to
report to Council
Ontario Housing
Corporation amalgamated
by existing municipal non-
profit
Police Service Boards -
majority municipal
representation on boards
are already municipally
controlled but could be
consolidated
MOVED by Councillor Lutczyk, SECONDED by Councillor Edwards,
(402) THAT Part 4- Treatment of Special Purpose Bodies be endorsed.
CARRIED ON A RECORDED VOTE LATER
IN THE MEETING (See Following Motion)
MOVED by Councillor Beal, SECONDED by Councillor Edwards,
(403) THAT the foregoing motion (402) of Councillors Lutczyk and Edwards be
put.
CARRIED
109
-1o-
September 22, 1995
The motion (402) of Councillors Lutczyk and Edwards was then put to a vote and
CARRIED ON THE FOLLOWING RECORDED VOTE:
Members Absent
J. Aker
M. Brenner
T. Clayton
N. Diamond
C. Elliott
J. Gray
S. Parish
COUNCILLORS R. Anderson
W. Arthurs
P. Beal
J. Drumm
B. Boychyn
J. Witty
M. Brunelle
C. Clarke
A. Dreslinski
T. Edwards
G. Emm
D. Farr
H. Hail
D. Hamre
L. Hannah
1. Harrell
R. Johnson
R. Lutczyk
B. Nicholson
G. OConnor
S. Para
M. Pearce
N. Pidwerbecki
J. Potticary
K. Shier
B
Eliminate school boards and replace with:
B committee of Regional Council
B create charter schools with parent councils to run publicly
funded schools
110
B
905 Regions or cities within Metro assume full responsibility for all
aspects of building and maintenance of schools, and busing
B
Province (not Boards) responsible for curriculum
B
Province funds a portion of teaching operations, possibly through a
per pupil block grant
B
Province set the terms for Provincial bargaining with teachers
MOVED by Councillor Witty, SECONDED by Councillor Drumm,
(404) THAT Part 5- Education Option be amended to read as follows:
The matter of education reform must be dealt with by the Province
and School Boards
and further that Part 5- Education Option, as amended, be endorsed.
MOVED by Councillor Anderson, SECONDED by Councillor Nicholson,
(405) THAT the foregoing motion (404) of Councillors Witty and Drumm be
amended by adding after the words School Boards the words with public
participation.
MOTION DEFEATED
The motion (404) of Councillors Witty and Drumm was then put to a vote and
CARRIED.
B
A locally driven process within each Region to:
B review municipal boundaries and structures
B commit to rationalize and streamline programs/services
1 1 1
-12- September 22, 1995
B
Province to set timeline and establish broad guidelines
B recommendations from municipalities in time for 1997 election
B Provincial commitment to implement municipally achieved
solutions
MOVED by Councillor Hamre, SECONDED by Councillor Boychyn,
(406) THAT Part 6- Municipal Services/Representation/Boundaries be
endorsed.
MOVED by Councillor Arthurs, SECONDED by Councillor Shier,
(407) THAT the foregoing motion (406) of Councillors Hamre and Boychyn be
amended by deleting from Part 6 the words in time for 1997 election.
MOTION DEFEATED ON THE
FOLLOWING RECORDED VOTE:
Members Absent
J. Aker
M. Brenner
T. Clayton
C. Elliott
J. Gray
S. Parish
COUNCILLORS W. Arthurs
R. Anderson
R. Johnson P. Beal
K. Shier B. Boychyn
J. Witty
M. Brunelle
C. Clarke
N. Diamond
A. Dreslinski
J. Drumm
T. Edwards
G. Emm
D. Farr
H. Hall
D. Hamre
L. Hannah
1. Harrell
R. Lutczyk
B. Nicholson
G. OConnor
S. Para
M. Pearce
112
N. Pidwerbecki
J. Potticary
The motion (406) of Councillors Hamre and Boychyn was then put to a vote and
CARRIED.
B
Improved Municipal Act
B With permissive authority (like Alberta model)
B With enhanced range of revenue generating options
B
Regional Chairs
B
Review appropriate Provincial ministry functions with a view to
eliminating duplication with municipal regulatory functions by 1997
MOVED by Councillor Nicholson, SECONDED by Councillor Anderson,
(408) THAT Part 7- Permissive Municipal Act be endorsed.
CARRIED AS AMENDED LATER IN THE
MEETING (See Following Motion)
MOVED by Councillor Hamre, SECONDED by Councillor Anderson,
(409) THAT the foregoing motion (408) of Councillors Nicholson and Anderson
be amended by deleting the words (like Alberta model) from Part 7.
CARRIED
MOVED by Councillor Anderson, SECONDED by Councillor Boychyn,
(410) THAT the foregoing motion (408) of Councillors Nicholson and
Anderson, as amended, be put.
CARRIED
The motion (408) of Councillors Nicholson and Anderson was then put to a vote and
CARRIED AS AMENDED.
113
B
Create GTA Forum of Mayors and Chairs to address cross-
boundary planning/coordination issues on regular basis (eg.
economic development, waste management, sewer/water and
transit)
B
Province creates GTA Cabinet Committee
B involving key Provincial Ministries to deal with GTA issues in
coordinated, on-going fashion
B
Dispute resolution mechanism necessary where there is no
consensus
MOVED by Councillor Anderson, SECONDED by Councillor Nicholson,
(41 1) THAT Part 8- GTA Coordinating Forum not be endorsed.
CARRIED ON A RECORDED VOTE LATE
IN THE MEETING (See Following Motion)
MOVED by Councillor Beal, SECONDED by Councillor Nicholson,
(412) THAT the foregoing motion (41 1 ) of Councillors Anderson and Nich
be put.
CARRIED
The motion (41 1) of Councillors Anderson and Nicholson was then put to a vote
CARRIED ON THE FOLLOWING RECORDED VOTE:
Members Absent
J. Aker
COUNCILLORS R. Anderson W. Arthurs
P. Beal N. Diamond
B. Boychyn T. Edwards
M. Brunelle G. Emm
C. Clarke H. Hall
A. Dreslinski R. Johnson
114
Members Absent
M. Brenner
T. Clayton
C. Elliott
J. Gray
S. Parish
-15-
J. Drumm
D. Farr
D. Hamre
L. Hannah
1. Harrell
R. Lutczyk
B. Nicholson
G. OConnor
S. Para
M. Pearce
N. Pidwerbecki
J. Potticary
J. Witty
MOVED by Councillor Beal, SECONDED by Councillor Brunelle,
(413)
THAT the meeting be adjourned.
CARRIED
The meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m.
September 22, 1995
NO
K. Shier
C.W. Lundy, Regional Clerk
G. Herrema, Regional Chair
115
Amended Draft
MAYORS AND
REGIONAL CHAIRS ACTION PLAN
September 11,1995
Consensus Plan
GTA Regions and Municipalities will work with the Province to
implement an inter-related reform program consisting of:
B Assessment/property tax reform
B Provincial/Municipal Financing SWAP
B Permissive Municipal Act
B A review of services, representation and boundaries
B Reform of Special Purpose Bodies
B GTA Coordinating Forum (Mayors, Chairs, GTA Cabinet
Committee)
B Significant Education Reform
Sept. 1 1 1
B Province to implement a fair and equitable assessment system
B achieves tax fairness within and between classes
attaines the benefits ofan optimal residential to non-residential assessment mix
across each Region
records
Sept. 11
2
Financing Swap
B Support main elements of financing SWAP as suggested
B Add to SWAP: Municipal assumption of financial
of physical plant
Sept. 11
3
SWAP Specifics
Revenue-Neutral
Roads
Welfare
Transit (cost sharing)
Childcare (includes CAS)
Waste Management
Public Health
Sewer & water
Homes for Aged
Storm Sewer
Policing Grant (pay for say)
I
I
I
grants I
Health Inspection
,
Property Assessment
1
. .
Education capital and
Education operating costs as balancer
-.-<
physical plant maintenance
. . -
-
Sept. 11
O
4
Sept. 11
B
B
B
B
B
District Health Councils report to 905
Board of Health
non-profits
Police Service Boards - majority
Conservation Authorities are already
consolidated
B
B
Depts.
I
5
Education Option
The largest portion of the property tax bill is education.
Significant reform is required:
B Eliminate school boards and replace with:
funded schools
B Province funds a portion of teaching operations, possibly through a
B Province set the terms for Provincial bargaining with teachers
Sept. 11
6
Municipal Services/
B
commit to rationalize and stream line programs/services
B review representation and size of Councils
B Province to set timeline and establish broad guidelines
B recommendations from municipalities in time for
1997 election
solutions
Sept. 11
O
7
B With permissive authority (like Alberta model)
GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs
B Review appropriate Provincial ministry functions
Sept. 11
8
B Create GTA Forum of Mayors and Chairs to address
cross -boundary planning/coordination issues on regular basis
(eg. economic development, waste management, sewer/water and
transit)
B Province creates GTA Cabinet Committee
B involving key Provincial Ministries to deal with GTA issues in a coordinated,
on-going fashion
consensus
Sept. 11 9
Savings In The Plan
EDUCATION administration and board costs significantly reduced
GTA FOR UM will facilitate partnerships/collaboration, producing
further savings
GREATER MUNICIPAL CONTROL over service levels, resulting insignificant
savings
B
reduced Provincial regulation/policies
MUNCIPAL REVIEWS of service/representation/boundaries to generate further
savings
DOWNSIZING PROVINCIAL MINISTIES which have inhibited efficient
Sept. 11
10
CONCRETELY ADDRESSES THE REAL PROBLEMS FACING THE GTA
responsibilities
Demonstrates a willingness addability to further improve municipal
change
Sept. 11
11
16 AUGUST 1995
393 University Ave.
20th floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Re:
The Town of Georgina requested that we endorse their resolution
dated 10 July 1995 with regard to the above-noted matter.
East Gwillimbury Council discussed this issue at a Council
meeting held on 14 August 1995 and endorsed the resolution from
the Town of Georgina as set out below:
WHEREAS Chairman Alan Tonks of the Municipality of
Metropolitan Toronto has proposed a Super-Region, and
WHEREAS this Super-Region does not include the Town of
East Gwillimbury, nor any other rural municipality, and
WHEREAS this proposed region would have a dramatic effect
upon the costs of provision of services to the areas not
included within his defined region; and
WHEREAS this may mean sharply higher taxes to our
residents, and the potential for reduced or scaled back
services to our residents;
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the Council of the Town of
East Gwillimbury does not support the initiative put forth
by Metro Chairman Alan Tonks at this time.
2/
- page 2 -
Dr. Anne Golden
We have responded to the Town of Georgina, and also advised the
Regional Governance Committee and the Minister of
Municipal
Affairs and Housing of our action.
Sincerely,
Beth A. McKay, C.M.O.
Clerk-Administrator.
BAM:eh
Encl.
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
James Mortson
MUNICIPAL OFFICE
19000 LESLIE STREET
SHARON, ONTARI O LOG 1VO
TELEPHONE: (905) 478-4282
FAX: (905) 478-2808
September 21, 1995
c/o Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor - 2 0 0 1
Tor ont o, Ont ar i o
M5G 1E6
Dear Si r s:
Encl osed pl ease f i nd t he submi ssi on, The Best of Bot h Wor l ds,
t o t he GTA Tas k For ce f r om t he Counci l of t he Town of Eas t
Gwi l l i mbury.
I f I can be of f ur t her assi st ance, pl ease cont act me.
/ smf
e n c l .
TOWN OF EAST GWILLIMBURY
September, 1995
#1
B
cutive Summary
. Reforms are needed to encourage cooperation, innovation, improved customer
service, accountability and joint economic development initiatives. These
system reforms should promote a change in thinking of local politicians and
bureaucrats.
. We need a new Municipal Act which includes broad categories of powers for
municipalities.
. One stop shopping at the local government level should be encouraged to assist
the public in accessing government information and services.
. The local governments should be responsible for as much of the service delivery
as possible to ensure that the public has one stop shopping. If policy areas
continue to be provincial or regional, pay (all costs) for say (policy +
standards) principle should be followed.
. We should recognize that political boundaries will always be somewhat
arbitrary and that the mutual dependence which exists will help facilitate
win/win situations provided that communication between areas is strong. Our
boundaries are optimum within the Regional system, ensuring strong local
representation and access to economies of size when needed.
. The government should examine its grant programs and existing legislation
which sometimes provide disincentives for municipal cooperation in areas
where economies of size could be achieved.
. Reform of education financing and municipal assessment is necessary.
. The two tiered system of government meets our needs and is able to provide the
best of both worlds - economies of size for provisions of services which
benefit from larger numbers, and the bulk of decision making affecting peoples
lives taking place at the local level.
B A number of submissions to the Task Force have suggested a coordinating body
to replace the Metro government. In redefining the upper tier, consideration of
negative ripple effects throughout the GTA is required.
#2
Introduction
.
A Viable Municipality
The Town of East Gwillimbury is primarily a rural municipality with four urbanized areas
dispersed within its boundaries. People moved here to be in the country and get out of the
city. An agricultural community thrives within the Town and historically development has
taken place on large lots where space and privacy are valued. The municipality is financially
viable with a population of just under 20,000, serviced lands within the village areas and
reasonable tax levels. It is interesting to note that the restructuring in Simcoe County last year
created optimum municipalities immediately north of us and south of Barne (Innisfil, New
Tecumseth and Bradford-West Gwillimbury) with populations of approximately 20,000.
Access to Decision Makers is Important to our Residents
Within our community, the publics demand for reform is focused on reducing the amount of
red tape, regulation, and duplication. We have not felt pressure from the public to change
boundaries or eliminate functions, but rather to coordinate and streamline services. Our
perspective is that the more government services which could be delivered at the local level,
the better the public would like it. Our residents clearly want to retain access to their local
politicians who have the power to make decisions affecting the community they live in.
Need to Reform
Impetus for Change
The need to reform from a provincial perspective appears to have been driven by a sense of
urban crisis, and the obvious need to reform the assessment base within Metro to resolve
financial inequities which currently exist. Following the election of the Progressive
Conservatives in Ontario, the focus has also shifted towards less government which appears
to be part of their mandate.
Large vs. Small
Layers of bureaucracy result in a government system which is slow to respond, difficult to
change and is narrowly focused. Achieving economies of size for urban services often requires
larger government units but these larger units inhibit access, reduce identification of the public
with the municipality and discourage participation, simply because of their size and
complexity. Municipal policies and services should be tuned to local needs and values. When
the character of an area is relatively homogeneous, municipalities can determine the most cost
effective level of service more easily than when they try to standardize services across a larger
municipality with conflicting values and goals.
#3
Change the system
We agree that reforms maybe necessary to resolve inequities and to put a system in place that
encourages cooperation, innovation, improved customer service, greater accountability and
encourages joint economic development initiatives. Creating the system that encourages these
values is the first step in changing the way municipal governments think and act. One of the
first things that should be done to improve the system is to pass a new Municipal Act which is
less prescriptive and provides broad operating powers for municipalities.
One Stop Shopping
Local municipalities should also have a greater role in service delivery so that the public can
get information and assistance about local, upper tier and Provincial programs all at the local
level. Consistent with the pay for say principle, although service delivery may take place
locally, the programs should be funded by the same level of government that makes policy and
sets the standards. Some attention will have to be given to ensuring that the public is clear on
who is responsible for making policy decisions when delivery is performed by another
government level, but it would be easier for the public to access the government through this
type of one-stop shopping.
Boundaries will always be arbitrary for some services
It has been said that arbitrary political boundaries act as impediments to effective, efficient
service delivery. The key to effective, efficient service delivery is not to continually try to
create the best political boundaries - which will always be somewhat arbitrary - but rather to
provide incentives and remove the current disincentives to encourage municipalities to work
together when it is in the best interests of the public. We have made progress at making cross-
boundary services work in York Region, specifically in the areas of water supply, sewage
disposal and transit because there was a public demand to change boundary line thinking.
The Province needs to examine how it may be unintentionally encouraging inefficiencies and
parochialism through the grant structures and prescriptive legislation and take action to change
these biases. An example of this bias includes OCWA funding for sewage and water projects
which provides greater finding to the least viable municipalities. Recommendations contained
in the Pilkey Report, 1994 also point to areas where the Provincial government promotes
inefficiencies at the municipal level. The lack of legislative authority to enter into partnerships
with both other municipalities and the private sector is a source of aggravation to
municipalities and discourages innovation and seamless delivery.
Two tiered system works for us
The Region of York is undertaking a major review of how services are delivered and
examining options for improving service to the public through re-alignment of responsibilities
and partnership opportunities. The ability to change with the times is required and new
legislation for municipalities is needed to allow shifts in service delivery to take place easily.
We want to continue to work within the current two-tier system of Regional government
because it gives us access to greater economies of size in areas which derive a benefit from it
(transit, social services, etc) and retains the smaller government units strengths in terms of
local accountability, attention to detail, ability to adapt quickly and accessibility.
#4
Boundaries Shouldn t be the Issue
.
'
.
Common Sense Should Be
Wheres the Beef (Facts)?
Mike Harris indicated in the GTA debate in April 1995 that Metros problems must be solved
within Metro, without burdening other municipalities in the GTA. Many of the proposals made
to the Task Force to date include an expansion of Metro or a shrinking of the GTA. A number
of submissions speak to changing boundaries to make larger government units, without
providing any evidence of how this actually saves money or improves government from the
publics perspective. Expanding Metro to incorporate sections of other Regions has negative
ripple effects through the current GTA. Bigger isnt necessarily better and it doesnt lead de
facto to better or cheaper services - just look at a comparison of tax rates around the Province!
Bigger may not mean less government, bureaucracy or expense
In a recent study completed by the Region, the number of employees per area municipality was
analyzed. One might assume that the larger municipalities would be able to achieve economies
of size and that with compact urban development, the ratio of employees to population would
decrease with size and smaller geographical area. In fact the rural municipalities with the
lower populations have the most population being served per staff member. A chart based on
1994 populations is outlined below:
.
Ra t i o
Richmond Hill 1:191 450.71 85,970
Vaughn 1:191 607.91 116,360
Aurora 1:226 134.30 30,392
Whitchurch-Stouffville 1:256 69.60 17.796
Markham
Georgina
New-market
King
East Gwillimbury
Another example
1:275 550.03 151,518
1 :284 108.63 30,802
1:302 164.55 49,645
1:328 53.37 17,504
1:337 53.43 18,023
relating to gross operating budgets is presented below. The calculation of
gross operating budget per capita again demonstrates that the rural municipalities spend
considerably less money in providing services to their constituents than their larger, urban
counterparts. Making larger government units would result in higher costs for the rural areas.
Gross Operating Costs 1995 Total 1994
Per Capita
.
Vaughn $804 $93,538,709 116,360
Richmond Hill $749 $64,383,600 85,970
Markham $686 104,010,532 151,518
Whitchurch-Stouffville $604 $10,745,630 17,796
Newmarket $596
$29,589,072 49,645
Aurora $586 $17,823,289 30,392
Georgina $499 $15,365,952 30,802
King $457
$8,003,696 17,504
East Gwillimbury $425 $ 7,655,000 18,023
#5
We need to be flexible
Reforms shouldnt focus on boundaries - they need to focus on municipal government providing
services to the public in a manner which makes common sense. When services need to cross
municipal boundaries to achieve greater economies of size - thats what should happen. When
people need to access government services or influence the political process, they should have
access to the simplest and most responsive level of government - the local municipality.
Changes to the current prescriptive set of rules within which municipalities operate now are
needed and changes in attitudes of politicians and bureaucrats will also be needed to operate
within a style of local government which would encourage innovation, partnerships,
cooperation and focus on the consumer. Partnerships can and have occurred without
boundary adjustments - the focus for change should recognize diversity within the current GTA
municipalities and promote partnerships where they make sense. Mandating partnerships
through amalgamations portrays a thinking that one size fits all and this is simply not true.
Amalgamations lead to tax increases in the Rural areas
Our political boundaries incorporate an area which shares a rural focus and similar values.
Amalgamations of rural areas with larger urban municipalities inevitably lead to increases in
tax levels to the rural area. Examples of this phenomenon are evident in the experiences of the
Town of Westminster and London (to avoid a tax shift, the Province guaranteed no increases);
and in the experiences of Simcoe County municipalities (including Clearview, Tay, New
Tecumseth and Bradford-West Gwillimbury). The use of transitional mill rates to mitigate
large tax increases for the rural areas has been necessary to phase in the negative impacts of
restructuring on the rural areas.
Were doing a good job now.
We do a great job in providing services to our residents within the existing political bounaries
and are concerned that the changes proposed by others regarding making larger units will
negatively impact on our residents. A recent report from the GTCC submitted to the Task
Force states that in reviewing the revenue requirement for municipal services ( e x c l u d i n g s c h o o l
boards) in general, the municipalities with the lowest per household costs are rural
municipalities, for example: Georgina $1,055; East Gwillimbury $1,083, and King Township
$1,1 lo.
Education Financing Needs Reform
We believe that reform is desperately required for education financing. The recommendations
contained in the Fair Tax Commissions report regarding education financing are similar to how
education financing is done in the Province of Quebec. The Commission recommended that a
small percentage of education financing could be charged at the local level using the property
tax base with the bulk of the financing coming from the Province - the level responsible for
setting the policy and standards for education.
#6
Governments closest to the people have been holding the line on taxes.
Local government has been very responsive to the publics demands for less taxes, with many
municipalities holding the line on their portion of the property taxes even during very difficult
financial times. The increase in user fees at the local levels also represents the mood of the
electorate which is willing to pay for additional services on a per use basis.
Assessment Reform Needed
We feel that it is essential to have fairness within an assessment system and that the
municipalities within Metro should be re-assessed using a common base, whatever that may be.
The Regions should also be updated on a common assessment base which mirrors the one used
in Metro. The blame for the failure to implement market value assessment Province wide as
was envisaged when the assessment function was taken over by the Province in the early 1970s
lies with the Provincial government, and political will to change the system is needed.
Government Needs to be Less Expensive, Less Bureaucratic & More
. .
We agree.
We agree with this statement which reflects the current theme in the Province. We dont agree
that making boundary changes achieves any of these goals - in fact we believe it would
significantly increase costs to our rural area, increase the amount and complexity of the
bureaucracy and be less accountable.
Advisory Role of Local Government
The local level of government is the easiest for the public to understand and municipalities
often act as advisors to residents having difficulty in knowing who to contact. This role should
be acknowledged and encouraged by creating one-stop shopping for residents through their
local municipality.
#7
what can be done to achieve a less expensive, less bureaucratic and more
accountable GTA?
B
B
B
B
B
Recognize our strengths. Protect the things that work well and make the GTA an attractive place to
live and work.
Encourage through legislation and remove existing disincentives for municipal cooperation in areas
where economies of size could be achieved. Continue to move towards user pay systems to promote
conservatism and fairness in tax burdens.
Recognize that political boundaries will always be somewhat arbitrary and boundaries should not be
impediments to effective service delivery.
Make the local governments responsible for as much of the service delivery as possible to ensure
that the public has one stop shopping. If policy areas continue to be provincial or regional, pay
(all costs) for say (policy + standards) principle should be followed.
Although some massaging of responsibilities may be required the two tier system allows our
municipalities to have the best of both worlds - economies of size and strong
area municipalities, easily accessible to residents where the
decisions affecting people% communities are made.
SUBMISSION FROM THE EAST YORK BOARD OF HEALTH
TO THE GTA (GOLDEN) TASK FORCE
IN TRODUCTI ON
We submit this report to provide a public health perspective on the anticipated reform of
municipal financing and governance. In generating this report, we have been informed by
related reports produced by others, to which readers are directed for more information:
B
Rational Reform in the Greater Toronto Area, The East York Proposal, Borough of East York,
September 1995
B
Submission to the Ontario School Board Reduction Task Force, East York Community
Advisory Committee in collaboration with the East York Board of Education, June 1995
B
Population Health: The Role of Public Health Units in Ontario, Association of Local Official
Health Agencies, May 1995
B
Funding of Public Health Units in Metropolitan Toronto, Liaison Committee of Boards of
Health for Metropolitan Toronto, April 1995
B
Public Health: The Basis for Community Health Care Reform, City of North York Board of
Health, March 1994.
ROLE OF PUBLIC H EALTH
Public health in the 1990s enables people to maximize their health potential by protecting the
public from environmental hazards, by preventing the spread of communicable diseases, by
promoting healthy lifestyles, and by advocating for and monitoring healthy public policy.
Public health is the only health service that has a legislative mandate to serve the entire
geographic population. It is one of the only health services with a predominant focus on health
promotion and disease prevention, and it is the only health service whose core budget is in part
municipally funded.
Public health programs and services are mandated by the Health Protection and Promotion Act,
R.S.O. 1990 and the Regulations and Guidelines pursuant to the Act. There are 42 boards of
health in Ontario, each of which is legally responsible for ensuring services are provided for their
health unit.
Boards of health vary in composition from being entirely elected (regional municipalities) to a
combination of elected and citizen representatives (by municipal and/ or provincial appointment).
Each Board employs a multidisciplinary mix of professionals including nurses, inspectors,
nutritionists, educators, researchers, dentists & dental hygienists, physicians, epidemiologists,
planners and administrative staff.
2
MAIN MESSAGES
1) WE STRONGLY SUPPORT THE CONTINUED ALIGNMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH WITH
LOCAL MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS.
The historic alignment of public health with local municipalities has been a great strength
for public health, by enabling it to identify and meet the health needs of local
communities and to advocate on their behalf. It has also fostered strong linkages and
coordination of effort with related municipal functions in the area of planning and
development, recreation, and by-law enforcement. Public health staff also have active
working relationships with community police and fire prevention officers, with boards
of education, and with a very wide range of local health and social service providers.
Continued alignment of public health with lower tier municipalities will ensure that
programs and services remain well-informed by local needs and priorities, and that
public health programs and services are visible to the residents and taxpayers who
support them.
2) WE STRONGLY SUPPORT THE CONTINUATION OF SMALL MUNICIPALITIES AS
BEING THE BEST WAY TO PROMOTE CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT AND MINIMIZE
BUREAUCRACY.
We believe the benefits of our size are exemplified in our reputation for service excellence
and innovation, organizational flexibility, and community responsiveness.
East York has been a leader in public health programming for many years. While larger
organizations have struggled against the challenges to re-organize, reduce and re-focus
program delivery, East York has worked through these challenges to develop new and
innovative ways to improve health:
B
East York was the first Teaching Health Unit to be established in Metropolitan
Toronto, with an affiliation agreement with the University of Toronto and the
Ministry of Health giving it a formal mandate and dedicated funding for public
health research, undergraduate, graduate & continuing education, and the
promotion of excellence in public health programs and services
B
Changing Me, the public health sexuality program developed in East York is now
used as a curriculum standard by health units and boards of education across
Ontario and beyond
B
East York pioneered programs to promote smoking cessation among teens and
was one of the first municipalities in Ontario to ban smoking in workplaces and
public places
B
the East York Board of Health has been an active advocate on a variety of health
3
3)
issues involving higher levels of government, such issues including: tobacco;
alcohol; gun control; bicycle helmets; rBST; infant formula, and many others.
With only 65 staff, the Health Unit began many years ago to reduce administrative costs
and re-direct funds into front-line services. There has been no middle management at
the Health Unit for almost ten years, and calls to the Medical Officer of Health go
directly to her office without being screened by administrative staff. Staff participate
actively in corporate decision making and community representatives are actively
involved in program planning and delivery on a variety of health issues.
The additional benefits that accrue to the East York community by virtue of its size are
well documented in the recent submission to the GTA Task Force from Borough Council,
and we concur fully with their observations.
WE STRONGLY SUPPORT INTER-AGENCY COOPERATION AND COLLABORATION
AS A WAY TO REDUCE DUPLICATION AND COMPETITION FOR SCARCE
RESOURCES.
In this age of widespread cutbacks, no agency or institution can afford to work in
isolation from its potential partners. East York has a long-standing and widely known
reputation for placing a strong emphasis on inter-agency collaboration. Examples
include:
B
The East York Childrens Project, a joint venture in the field of mental health
promotion and clinical services that involves 11 different agencies from health,
social service, education and recreation. The Project provides consolidated service
planning and delivery for local communities and operates through local schools.
B
Partners for Health, a joint venture in the field of health systems planning and
service delivery that involves public health departments, community health
centres, 130 local family physicians and Toronto East General Hospital. Partners
has sought Ministry approval to reallocate funds among providers within their
catchment area in order to increase service access and quality and to reduce
service costs and duplication.
B
Intentional Collaboration Project, a joint venture with other local Medical Officers
of Health to identify areas where time and money can be reduced through
cooperative effort. Initiated by North York Health Department, the group has
agreed to produce a single Community Health Status Report along with the
Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council, and to harmonize their
communicable disease control policies; other initiatives are in progress.
We believe that collaboration maximizes the benefits for communities and the agencies
that serve them without incurring the costs and bureaucratic inertia associated with large
organizations.
4
4) WE STRONGLY SUPPORT THE CONTINUATION OF LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH
AS THE BEST MEANS FOR GOVERNING THE PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS AND
SERVICES.
Boards of health are community-based governing bodies that are accountable for the
provision of public health programs and services to their local community. The East
York Board of Health is an independent body comprised of 10 community
representatives, two of whom are elected officials (one each from Borough Council and
the East York Board of Education). Members receive a nominal honorarium for their
volunteer service on the Board.
Having a preponderance of community representatives has enabled the East York Board
of Health to recruit members of the public who are actively interested in health issues.
Appointees are sought who have a demonstrated volunteer involvement in the
community and on health issues, which brings a rich and distinct perspective to the
Boards work. Strong community representation also enables the Board to place a strong
emphasis on public communication and to profile the work of the Board of Health.
Being a special purpose body permits the Board to conduct detailed and thorough
examinations of public health issues and priorities. It accords public health with a level
of attention that could not be managed by a local council, given all of the other service
imperatives on local councils agenda. Should East Yorks special purpose bodies be
eliminated, it is highly unlikely that the increase in workload could be accommodated
by its part-time local councillors. With so little (<1%) of the provincial health budget
being given to public health, we believe all means should be used to ensure this critical
area receives the attention it deserves.
We very much support direct accountability to the community and strong local
involvement in public health program delivery, and we believe that strengthening the
function of local boards of health is the ideal way in which to carry out that goal.
5) WE STRONGLY SUPPORT THERE-ALIGNMENT OF PROVINCIAL GRANTS FOR THE
PURPOSE OF ENSURING AN EQUAL PROVINCIAL: MUNICIPAL FUNDING RATIO
ACROSS THE ENTIRE G REATER TORON TO A R E A.
For historic reasons, there has been one provincial: municipal cost-sharing ratio for health
units within Metropolitan Toronto (40:60) and another ratio for the rest of Ontario (75:25).
As a result, public health services within Metro have drawn disproportionately from the
municipal property tax base, which itself is being eroded for reasons that lie beyond the
scope of this report. This inequity has persisted despite many years of lobbying by
boards of health and local municipal councils in Metro. We believe this should be
corrected in tandem with other anticipated changes to municipal financing and
governance.
5
CONCLUSION
We believe that the public health interests of the East York community have been and continue
to be well served. Rather than breaking up what has been working well, we see the need to
support and reinforce the already strong sense of community that exists in East York by
allowing it to continue to flourish. Our strengths are a reflection of our size, which enables us
to be highly effective and efficient, when measured in terms of service quality, community
responsiveness and organizational flexibility. We hope the GTA Task Force will accept the
position we have articulated here, and we wish its members every success in developing a
solution that works for the Greater Toronto Area.
September 28, 1995
l:\ golden.sep
June 20, 1995
Borough of East York
Ms. Anne Golden
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
The Council of The Corporation of the
on June 19, 1995, adopted Item 7,
Development Committee regarding
Government.
Office of the Clerk
Borough of East York at its meeting held
Report No. 1 of the Regulatory and
the review of Metropolitan Toronto
Enclosed please find a copy of the report of the Chief Administrative Officer,
dated June 12,1995, which was considered by the Council. Please be advised that
Council hasnt had the opportunity to establish a position on the issues raised in
the aforementioned report; however, Council wishes to bring these
the attention of the Greater Toronto Area Task Force at this time.
Also enclosed for your information is a copy of the aforementioned
includes the recommendations approved by Council on this matter.
Yours truly,
Attachment
concerns to
Item which
850 Coxwel l Avenue B East York. Ontari o B M4C 5R1 B Tel 416/778.2003 B Fax 416/778.9134
To: Regulatory and Development Committee
From: Virginia M. West
Chief Administrative Officer
Date: June 12,1995
Subject: Review of Metropolitan Toronto Government
It is recommended that:
1)
Council provide staff with further direction regarding the review and public consultation process on
issues relating to the mandate of the Greater Toronto Area Task Force;
(2)
Council not support the City of Torontos resolution to dissolve The Municipality of Metropolitan
Toronto; and
(3)
the Borough Clerk advise the City of Toronto, Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto and the other area
municipalities of the Boroughs position.
BACKGROUND;
Council, at its April 18,1995 meeting, endorsed the process for the Boroughs review of issues relating to the
mandate of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Task Force. As part of this process, staff have prepared a report
which defines the problems that have necessitated the need for fiscal reform. This is followed by a presentation
of fiscal reform options. We have also made suggestions on items to be forwarded to the GTA Task Force for
further study and review. At this time, the GTA Task Force is expected to complete a report on fiscal reform by
September 1995. Issues relating to the governance of the GTA have been left for future discussion to coincide
with the Task Forces examination of the governance issues.
Council has advised the City of Toronto that the Borough would be responding to their request for comment on
their proposed dissolution of Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto after June 19, 1995. This report also
addresses that matter.
DISCUSSION:
1. An Overview of the Problems;
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) comprises 30 municipalities and 5 regions. The municipalities range from
Burlington in the west to Clarington in the east and north to Lake Simcoe. The regions include Halton, Peel, York,
Durham and Metropolitan Toronto. Metropolitan Toronto area municipalities and the City of Toronto in
particular, feel that the vitality of the inner city is being threatened and that we are in danger of suffering the
donut syndrome as businesses take flight to the outer GTA municipalities, which offer relatively lower tax rates
on commercial/industrial properties. The Metro area municipalities are hoping that the GTA Task Force will
recommend fiscal reform measures which will correct some of the fiscally related inequities between the inner
2 -
and outer GTA municipalities. These would assist Metro area municipalities in reducing their mill rates through
cost reductions. Metro area municipalities may then be in a better position to entice business to remain.
2. The Borough's Fina
.
ncial Picture:
In a decade, from 1984 to 1994, the Boroughs operating fund expenditures have increased 79%0. Schedule
A shows that the composition of the Boroughs sources of operating revenues have remained fairly consistent
with provincial grants declining 2.610 and tax revenues increasing 1.1%.
The assessment base (Schedule B(i)) experienced a $12.4 million ($1.5 million Borough portion -1995 tax
dollars) decline in commercial/industrial assessment which was offset bya$15.2 million ($1.5 million Borough
portion -1995 tax dollars) increase in residential assessment resulting in a modest increase of .97% in total
assessment.
Schedule C illustrates the impact of increased expenditures and a modestly growing assessment base on a
commercial/industrial ratepayer. Over the decade, a property owner experienced an 85.1% increase in their
property tax bill. This includes an increase of 80.5% for the local government portion, 94.30/o for the public
school board portion and 70.9% for the regional government portion. In 1984, the Borough had the third lowest
mill rate in the Metro area. In 1995, the Borough had the second highest mill rate in the Metro area.
Schedule D provides us with a comparison of the Boroughs per capita total costs with some Metro area
municipalities as well as some outer GTA municipalities. East Yorks per capita personnel and total costs were
average for Metro and the group of municipalities. However, its increases in per capita costs were on the high
end of the scale. On average, Metro municipalities spent slightly more on personnel costs and slightly less on
total costs per capita than the outer GTA municipalities.
During the period 1988-1994, the Boroughs reserve and reserve fund balances increased by 46/0 to $14.6
million. This reflects the success of the Boroughs pay as you go capital financing program. Funds are
transferred to reserves from the operating fund to finance the Boroughs capital works program. Debenture
costs are declining each year with the expectation that we will be debt free by 2003.
3. The Boroughs Chal l enges;
a) Increasing Costs:
The Borough is continuing in its efforts to control costs through streamlining and reorganization. However, in
spite of our efforts we will continue to feel the pressures of increasing costs with the expiration of the social
contract in 1996. Council will continue to be challenged by the balance they must strike between tax increases
and service provision.
b) Higher Cost Structure of Metro Toronto and the Public School Board Services:
TheMetropolitan Toronto School Board and Metro Toronto represent 79% of the Boroughs tax bill, and their
financial pressures also impact on the Boroughs ratepayer. Metro Toronto in their report An Agenda for Fiscal
Reform in Metro Toronto indicated the following reasons for the higher cost structure of their services:
Many of the human and social services, particularly those delivered by Metro Toronto and
the school boards (education, policing, hostels, daycare, welfare, and homes for the aged),
are required more heavily by certain segments of the population. Low income families, older
- 3 .
individuals, recent immigrants and individuals with low educational attainment are more likely
to place higher demands on these services. The population of Metro Toronto, as is the case
in the centml areas of many major urban areas, has a larger and higher concentration of these
special needs than are found in the newer, primarily single family, outer suburbs of these
regions. The higher service demands from this inner city population drive up the costs for
public service providers, which in turn increases taxes. If these higher costs are not
compensated for in some way there is a risk of further polarization of the population, leading
to a downward spiral. P.5.
Metro tax payers also fund costly services such as the Metro Zoo and the Toronto Reference Library which are
enjoyed by all the residents and businesses of the Greater Toronto Area.
c) Inequities in Provincial Grant Funding:
The Boroughs proportionate share of total provincial funding has declined 2.6% over the decade. This includes
unconditional and conditional grants, as well any other provincial funding received by the Health Unit, Parks,
Recreation and Operations Department and the Library. Provincial funding will probably continue to decline as
the Province attempts to reduce its deficit. Another problem relates to the equity of provincial funding. The
Health Units general programs continue to be funded at 40%, while outer GTA municipalities receive 75%
funding. The Metropolitan Toronto School Board receives virtually no funding from the Province. while the
school boards in the four other GTA regional municipalities all receive funding. Metro has stated that the TTC
is the least provincially subsidized transit authority in the Province, while transit operators elsewhere receive
relatively higher levels of funding. Ambulance services . . . represent another service in which provincial transfers
are comparatively lower in Metro than the rest of the GTA.
d) Eroding Assessment Base:
The Boroughs assessment base continues to be eroded through record numbers of tax appeals, which have
resulted from the availability of the MVA information. The Boroughs non residential assessment has declined
16.35/0 over the past decade. Non residential assessment is the most profitable segment of a municipalitys
tax base because it pays similar or higher taxes than a residential property, but generally demands less in the
way of servicing. As Schedule B(ii) indicated, East York and other Metro area municipalities are losing non
residential assessment to the suburban municipalities, thereby causing Metro area municipalities to come under
increased financial pressure while the surrounding municipalities become wealthier. The flight of business from
the Metro area is said to be caused by the tax gap which exists between Metro and the outer GTA
municipalities whose commercial/industrial tax rates are lower.
Illustratirg the GTA Tax Gap;
The Board of Trade in their publication Killing The Golden Goose has indicated that businesses locating in
Metro Toronto pay realty and/or business taxes on commercial properties which are typically from 450/o to over
and 50%. Consequently, many Metro businesses could halve their property taxes simply by relocating outside
of Metro.
Attached Schedule E illustrates the commercial/industrial tax gap between Metro area municipalities and some
outer GTA municipalities. East Yorks commercial tax rate (per sq. ft.) is one of the lowest in the Metro area, but
Mississaugas tax rate is still 37% lower. East Yorks industrial tax rate (per sq. ft.) is one of the highest in the
Metro area, which would make it much harder to compete with the tax rate in Markham or Vaughan which is 470/0
- 4 -
Iower. There maybe numerous reasons why businesses are leaving the Metro area but the tax premium paid
on a Metro location is certainly one of them.
e) Reasons for the Tax Gap:
The reasons cited for the tax gap have been assessment policy, higher cost structure of services provided in the
Metro area and the inequity of provincial grants. The latter two problems have been discussed.
Assessment Policy;
One problem in Metropolitan Toronto is the discrepancy in tax burden between the residential and non
residential classes. According to the Fair Tax Commission, commercial and industrial property (in Metropolitan
Toronto) i s taxed at roughl y twi ce the rate of resi denti al property. Schedul e F shows that the
commercial/industrial sector represents approximately 30% of the total market value assessment base but
shares in 57% of the tax burden. Whereas the single residential sector represents 62% of the total market value
assessment base and shares in 290/ o of the tax burden.
The last reassessment in Metropolitan Toronto was undertaken in 1953. The recent failed attempt to update
the market value assessment base would not have corrected the problem in the short run because of the caps
put in place to protect residential and industrial property owners against tax increases. several business owners
would also have experienced significant tax increases.
According to the Assessment Act, all real property must be assessed at its market value. However, the Fair Tax
Commission has discredited the use of market values as a basis for assessment valuation. Market values include
a value attributable to potential future uses or changes in value. These values are speculative and will vary with
the business cycle and the health of the local economy. This is especially true in the Metropolitan area.
Attached Schedule G illustrates the problem of volatility using market values. This volatility would make the tax
base extremely unstable. Taxpayers have also complained about not being able to understand how the current
assessment system works. There are enough weaknesses in the market value assessment model to merit the
examination of an alternate assessment system.
4. Fiscal Reform Issues:
The fiscal challenges faced by the Borough include: an eroding assessment base, increasing costs, and declining
and inequitable provincial grant funding. The discussion will now focus on various fiscal reform measures which
have been proposed to assist municipalities to meet these challenges. The GTA Task Force will be studying and
performing financial modelling of various reform measures identified through its review.
a) Assessment Reform:
There are currently three known assessment models available for review by the GTA Task Force:
Fair Tax Commi ssion-Unit Value Assessment System:
The Fair Tax Commission completed a study entitled Fair Taxation in a Changing World in December 1993.
This study will be drawn upon by the GTA Task Force as they examine fiscal reform issues.
The Fair Tax Commission (FTC) proposed that an assessment system, in addition to meeting a fairness criterion,
should be guided by the following principles:
- 5 -
From the viewpoint of the ratepayer, individual assessments should be:
objectively verifiable and easily reproduced;
clearly understood;
consistently administered;
not subject to large year to year fluctuations; and
may be appealed in an accessible, objective, and fair process.
From the perspective of provincial and local governments, the system should have:
a stable revenue potential overtime;
the lowest possible administrative costs consistent with fairness objectives
:
and
the least possible negative impact on economic development, both within the local
area and in the province. P.692
To satisfy these principles, the FTC recommended that the existing market value based system be replaced with
a unit value system which is detailed in Schedule H. The unit value system remains untested at this time and
detailed impacts are unknown.
Citv of Torontos Proposed Assessment System:
The City of Toronto has recently proposed an assessment system closely related to the system proposed by the
FTC. While the City supported the FTCs model for non residential assessment, they did not support all the
elements of the residential model.
The City rationalized it in this way in their draft submission to the GTA Task Force on fiscal reform: The FTC
unit value model provided for pure unit assessment within geographic zones, and variation among zones to
reflect differences in rental value....
While the term reflect was not defined in relation to rental value, it might
be inferred that if a 1500 sq. ft. house on a 3,000 sq. ft.. lot in Zone A typically rented for 50% more than the
same size house on the same lot in Zone B, the taxable assessment of a Zone A house would be 50% higher.
The City felt that such a system is not implementable in a world in which property tax reform must be revenue
neutral, due to the volatility factor.
The City of Toronto modified the residential assessment system so that it would be based on propety
dimensions alone, subject to a restriction that the resulting annual tax not exceed some proportion of the
imputed annual rent. The City of Toronto has not published any impact studies for their proposed model.
Market Value Assessment (M
VA)
This is the model currently in use in Metro. The recent MVA plan failed because many did not think it was fair.
TheFTC has discredited the MVA model because it failed to satisfy many of the principles upon which a fair and
acceptable assessment system is based.
Review of an alternative assessment system has received the support of Metro Council, City of Toronto and the
Board of Trade. Metro Council, in a recent report, has indicated its willingness to act as a pilot project for testing
the Fair Tax Commission assessment proposals.
We suggest that East York Council support the review of an alternative assessment system. The system would
be based on the principles advanced by the FTC and would restore a greater degree of balance to the property
- 6 -
tax burden between the classes as they exist elsewhere in the GTA.
b ) Education Finance Reform:
The FTC recommended that education financing be removed from the residential property tax and that these
expenditures be funded from revenue sources that reflected a greater ability to pay. These expenditures would
have been financed through income taxes and other provincial revenue sources.
However, in a March 1995 report, the Minister of Education and Training indicated that the study of education
finance must operate within the assumption the provincial contribution to education will not increase, given the
governments commitment to live within its means. The opposition parties have not disagreed with this position.
Both parties have also included income tax reductions in their platforms. It appears that the residential property
tax for education purposes will remain where it is.
The Boa d of
r Trades Position on Education Financi ng
Since education provides a universal benefit to business, The Board of Trade feels that it is unfair to force Metro
businesses to bear the very heavy local cost of education. The Board advocates the introduction of a uniform
provincial property tax rate on business for education purposes to replace ail the separate local rates across the
province.
City of TO
rontos Position on Educat ion Financing.
The City feels that a major cause of the GTA tax gap is a provincial school funding system which is biased against
the urban areas. The Metro area contributes approximately $1 billion/year(net) to fund education systems in
municipalities whose property taxes are lower than ours.
Metro School Board financing relies on the pool system, whereby Toronto, Etobicoke and North York raise more
property taxes than their schools cost with the surplus being transferred to school boards in York, East York and
Scarborough. The City proposes to de-pool Metro property taxes with the Province funding the York, East York
and Scarborough School Boards. The new funds would be sufficient to maintain the school board budgets of
York, East York and Scarborough, and reduce effective education tax rates for business to the outer GTA level
(equivalent toa 20% reduction in the total tax bill). lnthe City, tax bills for business under this scenario. would
decrease by approximately 23%. There would be no change in residential taxes anywhere in Metro. The cost
to the Province would be approximately $600 million/year, which should be financed from the Provincial
education grant fund (currently funded at approximately $5 billion/year).
If de-pooling is not feasible in the short run, Provincial funding should flow directly to the Metropolitan Toronto
School Board and the Metro Separate School Board as required to reduce commercial/industrial taxes by 20%
Metro-wide. The cost to the Province under this scenario would be approximately $500 million/year, which
should be financed as under the de-pooling scenario....
The issue of education finance is currently under review by the Sweeney Task Force. The East York Board of
Education is expected to submit a position paper to the Task Force by the end of June. The Task Force is
expected to report by November 1, 1995.
c) Equity of Provincial Grants:
Metro has indicated that the difference in some funding received by Metro Toronto and the outer GTA
- 7 -
municipalities appears to be related to how ability to pay is measured by the formulas. The impact of moving
away from assessment or population based formulas need to be explored.
It has been stated that Provincial grants for Education and Police Services do not take into account the many
unique requirements of the Metro area. The basis for calculating grants should be revised to ensure that the
payments provide adequate funding and that they are fairly distributed.
The inequity in the funding of East Yorks health services has already been stated. In past years, the Borough
also received minimal resource equalization grants because our per capita assessment was much greater than
the provincial average. We suggest that East York Council request the GTA Task Force to examine the equity
of provincial grant funding.
d) Social Assistance Funding:
The FTC stated that funding for general welfare assistance should be removed from the property tax base.
Metro Council and the Board of Trade have endorsed this reform measure. Todays economic environment
dictates that this will likely be a longer term reform measure. However, Council could still support this as a
reform measure in the hope that it may one day reduce Metros portion of the East York tax levy.
e) Variable Tax Rates:
The FTC recommended that municipal governments be allowed to establish their own rates of tax on non
residential properties, subject to a minimum rate set by the provincial government. This fiscal reform would
assist the municipalities in their dealings with the business community. Municipal councils would have some
discretion in the amount of tax increases that they pass on to the business community. East York Council may
find it beneficial to have this discretion, and we therefore suggest the support of this reform measure.
f)
Business Occupancy Tax:
The FTC has recommended that the business occupancy tax be abolished and that the revenue be replaced with
residential and non residential taxes. Business would be taxed at the provincial level. In East York, this would
mean the shifting of $2.5 million in business taxes to the residential and non residential sector. We suggest that
East York Council not support this reform measure. We would suggest however, that Council support a review
of the business occupancy tax with a view to establishing a link between the amount of tax a business pays and
its financial health.
g)
The following reform measures have been identified by Metro Toronto:
Business Occupancy Tax - consolidation of the five rates of taxation into one average rate. The same
amount of business tax would be collected. However, the shift in taxation would be from larger
business toward small business.
The removal of weighted residential assessment from the mill rate setting process. This would impact
the residential property owner whose property tax burden would increase. However, residential and
non residential property owners would be treated equally.
Pooling of non residential assessment across the GTA to fund education.
Sharing of welfare assistance costs on a GTA wide basis.
- 8 -
Pooling of a portion of the annual growth of all local assessment bases in the GTA.
New revenue sources: hotel room tax, Metro Toronto lottery, share of provincial sales and gasoline
tax bases, payroll tax as an alternative to the business occupancy tax.
These reform measures require study, however, it appears that most of these reform measures will have the
potential to reduce Metros portion of the East York tax levy. The exceptions appear to be the consolidated
business occupancy rate, removal of the weighted residential assessment from the mill rate and a payroll tax to
replace the business occupancy tax. Since these latter reform measures have the potential to shift and change
the tax burden among different classes of rate payers, we suggest that East York Council request the GTA Task
Force to provide further clarification on the potential impacts prior to supporting these fiscal reforms.
5. GTA Task Force - Timelines and Processes;
Contact with staff at the GTA Task Force office has indicated the following:
The Task Force is still expecting to complete a report for September 1995. The focus of the report will
be the assessment crisis in Metro although other fiscal reform issues will be included.
The Working Group on fiscal reform has reached a common definition of the problems. The group is
now entering the research stage of the study.
A plan for consultation with the municipalities and the public has not been formalized and it is not
expected to be until the end of June. However, we have been urged to submit material to the working
group whenever it is available.
6. City of Torontos Resolution - The Dissolution of Metro politan Toronto Act. 1995.;
Attached Schedule I provides a brief outline of the City of Torontos resolution which East York has been
requested to respond to. An actual copy of the resolution is available upon request from the Clerks Department.
We cannot provide a cost benefit analysis of the proposed structure since it has not been determined where the
services will be provided. What is evident in this proposed structure is East Yorks lack of influence, since the
number of votes cast by the Boroughs representative will be related to the size of the Boroughs population.
East York has the smallest population in the Metro area as detailed in Schedule ).
The Borough currently benefits from its membership in the Metro federation. A quantifiable example is related
to school board funding. Schedule K details the sharing ratios for all the area municipalities. The Borough of
East York currently contributes 3.05% of the Metro School Boards tax revenues, but spends 5.16%0 of the Metro
School Boards budget for a net gain of approximately $45 million. The City of Toronto contributes 42.41% of
the Metro School Boards tax revenues and spends 28.44% of the Metro School Boards budget for a net
contribution of approximately $298 million.
Schedule L details the municipal sharing ratios of Metropolitan Torontos Levy. Since East York has the smallest
assessment base, our relative portion of the Metro Levy is the smallest of the area municipalities. This appears
to be a benefit for East York. However, a comparison of the consumption of Metros services with the amount
paid to Metro Toronto would provide a better indication of the value received by those who share Metros levy.
It should be noted that East Yorks value received from Metro differs from the other area municipalities
because we do not have costly subway lines; we also do not receive a share in Metros Multi Cultural grant
allocations. The list could be expanded through further study of the matter.
- 9 -
The Borough of East York appears to benefit from its membership in the Metro federation both financially and
through the sharing of expertise and ideas. We recommend that the Borough not support the City of Torontos
resolution to dissolve the Metro level of government. We should instead focus our efforts on the main event,
which is the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
CONCLUSION.
.
Staff have provided Council, for their consideration, a listing of various fiscal reform measures. Given the Task
Forces current September reporting deadline, we should consider the timeliness of our submission. Council
should also give consideration to the further direction of the review and public consultation process on issues
relating to the mandate of the GTA Task Force.
WV: BH:bh
Attachment(s)
-
Millions $
35
30
25
2 0
15
10
5
0
Operating Fund Revenues
30. 8
Schedule A
CHANGE IN ASSESSMENT BASE 1984-1994
(Taxation Years 1985 & 1995)
1984 Assess. 1984 Assess. % Change 1984 Assess. 1994 Assess. /0 Change Total Assess.
Municipalities Resi dent i al Resi dent i al Resi dent i al Co mm/ I n d / B u s . Co mm/ I n d / Bu s . Co mm/ I n d / Bu s . Ch an g e ( %)
To r o n t o
Nor t h Yor k
Sc ar b o r o u g h
Et o b i c o k e
York
East Yor k
Ma r k h a m
Vau g h an
Aj ax
Wh i t b y
June 4, 1995
1, 384, 684, 442
1, 172, 751, 066
811, 291, 110
655, 678, 626
228, 076, 085
204, 752, 805
914, 416, 626
517, 586, 870
243, 660, 557
70, 753, 294
1,734,061,586
1,344,339,554
960,354,697
760,367,642
250,540,813
219,921,677
1,559,118,021
1,335,877,543
484,017,883
133,887,639
25.23
14.63
18.37
15.97
9.85
7.41
70,50
158.10
98.64
89.23
1,819,553,020
755,462,138
436,547,713
559,388,161
90,308,195
76,165,696
237,852,265
315,845,239
67,553,343
24,968,326
1,926,999,467
811,038,844
513,249,989
549,124,078
71,080,024
63,709,154
459,967,077
778,550,839
118,529,085
36,957,990
5.91 14.26
7.36 11.78
7.57
1.83
-21.29
8.09
7.77
1.02
-16.35 0.97
93.38 75.23
146.50 153.70
75.46 93.61
48.02 78.48
Schedule B (i)
Commerical/llndustrial Assessment
Percentage Change 1984 - 1994
%
Total Assessment - Percentage Change 1984-1994
Schedule B (iii)
!
Commercial Mill Rate
Percentage Change 1984 - 1994
Local
Metro
Public School Board
I
Schedule C
Municipality
Comparison of Per Capita Costs 1988-1992
East Yor k
York
Etobicoke
Scarborough
North York
Burlington
Oakville
Markham
Vaughan
Total Expenses
Personnel Costs
%
1988 1992 Increase
256.8
302.2
297.6
227.6
248.8
267.7
263.6
187.7
281.6
Source: The Borough of East York
Structural Management Review
George B. Cuff& Associates Limited
350.6
374.2
389.2
297.3
337.7
338.6
330.3
288.5
383.4
37
24
31
31
36
27
25
54
36
Total Costs
%
1988 1992 Increase
424,2
484,0
506.3
429.7
482.0
476.2
523.3
397.4
566.6
558.4
557,4
634.1
496.1
595.3
548.4
532.5
627.9
764,5
32
15
25
15
24
15
2
58
35
Schedule D
Municipality
Metro Area Commercial Tax Rates
(J.J. Barnicke Limited, August, 1994)
Per Sq. Ft. *
+50% Bus. Tax Tax Rate In Mississauga
City of Toronto
$14.25 7070 lower
North York
$10.05 57 % lower
Etobicoke $9.08
53 % lower
Scarborough $7.95
46% lower
East York $6.82
37% lower
Mississauga $4.30
Markham $3.91
9 % h i g h e r
Vaughan
$3.51 18% higher
Pickering $2.38
45% higher
*Average rates for A quality commercial buildings
(J.J. Barnicke Limited, August, 1994)
Municipality
East York
Scarborough
Etobicoke
City of Toronto
North York
Mississauga
Pickering
Vaughan
Markham
Per Sq. Ft. *
+60/0 Bus. Tax Tax Rate In Markham & Vaughan
$2.88 47% lower
$2.80 46% lower
$2.80 46% lower
$2.61 42% lower
$2.61 42% lower
$1.68 10 % lower
$1.62 7?40 higher
$1.52
$1.52
* Average rates for A quality industrial buiidings

Source: Killing the Golden Goose, October 1994
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto
(East York was not shown on the Board of Trade Report)
Schedule E
in Metro, 1992 ($ billion)
Share of Approximate
Share of
Market Value
Tax Burden
Source: Ki//ing the Golden Goose
October 1994
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto Schedule F
A N I LLUSTRATI ON OF THE
A C OMPA RI SON B Y THE C I TY OF
PROBLEM OF V OLATI LI TY USI NG MARKET VALUES
TORONTO OF SUCCESSIVE LOCAL REASSESSMENT STUDIES IN
1975, 1980, 1984, 1988.
Assuming that properties had been reassessed in 1975 and then had their assessments updated
in 1980, 1984 and 1988, the study traces average percentage changes in assessment in each of the
four major classes of property for each of the eleven wards in Toronto in that period. In Ward 4, a
working class area in the west end of the city, assessments on single family residences would have
increased by 17.7 percent in 1975, declined by 21.9 percent in 1980, increased by 5.9 per cent in
1984, and increased again by 17.5 percent in 1988. In Ward 7, a rapidly changing white-painted
area that straddles the Don Valley, assessments would have increased by 14.4 per cent in 1975,
declined by 6.5 percent in 1980, declined by a further 10.1 percent in 1984, and then increased by
15.6 per cent in 1988. In Ward 11, which includes the wealthy enclave of Forest Hill, assessments
would have dropped by 7.7 percent in 1975, increased by 18.6 percent in 1980, declined by 1.1 per
cent in 1984, and declined again by 2 per cent in 1988.
Commercial property in the downtown core in Ward 6 would have seen its assessment decline
by 5.3 percent in 1975, increase by 5.3 percent in 1980, increase again by 5.1 percent in 1984, and
decline by 6.8 percent in 1988. Industrial assessment in the heavily industrial area of Ward 2 in the
citys west end would have increased by 26.8 per cent in 1975, dropped by 26.4 per cent in 1980,
dropped by 12.9 percent in 1964, and dropped again by 13 per cent in 1988. Industrial assessment
in the east end in Ward 8, in contrast, would have dropped by 11.1 percent in 1975, a further 7.5 per
cent in 1980, a further4.6 percent in 1964, and then would have increased by 42.1 percent in 1988.
Source: Fair Tax Commission
Fair Taxtion in a Changing World, p.695 - p.696
Data supplied by City of Toronto
Department of Planning and Development
Schedule G
FAIR TAXCOMMISSI ON - ASSESSMENT REFORM RECOMMENDATlONS
Residential Assessment (Un
. .
it Value System)
.
Residential assessment of individual properties for local taxation purposes should be based on the following
factors:
size of bui l di ng
dimensions of lot
type of building
Weighting factors would be used to combine these factors.
The relationship between assessment of different types of property in different geographic areas would be
based on value in current use or rental value.
Non Residential Assessment
.
Non residential property assessment would be based on rental value; the price a tenant would pay to employ
a similar property in its current use.
ess Occupancy Tax:
.
The business occupancy tax would be abolished and replaced with residential and non residential taxes,
SUMMARY OF THE DISSOLUTION OF METROPO
L ITAN TORONTO ACT. 1995
11
Metro ceases to exist as of midnight on the dissolution date.
ASofJanuaty1
,
1998
,
the area municipalities are continued with the same names and boundaries
as they had previously.
Establishment of an Urban Toronto Regional Services Board, the purpose of which is to provide
regional services to the Area Municipalities or to the public directly.
All services provided by Metro, its agencies, boards and commissions including the issuance of
debentures, shall be transferred to the Area Municipality, unless in the case of any service, at least
4 of 6 Area Municipalities having 60% or more of the Regional population, together and at the same
time, request that the service concerned be provided by the Board.
The Board is composed of the six Mayors of the six Area Municipalities. The Members of the Board
will cast weighted votes based on the populations of their respective Municipalities. Each Member
of the Board shall cast one vote for each 50,000 or portion thereof of residents of his/her
Municipality.
The Board shall prepare the current and capital budget estimates. Each year the Board will levy
against the Area Municipalities a sum sufficient to cover the budgets adopted by the Board.
The Board shall ascertain how the sum is to be levied against area municipalities. However, it
appears that amounts levied under Section 33 will be apportioned among Area Municipalities in the
proportion that the total rateable property in each Area Municipality bears to the total rateable
propety in the Metropolitan Area.
The Commission of Dissolution shall be established by the Minister of Municipal Affairs within two
months of the passage of this Act.
The Commission shall consist of 7 Commissioners, one appointed by each of the Area
Municipalities and one appointed by the Minister.
The Commission shall establish its own procedures for carrying out its mandate subject to such
guidance and direction it receives from the Board.
The mandate of the Commission shall be to prepare Interim and Final Terms of Dissolution Reports.
The Final Report shall include draft Dissolution Regulation(s) setting out the Terms of Dissolution
of Metro and its agencies, boards, commissions and corporations. The report shall be submitted
to the Minister by December 31,1996.
The terms of reference for the Interim report include the operation, management and maintenance
of Metro and each of its agencies, boards, commissions and corporations, including the
Metropolitan Toronto School Board and each of the Area Muncipalitity Boards of Education.
The Interim Report shall then make recommendations as to whether the provision of those services
in whole or in part should continue to be provided on a regional basis, or whether they should be
provided in whole or in part by an Area Municipality or on a Provincial basis.
Schedule l
Municipal Population
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Source: Statistics Canada
Profile of census tracts ln Toronto, PartA'
1991 Census of Canada
Schedule J
0
/ 0
50
40
30
20
10
n
1995 Sharing Ratios - A Percentage Comparison
42.41
25.41
22.62 22.32
6.58
2.95
Statement of Assessment for 1995 Metropolitan Levy Apportionment
General Purposes
Municipality
Total Weighted
Assessment Apportion % 1995
City of Toronto
North York
Scarborough
Etobicoke
York
East York
$3,669,672,720
$2,062,644,712
$1,411,255,889
$1,254,949,280
$ 293,918,451
$ 257,663,247
41.00 %
23.05 %
15.77 %
14.02 %
3.28 %
2.88 %
Total Municipalities $8,950,104,299
Residential weighted at 85% of Commercial
Weighted total amounts used for distribution of the Metropolitan Toronto Levy
100.00$40
Schedule L
SUMMARY OF PROPOSED FISCAL REFORM ReCOMME
NDATIONS
1. Assessment Reform
That East York Council support the review of an alternative assessment system. The system would be
based on the principles advanced by the FTC and would restore a greater degree of balance to the
property tax burden between the classes as they exist elsewhere in the GTA.
2. Education Finance Reform
Under review by the Sweeney Task Force.
3. Equity of Provincial Grants
That East York Council request the GTA Task Force to examine the equity of provincial grant funding.
4. Social Assistance Funding
That East York Council request the GTA Task Force to examine the issue of social assistance funding.
5. Variable Tax Rates
That East York Council support this reform measure.
6. Business Occupancy Tax
That East York Council not support this reform measure, and that Council support a review of the
business occupancy tax with a view to establishing a link between the amount of tax a business pays
and its financial health.
7. Metro Toronto Reform Measures
That Council support the following reform measures that have been identified:
Pooling of a portion of the annual growth of all local assessment bases in the GTA.
New revenue sources: hotel room tax, Metro Toronto Iottery, share of provincial sales and
gasoline tax bases.
That Council request the GTA Task Force to provide further clarification on the impact of the following
prior to supporting these fiscal reforms:
Business Occupancy Tax - consolidation of the five rates of taxation into one average rate. The
same amount of business tax would be collected. However, the shift in taxation would be from
larger business toward small business.
The removal of weighted residential assessment from the mill rate setting process. This would
impact the residential property owner whose property tax burden would increase. However,
residential and non residential property owners would be treated equally.
Payroll tax as an alternative to the business occupancy tax.
Schedule M
We are also very aware that municipal finance cannot be addressed in isolation -- property
taxation is just one aspect of economic competitiveness. Therefore, we are looking at
finance within the context of other issues, particularly the Toronto regions economic
future. While solving the assessment problem and coming up with ways to cut costs are
critical, the broader fiscal challenge is to ensure the entire Toronto regions capacity to
compete in the next centurys global economy.
Visions
A Globe and Mail editorial on May 19, 1995, said that ... we lack both a clear
understanding of the sources of our cities vitality and a coherent set of principles to guide
us in the management of our urban places. The Task Forces challenge is to pull together
a set of principles for the GTA that resonates with the 4 million people who live here.
In April, I wrote to many leaders in the GTA to ask for their visions for its future. The
response has been very positive, with about 60 contributions received to date.
The visions were diverse, as one would expect. But, there were some common themes:
t
B
The potential of the GTA to be a leader in the global, North American and
Canadian economies.
The need to change the current tax system to promote fairness across the GTA and
reduce dependency on property taxes.
The integration of road, transit, and piped services via either a new GTA-wide
body (but not an additional level of government), or improved inter-regional
coordination.
The importance of protecting our rural and environmentally sensitive areas, and
provision for a range of residential densities.
The need for governance reform, that encourages better planning and more
efficient service delivery, but does not undermine the connection people feel with
their local government and local community.
Consultation
I now have consulted with almost 100 stakeholders, including every Mayor and Regional
Chair in the GTA, most in person, a few by telephone, and many on more than one
occasion. I have also met with a number of municipaI councils.
In virtually every instance, we have received offers of support, cooperation and assistance,
including research and secondment of municipal staff - offers we have been pleased to
accept. While we would not deny the existence of concerns among some elected officials,
the general response, in tone and substance, has been of cooperation and a strong desire
to be involved in the Task Forces work --
a desire we respect and are making every
attempt to fulfil.
One issue that has come up repeatedly in my consultations outside Metropolitan Toronto,
is the sense that Metros property tax problem is related to its service costs. I had an
excellent meeting with Mike Garrett, CAO of the Region of Peel and Chair of a Greater
Toronto Coordinating Committee study on the comparative costs of municipaI services in
the GTA. This study, and other available research, will give us the data we need to begin
to resolve questions related to Metros service levels relative to the outer municipalities.
Our plan is to build on the work that has already been done, or is underway.
Deputy Ministers
We have received excellent support from the Deputy Ministers and their staff through
briefings, help with data and research, and ongoing feedback. Their assistance is greatly
appreciated.
After June 8
Like you, we are awaiting the results of the June 8 election with great interest. Our hope
would be for an early meeting with the Premier to brief him or her on our progress to
date.
Staffing
The Task Force is almost fully staffed, and we are extremely proud of the high-calibre
professional staff weve recruited. The senior staff are:
I* .
Executive Director: John Livey, Planning Commissioner with York Region. John
developed the Regions first official plan. Prior to joining the Region, John was
Director of the Policy Planning Division for Metropolitan Toronto. (Johns
appointment is subject to confirmation by York Regional Council on June 8).
,, B
Research and Policy Director: Hary Kitchen, Professor of Economics at Trent
University and noted expert on municipal finance. In addition, Harry has served
on a number of federal and provincial committees, including the Economic Council
of Canadas Advisory Committee on Government and Competitiveness. the
Ontario Committee on Provincial-Municipal Financing matters (Hopcroft
Committee), and the Niagara Region Review Committee.
B
Communications Director: Diane Wolfenden, Director of Public Affairs at the City
of Mississauga. Diane spent a number of years with CP Rail in Montreal as its
Manager of Public Policy Research and Analysis before joining the City in 1990.
Liz McLaren, the Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the Office of the Greater
Toronto Area, will continue to stay closely involved with the Task Force to give us the
benefit of her enormous knowledge of municipal matters, and to provide a valuable link
with the provincial government.
A full staff list is attached.
Feedback
We would like to have your feedback on this first GTA Fax News. Have we told you
what you want to know? Do you have anything to add? Please fax me your comments
at 416-327-1516.
Attached to the foregoing Greater Toronto Area Newsletter are lists entitled GTA Task
Force Members of the Finance Working Group and GTA Task Force.
Public
l.
2.
3.
4.
Participation
All COMLAC meetings are open to the public;
Members of the public may address COMLAC on each item on the agenda at the
beginning of COMLACS consideration of the item;
COMLAC will establish a schedule of meetings which will be available to the
public; and
Each municipal clerk will post a notice of the schedule of COMLAC meetings and
have available for the public a copy of the meeting agendas.
Letter from Mrs. C. Davidovits, Secretary, Committee of Metro Local Area Councils, City
Clerks Department, City of North York, 5100 Yonge Street, North York, M2N 5V7, dated
May 12, 1995, which was previously considered under Item 6, Report No. 10 of the
Legislation, Building and Bv-Law Enforcement Committee, 1995:
Re: Implementation of the Referendum Results: November 14, 1994 - Secession or
Discussion - City of Toronto
At its meeting held on May 3, 1995, the Committee of Metro Local Area Councils had
before it a communication (April 6, 1995) from the City Clerk, City of Toronto, respecting
the subject matter, a copy of which has been forwarded to all the area municipalities.
The Committee of Metro Local Area Councils decided to:
(a) receive the communication (April 6, 1995) from the City Clerk, City of Toronto,
with thanks;
'(b)
request the various municipalities to forward a copy of their reports on this matter
to COMLAC; and
(c) request the various municipalities to advise COMLAC of their views on the
proposed dissolution of Metro and also to provide a response as to whether or not
they wish to explore the area of dissolution further with the City of Toronto.
Task Force On The Greater Toronto Area
At its meeting held on May 3, 1995, the Committee of Metro Local Area
before it the following attached material:
(a) a copy of the workplan for the Task Force on the GTA headed
Golden; and
Councils had
by Dr. Anne
(b)
a copy of a memorandum (April 20, 1995) from Mayor Lastman addressed to all
members of North York Council regarding membership on a municipal staff group
responding to the Golden Task Force on the GTA.
The Committee of Metro Local Area Councils decided to receive this matter and to
suggest to the area municipalities that they appoint a member of COMLAC, and an
alternate, to the municipal staff group responding to the Golden Task Force on the GTA.
Attached to the foregoing letter was a memorandum dated April 20, 1995, from Mayor M.
Lastman of the City of North York and the attached letter to all Metropolitan Mayors from
Mr. Alan Tonks, Metropolitan Chairman, dated April 20, 1995.
Newsletter from Ms. Anne Golden and the Greater Toronto Area Task Force, 393
University Avenue, 20th Floor, Suite 2001, Toronto, M5G 1E6, dated June 2, 1995:
Welcome to the first fax bulletin from the GTA Task Force. Hot off the computer, GTA
Fax News brings you the latest information about the Task Force.
GTA Fax News is only one of many elements in our multi-faceted communications
program. Were planning to send it out regularly (every two to three weeks) to keep you
up-to-date on our work.
An incredible amount of focused activity has taken place since the Task Force began
formal operations on April 1. Here are the highlights.
Municipal Finance:
As you know, weve been asked to address municipal finance as our number one priority.
Weve consulted with many of the acknowledged leaders in the field, ranging from
provincial and municipal staff, to elected officials, to independent experts. Twenty-one of
them have agreed to join our Finance Working Group (their names are attached). Were
encouraged by the depth and breadth of the understanding and experience they bring to
this complex issue.
The Working Group will play an important role in helping to steer our research and
analysis. There was general agreement that the municipal finance problem includes the
following key issues:
t
B
Assessment reform.
B
High level of business taxes in Metropolitan Toronto.
B
Prospect of a downward spiral in the central city.
,, B
Imbalance between municipal responsibilities and the municipal finance base.
B
Transfers payment inequities.
B
Complexity and lack of accountability of the municipal finance system.
B
Impact of property tax on land use.
The Task Force hopes to be able to address all of these issues, though the need for an
interim report this fall brings some constraints.
the other area municipalities because we do not have costly subway lines; we also do not
receive a share in Metros Multi Cultural grant allocations. The list could be expanded
through further study of the matter.
The Borough of East York appears to benefit from its membership in the Metro federation
both financially and through the sharing of expertise and ideas. We recommend that the
Borough not support the City of Torontos resolution to dissolve the Metro level of
government. We should instead focus our efforts on the main event, which is the Greater
Toronto Area Task Force.
Conclusion:
Staff have provided Council, for their consideration, a listing of various fiscal reform
measures. Given the Task Forces current September reporting deadline, we should
consider the timeliness of our submission. Council should also give consideration to the
further direction of the review and public consultation process on issues relating to the
mandate of the GTA Task Force.
Attached to the foregoing report were Schedule A entitled Borough of East York
Operating Fund Revenues, Schedule B (i) entitled Changes in Assessment Base 1984-
1994), Schedule B (ii) entitled Commercial/ Industrial Assessment Percentage Change 1984-
1994) Schedule B (iii) entitled Total Assessment - Percentage Change 1984-1994) Schedule
C entitled Commercial Mill Rate Percentage Change 1984-1994), Schedule D entitled
Borough of East York Comparison of Per Capita Costs 1988-1992, Schedule E entitled
Metro Area Commercial Tax Rates, Schedule F entitled Share of Property Value vs. Share
of Tax Burden in Metro, 1992 ($billion), Schedule G entitled An Illustration of the Problem
of Volatility Using Market Values, Schedule H entitled Fair Tax Commission- Assessment
Reform Recommendations, Schedule I entitled Summary of The Dissolution of
Metropolitan Toronto Act, 1995, Schedule J entitled Municipal Population, Schedule K
entitled The Metropolitan Toronto School Board 1995 Sharing Ratios - A Percentage
Comparison, Schedule L entitled Statement of Assessment for 1995 Metropolitan Levy
Apportionment, Schedule M entitle Summary of Proposed Fiscal Reform
Recommendations.
Report of the Medical Officer of Health, Borough of East York, dated June 12, 1995:
This report is submitted on behalf of the East York Board of Health for the information
of Council as it prepares its submission to the GTA (Golden) Task Force on the issue of
municipal financing.
Since 1989, the six local boards of health in Metropolitan Toronto have advocated with the
Province to re-consider the provincial: municipal funding ratio for local public health
services and to make this ratio uniform across Ontario. At present, the ratio is 40:60 within
Metro and 75:25 outside of Metro. The original rationale for this difference related to
higher property tax revenues within Metro.
Past discussions involving the Premier, the Minister of Health and the municipal Mayors
and Board Chairs failed to generate action,
in part due to successive changes in
government. In 1991, the Province referred the matter to disentanglement and no further
action has been taken on it as a result.
The Liaison Committees advocacy efforts have centred on a report that outlines the
rationale for providing an equitable funding base for health units in Metro. The document
was updated in early 1995 and has been endorsed by the East York Board of Health
(attached).
Attached to the foregoing report was a draft report entitled Funding of Public Health
Units in Metropolitan Toronto, Updated and Revised from the Liaison Committee of
Boards of Health for Metropolitan Toronto, dated April 21, 1995.
At its meeting held on May 3, 1995 the Committee of Metro Local Area Councils had
before it your communication (May 2, 1995) requesting information on COMLACS
mandate.
The Committee of Metro Local Area Councils decided to:
(a) forward a copy of its Terms of Reference to the Borough of East York and
b)
to confirm to the Borough of East York that amalgamation issues are not part of
COMLACS mandate.
Accordingly, I am attaching a copy of COMLACS Terms of Reference for your
information.
Attached Committee of Metro Local Area Councils (COMLAC) Terms of Reference:
The Committee of Metro Local Area Councils (COMLAC) is an inter-municipal committee
of elected officials from Metropolitan Toronto local area Councils who will meet on a
regular basis to discuss issues of mutual concern. This group will serve to provide a forum
to hear the full range of views on issues of interest to local area municipalities. It will
allow for the exploration of options and opportunities that might not be readily available
to a single municipality, but that through joint or cooperative action, might result in a
viable and desirable overall strategy. COMLAC will explore opportunities to maximize the
use of available resources within the municipalities on specific issues.
This group is intended to augment the efforts of individual local area Councils and not
to usurp the rights and prerogatives of these bodies to make decisions within their areas
of responsibility. COMLAC will support these initiatives by being a forum whereby the
overall concerns of Metro local area municipalities will be fully heard and discussed. any
actions recommended by this group will be brought back by its members to their respective
Councils for review, discussion and final decision.
This group will be supported by senior staff representatives from each of the local area
municipalities. The staff group will draw upon, as appropriate, existing inter-municipal
staff committees which deal with specific issues, such as for finance, planning, public
health and public works. It will also work on issues not currently being addressed by
Metro local area municipalities.
These reform measures require study, however, it appears that most of these reform
measures will have the potential to reduce Metros portion of the East York tax levy. The
exceptions appear to be the consolidated business occupancy rate, removal of the weighted
residential assessment from the mill rate and a payroll tax to replace the business
occupancy tax. Since these latter reform measures have the potential to shift and change
the tax burden among different classes of rate payers, we suggest that East York Council
request the GTA Task Force to provide further clarification on the potential impacts prior
to supporting these fiscal reforms.
5. GTA Task Force - Timelines and Processes:
Contact with
.
staff at the GTA Task Force office has indicated the following:
The Task Force is still expecting to complete a report for September 1995.
The focus of the report will be the assessment crisis in Metro although
other fiscal reform issues will be included.
The Working Group on fiscal reform has reached a common definition of
the problems. The group is now entering the research stage of the study.
A plan for consultation with the municipalities and the public has not been
formalized and it is not expected to be until the end of June. However, we
have been urged to submit material to the working group whenever it is
available.
6. City of Torontos Resolution - The Dissolution of Metropolitan Toronto Act, 1995.:
Attached Schedule I provides a brief outline of the City of Torontos resolution which East
York has been requested to respond to. An actual copy of the resolution is available upon
request from the Clerks Department. We cannot provide a cost benefit analysis of the
proposed structure since it has not been determined where the services will be provided.
What is evident in this proposed structure is East Yorks lack of influence, since the
number of votes cast by the Boroughs representative will be related to the size of the
Boroughs population. East York has the smallest population in the Metro area as detailed
in Schedule J.
The Borough currently benefits from its membership in the Metro federation. A
quantifiable example is related to school board funding. Schedule K details the sharing
ratios for all the area municipalities. The Borough of East York currently contributes 3.05%
of the Metro School Boards tax revenues, but spends 5.1670 of the Metro School Boards
budget for a net gain of approximately $45 million. The City of Toronto contributes 42.41%
of the Metro School Boards tax revenues and spends 28.44% of the Metro School Boards
budget for a net contribution of approximately $298 million.
Schedule L details the municipal sharing ratios of Metropolitan Torontos Levy. Since
East York has the smallest assessment base, our relative portion of the Metro Levy is the
smallest of the area municipalities. This appears to be a benefit for East York. However,
a comparison of the consumption of Metros services with the amount paid to Metro
Toronto would provide a better indication of the value received by those who share
Metros levy. It should be noted that East Yorks value received from Metro differs from
d) Social Assistance Funding:
The FTC stated that funding for general welfare assistance should be removed from the
property tax base. Metro Council and the Board of Trade have endorsed this reform
measure. Todays economic environment dictates that this will likely be a longer term
reform measure. However, Council could still support this as a reform measure in the
hope that it may one day reduce Metros portion of the East York tax levy.
e) Variable Tax Rates:
The FTC recommended that municipal governments be allowed to establish their own
rates of tax on non residential properties, subject to a minimum rate set by the provincial
government. This fiscal reform would assist the municipalities in their dealings with the
business community. Municipal councils would have some discretion in the amount of tax
increases that they-pass on to the
beneficial to have this discretion,
measure.
f)
Business Occupancy Tax:
business community.
East York Council may find it
and we therefore suggest the support of this reform
The FTC has recommended that the business occupancy tax be abolished and that the
revenue be replaced with residential and non residential taxes. Business would be taxed
at the provincial level.
In East York, this would mean the shifting of $2.5 million in
business taxes to the residential and non residential sector. We suggest that East York
Council not support this reform measure. We would suggest however, that Council
support a review of the business occupancy tax with a view to establishing a link between
the amount of tax a business pays and its financial health.
g)
The following reform measures have been identified by Metro Toronto:
Business Occupancy Tax - consolidation of the five rates of taxation into one
average rate. The same amount of business tax would be collected.
However, the shift in taxation would be from larger business toward small
business.
The removal of weighted residential assessment from the mill rate setting
process. This would impact the residential property owner whose property
tax burden would increase. However, residential and non residential
property owners would be treated equally.
-
Pooling of a portion of the annual growth of all local assessment bases in
the GTA.
New revenue sources: hotel room tax, Metro Toronto lottery, share of
provincial sales and gasoline tax bases, payroll tax as an alternative to the
business occupancy tax.
Goals And Objectives
COMLAC will be guided by the following goals and objectives:
A. To support the role of local area Councils as representatives of the government
closest to the immediate and daily concerns of citizens.
B. To work cooperatively with other levels of government, other municipalities in the
Greater Toronto Area, and municipal sector organizations to address issues of
concern to Toronto area municipalities.
c. To explore joint actions between Metro local area municipalities so as to enhance
the overall efficiency and effectiveness of area municipalities.
Role Of The Committee
The role of COMLAC is:
I I *
To discuss issues of mutual concern and interest regarding municipal services and
operations within the Metropolitan Toronto area.
I ! *
To discuss issues related to the activities and initiatives of other levels of
government, as these impact on Metro local area municipalities.
I I *
To recommend joint or compatible action on inter-municipal issues in areas within
the jurisdiction and responsibility of the local area municipalities.
I I *
To recommend collective action on intergovernmental issues, in order to maximize
the impact of representations to the various levels of government and to municipal
sector bodies including the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the
Federation of Canadian Municipalities.
I I *
Actions recommended by COMLAC to local area Councils may take the form of:
administrative and operational initiatives in areas within the jurisdiction of
area municipalities;
advocacy, thorough reports and personal representation, to other levels of
government and municipal sector bodies on issues dealing with policy or
implementation actions;
-
sharing of resources,
data, research to support the activities of the
Committee; and
exploring initiatives with other municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area
on issues of mutual concern.
Gener al Ar eas Of Int er est
COMLAC will focus on issues within the following generaI areas:
i) Act ivit ies of t he Mu nicip alit y of Met r op olit an Tor ont o which imp act
mu nicip alit ies;
ii) Act ivit ies of t he Pr ovince of Ont ar io and it s agencies which imp act
mu nicip alit ies;
iii) Activities of individual Metro local area municipalities which impact on o
municipalit ies, or which pr esent oppor t unit ies for joint act ion wit h ot
municipalit ies; and
iv) Act ivit ies of ot her municipalit ies in t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea which im
have the potential for impacting, on area municipalities.
Member ship
COMLAC will consist of up to two Councillors from each of the six area munic
Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, East York and York.
Staff Support
Each municipality will appoint one senior staff member to act as liaison person to
COMLAC and to coordinate actions within each municipality. This persons responsibility
would also include regular attendance at Committee meetings and at inter-municipal staff
meetings. Other senior staff may also attend meetings as appropriate.
Guests
COMLAC will invite, from time to time, guests to their meetings to assist the Committee
in its discussions on specific issues.
Officials could be invited from:
I I *
government-related bodies such as the Province of Ontario, School Boards and
Metropolitan Toronto;
M *
from special commissions such as the Commission on Planning and Development
Reform, the Fair Tax Commission and the Disentanglement Review Group;
I I *
from other municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area; and
U *
from municipal sector groups such as the Association of Municipalities of Ontario.
Procedures
Procedures for COMLAC will be determined by the Committee.
The City rationalized it in this way in their draft submission to the GTA Task
fiscal reform:The FTC unit value mod el pr ovid ed for pur e unit assessment
geographic zones, and variation among zones to reflect differences in rental val
the term reflect was not defined in relation to rental value, it might be inferred
1500 sq. ft. house on a 3,000 sq. ft.. lot in Zone A typically rented for 50% more
same size house on the same lot in Zone B, the taxable assessment of a Zone
would be 50% higher. The City felt that such a system is not implementable in a
in which property tax reform must be revenue neutral, due to the volatility fac
The City of Toronto modified the residential assessment system so that it woul
on property dimensions alone, subject to a restriction that the resulting annua
exceed some pr opor t ion of t he imput ed annual r ent . The Cit y of Tor ont o has no
published any impact studies for their proposed model.
Market Value Assessment (MVA):
This is the model currently in use in Metro. The recent MVA plan failed beca
did not think it was fair. The FTC has discredited the MVA model because it
sat isfy many of t he pr inciples upon which a fair and accept able assessment
based .
Review of an alternative assessment system has received the support of Metr
City of Toronto and the Board of Trade. Metro Council, in a recent report, has
its willingness to act as a pilot project for testing the Fair Tax Commission a
p r op osals.
We suggest t hat East Yor k Council suppor t t he r eview of an alt er nat ive a
system. The system would be based on the principles advanced by the FTC a
restore a greater degree of balance to the property tax burden between the class
exist elsewhere in the GTA.
b) Ed ucat ion Finance Refor m:
The FTC recommended that education financing be removed from the residenti
tax and that these expenditures be funded from revenue sources that reflected
ability to pay. These expenditures would have been financed through income
other provincial revenue sources.
However, in a March 1995 report, the Minister of Education and Training indic
t he st ud y of ed ucat ion finance must oper at e wit hin t he assumpt ion t he p
contribution to education will not increase, given the governments commitme
wit hin it s means. The opposit ion par t ies have not d isagr eed wit h t his posit
parties have also included income tax reductions in their platforms. It appears
residential property tax for education purposes will remain where it is.
The Board of Trades Position on Education Financing:
Since education provides a universal benefit to business, The Board of Trade fe
is unfair to force Metro businesses to bear the very heavy local cost of educa
Board advocates the introduction of a uniform provincial property tax rate on
for education purposes to replace all the separate local rates across the provinc
City of Torontos Position on Education Financing:
The City feels that a major cause of the GTA tax gap is a provincial school funding system
which is biased against the urban areas. The Metro area contributes approximately $1
billion/ year(net) to fund education systems in municipalities whose property taxes are
lower than ours.
Metro School Board financing relies on the pool system, whereby Toronto, Etobicoke and
North York raise more property taxes than their schools cost with the surplus being
transferred to school boards in York, East York and Scarborough. The City proposes to de-
pool Metro property taxes with the Province funding the York, East York and Scarborough
School Boards. The new funds would be sufficient to maintain the school board budgets
of York, East York and Scarborough, and reduce effective education tax rates for business
to the outer GTA level (equivalent to a 20% reduction in the total tax bill). In the City, tax
bills for business under this scenario would decrease by approximately 23%. There would
be no change in residential taxes anywhere in Metro. The cost to the Province would be
approximately $600 million/ year, which should be financed from the Provincial education
grant fund (currently funded at approximately $5 billion/ year).
If de-pooling is not feasible in the short run, Provincial funding should flow directly to
the Metropolitan Toronto School Board and the Metro Separate School Board as required
to reduce commercial/ industrial taxes by 20% Metro-wide. The cost to the Province under
this scenario would be approximately $500 million/ year, which should be financed as
under the de-pooling scenario....
The issue of education finance is currently under review by the Sweeney Task Force. The
East York Board of Education is expected to submit a position paper to the Task Force by
the end of June. The Task Force is expected to report by November 1, 1995.
c) Equity of Provincial Grants:
Metro has indicated that the difference in some funding received by Metro Toronto and
the outer GTA municipalities appears to be related to how ability to pay is measured by
the formulas. The impact of moving away from assessment or population based formulas
need to be explored.
It has been stated that Provincial grants for Education and Police Services do not take into
account the many unique requirements of the Metro area. The basis for calculating grants
should be revised to ensure that the payments provide adequate funding and that they are
fairly distributed.
The inequity in the funding of East Yorks health services has already been stated. In past
years, the Borough also received minimal resource equalization grants because our per
capita assessment was much greater than the provincial average. We suggest that East
York Council request the GTA Task Force to examine the equity of provincial grant
funding.
municipalities become wealthier. The flight of business from the Metro area is said to be
caused by the tax gap which exists between Metro and the outer GTA municipalities
whose commercial / industrial tax rates are lower.
Illustrating the GTA Tax Gap:
The Board of Trade in their publication Killing The Golden Goose has indicated that
businesses locating in Metro Toronto pay realty and/ or business taxes on commercial
properties which are typically from 45% to over 80% higher than the rest of the GTA. On
industrial space, the potential savings typically range between 35% and 50%.
Consequently, many Metro businesses could halve their property taxes simply by
relocating outside of Metro.
Attached Schedule E illustrates the commercial/ industrial tax gap between Metro area
municipalities and some outer GTA municipalities. East Yorks commercial tax rate (per
sq. ft.) is one of the lowest in the Metro area, but Mississaugas tax rate is still 37% lower.
East Yorks industrial tax rate (per sq. ft.) is one of the highest in the Metro area, which
would make it much harder to compete with the tax rate in Markham or Vaughan which
is 4770 lower. There may be numerous reasons why businesses are leaving the Metro area
but the tax premium paid on a Metro location is certainly one of them.
e) Reasons for the Tax Gap:
The reasons cited for the tax gap have been assessment policy, higher cost structure of
services provided in the Metro area and the inequity of provincial grants. The latter two
problems have been discussed.
Assessment Policy:
One problem in Metropolitan Toronto is the discrepancy in tax burden between the
residential and non residential classes. According to the Fair Tax Commission, commercial
and industrial property (in Metropolitan Toronto) is taxed at roughly twice the rate of
residential property. Schedule F shows that the commercial/ industrial sector represents
approximately 30% of the total market value assessment base but shares in 57% of the tax
burden. Whereas the single residential sector represents 62% of the total market value
assessment base and shares in 29% of the tax burden.
The last reassessment in Metropolitan Toronto was undertaken in 1953. The recent failed
attempt to update the market value assessment base would not have corrected the problem
in the short run because of the caps put in place to protect residential and industrial
property owners against tax increases. Several business owners would also have
experienced significant tax increases.
According to the Assessment Act, all real property must be assessed at its market value.
However, the Fair Tax Commission has discredited the use of market values as a basis for
assessment valuation. Market values include a value attributable to potential future uses
or changes in value. These values are speculative and will vary with the business cycle and
the health of the local economy. This is especially true in the Metropolitan area. Attached
Schedule G illustrates the problem of volatility using market values. This volatility would
make the tax base extremely unstable. Taxpayers have also complained about not being
able to understand how the current assessment system works.
There are enough
weaknesses in the market value assessment model to merit the examination of an alternate
assessment system.
4. Fiscal Reform Issues:
The fiscal challenges faced by the Borough include: an eroding assessment base,
increasing costs, and declining and inequitable provincial grant funding. The discussion
will now focus on various fiscal reform measures which have been proposed to assist
municipalities to meet these challenges. The GTA Task Force will be studying and
performing financial modelling of various reform measures identified through its review.
a) Assessment Reform:
There are currently three known assessment models available for review by the GTA Task
Force:
Fair Tax Commission-Unit Value Assessment System:
The Fair Tax Commission completed a study entitled Fair Taxation in a Changing World
in December 1993. This study will be drawn upon by the GTA Task Force as they examine
fiscal reform issues.
The Fair Tax Commission (FTC) proposed that an assessment system, in addition to
meeting a fairness criterion, should be guided by the following principles:
From the viewpoint of the ratepayer, individual assessments should be:
objectively verifiable and easily reproduced;
clearly understood;
consistently administered;
not subject to large year to year fluctuations; and
may be appealed in an accessible, objective, and fair process.
From the perspective of provincial and local governments, the system should have:
a stable revenue potential over time;
the lowest possible administrative costs consistent with fairness
objectives; and
the least possible negative impact on economic development, both
within the local area and in the province. P.692
To satisfy these principles, the FTC recommended that the existing market value based
system be replaced with a unit value system which is detailed in Schedule H. The unit
value system remains untested at this time and detailed impacts are unknown.
City of Torontos Proposed Assessment System:
The City of Toronto has recently proposed an assessment system closely related to the
system proposed by the FTC.
While the City supported the FTCs model for non
residential assessment, they did not support all the elements of the residential model.
r el a t i vel y l ower t a x r a t es on commer ci a l / i n d u st r i a l p r op er t i es. Th e Me
municipalities are hoping that the GTA Task Force will recommend fiscal reform
which will correct some of the fiscally related inequities between the inner' an
GTA municipalities. These would assist Metro area municipalities in reducing
rates through cost reductions. Metro area municipalities may then be in a better pos
to entice business to remain.
2. The Bor oughs Financial Pict ur e:
In a decade, from 1984 to 1994, the Boroughs operating fund expenditures have
79%. Schedule A shows that the Composition of the Boroughs sources of operat
r evenues have r emained fair ly consist ent wit h pr ovincial gr ant s d eclining 2.6%
r evenues incr easing 1.1%.
The assessment base (Sched ule B(i)) exper ienced a $12.4 million ($1.5 million
por t ion -1995 t ax d ollar s) d ecline in commer cial/ ind ust r ial assessment which
by a $15.2 million ($1.5 million Borough portion -1995 tax dollars) increase in r
assessment resulting in a modest increase of .9770 in total assessment.
Sched ule C illust r at es t he impact of incr eased expend it ur es and a mod est ly
assessment base on a commercial/ industrial ratepayer. Over the decade, a prop
experienced an 85.1% increase in their property tax bill. This includes an increase
for the local government portion, 94.3% for the public school board portion and
t he r egional gover nment por t ion. In 1984, the Borough had the third lowest milI rat
the Metro area. In 1995, the Borough had the second highest mill rate in the M
Schedule D provides us with a comparison of the Boroughs per capita total c
some Metro area municipalities as well as some outer GTA municipalities. East
capita personnel and total costs were average for Metro and the group of mun
However, its increases in per capita costs were on the high end of the scale. On
Metro municipalities spent slightly more on personnel costs and slightly lesson
per capita than the outer GTA municipalities.
During the period 1988-1994, the Boroughs reserve and reserve fund balances
by 46% to $14.6 million. This reflects the success of the Boroughs pay as you g
financing program. Funds are transferred to reserves from the operating fund t
the Boroughs capital works program. Debenture costs are declining each year with
expectation that we will be debt free by 2003.
3. The Bor oughs Challenges:
a) Incr easing Cost s:
The Bor ough is cont inuing in it s effor t s t o cont r ol cost s t hr ough st r eamlin
r eor ganizat ion. However, in spite of our efforts we will continue to feel the press
increasing costs with the expiration of the social contract in 1996. Council will
t o be challenged by t he balance t hey must st r ike bet ween t ax incr eases an
provision.
b) Higher Cost Structure of Metro Toronto and the Public School Board Services:
The Metropolitan Toronto School Board and Metro Toronto represent 79% of the
Boroughs tax bill, and their financial pressures also impact on the Boroughs ratepayer.
Metro Toronto in their report An Agenda for Fiscal Reform in Metro Toronto indicated
the following reasons for the higher cost structure of their services:
Many of the human and social services, particularly those delivered by
Metro Toronto and the school boards (education, policing, hostels, daycare,
welfare, and homes for the aged), are required more heavily by certain
segments of the population. Low income families, older individuals, recent
immigrants and individuals with low educational attainment are more
likely to place higher demands on these services. The population of Metro
Toronto, as is the case in the central areas of many major urban areas, has
a larger and higher concentration of these special needs than are found in
the newer, primarily single family, outer suburbs of these regions. The
higher service demands from this inner city population drive up the costs
for public service providers, which in turn increases taxes. If these higher
costs are not compensated for in some way there is a risk of further
polarization of the population, leading to a downward spiral. P.5.
Metro tax payers also fund costly services such as the Metro Zoo and the Toronto
Reference Library which are enjoyed by all the residents and businesses of the Greater
Toronto Area.
c) Inequities in Provincial Grant Funding:
The Boroughs proportionate share of total provincial funding has declined 2.6% over the
decade. This includes unconditional and conditional grants, as well any other provincial
funding received by the Health Unit, Parks, Recreation and Operations Department and
the Library. Provincial funding will probably continue to decline as the Province attempts
to reduce its deficit. Another problem relates to the equity of provincial funding. The
Health Units general programs continue to be funded at 40%, while outer GTA
municipalities receive 75% funding.
The Metropolitan Toronto School Board receives
virtually no funding from the Province, while the school boards in the four other GTA
regional municipalities all receive funding.
Metro has stated that the TTC is the least
provincially subsidized transit authority in the Province, while transit operators elsewhere
receive relatively higher levels of funding. Ambulance services . . . represent another service
in which provincial transfers are comparatively lower in Metro than the rest of the GTA.
d) Eroding Assessment Base:
The Boroughs assessment base continues to be eroded through record numbers of tax
appeals, which have resulted from the availability of the MVA information. The Boroughs
non residential assessment has declined 16.35% over the past decade. Non residential
assessment is the most profitable segment of a municipalitys tax base because it pays
similar or higher taxes than a residential property, but generally demands less in the way
of servicing. As Schedule B(ii) indicated, East York and other Metro area municipalities
are losing non residential assessment to the suburban municipalities, thereby causing Metro
area municipalities to come under increased financial pressure while the surrounding
THE CORPORATION OF THE BOROUGH OF EAST YORK
Item 7, Report No. 1 of the REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE, as
adopted by Council at its meeting on June 19, 1995, without amendment.
7.
The
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
REVIEW OF METROPOLITAN TORONTO GOVERNMENT
Regulatory and Development Committee recommends as follows:
approval of recommendations no. (2) and (3) contained in the following
report of the Chief Administrative Officer, dated June 12, 1995;
that the Council of the Borough of East York requests the Finance Working
Group of the Greater Toronto Area Task Force to study the issue of variable
tax rates;
that the aforementioned report of the Chief Administrative Officer be
forwarded to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force for their information;
that the Chief Administrative Officer be requested to continue receiving
input and information on the review of Metropolitan Toronto Government
and to report once in receipt of further details concerning the direction of
the Greater Toronto Area Task Force;
that the Chief Administrative Officer be requested to report after preparing
preliminary comments on political structure and governance issues;
that the Committee of Local Area Councils be advised, that at the present
time, the Borough of East York wishes to maintain its observer status with
respect to membership on the Committee of Metro Local Area Councils and
that the Chief Administrative Officer continue to represent the Borough of
East York in this capacity;
that the following report of the Medical Officer of Health of the East York
Health Unit, dated June 12,1995, be received and noted;
that the following letter from the Secretary, Committee of Metro Local Area
Councils, dated May 12, 1995, regarding the Terms of Reference of that
Committee, be received and noted;
that the following letter from the Secretary, Committee of Metro Local Area
Councils, dated May 12, 1995, regarding the City of Toronto proposal for
dissolution of Metropolitan Toronto, be received and noted;
(IO) that the following letter from the Secretary, Committee of Metro Local Area
Councils, dated May 12,1995, regarding appointments to a municipal staff
group responding to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force, be received and
noted; and
(11) that the following newsletter from Ms. Anne Golden, the Greater Toronto
Area Task Force, dated June 2 1995, be received and noted.
Report of the Chief Administrative Officer, dated Tune 12, 1995:
Recommendations:
(1) Council provide staff with further direction regarding the review and public
consultation process on issues relating to the mandate of the Greater Toronto
Area Task Force;
(2) Council not support the City of Torontos resolution to dissolve The Municipality
of Metropolitan Toronto; and
(3) the Borough Clerk advise the City of Toronto, Municipality of Metropolitan
Toronto and the other area municipalities of the Boroughs position.
Background:
Council, at its April 18, 1995 meeting, endorsed the process for the Boroughs review of
issues relating to the mandate of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Task Force. As part of
this process, staff have prepared a report which defines the problems that have necessitated
the need for fiscal reform. This is followed by a presentation of fiscal reform options. We
have also made suggestions on items to be forwarded to the GTA Task Force for further
study and review. At this time, the GTA Task Force is expected to complete a report on
fiscal reform by September 1995. Issues relating to the governance of the GTA have been
left for future discussion to coincide with the Task Forces examination of the governance
issues.
Council has advised the City of Toronto that the Borough would be responding to their
request for comment on their proposed dissolution of Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
after June 19, 1995. This report also addresses that matter.
Discussion:
l. An Overview of the Problems:
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) comprises 30 municipalities and 5 regions. The
municipalities range from Burlington in the west to Clarington in the east and north to
Lake Simcoe. The regions include Halton, Peel, York Durham and Metropolitan Toronto.
Metropolitan Toronto area municipalities and the City of Toronto in particular, feel that the
vitality of the inner city is being threatened and that we are in danger of suffering the
donut syndrome as businesses take flight to the outer GTA municipalities, which offer
Office of the Chief Administrative Officer
September 13, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
The Council of the Borough of East York met in a special session on Monday, September
11, 1995 to finalize its submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
The attached Council resolution, together with my report entitled Rational Reform in the
Greater Toronto Area: The East York Proposal form East Yorks formal submission to you.
If you have any questions or require clarification, kindly call me at (416) 778-2160.
Yours truly,
/ cl
Encls.
Cc. Mayor Michael Prue
Borough Clerk
GTA TASK FORCE
X50 Coxwcll Avenue B East York, Ontario B M4C 5R 1 B Tel 4 ] ()/778.2] 60 . Fax 4 I 6/77~.9254
THE CORPORATION OF THE BOROUGH OF EAST YORK
RESOLUTION
September 11, 1995 No. 1.375
Moved by M. Prue
Seconded by L. Krawchuk
RESOLVED THAT the Council of The Corporation of the Borough of East York
hereby approves the following recommendations contained in the report of the Chief
Administrative Officer, dated August 25, 1995:
(1) That Council request the Provincial Government to consider as a priority the reform of
the existing property tax system, particularly as it is implemented in the Greater Toronto
Area;
(2) That Council request the Provincial Government to revise its policies and programs on
grants to municipalities, health units and school boards so that there is equitable
application within the Greater Toronto Area;
(3) That Council request the Provincial Government to examine the feasibility of granting
new sources of revenue for the Greater Toronto Region;
(4) That the revised boundaries of the Borough of East York be: on the south, Danforth
Avenue; on the west, the existing boundary of Bayview Extension, Moore Valley to
Moore Avenue and Bayview Avenue; on the north, the southern property line of
Sunnybrook Hospital, east to the Don River West Branch to the northern boundary of
Sunnybrook Park, east to the CN Rail Line Leaside Branch, south-east to the CP Cross
Town Rail Line, north-east to the Don River East Branch, south to Eglinton Avenue, east
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(lo)
(11)
- 2 -
to the Hydro Corridor and north-east to Warden Avenue; on the east, Warden Avenue
in accordance with Appendix A, and as shown on the map described as Appendix B of
the report of the Chief Administrative Officer, dated August 25, 1995;
That the Golden Task Force consider similar boundary changes within the GTA, to both
area and regional municipal borders, to promote wholeness of communities, divisions
along natural and urban barriers, acceptable commercial / industrial to residential
assessment ratios and regularized service areas;
That the Golden Task Force consider the benefits of smaller-sized municipalities as it
develops options for the restructuring of government across the GTA;
That the current division of responsibilities between the area and regional level of
governments be reviewed and amended to improve service to the public, eliminate
duplication and strengthen accountability;
That, if the provincial government determines to eliminate the Metro Toronto level of
government, it be replaced with an over-arching authority accountable for certain cross-
municipal needs;
That, if the provincial government determines to eliminate the Metro Toronto level of
government and replace it with an over-arching authority, the elected representation be
by members of local area Councils;
That, if the provincial government determines to eliminate any special purpose bodies
within East York, the Borough Council assume direct responsibility for the functions and
services delivered; and
That having received public comment, the Council forward the aforementioned
recommendations to the Golden Task Force before the end of September, 1995.
Borough Clerk Wm. Alexander, Jr. Mayor M. Prue
Reform in the Greater Toronto Area:
The East York Proposal
Rational Reform in the Greater Toronto Area:
SUMMARY OF
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations on
Boundary Redefinition
THAT the revised boundaries of the Borough of East York be:
B
on the south, Danforth Avenue;
B
on the west, the existing boundary of Bayview Exten-
sion, Moore Valley to Moore Avenue and BayviewAv-
enue;
B
on the north, the southern property line of Sunnybrook
Hospital, east to the Don River West Branch to the
northern boundary of Sunnybrook Park, east to the
CN Rail Line Leaside Branch, south-east to the CP
Cross Town Rail Line, north-east to the Don River East
Branch, south to Eglinton Avenue, east to the Hydro
Corridor and north-east to Warden Avenue;
B
on the east, Warden Avenue. (More particularly de-
scribed in Appendix A, and as shown on the map at-
tached as Appendix B.)
THAT the Golden Task Force consider similar boundary
changes within the GTA, to both area and regional municipal
borders, to promote wholeness of communities, divisions
along natural and urban barriers, acceptable commercial/ in-
dustrial to residential assessment ratios and regularized ser-
vice areas.
THAT the Golden Task Force consider the benefits of smaller-
sized municipalities as it develops options for the restructur-
ing of government across the GTA.
Reform in the GTA
Recommendations
THAT the current division of responsibilities between the area
on Region-Wide and regional level of governments be reviewed and amended
Gov er n men t
to improve service to the public, eliminate duplication and
strengthen accountability
THAT, if the provincial government determines to eliminate
the Metro Toronto level of government, it be replaced with an
over-arching authority accountable for certain cross-munici-
pal needs.
the Metro Toronto level of government and replace it with an
over-arching authority, the elected representation be by mem-
bers of local area Councils.
Recommendations on
Special Purpose Bodies
any special purpose bodies within East York, the Borough
Council assume direct responsibility for the functions and
services delivered.
Reform i n the GTA 2 . The East York Proposal
PART 1 : BACKGROUND
1.1 Why An East York
T
he existing state of municipal and government structure
Position on
as it impacts the Borough of East York is fundamentally
Governance
good for the residents and businesses of East York. The con-
cept, as realized within East York, has a strong area munici-
pality held accountable by its attentive ratepayers for the effi-
cient delivery of primary municipal programs and services.
A second-tier municipality assumes responsibility for munici-
pal requirements which cross boundaries or achieve large
economies of scale. The theory of municipal governance is
sound; its application from the East York perspective is ac-
ceptable.
East York believes that the primary problem which encum-
bers municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area is the struc-
ture of municipal financing. In particular, the current prop-
erty tax system, as implemented in the GTA, produces ineq-
uities among taxpayers within and between municipalities.
The Boroughs tax assessment base and its modest growth
has been sufficient for the prudent and responsible delivery
of local government in East York for 28 years. However, it has
been weakened in recent years by assessment appeals and
shifts in the non-residential base. If these trends continue un-
checked, if reform to the property tax system is not forthcom-
ing and if provincial grants are further reduced, the East York
assessment base could become inadequate. At its June 19,1995
meeting, Borough Council considered a report discussing the
issues of municipal finance and property tax reform. This re-
port was forwarded to the Golden Task Force.
Although the Borough can define the problem and seek a so-
lution on the narrow terms of municipal finance and prop-
erty taxation, we recognize that other municipal governments
in the GTA and the provincial government have different per-
spectives. As a result, other issues have been introduced by
them, particularly related to governance, and will be consid-
ered along with the municipal finance issues.
We have reviewed the proposals which various municipali-
ties have brought forward, and we have listened to a myriad
of opinions about change in the GTA. Some of these propos-
als, implicitly or explicitly call for the elimination of the Bor-
ough of East York. For this reason, East York is compelled to
describe a proposal for governance which serves the best in-
terests of the ratepayers of the Borough, but contains general
implications for good governance in the GTA.
Reform in the GTA
3 . The East York Proposal
1.2 Pri n ci p l es for
Change
This proposal not only promotes the survival of East York in
response to calls for elimination, but advocates East York as a
model of responsive, open and cost-efficient government able
to serve its citizens in a special way because of its smaller
size. Because of the uncertainty about action to resolve the
property taxation problems, we propose modest boundary
changes to ensure a viable assessment base. We recognize this
proposal results in minor encroachments on neighboring
municipalities, but we believe it is further justified by ben-
efits of rationalized communities and reasonable service ar-
eas.
This proposal is a modest one and specific to the circumstances
of East York. We do not presume to offer the solution to all
concerns of municipal governance, finance or values attrib-
uted to the GTA. Nevertheless, we suggest that the substance
of this specific proposal for rational reform may have value
for general application.
One should have regard to an acceptable framework of prin-
ciples in considering change to the municipal level of gover-
nment in the GTA. We propose the following principles which
are relevant to issues of function, form and financing.
A. Function
B Municipal services which are best defined by local
concerns and choice should be delivered by area mu-
nicipalities.
B Municipal services which benefit from economies of
scale or car r y pot ent ial spillover benefit s t o
neighboring municipalities should be delivered at a
regional level.
B The concept of redistribution of resources is valid at
the local level and is achieved through the appropri-
ate assignment of service responsibilities between the
province, the regional level and the area municipal-
ity.
B The sharing of services between tiers should be mini-
mized to avoid ratepayer confusion, conflicting poli-
cies and duplicate costs.
B. Form
B Municipalities within the GTA should contain well-
defined compact communities offering a variety of
employment opportunities and housing choices.
c.
B Municipalities should not be so large that citizens are
not permitted adequate access to the political and ad-
ministrative systems or that the local government loses
sensitivity to its citizens issues and concerns.
B Municipalities should be both small enough to know
what services and amenities their ratepayers want,
and large enough to supply them cost-effectively.
B Boundaries of municipalities should align with natu-
ral geographic barriers or significant linear landmarks
such as highways or rail lines, respect historic com-
munities and neighbourhoods, and define proper ser-
vicing areas.
Financing
B Municipal finance and taxation policies should sup-
port strong local government and compact urban
form.
B Municipal finance, provincial transfer and taxation
policies should be developed and implemented SQ as
to ensure equity among municipalities and to avoid
artificial advantages in attracting local business.
of accountability of the municipal government to its
ratepayers and electors.
Reform in the GTA
PART 2: PROPOSAL FOR
CHANGE IN THE GTA
2.1 Boundary
Redefinition w
e believe that some boundaries of the region currently
defined as Metropolitan Toronto and its encompassed
area municipalities are artificially drawn and have no rational
foundation. They do not accurately reflect identifiable com-
munities, natural topographic or urban features, or reason-
able service areas. The Steeles Avenue border of Metropolitan
Toronto (and Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough) does
not reflect the true commercial or residential community.
Within Metro, communities are fragmented by political bor-
ders. For example, the boundary between East York and the
City of Toronto near Danforth Avenue is convoluted and con-
fusing it does not align with the actual community of the
East Danforth.
In June of 1977, the Honorable John P. Robarts submitted his
report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Toronto which
made certain recommendations on the structure, organization
and operations of local government within the Metropolitan
Toronto area. The Commission noted that boundaries within
Met r opolit an Tor on t o weaved i r r egu l ar l y t h r ou gh
neighbourhoods and individual properties, often artificially
dissecting local streets. Robarts recommended a significant
realignment of boundaries of the area municipalities within
Metro which resulted in a more even distribution of popula-
tion among the six area municipalities while ensuring an ap-
propriate minimum population base. Specifically the recom-
mendations would have caused an increase in population of
East York and York by 130% and 600/ 0 respectively a decrease
in population for North York and Scarborough by 25% and
200/0 respectively and marginal or no change for Toronto and
Etobicoke. There would be corresponding shifts in the assess-
ment bases.
The boundaries chosen by the Robarts Commission aligned
along natural barriers. Further, they were consistent with
known community groupings, promoted an acceptable com-
mercial/ industrial assessment to residential assessment ratio,
and eliminated awkward servicing problems. The recom-
mended boundaries for the Borough of East York were Bayview
Avenue and Bayview Extension on the West, Danforth Avenue
on the South, Warden Avenue on the East, and York Mills Road
and Ellesmere Road on the North.
Although these recommendations of the Robarts Commis-
sion were not implemented by the provincial government of
the day, we believe that the concept and rationale are cur-
rently valid. However, the boundary redefinition proposed
by East York is more restrained than that proposed by Robarts.
It results in an increase in population of East York by approxi-
mately 75%, and has a modest impact on the size of the cities
of North York (.5.4/0 decrease in population), Toronto (3.9%
decrease in population) and Scarborough (4.1% decrease in
population). We do not believe these adjustments would com-
promise the integrity or efficiency of our neighboring mu-
nicipalities. The Golden Task Force in any event should con-
sider other rational boundary changes which would affect the
size of these cities (such as the boundaries of Scarboroughs
Port Union Road, North Yorks and Scarboroughs Steeles
Avenue and Torontos Victoria Park Avenue).
The following discussion addresses the reasoning for the pro-
posed boundary redefinition for East York. The details of
boundary proposal are set out in Appendix A and shown on
the map attached as Appendix B. Appendix C presents the
specific rationale for the boundary changes proposed.
A: Alignment of Community
Local municipalities need rational definition so that commu-
nities, both residential and commercial, can be properly iden-
tified, represented and supported. The alignment of commun-
ities to develop common interests in the municipal context
should have geographical common sense. Reasonable physi-
cal boundaries will support communities in focusing their
demands for municipal services and their expectations for
responsible government. Sensible physical borders better de-
fine the service areas for such permanent facilities as commun-
ity centres, fire haIIs and operations yards, and thereby sup-
port effective and cost-efficient delivery of service. Under the
current municipal boundaries within Metro, basic services
such as garbage collection and snow clearing are impeded by
the awkward street borders. Even in terms of economic de-
velopment, the arbitrary boundaries cause difficulty. For ex-
ample, the OConnor industrial area is split between East York
and North York and as a result cohesive economic develop-
ment support systems depend upon a high level of effort be-
tween municipalities.
Reform in the GTA
Therefore, the recommendations on boundary redefinition are
intended to resolve existing inadequacies as they affect East
York communities so as to realize the benefits of rationaliza-
tion.
B. Viable Assessment Base
The Borough of East York has the smallest ratio of industrial/
commercial assessment to residential assessment in Metro-
politan Toronto (220/ . industrial/ commercial to 78% residen-
tial). As indicated earlier, this base has been adequate to sus-
tain the delivery of municipal service in East York. However,
with the recession and aggressive competition from other GTA
municipalities for economic development, that tenuous tax
base has evolved to an uncomfortable level. The Robarts
Commission stated as an objective that any transfer of popu-
lation from one area municipality to another must be accom-
panied by a corresponding financial base.
The recommendations on boundary redefinition address both
the need to correct current inadequacies in the assessment
base, brought on by changes in the GTA economy and the
requirement to ensure a proper assessment base related to
proposed changes in the population. We estimate that the
implementation of the proposed boundary changes would
improve the Boroughs ratio of industrial/ commercial to resi-
dential assessment base from 22/ 78 to 31/ 69. This would
move East York closer to the current average ratio of 35/ 65
for Metropolitan Toronto municipalities.
C. Valued Characteristics of a
Smaller-scaled Municipality
The proposal on boundary redefinition is intended to enlarge
the area of the Borough of East York, but in modest propor-
tion. While we do not make specific recommendations on
other boundary changes to either area municipalities within
the current borders of Metropolitan Toronto or other area
municipalities within the GTA, we do promote the notion of
smaller scaled municipalities. We recommend that the task
force consider the special values of the smaller size as it con-
siders options for boundary restructuring.
The municipal level of government is closest to and most ac-
cessible by the citizens it serves. The dominant reason for
this is the comparative smaller size of the jurisdiction which
permits simpler and more streamlined administrations and
decision-making processes. The provincial and federal levels
of government typically have more costly and complex bu-
Reform i n the GTA
reaucracies primarily because of the breadth of the public
which they serve. If municipal governments have responsi-
bility for too large a jurisdiction, the administration and deci-
sion-making processes will also become bureaucratic and com-
plex. The traditional value of the municipality as being most
accountable to its public is then jeopardized.
At a population of 102,000, East York is the 35th largest mu-
nicipality in Canada, although the smallest of the Metro area
municipalities. Because of its relatively small size, the Bor-
ough benefits in ways that the larger scale municipalities can-
not:
. Council is truly accessible and is noted for the fact
that it welcomes public deputations at all Committee
and Council meetings with no requirement for prior
notice or related agenda items. In addition, ratepayers
groups and known interested parties are given prior
notice of issues coming to Committee and Council.
We are aware of no other municipality which has a
similar level of community accessibility to the deci-
sion-making process.
B The Borough enjoys the demonstrable corporate val-
ues of a small-town public service, but with the pro-
fessionalism and sophistication of concern required
of an urban centre.
B Because of the compact geographical size of the mu-
nicipality, the connections between Council members
and the community are enhanced as they meet each
other in the daily life of the Borough.
. We benefit from a highly developed community in-
terest and willingness to participate in municipal con-
cerns, as evidenced both by the level of participation
at Committee and Council meetings and the intense
voluntary involvement of the communities on com-
mittees and at events.
B Because of the spirit of community involvement, the
commitment of Borough staff to consult with the pub-
lic and identified stakeholders is reinforced.
. Because of the closeness of the community staff are
non-bureaucratic, enthusiastic, accessible and in-
volved in their community.
Reform in the GTA
B The administration is cost-efficient. The Borough has
the lowest ratio of staff to population in Metropoli-
tan Toronto. It has minimal overhead and support
structures as it is able to rely upon personal contacts
within a small and simple organization and is gov-
erned by the need to be flexible and self-sufficient.
B The Borough has a cost-efficient, yet accessible, part-
time Council whose eight members receive the small-
est salary and office budgets in Metro Toronto and
who collectively share one support staff person.
B East York has a cost-efficient, yet accessible, Mayors
office with a total staff complement of one adminis-
trative assistant.
B Because both the administration and the Council body
are supported by only modest and essential resources,
there are few unwanted and unwarranted interven-
tions by the municipal government in the affairs of
the Borough.
B Because of the streamlined administration and the
demand for self-sufficiency, there is significant reli-
ance upon shared arrangements with the Board of
Education, the Hydro Commission, Health Unit, Pub-
lic Library, and other business and community
groups.
B We are governed by a Council which is co-operative,
non-fragmented and acutely attentive to the needs
of the citizens of the Borough. In a public opinion
poll commissioned by Metropolitan Toronto a few
years ago, East York showed the highest voter satis-
faction for service delivery and political accountabil-
ity of all Metro area municipalities.
We believe that these real benefits are possible because of the
manageable size of the municipality, and that other munici-
palities within the GTA could realize the benefits if they were
structured in a similar size range. The recommendations on
boundary redefinition are intended to limit the size of East
York to a population of no greater than 180,000 so as to pre-
serve these special characteristics of a smaller municipality
which we know are particularly valued by our citizens.
In an age of diminishing tax resources, East York is the his-
toric model of urban efficiency and right-sizing. Out of ne-
cessity, we have always managed to achieve very high
ratepayer satisfaction with our services. It would be a tragic
Reform i n the GTA
irony if the government were to dismantle the very model
which works so well out of a mistaken assumption that larger
units of local government are more efficient. In fact, East York
is proof to the contrary.
D. Internal Political Structure
The Borough of East York as enlarged by the proposed bound-
ary redefinition must also have its wards restructured. The
internal ward boundaries should be redrawn to coincide with
communities and neighbourhoods.
The current representation in East York is two Councillors
elected for each of four wards, and the Mayor elected Bor-
ough-wide. The structure of two Councillors per ward has
allowed for appropriate coverage of constituent concerns with-
out requiring a full-time commitment (and the naturally
associated administrative costs) by the Councillor. It has also
resulted in a Council with nine members which allowed for a
broader perspective of opinion in dealing with Borough-wide
concerns. The ward structure would be re-drawn with the
change of Borough boundaries, but in a manner which would
not increase the number of elected representatives for East
York.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON BOUNDARY REDEFINITION:
1. Thai the revised boundaries of the Borough of East York
be: on the south, Danforth Avenue; on the west, the
existing boundary of Bayview Extension, Moore Valley
to Moore Avenue and Bayview Avenue; on the north, the
southern property line of Sunnybrook Hospital, east to
the Don River West Branch to the northern boundary of
Sunnybrook Park, east to the CN Rail Line L.easide
Branch, south-east to the CP Cross Town Rail Line,
north-east to the Don River East Branch, south to
Eglinton Avenue, east to the Hydro Corridor and north-
east to Warden Avenue; on the east, Warden Avenue.
(More particularly described in Appendix A, and as
shown on the map attached as Appendix B.)
2. That the Golden Task Force consider similar boundary
changes within the GTA, to both area and regional
municipal borders, to promote wholeness of communities,
divisions along natural and urban barriers, acceptable
commercial/industrial to residential assessment ratios
and regularized service areas.
Reform in the GTA
2.2 Region-Wide
Government
3. That the Golden Task Force consider the benefits of
smaller-sized municipalities as it develops options for the
restructuring of government across the GTA.
The two-tier structure of municipal government allows for a
proper assignment of responsibility for delivery of municipal
services between the local area municipality and a region-wide
authority. Although the area municipality should be the pri-
mary governing body and provider of services, there are is-
sues of municipal concern that can not be contained within
the boundaries of any single area municipality. Services such
as public transit, policing, water purification and regional road
systems are best provided on a region-wide basis to ensure
proper co-ordination, standardization and economies of scale,
and are best funded from a larger pool of municipal taxation.
Some form and breadth of region-wide authority should be
the single authority for these services.
There are other functions, such as economic development and
fire services, which do not require delivery under the direc-
tion of a region-wide authority but do require co-ordination
among the area municipalities in the region to achieve syner-
gies and mutual benefits. This co-ordination is occurring and
is realized through formal associations of the affected mu-
nicipalities such as the existing Metro Fire Chiefs Committee
and the GTA Economic Development Officers Committee.
We do not believe that a critical need exists to undertake ma-
jor restructuring of regional municipalities in the Greater
Toronto Area, although we acknowledge that the provincial
government and other municipalities in the GTA advocate
otherwise. We suggest that the effectiveness of regional gov-
ernment can be improved by revising the current boundary
definition of Metropolitan Toronto and other regions within
the GTA to ensure wholeness of communities and sensible
service areas. As well, the method and cost of representation
at the regional level could be reviewed to promote better ac-
countability and efficiencies.
The major need for reform at the regional level is the revision
of the current division of responsibilities between the regional
and area municipalities so as to improve service to the public,
eliminate duplication and strengthen accountability (for ex-
ample, the consolidation of responsibility for parking policy
and parking control).
Reform in the GTA 12 . The East York Proposal
The following recommendations represent East Yorks posi-
tion on matters of regional government under consideration
by the Golden Task Force.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON REGION-WIDE GOVERNMENT:
1. That the current division of responsibilities between the
area and regional level of governments be reviewed and
amended to improve service to the public, eliminate
duplication and strengthen accountability.
2, That, if the provincial government determines to elimi-
nate the Metro Toronto level of government, it be replaced
with an over-arching authority accountable for certain
cross-municipal needs.
3. That, if the provincial government determines to elimi-
nate the Metro Toronto level of government and replace it
with an over-arching authority, the elected representation
be by members of local area Councils.
2.3 Sp eci al Pu rp ose The Borough of East York does not have as many special pur-
Bodies pose bodies to administer special functions as do other mun-
icipalities in the GTA. Those that do exist seem to achieve
the various benefits intended for special purpose bodies in-
cluding operational flexibility direct and focused participa-
tion in decision-making, and independence from broader po-
litical influence. The agencies have varying measures of ac-
countability - the Hydro Commission is directly elected; the
Library Board is appointed by Council; and the Public Health
Board has both municipal and provincial appointees.
Nevertheless, proposals and opinions have been expressed
by other municipalities which endorse the reduction of spe-
cial purpose bodies. If the provincial government decides on
a general policy of severely reducing the numbers of special
purpose bodies, then East York recommends that the relative
functions be assigned directly to the area municipality. The
services provided by the library board, health unit and hydro
commission should be subject to local concerns and choice. If
there is an intent to achieve cost savings by eliminating the
independent agencies, then there is a greater potential to real-
ize efficiencies through the area municipality with associated
municipal responsibilities.
R E C O M M E N D A T I O N O N S P Ec I AL P U R P O S E Bo d i e s :
1. That, if the provincial government determines to elimi-
nate any special purpose bodies within East York, the
Borough Council assume direct responsibility for the
functions and services delivered.
Reform i n the GTA
PART 3: CONCLUSIONS
T
he character of municipal government in East York is de-
fined by the size of the Borough and the spirit of its citi-
zens. We believe the special value of this smaller urban mu-
nicipality is worth preserving, if not emulating. Modest re-
finements to our boundaries are proposed to solidify the com-
munities and the supporting assessment base. Although we
identify specific border changes, we welcome discussion on
viable alternatives.
The East York proposal is specific to our circumstances. How-
ever, we suggest that the principles and values represented
have potential for general application in the Greater Toronto
Area to promote accessible, responsive and cost-effective
municipal government.
Virginia M. West
August 25, 1995
APPENDIX A: PROPOSED
EAST YORK BOUNDARIES
Northern Boundary
Southern Boundary
Eastern Boundary
Western Boundary
B As far north as the valley defining Sunnybrook
Hospitals southern property line at Bayview Avenue
running east to the Don River West Branch, then north,
to the northern boundary of Sunnybrook Park, then
east along the parks northern border to the CN Rail
Line Leaside Branch, then south-south-east to the CP
CrossTown Rail Line, then north-east along this rail
line to the Don River East Branch, then south follow-
ing the west side of this river to the south side of
Eglinton Avenue East, then east along the centre line
of Eglinton Avenue to the southerly limit of the
Ontario Hydro Public Utility Corridor and then north-
easterly along the southern side of this utility corri-
dor to Warden Avenue.
Viaduct and Warden Avenue.
B Centre line of Warden Avenue from the southerly limit
of the Ontario Hydro Public Utility Corridor to
Danforth Avenue.
B Centre line of Bayview Avenue between Sunnybrook
Hospitals southern property line and Moore Avenue,
then west on Moore Avenue to the Moore Valley just
before Hudson Avenue, then south-easterly follow-
ing the east side of the Moore Valley to the Bayview
Extension.
Reform in the GTA
APPENDIX C: RATIONALE
FOR PROPOSED
BOUNDARY CHANGES
Northern Boundary
E
ast Yorks location within Metropolitan Toronto offers
unique geographic, transportation, and cultural advan-
tages. The centre of East York lies at the confluence of three
river systems (West Don River Branch, East Don River Branch,
and Taylor Creek). East Yorks communities straddle these
natural dominant topographic features. East York also pos-
sesses certain unique economic and transportation benefits
within Metropolitan Toronto. The municipality is bisected by
the Don Valley Parkway and is also located at the point where
CP and CNS railway systems converge to cross the Don Val-
ley. East York is the staging area to cross the Don and Taylor
Creek Valleys. As a result, East York is dotted with and sur-
rounded by bridges (Leaside Bridge, Bloor Viaduct, Wood-
bine Bridge, Governors Bridge to name a few). To a great
extent, EastYorks linkage to the valley lands unites the people
of East York, whether they are from Leaside, Bennington
Heights, Governors Bridge, Thorncliffe Park or Old EastYork.
The proposed boundary changes reflect East Yorks natural
linkages to the valley lands to the north and to the east.
East York also has a strong cultural linkage to Danforth Av-
enue. The present geographic configuration of the Boroughs
southern boundary, which lies mainly north of Danforth Av-
enue (except at the Shoppers World area near Victoria Park
Avenue), is both confusing to residents and is difficult to ser-
vice. It is apparent that Danforth Avenue is the most logical
boundary between the City of Toronto and the Borough of
East York.
In general, the proposed boundary changes take in more pla-
teau areas which abut the Don and Taylor Creek Valleys. The
proposed boundary changes will serve to unite communities
physically to establish a healthy business/ residential ratio, to
create an efficient service area which suits the topography,
and to maintain East York as a relatively small-sized popula-
tion base of 179,000 within the Metropolitan Toronto context.
East Yorks current northern boundary which lies along
Glenvale Boulevard, Overlea Boulevard, Sunrise/ Northline
Road, and Holland Avenue, does not make efficient servicing
sense. The proposed new northern boundary will provide bet-
ter and more efficient servicing for the institutions on the north
side of Glenvale Boulevard which are already serviced (wa-
Southern Boundary
Eastern Boundary
Western Boundary
ter, sewage and hydro-electricity) by the Borough of East York.
It is also more efficient to service the plateau of land (com-
prising Sunnybrook Park, the commercial portion of Leslie
Street, Wynford Heights, Don Mills-Eglinton area, and
Flemingdon Park) located between the West and East Don
River Branches, as far north as the CN Leaside Branch and
CP Cross Town railway corridors from the south (Borough of
East York). These areas are currently isolated from the City of
North York as a result of these natural and man-made barri-
ers.
Thus, the natural northernboundary of East York encompasses
the parks, rail lines, hydro corridors and, in one small loca-
tion, Eglinton Avenue East. Eglinton Avenue bridges the area
between the rail lines and the hydro corridor. From that junc-
ture the hydro corridor provides a clear man-made demarca-
tion of area over to Warden Avenue and ensures that the com-
munities of Victoria Village and Wexford remain intact within
their existing municipalities.
East York has a strong cultural tie to the Danforth. The cur-
rent southern boundary separating East York and the City of
Toronto is awkward and inefficient for public servicing. The
boundary line literally runs between houses, often bisecting
individual houses and backyards which result in straddling
two municipalities. The line along Danforth Avenue would
end this confusion. It would also transfer to the City of Toronto
the large Shoppers World Danforth facility which is pres-
ently part of East York.
The Robarts Commission recommended Warden Avenue as
East Yorks eastern boundary and the rationale is apparent.
Warden Avenue makes a natural eastern border due to Taylor
Creek Park. The Clairlea Community which would be added
to the Borough, shares the values of the Taylor Creek Valley
lands with the residents of East York. The road configuration
facilitates East York in servicing this new area.
There are minor changes proposed to extend the western
boundary south on the Bayview Extension to meet with the
Bloor Viaduct and north on Bayview Avenue to intersect the
southern boundary of Sunnybrook Hospital.
Facsimile Cover Sheet
To:
company:
Phone:
Fax:
From:
Company:
Phone:
Fax:
Date:
Pages lncluding t his
cover page:
Comments:
Dear Ms. Golden ,
Arm Golden
GTA Task force
476-327-1515
476-327-1516
Krystyne Engel
22 Blueberry Lane,
905-833-0964
King City, Ont. L7B-IC5
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE GTA TASK FORCE
REGARDING
TRANSPORTATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
PRESENTED BY
EPT
(ENVIRONMENTALISTS PLAN TRANSPORTATION)
August 25,1995
Joan Doiron, Co-Chair
Prepared by Udo Stillich
I NTRODUCTI ON
Residents of the Greater Toronto Area are very concerned about the quality of the natural
environment which supports them. They are not so overwhelmed with the issues of public
finance or overlapping levels of government that they have lost a sense of how important it is to
have clean air, land and water, not only for themselves but for their children and grandchildren.
EPT believes that proposed changes to the governing structure of the GTA and its
financing mechanisms must include full consideration of impacts on the natural
environment.
The GTA Task Forces approach to planning for the future must be truly strategic, which means
dealing with issues on a long term basis, taking into account foreseeable external trends and
pressures on the region, and developing strategies which support the three cornerstones of the
ecosystem approach - community, economy and environment. This means developing strategies
and structures which do not resolve one set of problems at the expense of creating others.
The transportation system and land use practices of the GTA are critical elements of a healthy and
sustainable environment. Unless current trends are changed, rapid environmental damage will
continue.
In this regard, the following sequence of discussion presents the concerns and recommendations
of EPT to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force:
1. AREAS OF CONCERN Page 3
2. PROSPECTS FOR THE GTA Page 11
3. VISIONS AND STRATEGIES Page12
4. RECOMMENDATIONS Page 13
2
1. AREAS OF CONCERN
Governing systems for the Greater Toronto Area must address a range of issues affecting the
daily lives of its residents. EPT feels that a number of important issues do not appear to have
been clearly identified in the terms of reference of the task force. Nevertheless, a governing
structure which fails to adequately address them risks contributing to a continuing decline in the
quality of lifee in the GTA.
The major concerns related to transportation and the environment areas follows:
1.1 The GTA transportation is severely imbalance.
Of over 10,000,000 daily trips in the GTA about 75% are by auto;
only 14/0 are by public transit, and 11/0 are by walking and cycling.
The GTA road system is continually being expanded to handle more
cars. In suburban areas, there is often no reasonable public transit
alternative to driving to most destinations, and the use of transit is
largely limited to the economically disadvantaged.
Planning for automobile use has been well funded and extremely
effective in ensuring the maximum comfort and convenience of the
driving public. Public transit planning has been piece-meal, poorly
thought out, under funded and inadequate. The value of walking
and cycling have been ignored to the point of making these modes
of travel downright unpleasant in much of the GTA.
The result has been a set of hidden economic costs to residents of the
GTA including a loss of $3 billion annually for auto and fuel imports, high
personal costs to often struggling households ($7,000 per year for a small
new car, per CM), and the cost of policing, accidents, and the inefficient
use of land.
1.2 The implications of the GTAs transportation system
on the natural environment are not recognized or taken
seriously by GTA decision-makers.
The warnings of the scientific community about the risks of global
climate change and the impacts of major ecosystem collapse beyond
3
the year 2000 have been ignored, or have been given lip service
only. Global warming has been identified as likely the most serious
threat to mankind -it will affect food production, the survival of
forests and other plant ecosystems, marine environments, and
influence the spread of diseases. (Refer to Attachment 1)
Regional and municipal governments environmental planning is
largely limited to policies on the management of open space,
watersheds, noise from industrial and aircraft sources, and waste
management. The impact of the automobile on the environment is
largely ignored.
The use of the automobile is the single most important contributor
to the risks of rapid atmospheric change. It is the single most
important emitter of toxic gases in urban areas. The destruction of
natural areas and agricultural lands bordering the GTA is the result
of the extensive use of the automobile brought about by poor land
use policies.
1.3 The magnitude of change in the transportation
required for the 21st century is generally not
recognized.
system
North American culture is proportionately the most damaging to
the earths natural life support systems. Per capita emissions of
greenhouse gases, a key determinant of environmental quality, are
about five times that of the rest of the world. The generally-
accepted target of a global 20/0 reduction in C0
2
emissions will not
be met by the developing world -as its governments strive to
improve standards of living for their people, emissions in Asian,
African and South American countries will increase. If the 20%
reduction target for CO* is to be met, emissions from North
American sources will have to decline dramatically. Based on
estimates of population growth and per capita increases in energy
use outside of North America, Canada and the USA will have to
reduce emissions by 8(9% by 2010 AD, and more thereafter (See
Attachment 2).
Meeting this level of reduction in order to stabilize global life
support system means a complete reversal in transportation
modal shares in the GTA within about twenty years. It means
creating transportation alternatives to the use of the personal car for
commuting, inter-municipal travel, and for most other local trips in
4
1.4
the GTA where the potentials for public transportation and
non-motorized travel are greatest. It means a virtual halt to
urban sprawl and the road-building which supports it. EPT
feels strongly that the end result would be a very livable, convenient
and affordable GTA environment.
There will be another energy crisis beyond the year 2000.
Global population growth and per capita consumption of energy
will increase dramatically over the next few decades, particularly in
Asia. Current North American crude oil reserves will be exhausted
soon after the year 2000, and GTA residents will become
dependent on more expensive imported oil, and on dirtier oils such
as those from the Alberta tar sands.
Subsequent transitions to natural gas and then possibly to solar
hydrogen will be costly, as Ontario will remain almost totally
dependent on imports of those fuels. People will be looking for
public transit alternatives as the cost of conversions and fuels rise.
1.5 Pre-occupation with the public costs of infrastructure
planning prevent timely solutions to problems caused
by transportation.
It has largely been assumed that the GTA taxpayer will not support
infrastructure initiatives which involve tax increases. If this attitude
holds, the quality of life in the GTA will continue to decline.
The critical issue of the public versus private costs has been
overlooked by public decision-makers. A fill cost accounting of
public transit systems and private automobile-based transportation
systems reveals that public transit is far less expensive to the
taxpayer as a whole. The GTA Urban Structure Concepts Study, in
its 1990 report on transportation, projected the private and public
operating costs of the road system and the public transit system for
the year 2021. Based on that information, EPT has estimated that a
public transit system carrying the same number of daily riders as the
private automobile would cost about 60% less to operate than an
auto-based system (See Attachment 3).
1.5
In this light, public decision-making which considers only the public
costs of transit infrastructure and operating systems is flawed, and
needs to be revised.
Agricultural lands and natural areas at the fringes of
the GTA are rapidly being lost to suburbanization.
The GTA Urban Concepts Study of 1990 reported that, by the year
2021 AD, an additional 350 s qu a re m i l es of non-urban land could
be consumed for suburban development, compared to 1986 (see
Attachment 8). This is a dramatic decline, particularly given that
much of this area is prime agricultural land. By 2031 AD, the l0SS
could reach 450 square miles.
For all intents and purposes, the compact, pedestrian-oriented
urban forms which existed earlier in the 20th century have been
legislated out of existence by suburban municipalities, replaced by
development rules which promote an extreme consumption of land
and energy. Official plans in the regions surrounding Metro
Toronto have taken to heart the American cultural icons of a
detached house on a piece of land in the country for the average
citizen, and which is conveniently accessible by personal car. Public
transportation exists as an afterthought for the few unfortunate
individuals who cannot drive.
Daily destinations which are located in suburban GTA
municipalities, such as shops and workplaces, are not integrated
into local communities in ways which would minimize the need to
travel. Almost no destination is within walking distance from
homes. Instead of being close to streets and intersections,
commercial (and residential) destinations are centred in the interior
of relatively large properties, making access to and from public
transit difficult. At the same time, a vast road ifrastructure in
support of auto travel has been created in order to access those
distance locations. Cycling for other than recreational purposes is
generally considered a nuisance.
Subdivisions are ill-designed to permit public efficient public
transportation, because of poor street layout, lack of pedestrian
access to main roads, and the lack of higher density commercial and
residential areas.
6
Single detached housing dominates, generating energy waste from
space heating and consuming vast tracts of natural areas and
agricultural land.
1.6 The financing system for GTA-administered services
does not support sustainable development.
The property tax system currently in place in the GTA is a
narrowly-defined value system which excludes any consideration of
environmental and social values. There is no apparent evidence that
it is based on any rational analysis of the needs of the GTA other
than perhaps a need for administrative expediency. By all accounts,
it is administered inequitably from municipality to municipality.
Property tax rates are one of the key drivers of economic
development. Mainly because Metro is burdened with higher
welfare and education costs, property taxes in municipalities on the
fringes of the GTA tend to be considerably lower, and attract
development away from Metro into municipalities whose official
plans encourage urban sprawl and auto-oriented transportation
systems.
Tax systems should support an ecosystem approach to
development, which means fostering economy, environment and
community in an integrated manner.
Municipalities do not have authority to levy sales taxes on energy
use, which limits their ability to encourage modal shifts to transit
and to reduce the loss of dollars from the economy caused by
importation of fuels of all types.
1.7 There is no strategic plan for the GTA to deal effectively
with the issues of transportation, environment and economy.
The ecosystem approach to planning recognizes that seemingly
disparate issues are interrelated - decisions in one area affect others.
This is particularly true of the linkages between transportation,
environment and economy. The ecosystem approach can also be
applied to intergovernment relationships, which means that different
levels of government should be working towards the same
integrated goals, and not be in conflict with them in day-to-day
decision making.
7
Issues related to environment, economy, and transportation are
clearly larger than the confines of local municipalities. In fact, some
of the determinants of economic and environmental well- being
involve national and international policies. However, there is
considerable latitude for jurisdictions such as the GTA to deal with
the effects of those issues; in fact, success in containing global
environmental damage cannot be achieved unless all levels of
government take aggressive action to reduce the damage caused by
the activities of its citizens and leaders..
Planning in the GTA is currently piece-meal and without reference
to the totality of the GTA and with little consideration of larger
provincial, national and global issues which will affect GTA
residents, and their children, over the long term.
Plans often include contradictions: stated goals of supporting a
healthy natural environment are undermined in other parts of the
same plans, or by other plans. For example, municipal official
development plans in suburban municipalities include statements in
support of a healthy natural environment, but they also include
major expansions of the road system and greenfield development,
even though that path of development is extremely detrimental to
the environment.
Infilling / reurbanization is largely an afterthought, even though it
has the potential to comfortably and pleasantly accommodate most
of the population growth anticipated for the GTA in the next two
decades (see Attachment 4).
The links between economy and environment are not well
understood. For example, municipal plans assume economic
development requires expanded road systems, when in fact the use
of cars is a net drain on the GTA economy: 100/0 of auto fuels and
80% of all cars used in the GTA are imported, at a cost of $3
billion per annum. Reducing dependence on auto travel would
invigorate local sectors of the economy currently constrained by
the need of household to purchase and maintain cars.
GTA plans should clearly and definitively lay out annual and
multi-year targets for such things as modal splits for transportation
population density increases, and energy consumption/import
reduction targets.
8
1.8 Transportation policies and land use practices are
systematically destroying a sense of local place and
community.
Particularly in the suburban areas of the greater Toronto area, the
auto-based urban environment conflicts with concepts of healthy
communities. Traffic volume, vehicle speeds, and excessive road
widths work to divide communities: Adults and children are
discouraged from meeting neighbors across the street, and noise
levels and vehicle exhausts assault the senses. 40,000 traffic
accidents in the GTA traumatize individuals and families yearly; the
incidence of asthma in children is epidemic, caused in large part by
vehicle emissions.
In the suburbs of the GTA the typical street is not a meeting or
shopping place. It is built as a mere conduit to anonymous shopping
malls all filled with the same chain stores. The need to pay for two
or three cars in most family households has contributed to the need
for both parents to be gainfully employed, negatively affecting the
effectiveness of the family in providing supports to children.
Distant schools, arenas and fiends have reduced many parents to
the role of chauffer.
Today governments plan subdivisions instead of communities. In
places like Mississauga, community is nothing more than a private
backyard, a choice of shopping malls to drive to, and the distant
GO station to take you into Toronto. The rich variety, sense of
place and closeness one found in many neighborhoods in the City
of Toronto, particularly where residential streets and shopping
streets are knitted together, are virtually absent in places like
Mississauga.
The concept of community has suffered because government has
planned suburban areas around traffic flows and space requirements
for automobiles. Proximity planning, planning for walkability,
cycling and public transit and not by cars, has been beyond the
scope of thinking in those very areas where the future growth of the
GTA will be greatest.
9
2. PROSPECTS
Current and foreseeable trends, if not altered significantly, foreshadow
a decline in the quality of life for GTA residents:
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
Urban development will not appreciably change its wasteful
focus: relatively low density greenfield development will take precedence over
infill, and over 250 square miles of agricultural lands and natural areas will become
suburbanized by 2021 AD, and almost 350 by 2031 AD. Excessive and extremely
valuable urban space will continue to be wasted to accommodate the needs of the
automobile.
The health and sense of community will continue to decline in
the suburbs as planners continue to assume that getting there is more important
than being there. Compared to locaI variety and activity in the older communities
in the City of Toronto, life in the suburbs will be lifeless. Auto-related injuries,
respiratory illnesses and isolation will be more widespread.
Thousands of GTA households will continue to struggle
economically as a result of rapid technological change, global competition,
and the costs of car ownership.
Transit integration strategies will not produce significant
modal shifts to public transit, without being accompanied by major capital
finding increases.
Increased GO Transit services will not have a significant
impact in slowing down the growth in the number of automobile trips in the
GTA. GO ridership may increase to take 3% of all daily trips (from 1% today),
based on suggested expansions currently contemplated.
10
2.6 Environmental damage will increase as road expansion continues, on
the assumption by planners that increased auto traffic is unavoidable. As a result,
technological improvements to auto efficiency will be offset by growth in car
numbers, and environmental goals will become harder to reach.
2.7 Constraints on transit funding will create demand for more
Cars, as 2,000,000 more people are added to the GTAs population by the year
2021. Road building will not keep up with car sales, and road congestion will
worsen. Accidents will increase, as will driver frustration. The benefits of efficient
and available public transit on the local economy will be unrealized.
2.8 The economy will suffer increased annual losses as car use
increases and energy prices increase beyond the year 2000. The current $3 billion
annual loss, equivalent to a job loss of 50,000 a year, will increase.
3. VISIONS AND STRATEGIES
Although numerous strategic plans have been created by individual GTA governments, there is
currently no common vision of the kind of community the GTA should be, or a set of
societal values which would guide visions and strategies for the future.
Generally speaking, existing plans are projections of current trends, such as demand for
transportation based on population forecasts, plus statements supporting efficient administrative
systems. Regional and local municipal plans are not able to adequately plan to change trends given
their narrow jurisdiction and the much broader scope of the issues they face.
GTA governments can no longer afford to implement policies and spend public finds in ways
which result in negative side effects, or in wasteful competition with adjacent municipalities, or in
ways which do not support an integrated approach to a healthy sustainable future.
An overall GTA strategic plan is required which clearIy sets out a broad long term vision.
The plan should require that all ongoing day-to-day decision-making be based on the
ecosystem approach. This means that decisions must conform to all primary strategies and
visions collectively, and not adversely affect any of them. If day-to-day proposals do not meet this
criteria, then alternative courses of action should be sought.
11
In its presentation to the GTA Transportation Plan Working group in September 1994, EPT
suggested that a clear planning hierarchy be established to accomplish this. Attachments 5 and 6
illustrate.
4. RECOMMENDATIONS
General recommendations:
4.1 Do not compromise the long term health and
well-being of the people of the GTA by the political
fashion and fiscal constraints of 1995.
Given the long term planning horizon of the task force (thirty or more
years), the well-being of the people of the GTA should not be defined or
limited by the current political climate or the existing public financial
situation. Structures and systems recommended by the GTA Task Force
should reflect long term needs, and should recognize that political and
financial structures will often change over the next few decades.
4.2 Recognize that there is an environmental crisis which
will significantly affect Toronto area residents in the
future, and that substantial actions need to be taken by
the GTA in order to help prevent the collapse of
natural life support systems.
The scientific community has clearly and often voiced concern about the
rapid deterioration in natural systems as a result of human activity. Given
the rapid growth in human population and industrialization, many scientists
have suggested that if dramatic action to reverse the human assault on the
environment is not taken by the end of the 20th century, it maybe too late
to stop the collapse of major ecological systems.
12
4.3 Recognize that planning for the long term health of the
Greater Toronto Area means establishing structures
and policies which improve the environmental,
economic and community health of the GTA as an
integral whole.
It is not enough to reduce the number of political and administrative
structures in the GTA or to work towards reducing inequities in the tax
system which serves the GTA. The tax system and the governing system
must promote and reflect broader long term goals.
EPT feels that the following objectives stated in the task forces terms of
reference are a critical guide to the development of recommendations: The
Task Force must define a system and a style of governance, appropriate to
the Toronto of the next century, that promotes economic health and
competitiveness, community well-being and a high quality urban
environment.
The ecosystem approach to planning for the future is essential if a high
quality of life for GTA residents is to be assured. It is no longer appropriate
to make recommendations without regard to possible negative side effects.
For example, recommendations to improve the GTA economy should not
beat the expense of the environment or non-economic community values.
As shown by example in Attachments 5 and 6, progress in improving the
quality of life for GTA residents requires that decision-making at all levels
of government support a broad set of agreed-to common values and
visions. Strategies and short term actions, as part of the integrated whole,
should not conflict with any of the visions and values.
4.4 Recognize that the people of the Toronto Area are
concerned about their quality of life and that of their
descendants, and are willing to invest to ensure a clean,
sustainable natural environment.
Although the public has voiced its concern over overall public spending,
EPT feels that the importance of environmental issues is recognized by the
public. People do not want to see a decline in environmental quality.
13
EPT also recommends that the Greater Toronto Area Task Force, in its report to the
Premier of Ontario, include the following recommendations in the areas of transportation,
finance, and governance:
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS -
4.5 Recognize the need to move rapidly towards an
environmentally sustainable transportation system.
Sustainability means moving away from an auto-based system to one which
is almost wholly oriented towards public transportation and non-motorized
forms of travel, within about twenty-five years. PI
arming a gradual decrease
in auto-dependency, particularly in urban areas, will reduce the impacts of
future environmental shocks and energy crises.
Major expansions of public transit and non-motorized travel modes are
both economically affordable and environmentally essential. Together with
better urban land use, these forms of transportation are far less
consumptive of energy, produce far fewer emissions of toxins and
greenhouse gases per trip, and take up far less valuable urban space, than
auto-based travel.
As shown in Attachment 2, avoiding the risks associated with rapid climate
change means reducing North American emissions of greenhouse gases by
about 80A within a very short time frame. This magnitude of change
requires that specific annual and multi-year modal shift targets should
be set, reaching at least a 60% modal share for public transit by 2020.
Unless that target is reached, the GTAs share of global greenhouse gas
emission reductions from transportation sources will not be met.
Emission reductions also apply to trucks and other commercial vehicles.
Systems which minimize vehicle trips through better coordination, and the
increased use of rail for intermunicipal freight, need to be developed.
4.6 Recognize that transforming the GTAs transportation
system is economically sound and is essential to an
ecosystem approach to urban development.
The use of the automobile in the GTA costs its economy about $1 billion
annually for petroleum imports and about $2 billion annually for auto
imports. 80/0 of cars purchased by GTA residents are imported from
14
outside the province. According to the Canadian Automobile Association,
the average small new car (Cavalier or Tempo) costs about $7,000 per year
to own and operate. This level of expenditure is a serious financial burden
to many GTA households, particularly given that many suburban
households need to own two cars and are facing harsh economic realities.
In comparison to the cost of owning a car, a transit pass will soon cost
about $900 per year in Metro Toronto.
Money not spent by consumers on upkeep and operation of cars is not lost
to the economy but recirculated by consumers towards other sectors of the
economy.
Reductions in auto use over a 20 to 25 year period would result in
employment reductions in the auto industry in Ontario at a rate less than
the annual natural attrition rate from retirements.
FIANCIAL SYSTEMS -
4.7 Shift the basis of calculating property taxes away from
market value and towards a land utilization model
which recognizes the need to control urban sprawl and
which supports reurbanization/ infill development.
Phase this system in over a relatively short multi-year
period.
Until now, the municipal tax system has not been used strategically to
shape the behaviour of the housing and construction marketplace, or the
urban form. Market value assessment (MVA) does nothing to assist the
residents of the GTA to improve the state of the natural environment. The
inequitable application of the current assessment system has fostered urban
sprawl and increased dependency on auto-based transportation.
The use of MVA as a revenue-generation mechanism is arbitrary. Any
number of other tax systems could be used, such as income taxes, per
capita taxes, wealth taxes, etc. At a time when the Toronto area is faced
with multiple problems of considerable magnitude, it is appropriate to use
the tax system as a strategic tool to foster development in ways which
support a healthier environment, less wasteful land use, less energy use,
and improve the viability of an expanded public transit system.
A land utilization property tax system would accomplish all of those things.
By basing taxes on lot size, building floor space, and the ratio of floor
15
4.8
space to lot size, the property tax system can be a finely tuned incentive to
ensure that greenfield development is relatively high density. It can ensure
that multi-unit buildings which reflect changing demographics become
more available relative to new detached and semi-detached housing. It can
foster higher density infill development in all GTA municipalities, and can
discourage underutilization of industrial and commercial sites. Additional
provisions should be made to preserve agricultural land and natural areas,
over and above the disincentives which a reformed property tax system
may create.
A land utilization system is easier to manage than MVA because
adjustments to market values are avoided, as are tax appeals by residents
who perceive inequities.
A land utilization system is similar to the unit-based proposal of North
York and the City of Toronto of 1989.
Establish a GTA-wide energy tax at the retail level,
covering space heating, motor fuels and electricity
utilization. The energy tax should phased in to levels
high enough to result in a dramatic reductions of
energy use and multiple increases in the use of public
transit.
One of the most powerful ways to influence consumer behaviour is through
price mechanisms. In addition to raising taxes for municipal services, an
energy tax will serve additional purposes well suited to meet the pressures
to be faced by GTA residents in the 21st century.
Behaviorally, an energy tax would create demand for better insulated
housing, streamline travel habits, reduce wasteful household/dustrial
utilization, spur the use of (and demand for better) public transportation
systems, increase walking and cycling as transportation modes, generate
more efficient freight movement, and improve the market for efficient
appliances and machinery. Over time, a significant energy tax may create a
new export industry in Ontario related to energy-efficient practices and
products.
The proposed energy tax can be relatively easily collected by the province
(and Ontario Hydro) on behalf of the GTA.
16
A substantial energy tax would be a partially avoidable tax for those
individuals and enterprises which conserve energy use.
Offset the increase in revenues from energy taxes by
reducing property tax rates.
It is important that en energy tax be seen publicly not as a tax grab,
partially avoidable tax and one which is offset by reductions in the
but as a
traditional property tax system. For government: the combination of energy
tax and property tax should be revenue neutral. However, in the face of
provincial cuts to municipal grants, municipalities may consider using the
energy tax as a way of replacing some lost provincial transfer payments.
4.9 Phase out capital funding for roads in the GTA and
re-direct those funds towards building new public
transit infrastructure and improving facilities for
cycling and walking.
If the critical goal of environmental sustainability is to be met, the
magnitude of modal shift away from the use of automobiles in the GTA is
such that an absolute decrease in the number of cars overtime is necessary,
even in the face of anticipated population growth. The adoption of an
energy tax and the strengthening of policies and directions away from
relatively low density suburban development means that road expansions
should become very exceptional occurrences. As a result, the strategic
opportunity exists to redirect capital finds towards long term public transit
expansion programs. The use of finding levers by the province would
assist municipalities in their efforts to affect targeted modal shifts.
4.10 Recognize that public decision-making for new public
transportation services should consider both private
and public costs of both infrastructure development
and operating costs. In this regard, government should
not assume an unwillingness for additional taxpayer
investment in infrastructure or operating costs.
17
The unffordable label applied to some public transit infrastructure
projects fails to take into account the private costs of scenarios based on
the status quo.
As indicated in Attachment 3, the aggregate of private costs of expanding
the auto-based transportation system are substantially higher than for
public transportation. Over the short term, the monetary benefit of new
public transit facilities is largely reaped by those who would be able to use
the system, but as public transit takes an increasing share of trips in the
GTA, the benefit becomes more and more universal. The issue is one of
public recognition that short term costs are a worthwhile investment which
will result in long term benefits. Even over the short term, however, the per
capita additional public cost is relatively small, and a return on investment
exists in terms of cleaner air, a stronger economy, and reduced road
congestion.
In EPTs 1994 report The Livable Toronto Area, the capital cost of
completely reversing the current modal shares of auto and transit modes
was estimated. After expenditure offsets and savings, the net additional
cost to the GTA taxpayer was estimated at less than $150 per year, over a
25 year period. This compares to private costs of $7,000 per year for a
small new car, perhaps $4,000 annually for an older car, and substantial
non-monetary costs of pollution, lost time and frustrations associated with
driving.
GOVERNANCE-
4.11 Establish a single GTA-wide level of government,
replacing the current regional governments of York,
Peel, Halton, Durham and Metro Toronto.
Functions currently administered by regional
governments should be reallocated to local
municipalities, the GTA government, or to the
province.
The current public debate over transportation planning, and other concerns
facing the GTA, indicates that it is most effective and administratively
simpler for a single GTA-wide government/administration to handle certain
common cross-boundary issues.
18
Because it is too cumbersome merely to add another level of government
to deal with GTA-wide issues, EPT suggests that the five existing regional
governments comprising the GTA be abolished. Downloading some of the
existing regional functions to the local municipal level would be facilitated
by amalgamating some smaller municipalities, to create workable
economies of scale. Most GTA public services should be delivered by local
municipalities.
4.12 Recommend that the provincial level of government
.
Amend legislation to protect non-urbanized land
in GTA municipalities from relatively low-density
development, including setting a minimum
overall rate of population density for greenfield
development of 20 persons per gross acre (i.e.
including public and non-residential space).
EPT agrees with the predominant view of progressive urban
planners and architects that the land use policies followed by most
North American municipalities - including those in York, Peel,
Halton and Durham - are grossly inefficient and are poorly suited to
meet the needs of the future.
EPT feels that if strong policies to stop urban sprawl do not exist,
there will be no progress towards resolving environmental issues, or
in affecting the magnitude of change in the transportation system
which would benefit all residents of the GTA. A density of 20
persons per gross acre would support the demographic and
household mix of the future, as well as a more balanced housing
stock. It would also foster more compact and efficient use of land
for commercial purposes, and support/reinforce incentives created
by an energy tax and land utilization tax..
Setting a minimum of 20 persons per gross acre for greenfield
development is an overall population density about halfway
between the current density of the City of Toronto and the planned
density of the City of Mississauga. It is a comfortable density
which, with a small measure of architectural creativity, can be very
pleasant.
19
Make transit-supportive land use guidelines
enforceable public policy.
Transit-supportive guidelines published by the Ministry of
Municipal Affairs have existed for some years. They support not
only transit, but a more efficient and convenient urban landscape.
Establish aggressive annual and multi-year
targets for increasing the use of public transit,
walking and cycling, and decreasing the use of
automobiles, and linking the provision of annual
provincial grants to achievement of those targets.
As indicated earlier, the magnitude of change needed is substantial,
if critical goals are to be met. EPT has estimated in its report The
Livable Toronto Area that reversing the auto/transit modal shares
means an average annual increase in transit ridership of 5.7% and a
corresponding decrease of 3.5% in auto trips. The actual setting of
annual targets would need to reflect a comprehensive transit
expansion plan for the GTA.
Allocate all annual funding to GTA
municipalities to a GTA-wide authority, on a
block funding basis.
It is assumed by EPT that with the establishment of supports to
foster movement to sustainable transportation land use and other
environmental policies, the province would prefer not to further
identify specific local spending priorities.
4.13 Recommend that the GTA-wide government
Be comprised of a chairperson and members
directly elected by the public in municipal
elections
EPT feels that the responsibilities of a GTA-wide government
would be very complex and high profile, and too important to be
20
left to appointed officials. EPT does not feel that a membership
comprised of appointed local politicians would be able to divorce
itself from local views sufficiently to be able to work in the best
interests of the broader concerns of the GTA.
Establish and maintain the official strategic plan
and the official urban structural/development
plan for the GTA, to which local municipalities
must conform
Plan, maintain and operate the public
transportation system of the GTA
Care needs to be taken that an single transit authority is also
responsive to the requests from local/community sources are
recognized and respectfully addressed.
P1an, maintain and operate the GTAs
intermunicipal road transportation, including
arterial roads and limited-access highways
Administer the revenue function for the whole of
the GTA, including
Planning financing requirements for the
whole of the GTA,
Setting GTA property tax and energy tax
rates,
Allocating funds to local municipalities, on
a per capita block funding basis to be
phased in over five years, and augmented
by short term special needs funding to
specific municipalities
4.14 Recommend that local municipal government -
21
Approve subdivision plans and adjustments, in
adherence to the GTA urban development plan
and strategic plan
Prepare and present to the GTA authority
requests for budgetary requirements, and for
changes to the official plan
Manage the local road traffic system
(maintenance, signage/signaling, traffic calmong,
cleaning, and the planning and development of
new local roads)
Allocate GTA budget allocation towards
road/traffic issues (and other issues) as locally
determined.
22
We are not going to solve todays
problems with the kind of thinking that
got us into them.
- Albert Einstein
Todays problems are yesterday%
solutions.
23
Attachment 1
ENVIRONMENTAL PROSPECTS:
LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS AT RISK
Global climate change
Erratic weather patterns - droughts, heat waves,
Storms, floods
Die-off of forests and plant ecosystems on a large
scare - rapidity of change too stressful
Death of lake ecosystems
Risk of runaway warming - thawing of tundra
Collapse of global fisheries
Foodland disappearing as population increases
Potential loss of 20% of all plant species by 2030 AD
Damage to biota from ozone depletion
e.g. ocean plankton
Increasing toxicity in all species
Severe economic dislocation
Environmental refugees
Costs of repair and restoration
Rate of deterioration is rapid
Attachment 2
A SCENARIO FOR
ACHIEVING 20% GLOBAL REDUCTION IN C02 EMISSIONS
The calculations below indicate approximate reductions in carbon dioxide emissions required by 2010 by groups of
nations, if a 200A global reduction is to be achieved. It is assumed that population growth remains unchecked, and that
all groups achieve a much closer level of equity in per capita emissions by 2010 AD. N.B. population growth beyond
2010 will require further per capita reductions, including in Asia,
1988 Emissions Millions Targetted Emissions Cumulative
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Total Per Per Cap %
Carbon Per Global Global Emissions Capita change in,
Emissions Capita Populn Populn by 2010 2010 emissions
Mil Tons (tons) 1988 2010 Mil Tons (Tons) by 2010
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Communist Asia 774 0.66 1,173 1,482 1,174 0.79 20%
Other Asia 833 0.55 1,515 2,227 1,653 0.74 35%
Africa 534 0.86 621 1,170 1,006 0.86 o%
Middle East 187 1.14 164 293 217 0.74 - 35%
Latin America 910 2.09 435 647 541 0.84 - 60%
Western Europe 774 2.03 381 398 323 0.81 - 60%
Oceania 336 2.27 148 164 130 0.79 - 65%
Former Soviet Union &
Eastern Europe 1,428 3.55 402 457 389 0.85 - 76%
North America 1,379 5.07 272 311 2 9 3 0.94 - 8 1 %
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GLOBAL TOTALS
[
1.40 5,111 0.80
Attachment 3
COMPARISON OF TOTAL ANNUAL OPERATING COSTS IF TRANSIT REPLACED ALL AUTO TRIPS:
(iNCLUDING USER COSTS)
TRAL
FORECASTED TRANSIT SHARE 2021 (24 HR EST) 19,5% 26.2% 21 .7%
ESTIMATED WALKING/CYCLING SHARE 12.0% 16.0% 14.0%
ESTIMATED AUTO SHARE 68.5% 57.8% 64.3%
TOTAL FORECASTED ANN TRANSIT OPERATING
COST $1,127 M $1,371 M $1,319 M
EST, OPERATING COST OF TRANSIT IF TRIPS
EXTRAPOLATED TO LEVEL OF AUTO SHARE $3,962 M $3,016 M $3,900 M
AUTO COST AT SAME LEVEL
PUBLIC ROAD MAINTENANCE COST $239 m $211 m $231 m
USER COSTS $10,147
$7,977m
$9,151 m
$10,386 m $8,188 m $9,382 m
TRANSIT COST AS A % OF AUTO COST 38.2% 36.8% 41.6%
TRANSIT COST AS A % OF USER ROAD COSTS
ONLY 39,0% 37.8% 42.6%
N.B. Reference documents: GTA Urban Structure Concepts Study, 1990; Transportation Tomorrow Survey, 1986.
Attachment 4
POPULATION AND DENSITY ALTERNATIVES
1991
APPROX.
URBANIZED
POPULATION SQ. Ml.
DURHAM 405,000 95.0
HALTON 316,000 82.0
METRO 2,256,200 236.9
PEEL 725,000 142.0
YORK 490,000 120.0
TOTAL 4,192,200 677.9
POPULATION
DENSITY
PER SQ. Ml.
4,263
3,854
9,444
5,106
4,083
6,184
2021 AD
CENTRAL
CONCEPT
APPROX.
URBANIZED
POPULATION SQ. Ml.
DURHAM 475,000 110.6
HALTON 378,000 96.4
METRO 3,800,000 239.0
PEEL 828,000 153.6
YORK 540,000 125.2
TOTAL 6,021,000 724.8
B Per 1990 GTA Urban St r u ct u r e Con ccpt s St u dv
POPULATION
DENSITY
PER SQ. Ml.
4,295
3,921
15,900
5,391
4,313
8,307
2021 AD
SUSTAINABILITY
CONCEPT
POPULATION
DURHAM 700,000
HALTON 610,000
METRO 3,000,000
PEEL 1,000,000
YORK 800,000
TOTAL 6,110,000
APPROX.
URBANIZED
SQ. Ml.
110.6
96.4
239.0
153.6
125.2
724.8
POPULATION
DENSITY
PER SQ. Ml.
6,329
6,328
12,552
.6,510
6.390
B Population based on modified Spread concept. urbanized sq. mi.
based on Central concept. Densities outside Metro are generally
8,430
file: DENSITY
Attachment 5
A PLANNING HIERARCHY
E
A l
Basic human needs, e.g.
Security, Health, Integrity
Desired final end result of activities;
the ultimata goal or final state
Timeless; societal level
Long Term in nature
Non-sector/department Spceific
Action statements
Long term or medium term
SpcifIc by sector/department
Action statemants
Short Term actions (One to two years)
STRATEGIC
PLANS
MISSION STATEMENTS:
OFFICIAL
PLANS
A mission statement is a simple generic statements which should be the same
throughout the organization. They a re
almost timeless in scope, and should not be specific sectoral strategy statements. A basic mission statement
would be
To implement the vision of the organization.
PRIMARY SECONDARY
VISION STRATEGIES STRATEGIES
(NON-SECTOR-SPECI FI C) (SECTOR-SPECI FI C)
PROMOTE FAVORABLE
PROVINCIAL TRADE o Minimize need for transportation-
BALANCE related imports
PROMOTE FULL o Provide appropriate access
EMPLOYMENT
ECONOMIC
between residential, recreational
and commercial destinations
PROSPERITY
AND STABILITY
REDUCE FINANCIAL o Reduce the cost of travel for
PRESSURES ON individual and households
ONTARIANS
PROMOTE NET INCREASES
IN EMPLOYMENT
o Promote use of cleaner
transportation fuels
REDUCE OVERALL o Reduce the need to travel
EMISSIONS OF TOXINS (passenger- kms.)
AND GREENHOUSE GASES
o Promote vehicle fuel B fficiency
o lmrpove/enforce vehicle B mission
standards
A HEALTHY
AND STABLE
NATURAL o
ENVIRONMENT
Increase relative us. of public transit
REDUCE ENERGY AND o Relative use of non-motorized
RESOURCE CONSUMPTION travel modes
o Decrease use of automobiles
o Promote/support compact
MINIMIZE DESTRUCTION/ urban/suburban development
CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL
AND AGRICULTURAL LANDS o Promote use of existing
transportation rights-of-way
o Effective regulation and enforcement
REDUCE INCIDENCES OF of transportation safety standards
A PHYSICALLY AND lLLNESS/DlSABILITY DUE TO
PSYCHOLOGICALLY INJURY AND STRESS o Reduce stresses of road congestion
HEALTHY POPULATION and costs of travel
PROVIDE EFFECTIVE
TREATMENT SYSTEM
o Discourage roadways and new
transportation rights-of-way which
PROMOTE INCREASED divide communities
LOCAL INTERACTION &
SOCIALLY SUPPORTIVE LOCAL IDENTITY o Promote traffic calming and
AND EF F ECT I VE pedestrianism
COMMUNITIES
PROMOTE INTEGRATED
COMMUNITIES (i.e. MIXED
USE URBAN DEVELOPMENT
., \ r
YORK
PEEL
Hi A L T O N
2
METRO TORONTO
I
ADDITIONAL LAND SUBURBANIZED BY 2021 AD
For Spread (l), Central (2), and Nodal (3) Concepts
Attachment 7
APPLICATION OF LAND UTILIZATION BASED PROPERTY TAX SYSTEM
SIX ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES
1 2 3 4 5 6
TRADITNL 3-STOREY
SHOPPING MIXED HIGH-RISE
VACANT 2-STOREY 2-STOREY PLAZA RETAIL/ CONDO
LOT HOME HOME (1-STORY) RESIDENL (20-STOREY
LOT DIMENSIONS 25X 100 25X 100 50x 120 400 x 700 400 x 700
A
400 x 700
LOT SQ. FT. 2,500 2,500 6,000 280,000 280,000 280,000
B BLDG FLOOR SPACE o 1,800 1,800 50,000 150,000 360,000
RATIO B TO A 0.00 0.72 0.30 0.18 0.54 1.29
APPLICA770N OF TAX:
.
LOT SIZE - SQ. FT X RATE
RATE = 0. 3 $750 $750 $1,800 $84,000 $84,000 $84,000
FLOOR SPACE X RATE
RATE = 0.5 $800 $25,000 $75,000 $180,000
(Option exists to differentiate commercial from residential rates)
BASIC TAX $750 - $109,000 $159,000
ADD RATE TO REFLECT B:A RATIO
RATE = 0.25 X (1 / B:A) X BASIC TAX
$0 $297 $203 $4,866 $21,295 $64,667
TOTAL PROPERTY TAX
I I I
1 1 1 10 50 320
AVG. TAX PER UNIT
I
Rates among the 3 factors could be adjusted to reflect desired emphasis and/or result. Separate tax mechanisms maybe
set up to apply to agricultural and natural areas.
it IS assumed that a land utilization tax system would be phased into cushion changes in tax rates to individual owners
of relatively underutilized properties.
N.B. If accompanied by transfer of education and welfare COStS to income taX, overall property taxes for most people would be
IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTALLY-APPROPRIATE TAXES
Land Utilization Tax
system
Energy
Tax
Reduced
energy
use
Healthier
natural
environment
Reduced traffic congestion
Reduced energy & auto imports
Healthier
economy
A
Environmentalists Plan Transportation.
c/o 229 Brunswick Ave., Tor. ON M5S 2M6
SUBMISSION TO THE GTA TASK FORCE
REGARDING TRANSPORTATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
EPT believes strongly that changes to be proposed by the GTA Task Force concerning
governance and the financing of services in the GTA should reflect an ecosystem approach. This
means putting in place a system or set of measures which will result in improvements to the
environment, economy and community as an integrated whole.
The recommendations of EPT reflect a set of significant concerns:
That the extent and rate of forecasted environmental damage and decline in the
next several decades is being seriously underestimated by decision-makers, and
will adversely affect the daily lives of GTA residents;
That the impact of todays GTA transportation system, with its growing
dependence on automobile travel, is a serious economic, environmental and
social threat to the long term well-being of GTA residents;
That the market-value-based property tax system of financing GTA public
services is obsolete and does not support a sustainable natural environment;
That the current governing structure is unable to adequately meet the
challenges presented by the deteriorating global environmental situation.
As a result, EPT recommends to the GTA Task Force
That it recognize that planning for the long term health of the Greater Toronto
Area means establishing structures and policies which improve the
environmental, economic and community health of the GTA as an integral
whole;
That the planning, implementation and operation of the GTA public
transportation system be the responsibility of a single GTA-wide level of
government which is directly elected by the public;
That property taxes in the GTA be significantly reduced;
That, to replace revenues lost through reducing property taxes, a GTA energy
tax at the retail level be established to create an incentive to create demand for
better insulated housing, streamline travel habits, reduce wasteful
household/industrial utilization, spur the use of (and demand for better) public
transportation, increase walking and cycling as transportation modes, generate
more efficient freight movement, and improve the market for efficient
appliances and machinery;
That the remaining property taxes be based not on market value concepts but
on the basis of how the land is used, and oriented so that taxes are calculated
based on lot size, building floor space, and the ratio of floor space to lot size.
The effect of such a tax should be to reduce suburban sprawl, improve to
potential for reurbanization and infill of existing built-up areas, and to enhance
prospects for improvements to the public transit system.
Details of EPTs concerns and proposals are attached, entitled Governing For
Sustainability.
EPT contacts: Joan Doiron Co-Chair 416-929-5483
Udo Stillich, 905-820-4110
Michael Johnston, 416-486-7110
EPT
The Transportation Caucus of Toronto Environmental Alliance -348-0660
401 Richmond St. W. (at Spadina) Suite 104, Toronto, Ont. M5V3A8 - Fax. 596-1374
August 25, 1995
Anne Golden, Chairperson
Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
Dear Anne,
Thank you for providing EPT with an opportunity to present its concerns and
recommendations with regard to the critical work of your Task Force.
Our presentation to you today arises from the general concerns which we
expressed to you in our letter of May 2, 1995. In that letter, we explained how we
must ensure that transit is planned and provided prior to the funding of roads; how
the proliferation of roads and highways within and beyond the GTA is generating
urban sprawl, auto and truck dependence, pollution and unhealthy living conditions.
Metros economic decline is inexorably connected to this massive road construction
leading companies to move to areas with low taxes in the GTA and beyond.
We share the hope (stated in your NOWletter) that the GTA can become one
of the worlds preeminent urban centres in which to live, work, invest,and visit. We,
of course, equally strongly support your vision of a healthy, dynamic urban core pivotal
to the quality of life and social stability of the entire region with a high-quality urban
environment through more compact, transit-supportive development. We see the return
to walking and cycling as essential parts of this high quality.
But, as our presentation will make clear, we have great fears that time is
running out for realizing this vision. We are warned by the Ontario Environment
Ministry that Ontario has the dirtiest air in Canada; that there is a dramatic increase in
asthma (particularly among children); that more and more summer days arrive with
health warnings; that modern cars are cleaner but a dramatic increase in their numbers
and use has cancelled out any benefit from this advance.
We, nonetheless, anticipate reports such as that of your Task Force with the hope
that it will stimulate the political will to make the critically necessary changes in tax
policies to realize sustainability in our urban centre.
Thanks for your interest in our efforts to help build a liveable Toronto Area.
(Joan oiron) Co-Chair ~PT - 929-5483
t
ETOBICOKE
THE BOARD OF HEALTH
FOR THE CITY OF ETOBICOKE HEALTH DEPARTMENT
ETOBICOKE CITY HALL, 399 THE WEST MALL, ETOBICOKE, ONTARIO M9C 2Y2
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
(416) 394-8265
FAX NO. (416) 394-8893
27 September 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
20th Floor -2001
TORONTO, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden
The Etobicoke Board of Health at its meeting of 21 September 1995, passed the
following resolution whereby it outlines the Boards concerns with respect to
inequities being experienced amongst municipalities:
THAT, the Board of Health make a submission to the Golden Task
Force to advise them of the issues identified by the Board at its meeting
of 21 September 1995 which are as follows:
Carmelita Zaccaria
Secretary, Board of Health
ETOBI COK E
July 17th, 1995
Ms. Anne Golden,
Chair,
393 University Avenue, 20th Floor
Suite 2001,
Toronto, Ontario. M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
Re: Reform of the Greater Toronto Area
City of Etobicokes Brief to the Golden Task Force
For your attention and review, enclosed please find a copy of the City of Etobicokes Brief and
preferred approach on the reform of the Greater Toronto Area, as adopted by Council, at its
meeting held on July 14th, 1995. Etobicoke is recommending a downsizing of Metros powers
and responsibilities, with transfer of functions either to the local municipalities or to the
Province. Council supports the idea of a loose GTA structure which would co-ordinate
boundaryless services such as transportation, conservation and environment management.
Council is extending an invitation to your Task Force to meet to discuss Etobicokes Brief.
Council is also willing to appear before the Task Force to elaborate on its position with regard
to the GTA Reform.
For your information, Council has not finalized its position on Education Funding and will
forward its comments at a later date. If you have any questions or require further information,
please do not hesitate to contact me at 394-8080.
Cathie L. Best,
Director, Council Support,
Administrative Services.
/pt
encl.
Administrative Services Department - Council Support Division
399 The West Mall, Etobicoke, Ontario, M9C 2Y2 TEL (41.6) 394-8101 FAX (416) 394-8895
THAT Etobicokes Brief to the Golden Task Force on the Reform of the Greater Toronto Area,
be endorsed by Council for immediate submission to the Task Force; and
THAT Council issue an invitation to the Golden Task Force to meet with Etobicoke Council to
discuss the Brief and that Council confirm its willingness to appear before the Golden Task Force
to elaborate on its position with respect to the Greater Toronto Area Reform, all in accordance
with the report from the City Manager, dated July 14th, 1995.
Carried
D. C. Holyday
Mayor
THE CITY OF ETOBICOKE COUNCIL
BRIEF TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE
On REFORM OF THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
Introduction
The City of Etobicoke is on the western boundary of Metropolitan Toronto. With a 1991
population of 310,000 residents and over 9,500 businesses, it is the fourth largest
municipality in the Metro region. Largely developed, it has a mixture of both mature and
growing residential communities.
The recession has taken an immense toll on the Citys industrial areas, principally
located in the Lakeshore Area, as many businesses have either gone out of business
or moved to more financially viable areas. There is a surplus of 12 million square feet
of commercial and industrial space.
Etobicokes focus has been on re-development of various nodes within the City. The
most notable is the City Centre area which, when built out, is estimated to bring about
a population increase of 11,000 persons and 25,000 jobs. This, combined with a
forecasted ten year net increase in population, will expand the Citys population to
335,000. Over the next ten years, it is estimated that almost 27 million square feet of
non-residential development will occur.
Etobicoke is known for its proximity to four major highways and to the Lester B. Pearson
International Airport. This makes it an ideal location for business who rely on strategic
transportation routes for its products and services. It is truly a gateway for the Greater
Toronto Area.
Etobicokes Vision - The Leading Edge of Metro
In 1993 Etobicoke Council published its strategic plan, Etobicoke 2010. This plan
addresses the individual, social, economic and environment issues facing the
municipality and provides a mechanism to manage these issues. The document
presents the vision and future direction for the municipality.
Ratepayers, businesses, education and social agencies, other levels of government and
the general public had a say in the development of the Strategic Plan. Together, we
built a vision of Etobicoke as the Leading Edge of Metro - The Place to Live, Work and
Play,
The Goals of the Strategic Plan respond to concerns expressed by its citizens and
businesses. They include efficient, effective and accessible municipal services, business
development, public safety, healthy lifestyles and the environment.
BRIEF - REFORM OF THE GTA 2.
Etobicokes Role in the Future of the Greater Toronto Area
Politicians, municipal staff and the public have participated in many forums which
discussed the future of the Metropolitan Toronto Area and the Greater Toronto Area.
Etobicoke Council has long recognized the need for a review of the governance structure
in Metropolitan Toronto and has called upon the Provincial Government numerous times
to undertake financial reform of the taxation and grant systems.
Etobicokes citizens are feeling over-governed and over-taxed. Public confidence in the
political system is dwindling. Appeals for reform are being unheeded. Businesses are
feeling burdened by the high level of taxation in the Metropolitan Toronto Area and,
despite having to leave a prime location, are relocating to areas outside of Metro.
It is for these reasons that Etobicoke Council is presenting its views to the Greater
Toronto Area Task Force. Rather than becoming entrenched in any one position on
governance, principles of approach are offered. Having considered these principles,
Council has suggested one approach to service delivery and management which it feels
would benefit Etobicokes citizens and businesses.
First Principles
Etobicoke is committed to the principle that Form Follows Function. The structure of the
government in Metropolitan Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area must be developed
as a result of and in response to the needs of the residents and businesses. That is,
once decisions are made with respect to what needs to be done, the most appropriate
structure -- who will provide what needs to be done-- can be designed.
Assuming that the same type and level of municipal and regional services are to be
continued, Etobicoke Council offers the basic First Principles of any discussion with
respect to structure:
(1) Services must be delivered at the level of government which is most effective and
cost efficient.
(2) Services which can be delivered more effectively and with less cost by the private
sector should be privatized, as long as policy and community interest issues are
not diminished by the use of such alternative service delivery mechanisms.
(3) Services which respond to social equity issues should be delivered at the level
which has the authority to formulate the policy decisions.
.
(4) The public must understand the structure and must perceive the value which is
provided by their tax dollars.
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(lo)
BRIEF - REFORM OF THE GTA 3.
The public must have direct and immediate access to elected officials and the
government administration.
Clear lines of responsibility must be set in order to guarantee public
accountability.
The structure must be flexible and dynamic, capable of responding to changing
service demands, fiscal pressures, innovations and community interests.
The form of governance must be capable financially and administratively to
respond to service and policy-driven demands.
Services which are, in the publics eyes,
seamlessiy.
The governance structure must permit
performance of responsibilities relating to
funding.
boundary-less should be delivered
discretion and autonomy in the
service development, delivery and
Etobicokes Response to other Governance and Funding Initiatives
As mentioned earlier in this brief, Etobicoke Council and staff participated in many other
governance and funding initiatives undertaken by the provincial or municipal sector. For
the sake of brevity, only the highlights of Etobicokes position are included here:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
Disentanglement - Etobicoke agreed, except for transfer of assessment to
municipality. Such transfer must include authority to change to a fairer
assessment system.
Fair Tax Commission - Etobicoke agreed with most recommendations. Several
recommendations, significantly those relating to education funding, require further
study.
Report of the Provincial-Municipal Task Force under the Municipal Sectoral
Agreement - Social Contract Act - Etobicoke agreed with all recommendations.
Discussion Paper prepared by COMLAC - Government in Metropolitan Toronto:
The Local-Regional-Provincial Relationship - endorsed by Etobicoke Council.
Delegation of Planning Approvals to Metropolitan Toronto - New Planning Act -
Etobicoke opposed delegation, with support of all other local municipalities in
Metro.
EFRRA
August 24, 1995
GTA TASK FORCE
3 9 3 Un i ve r s i t y Av e. Su i t e 2 0 0 1
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
ATT Dr. Anne Golden Chair and Task Force members.
Dear Dr. Golden
In response to your GTA task force study we submit the following
comments for your consideration.
Please keep us advised of any
future meetings or information regarding the GTA.
In brief. we are pleased to see this issue being reviewed as we
are long time advocates of same. The following summary comments
are submitted on behalf of ou r 30 Etobicoke affiliated Ratepayers
Associations.
Thank you.
we look forward to communicating in future and remain
Yours truly
Bob Gull ins
President of EFRRA
CC:EFRRA Members
. . . comments
EFRRA PROFILE
EFRRA is comprised of 30 ratepayers associations throughout
Etobicoke. Their individual sizes and jurisdictions vary and
collectively we represent about 3000 households in Etobicoke. As
President of EFRRA I have been directed to submit this report for
your consideration-
Please note that the comments have been kept brief and direct.
COMMENTS
We can only scratch the surface of this complexed matter and do
not profess to having all the answers. Our prime objective is to
present our views from a ratepayers perspective with the hope we
can work towards a better, more effient and expanded GTA.
First and foremost on our list is that Etobicoke retain their
local autonomy, as should the other existing cities. Decisions
made locally but requiring additional infrastructure or common
service, can be brought to a differently structured Metro
government for incorporation into a master plan. It is paramount
that each City in the GTA maintain its own planning decisions and
identity.
Secondly, the GTA must be expanded to include the surrounding
cities as the existing tax structure is unfair to the Metro
taxpayers. Cost of services now being paid for by Metro such as
roads are used extensively by those living outside the area. The
costs have to be shared more equitably.
On a larger scale, our battle in todays economy is not competing
with other Canadians but to work together toward a renewed
country.
In addition to the foregoing we support;
a) The amalgamation of fire department-s administrative
services, but stop short. in that each municipality maintain
their traditional identity.
b) The amalgamation of the public and separate schools
administration systems to reduce the tremendous duplication
of services and capital costs for administration buildings,
staff, etc.
c) A major overhaul of the Metro housing system for the
purpose of minimizing its quantity and associated costs.
d) Eliminate the multicultural programs as most cultures
have always provided for their own and prefere it that way.
To the best of our knowledge there is no discrimination
against any groups for holding ethnic events.
e) The cost of the ESL program is a direct expense to the
Metro population and as such is unfair. Feds should pay.
e) Gay rights issues should not be in the school system.
Most of the forego items have, or should be handled either
under the provincial or federal jurisdictions.
And, as it is the
federal level that controls immigration, they should bare a]]
costs associated with settlement. why should the taxpayers in an
area like Metro foot the costs for the ESL? Any individual could
easily move out of our city or province to work thereby loosing
our education investment, The expense must be borne at the
federal level.
While we must considered what is best for the majority we should
not loose the original direction which gained Metro Toronto world
status, Our focus must return to what will stimulate the people
that developed the GTA as it is their efforts and energies that
gained Toronto its recognition. They must reap the fruits of
their labour and no doubt will continue to contribute to the
GTAs appeal and growth. This is a much better alternative t.
what is already happening.
Most of EFRRAs representatives have also been part of the cities
development and feel Metro is being damaged by catering to
special interest groups and unfair tax laws, not ignoring of
course, the impact of free trade.
While politicians gloat about what a melting pot our society has
become they fail to see that it is becoming increasingly
polarized. The job market in Metro is seriously aggravating our
problems and demoralizing many of our youth.
Metro Toronto is still among the better places to live. We have
many highly skilled but unemployed people in our labour pool that
need to be mobilized by providing good paying jobs, The unemploy-
ment figures and most of the other statistics available do not
begin to reflect the reality of the problem in the GTA let alone
Canada.
In conclusion EFRRA have been advocating changes for several
years which would have minimized some of todays problems. The net
result is we are now in a crisis state and while many people need
to be shocked into realization, we do not believe the required
changes need turn our world upside down. Changes needed should
get back to basics.
Thank you again for your time and best wishes in future.
Bob Gull ins
END.
cc: EFRRA members
FEDERATION OF CANADIAN MUNICIPALITIES
&
CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATORS
SUMMARY OF THE DELIBERATIONS
OF THE
JOINT TASK FORCE ON MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
A FCM POLICY WORKSHOP - JUNE 11, 1995
Michael H. Boggs
of the Regional Municipality of Niagara, Ontario,
and Member of the Task Force
The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the Canadian Association of Municipal
Administrators (CAMA) have co-ordinated a joint Task Force to advance their common interests
as stated in their respective Mission and Policy Statements. In its Mission Statement, FCM is
committed to enhancing the Role of Municipal Governments through the following statement:
Community governments are the primary administrative units of Canadian society
and, as such, are ideally situated to deliver public services effectively and
efficiently. As Canadian society grows and becomes more complex, the roles and
responsibilities of local governments expand to meet new needs.
FCM
participates in this evolutionary process by drawing upon the richness and
diversity of the Canadian municipal experience, by acting as a medium of
communication among municipal governments, by sharing ideas and information,
and by positioning itself at the forefront of innovation in municipal operations.
The Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) echoes that sentiment in the
following Mission Statement:
To develop and promote excellence in municipal administration and the role of
municipal management in order to enhance the quality of municipal government
in Canada.
The Joint Task Force on the Role of Municipal Government has been pursuing this mandate
through a review of the FCM Policy Statement and Recommendation (attached), which were
approved at the 1994 Annual Conference. Also, the debate will be continued at a National
Seminar which is being co-sponsored by FCM and CAMA in the fall of 1995.
In order to ensure that the Seminar, which will be attended by invited academics and
practitioners from all three orders of government, will be focussed on municipal government
issues, there is a need to identify major themes. Participants will be invited to prepare
submissions on these themes for debate at the Seminar. The published results will be the basis
for a further presentation at the FCM and CAMA 1996 Annual Conferences. Four possible
themes were presented and others were proposed from the floor at the June 11, 1995, Policy
Session. The following is a summary of the proposed themes:
1. GOVERNANCE
This topic was investigated thoroughly by the Association of Municipalities of Ontario
in three papers published in 1994 and 1995. The first of these papers was a background
research document entitled Local Government in the Future: Issues & Trends. This
document concluded that municipal governments are an order of government and serve
as a significant foundation of our democratic system. As the public is demanding a
rationalization and revitalization of political institutions, it is essential that the provincial
and municipal governments commit to reform towards ensuring that local governments
are part of this process. The second paper was a statement of the policies and principles
that should apply and was entitled The Ontario Charter: A Proposed Bill of Rights for
Local Government. This document identified the four cornerstones of a new and
improved role for municipalities.
. . . .contd
page 2
. LEGAL FRAMEWORK - There is a range of alternative courses of action from the
status quo to full constitutional recognition of local government. Between these two
extremes are options such as a charter, a bill of rights, a mandate, a partnership,
and an agreement. It is clear that the status quo is not an acceptable course of
action to address the current strained relationship between the provinces and
municipalities. However, the constitutional alternative has not received any support
from either the provincial or the federal government. We need to develop a viable
alternative which will be acceptable to all orders of government. This alternative
must, at a minimum, include the establishment of local autonomy, provide access
to provincial decision-making, and embrace the concept of local self-government.
. LEGISLATION - Currently, in Ontario there are at least 150 Acts that dictate the
operations of municipalities in a prescriptive and restrictive fashion. All other
provinces, with the exception of Alberta, are faced with the same dilemma. To
address this concern, some provinces have agreed to develop permissive and
enabling legislation that defines both the provincial and municipal role. The Alberta
Municipal Government Act is based on the principles of enabling municipalities to
act with the authority of a natural person, albeit with some restrictions; of dedicating
property taxation to meet local government needs; of accepting that income
redistribution programs are to be funded from less regressive forms of taxation (i.e.,
income and sales); and of the requirement that the level of government that requires
and sets standards must pay for the cost of these standards. Further, that Provincial
Government has realigned its ministerial functions in a manner consistent with these
principles and in a more business-like fashion, rather than on the traditional
government departmental alignments. The Province of Ontario, in its 1994 Planning
Act, followed this Alberta model to a certain degree in incorporating the require-
ments for Provincial Policy Statements with which municipal plans must be
consistent. However, in both Alberta and Ontario, the positive effect of rewriting
legislation to permit and enable municipalities to act within a policy framework has
been considerably diminished by subsequent regulations that reintroduce the
restrictive and prescriptive requirements. This is seen by municipalities as an
attempt by provincial bureaucrats to retain power, notwithstanding the actions of the
legislature to delegate this power.
. RELATIONSHIP - Municipalities have been working in the legislative regime
described above for many years, and have made the relationship with the provinces
work in spite of being treated as children of the provinces. The most recent
recession and the fact that the federal government and most provincial governments
are, for all practical purposes, bankrupt, has resulted in increased downloading,
transfer payment reductions, and a less tolerant parent. Of the total public sector
debt in Canada, which is approaching one trillion dollars, only three billion is debt
of municipalities and that debt has financed capital infrastructure with a future life,
as opposed to the debt of other levels of government, which, to a great extent,
finances current operations. The current overlap of services and responsibilities
between municipal government and the federal and provincial governments must be
. ...contd
page 3
clarified and redefined. In order to promote accountability to the public, they must
know which order of government is responsible for which program from a policy,
service delivery, and funding perspective. The relationship between orders of
government must be disentangled with the authority and responsibility for a function
following mutually agreed principles that will provide the framework for an
improved and logical relationship. An example of these principles is included in the
unsuccessful attempt by Ontario municipalities in 1993 to re-establish a good
working relationship with the province. These principles were:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
To the extent that income redistribution is a program or service objective,
policy/service management and program financing should be a provincial
responsibility.
The degree of involvement in policy/service management for each level of
government should be determined by the type and level of spillovers.
Services should
economically.
Services should
effectively.
be provided at the level of government that can do so most
be delivered by the level of government that can do so most
The degree of involvement in policy/service management for each level of
government should be dictated by the level of interest or the need for standards.
The allocation of policy/service management, financing and delivery responsi-
bilities should be based on promoting accountability.
-
. .
An improved provincial-municipal relationship would result in enhanced citizen
understanding, improved accountability, realization of cost savings and revenue
enhancements, and the provision of more effective services. These potential results
underscore the importance of pursuing the initiative from the perspective of our
common taxpayer.
. RE-ENGINEERING - As municipalities face, and meet, the challenges of the 90s,
they must have the authority to initiate a radical and fundamental redesign and the
creation of new processes to become more efficient in the management and operation
of programs and services. This fundamental change will require an entrepreneurial
spirit as proposed by David Osborne and Ted Gaebler in their book Re-inventing
Government. They must focus on the outputs or the value added services of the
organization, while holding managers accountable for utilizing the inputs/resources
to meet the municipalities goals. This will require new management systems that
incorporate strategic planning, organizational alignment, performance management,
and employee involvement.recognition. The tools that are available to assist with
the enhancement of organizational performance include Continuous Quality
. . . .contd
page4
Improvement, Activity-based Cost Management, Benchmarking, and others.
Changes to the way they do business are inevitable. Those in the public sector who
ignore these changes will fall by the wayside. Those who accept and tolerate these
changes will survive. Those who promote and celebrate these changes will succeed
beyond expectations.
The third AMO paper, entitled Better Government, Lower Cost: A New Municipal
Mandate was prepared to elicit a commitment from the three major provincial parties
to change the provincial-municipal relationship. That paper summarized the initiatives
identified in the second paper and challenged the province to co-operate, legislate,
delineate, rejuvenate, integrate, and facilitate. The municipal model in Ontario is in need
of reform, and AMO has provided a framework for fundamental change designed to end
duplication, to ensure equitable and accountable funding, to negotiate a partnership
agreement and to replace the Municipal Act. The final step is provincial action to
implement significant municipal reform.
2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
Katherine Graham and Susan Phillips of the School of Public Administration at Carleton
University are preparing, in conjunction with a study team of academics and
practitioners, a paper on making public participation more effective. The study team will
examine public participation with regard to the major issues facing local government in
Canada today. They have defined these issues to be:
.
economical development;
changes in the patterns of where and how people live in cities;
the fiscal squeeze and entanglement/disentanglement of municipal finances with the
financial systems of other orders of government; and
pressures for enhanced political representation and accountability.
In addressing each of these issues, the study team will be cognizant of the hard policy
choices to be made by municipal governments and the increasing evidence that
municipalities in Canada are being called upon to deal in a proactive way with issues of
community development.
The study team leaders will prepare an initial conceptual paper on public participation.
This paper will review the literature and will set out an agenda for case studies. Eight
case studies will be conducted. Each area of focus noted above will be the subject of
two case studies. One will be done by an academic, the other by a practitioner. They
will be drawn from a variety of cities across the country. The case studies will then be
synthesized with a view of developing a set of concluding lessons to be learned.
3. ABORIGINAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
The FCM, in co-operation with CAMA, submitted a paper entitled Municipalities and
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in
August 1993. That paper and subsequent initiatives, will form the focus for a discussion
on the topic. The FCM paper concludes as follows:
. . . .contd
page 5
The nature of municipal/Aboriginal relations stretches the entire spectre
of attitudinal expressions, ranging from non-existent, to tentative, to
business-like, to excellent. The overall trend, however, is one of
improving communication and understanding. While we recognize the
unique parameters of each situation, and while the statistical data gleaned
from our survey cannot be conclusive, some general observations can be
made.
We can ascertain that some local governments are uncertain as to an
appropriate role with respect to Aboriginal peoples. Conversely, from
an Aboriginal viewpoint, the appropriateness of their involvement in
what constitute non-traditional styles and institutions of government is
questioned. At times, Aboriginal peoples show a reluctance to assert
themselves as distinct political communities. Alternatively, local
governments are not always aware of the distinct status of Aboriginal
peoples.
As a result, municipal/Aboriginal relations in Canada present a rich
kaleidoscope of unique historical, geographical and demographic
situations. This diversity does not lend itself easily to any ideal model,
but rather to certain principles underlying good relations. The
experience of municipal governments is of value to Aboriginal peoples
as they pursue their aspirations for local autonomy with larger political
structures supporting and representing their interests, but requiring co-
operation beyond the immediate boundaries of their community.
Government-to-government relations between municipalities and
Aboriginal peoples highlighted in our research are a pragmatic response
to the interface of municipal/Aboriginal interests and a testament to
Aboriginal self-government in practice.
No government can act in complete isolation from others. It is,
therefore, difficult to contemplate the successful implementation of
recommendations with respect to improving the relations between
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people without the approval and co-
operation of all governments, including local governments. Inter-
dependence and co-operation, the characteristics of a federal system,
must also be reflected in municipal/Aboriginal relations. Aboriginal
people, as other members of society, wish to have control over their
destinies. It is time to set aside stereotypes and recognize that
Aboriginal leaders have been trying to implement responsible
government for many years. Defining and implementing Aboriginal self-
government will require a great deal of understanding, co-operation and
goodwill.
. . ..contd
page 6
We do not need any more indicators of the marginalized position of
Aboriginal peoples in Canada. We do need a collaborative design
towards change. We must move beyond merely managing situations to
adopt a comprehensive plan which includes objectives and concrete
strategies. Municipal leaders must combine efforts with Aboriginal
leaders to identify and overcome barriers of mistrust, misperception,
racism and systemic discrimination. Practical solutions can be found at
the local, grass-roots level regardless of constitutional fiat: we can
commit to building better communities together.
In the past, agreements between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and
Canada were governed by principles symbolized by the Two Row
Wampum: on the River of Life, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples
would navigate together, side by side, on parallel courses. Each boat
would be governed by its own laws, traditions and beliefs; neither people
would make laws over the other. While respecting the spirit of these
principles, FCM hopes that this brief will encourage a dialogue between
municipalities and Aboriginal peoples toward a common course to a
shared destination.
4. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
In February of 1995, Public Technology Canada (PTC)--a joint venture of FCM, CAMA
and Public Technology Inc.--undertook, with the sponsorship of Industry Canada, to
conduct a cross-Canada series of workshops in order to explore the challenges and
opportunities for public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the municipal environmental
infrastructure sector. The six workshops took place in April 1995.
It was recognized that growing fiscal constraints, the drive for greater operating
efficiency and technology acquisition might force municipal administrators to look to the
private sector for the provision of environmental infrastructure and services following the
trend in some European countries, but that the Canadian environmental industry might
be organizationally and financially unprepared to respond.
The primary objective of the workshops was to bring together municipal decision-makers
with manufacturing, construction and consulting engineering companies and financial
investors interested in municipal environmental infrastructure projects (MEIPs), in order
to:
B
B
B
B
discuss the opportunities and barriers related to this issue;
highlight successful models drawn from the participants own experiences;
assess the potential of PPPs as municipal strategic options; and
build awareness among industry participants of new business potential in this area.
. . . .contd
page 7
To summarize the main points which emerged from the workshop process:
5.
1. There is a significant unrealized Canadian demand for municipal environmental
infrastructure development and renewal.
2. It is predicted that fiscal challenges facing local governments will soon render it
imperative to create innovative solutions involving partnerships with the private
sector.
3. The Canadian environmental industry is structurally (as opposed to technologically)
underdeveloped in comparison with some of its foreign rivals in an increasingly
global market, which means that these foreign firms are in a position to gain a
significant market share in Canada. The reality of foreign competition should act
as a stimulus for Canadian municipal environmental, construction and consulting
engineering companies to meet this challenge.
4. It is in the common interest of Canadian municipalities and the environmental
industry to develop strong Public-Private Partnerships in order to meet domestic
needs and build a base for support. However, numerous steps need to be taken
by the industry, its associations, municipalities and senior governments in order
to increase awareness, develop trust and create mechanisms for the development
of such partnerships.
The paper and recommendations from the Workshops will be presented at the National
Seminar to initiate the debate.
FRAMEWORK FOR DECISION-MAKING--A BUSINESS MODEL
This possible theme was proposed from the floor at the Policy Workshop. Assuming that
municipalities are successful in obtaining additional authority and responsibility from the
other orders of government, they collectively need to know that they are making
decisions in the best interests of their citizens and ratepayers. The federal and provincial
governments have a parliamentary form incorporating party politics, caucus and cabinet
process and the constitutional mandate to make decisions. Municipalities do not have
these mechanisms available to them and thus need to develop a framework for decision-
making. The processes utilized in the private sector appear to be more efficient and
include a Board of Directors, Corporate Management, Shareholders Meetings, Audited
Financial Statements, and Annual Reports. Local government may benefit from a
Business Model; however, it is clear that the public will demand an open and accessible
process of decision-making. With closed-door caucus and cabinet meetings at the federal
and provincial levels, and private executive and board meetings in the private sector, we
should not try to duplicate either model totally. The National Seminar could pursue this
discussion and formulate a model that meets the needs of the public, while learning from
the other private and public sector models.
. . . .contd
page 8
6. ENTERPRI SING COMMUNITIES AND MANAGERS
This theme was utilized by both FCM and CAMA as the focal point of their 1995 Annual
Conferences. Many papers on practical examples of innovations and entrepreneurial
achievements were presented by practitioners and invited guests. These papers, which
explored issues such as Benchmarking, The Electronic Community, Infrastructure,
Partnerships, Community Economic Development, Activity-based Cost Management, and
Leadership, will be utilized to advance the discussion on the emergence of enterprising
municipal government.
CONCLUSION
Over the last few years, municipal governments across Canada have been demanding significant
change in their relationship with the provincial and federal governments. Some provinces have
been more responsive to the municipal point of view. However, municipalities need to continue
this initiative to ensure that there are clear lines of authority and responsibility for programs and
services. The public needs to know whom to hold accountable for the policy development,
service delivery, and funding of a myriad of federal, provincial and municipal functions. Orders
of government have an obligation to their customers, residents, and taxpayers, to provide
efficient and effective services. A restructuring of the relationship between the orders of
government is critical to the economic, environmental and social health of our country and its
communities.
THE RECOGNITION OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
For decades the Federation of
Canadian Municipalities (FCM) has sought a
better understanding of the role municipal
governments play in the nations political and
economic development. In part, because of poor
communications arising from the outdated status
of municipal governments, federal policies and
programs are often out of step with local realities
and needs, resulting in duplication, waste and
negative results for municipal governments and
taxpayers. Municipal governments are
challenged by the widening gap between the
recognition of their role and political and
economic realities. Canadians rightly expect all
orders of government to cooperate in the delivery
of public services.
Municipal government is the bedrock
upon which Canadian democracy rests. By being
closest to the people and representing a
geographically concentrated area, municipal
councils are able quickly to discern needs and
respond to them without delay. VVlth
responsiveness has come growing demands for
services, ranging from policing through housing to
recreation and, in some provinces, social
assistance. In addition, because of the scaling
down of federal and provincial programs, even
more responsibilities have been directly and
indirectly offloaded onto municipal governments.
The debate over the need for
recognition of the status of municipal
governments predates Confederation. Lord
Durham, in his 1839 report, argued in favour of
guaranteeing municipal institutions in the
Canadian Constitution. Lord Durhams
recommendations were never embodied in
Canadas constitutional law. The Constitution
Act, 1867, established the parameters of current
federal and provincial relationships with municipal
governments. Section 92 of the Act set out the
exclusive powers of provincial legislatures in 16
54
areas, with section 92(8) giving the legislature of
each province exclusive responsibility for making
laws relating to that provinces municipal
institutions.
For years municipal governments have
criticized the institutional restrictions on their
decision making powers and ability to raise
revenue. They have worked to simplify the
complex intergovernmental matrix of shared
responsibilities and resources in favour of
transparency and accountability. Throughout the
country, municipal. governments have tried to find
alternatives to the current system which would
provide greater autonomy. In a number of
provinces, municipal governments have engaged
in exercises aimed at disentangling municipal
responsibilities and revenue sources from the
provinces. Through FCM, municipal governments
have argued for explicit recognition of the
essential role of municipal governments in the
Canadian federal system.
In 1991 FCM informed the federal
government that the Charlottetown Accord, like
the Meech Lake Accord, was deficient because it
failed to acknowledge the existence and role of
municipal governments in Canadas political
system. In FCMS 1991 brief to the Special Joint
Committee on a Renewed Canada, FCM
advocated a two pronged approach to
recognition. First, municipalities would negotiate,
through their provincial/territorial associations, a
redefinition of their status under provincial law
with their respective provincial/territorial
governments. Second, the Canadian Constitution
would be amended to recognize the existence
and role of municipalities and to commit the
federal government to consider the impact on
municipalities of its policies. Though Prime
Minister Pierre Trudeau agreed in 1978 to
consider including municipal recognition in the
Constitution, in 1991, provincial and federal
governments refused to add FCMS proposals to
the already overcrowded constitutional agenda.
The Charlottetown Accord was defeated in a
national referendum.
Whatever debate may continue over
what municipal governments should be
responsible for and how much autonomy they
ought to have, it has become apparent that
municipal governments play an increasingly
important role in Canadas social, economic,
cultural and financial affairs. Though their legal
existence is dependent on provincial law, their
evolution into governments in their own right is a
practical reality. The challenge for Canadians is
to recognize this reality and grasp the
opportunities which it presents. The fundamental
premise upon which municipalities now rest their
case for municipal recognition is that proper
cooperation and consultation among ail orders of
government will enhance the efficiency and
quality of governance and will ensure greater
equity for taxpayers.
FCMS priority is to ensure day-today
recognition of the fundamental effect that federal
government initiatives and programs may have on
municipalities. Exclusive provincial jurisdiction
over municipalities should not render the federal
government indifferent to greater cooperation and
consultation among all orders of government.
Nor can the federal government behave
indifferently towards the scope and magnitude of
our urban problems. While Canada is one of the
most urbanized nations on Earth, the
constitutional gulf which separates our municipal
and federal orders of government is wider than
that of any other developed nation. The federal
presence is felt in municipalities through a
multitude of areas ranging from tax policy to
economic development to criminal law. The
federal government must acknowledge the effect
of its policies on municipal governments.
The provinces and territories have
frequently proven themselves unable or unwilling
to promote the i nterests of municipal
governments in intergovernmental processes. A
recent example is their unwillingness to allow
municipal government representatives to join as
full and equal partners on the management
committees overseeing the national municipal
infrastructure program. This occurred despite the
fact that municipal governments are paying one
third of the costs of the $6 billion program.
Another example of poor intergovernmental
cooperation is the federal and provincial practice
of excluding municipal governments when
discussing fiscal policies in the interest of the
overall Canadian economic performance. Despite
the compelling fact that the budgets of several of
our largest cities are greater than the budgets of
several provinces, not a word is mentioned of the
first order of government.
FCM bel i eves t he Canadi an
Constitution will never be complete without the
recognition of the essential role of municipal,
government in the Federation. Although
constitutional change has reduced significance on
the national agenda, municipal leaders are
resolved to seek practical steps towards a formal
recognition of the central role that local
governments play in the larger tapestry of civil
society and quality of life.
During the 1993
Federal Election, FCM and its member municipal
governments demonstrated their potential
strength when organization, focus and fairness
form the basis of their approach.
Canadians want governments to be
responsive and efficient and they want to control
their institutions. Canadians rightfully expect all
orders of government to cooperate in the delivery
of public services. Unless the role of
municipalities in the Canadian political system is
recognized, the quality of our democracy, the
efficiency of our public services and the equitable
treatment of taxpayers are all compromised.
Recommendations:
That FCM:
1. urge the federal government, and
through provincialterritorial municipal
associations the provincial/territorial
governments, to recognize the need
for an expanded partnership which
would include municipal government
as a full partner in intergovernmental
processes;
2. remind the federal government of the
effects of its actions on municipal
governments and urge the federal
government to recognize and consult
FCM as the vehicle through which
municipal government viewpoints are
expressed on national issues;
3. urge the federal government to consult
municipal governments direct on
federal policies and programs of local
significance;
4. urge the provi nci al / terri tori al
g o v e rn m e n ts, through the
provincial/territorial municipal
associations, t o negot i at e a
redefinition of the status of municipal
governments as requested by
provincial/territorial municipal
associations, and to recognize such
n ew a r ra n g e m e n ts in the
provincial/territorial constitutions:
5. urge the federal and provincial
governments to recognize municipal
government as an order of
government in the Constitution of
Canada; and
6. urge all Parliamentarians to recognize
the essential role municipal
governments play in the governance
of Canada and to accept that such
recognition is a prerequisite for the
efficient delivery of quality public
services and the equitable treatment
of Canadian taxpayers by the federal
government.
Adopted at the FCM 1994 Annual Conference
56
Tenants and Property Tax #1
What is property tax?
Property tax is just what it says it is - a tax on property, whether that property is a piece
of empty land or a building.
The buildings can be a single-family home, a triplex or a twelve story apartment building.
It can be a building used for a business, like an office or store, or it can be a factory.
It doesnt matter what the building is used for. Every building or piece of land in Ontario
has some sort of value and the provincial government uses different methods to calculate
its value.
How much the building is worth is the basis for calculating how much property taxis paid
by the owner, or by the tenant through their rents, But higher valued properties dont
necessarily pay more tax. There are many other factors that are taken into consideration,
When did
Property tax
years.
property tax begin?
has been used in Ontario to raise money for the government for almost 200
Who pays property tax?
Everybody! Tenants, homeowners, businesses,
But only tenants are not told about the tax they pay. Tenants dont get a bill for their
property tax. Tenants dont get a notice when the tax bill goes up. Only landlords get
this information, since they are the owners of the property.
But its tenants who pay the tax on the property - as part of our rent. Each month, each
year. And the tax is large, anywhere from 20- 30% of our monthly rent!
What do we get for our money?
Money from property tax helps to pay for the many services that our cities offer,
These services include: police and fire departments, roads and sewers, welfare
payments, public libraries, parks and recreation, childrens aid, public housing, boards of
health and schools. Over 50% of all property tax is spent on education.
Property tax also pays for city inspectors whose job is to make sure that tenants live in
safe apartments that are well maintained by their landlords. This service is very important
for tenants.
How much money is involved in property tax?
Across Ontario almost 12 Billion is paid in property tax by tenants, homeowners and
businesses each year. And tenants pay one in five of the residential tax dollars!
Produced by the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations May, 1993
Property Tax is a Hidden Tax
Income Tax, sales tax and GST.... Every time we look at a pay cheque or sales slip we
are made aware of how much we are taxed.
But did you know that tenants pay
property tax, too?
Most tenants dont realize it. Why? Because this tax is hidden. Tenants dont get a bill
for property tax. We dont fill out forms to pay it. No one tells us when the tax goes up.
All this information goes to our landlords - the owners of the properties. But while
landlords are the ones who write out the cheques for property tax, we tenants are the
ones who pay the bill as part of our monthly rent.
Property Tax is a Large Tax
How large? For tenants in buildings with 7+ units, about 30% of your monthly rent
cheque goes to pay property tax. So if your rent is $650 per month, you are paying
about $2300 in property tax each year!
Property tax goes up every year - usually at a rate higher than inflation. This is one
reason why the annual guideline for rent increases is so high. It reflects, among other
costs, annual increases in property tax.
Property Tax is an Unfair Tax
You might think that any tax that is large and hidden is already unfair! But there is
another reason why property tax is particularly unfair to tenants.
Outdated assessment practices result in rental units being treated differently than owner
occupied units at taxation time, Taxes are supposed to be based on the value of the
property. Once they were, But the current tax assessments dont take into account that
the value of houses has gone up over the years much more than rental property.
The result? Tenants pay more than their fair share of property tax.
How Unfair is it?
A comparison of three actual properties - a single family home, a condo and an
apartment will show just how unfairly tenants are treated.
A three storey completely renovated Riverdale house with a front and back yard and
parking is charged $1,200 in property tax.
A 2 bedroom condo unit in a 1970s downtown highrise with a view of the lake and an
indoor pool/sauna/exercise area is charged $1,405 in property tax.
A one bedroom apartment in a 1950s downtown highrise with no view and no amenities
is charged $1,788 in property tax.
Remember - we tenants pay this property tax as part of our rent!
How Much Property Tax do You Pay?
You have probably heard that Ontario tenants pay more than their fair share of property
taxes. The Federation of Metro Tenants Associations estimates that about 1/3 of tenants
rents go to pay property tax.
Few tenants know exactly how much property tax they pay because they never get a tax
bill or notification. This information goes to their landlords, only. But you can find out the
property tax for your unit by contacting your municipality.
Who to Contact
Call the finance department of your municipal government.
What to Ask for
For East York: 778-2110
To calculate your property tax, you need two figures: the assessed value of your unit and
the mill rate (or tax rate) for the municipality where you live, There is a different mill rate
for public school supporters and separate school supporters. Make sure you get the
appropriate rate.
Assessed value for a unit rarely changes from year to year. If it does, you will get a
notice in your mail from the provincial government with your new assessed value for your
unit. Mill rates do change annually. The 1993 mill rate will be set by the middle of May.
How to Calculate Your Tax
Multiply the assessed value for your unit and divide by 1000. Example for Toronto:
Assessed value Mill Rate
$4,300 x 441,83
= $1,899,869/1,000
= $1,899,87 tax
Why do we divide by 1,000? Because the mill rate is the tax per thousand of assessed
value. In the above example, the apartment was assessed at $4,300, Therefore, the tax
was $441.83 for each $1,000 assessed value: 441.83 x 4,30 (thousand) = $1.899,87,
What if they wont give me information by phone?
Complain, Let your councillor know that we
units through our rents should be entitled
paying.
Then go down to 850 Coxwell Avenue
- the tenants who pay the tax bills on our
to information about the amounts we are
Ask to see the Assessment Roil for your building. It will have the assessed value for
each unit. Then you can multiply this by the mill rate to find out the hidden taxes you are
paying.
How are property taxes calculated?
Every year municipalities must budget how much revenue they need to provide municipal
services and meet education needs. Some of this revenue is raised through property
taxes. The tax is based on the assessed value of the property.
Municipalities calculate how many dollars of every $1000 of assessed value they have
to collect to meet their needs. This amount becomes the mill rate (tax rate), and every
property is taxed at this rate. Metro Torontos mill rate is 456; that is, $456 for
$1000 of assessed value.
assessed value of property/$1000 x mill rate = annual property
(in Metro, based on (set annually (paid by you)
1940s market value) by each city)
Why is the mill rate so high?
each
tax
This tax rate is very high because assessed values in Metro have not increased in 40
years, In the 40s and 50s, the assessed value of a property was the same as the
market value (what a property will sell for). But municipalities found it difficult to
constantly reassess properties and keep up with rising market values. For example,
when Metro did its last assessment in 1954, it was based on 1940s market values.
During the seventies, the province planned to carry out a provincewide reassessment
as a first step in establishing a uniform assessment system for Ontario. Unfortunately this
reassessment did not happen, so current assessed values are still equal to the properties
1940 market values, Instead, the mill rate must be raised each year to cover rising costs,
Is this way of calculating property tax fair to tenants?
No. Tenants today pay more than their fair share. Property taxes are supposed to be
based on the market value of the property. Yet many tenants living in small apartments
pay more property tax (through rents) than homeowners in larger, more valuable houses.
Why? Because the out-of date assessments no longer reflect the market value for Metro
properties. At one time, a single family home and an apartment unit (in a building with
7+ units) which were worth the same were taxed the same; simple and fair. But since
the 1940s, the market values of houses have increased much more than the value of
apartments - about 4 times as much.
So the single family home in our example, that used to be worth the same as the
apartment, is now worth four times as much. But because assessments havent been
updated, the house will be taxed the same as the apartment unit.
(see over)
How can we make the current system fairer?
As long as property tax is based on the value of property, fairness demands that people
with more valuable property should pay higher municipal tax than people with less
valuable property. If home owners have enjoyed large increases in the value of their
properties, they should assume their true share of the tax burden. The only way to make
this will happen is if the government
a) reassesses all properties in Metro (which will relink assessed
values to market
values), and,
b) requires that the same tax rules apply to rental and non-rental residential property.
Isnt that what the MVA plan was all about?
Not really. The Market Value Assessment Plan would have determined the 1988 market
values of all properties. But it would not have created a fair tax system based directly on
these values. Instead, it would have entrenched the unfairness that already exists in the
current system.
Heres how. As we have seen, assessed values are now only a small fraction of todays
market values. The assessments for tenants homes are about 4% to 11% of their 1988
market value, while singlefamily homes are assessed at 1%3% of their worth,
MVA would have equalized these assessments. How? [t would have averaged out the
assessment range for apartments to 8%, and for single-family homes to 2%. These
average figures would then become official assessment levels for those classes of
property,
All single-family homes would then be re-assessed at 2% of their 1988 market value and
apartments (buildings with 7+ units) at 8% of their 1988 market value. For example
market value level of assessment assessed value
house $170, 000 x 2% = $3,400
apar t ment $50, 000 x 8 % = $4, 000
This home owner would pay taxes on a lower assessed value than the tenant, even
though the house was far more valuable.
Equalizing within each class of property is not the answer, It only treats homeowners
preferentially and officially entrenches the historical unfairness of our present tax system.
There must be equalization across the classes. Why should tenants be taxed on a higher
proportion of the value of their unit than are homeowners?
What must be done to make MVA fairer to tenants?
If Metro moves to MVA, tenants must demand that all classes of residential housing have
the same level of assessment applied to them. This is how condominium and co-op
units are assessed. Tenants should pay their fair share of taxes - but no more!
Market value assessment would not have improved the situation for tenants. MVA
would have determined the 1988 market value of all properties, but it would not
have created a fair tax system based directly on these values. Instead, it would
have entrenched the unfairness that already exists in the current system.
Heres how. We have seen that under the current tax system, tenants homes are
assessed at anywhere from 4% to 11% of their market value, while single-family
homes are assessed at 1-3% of their market value. MVA would have taken the
average of the range for apartments (8%) and the average of the range for single-
family homes (2%) and made them into official assessment levels for those
classes of property. For example,
level of
market value assessment assessed value
Apartment $50,000 x 8% = $4,000
House $170,000
x 2% = $3,400
These different assessment levels for different kinds of housing arose because of
market forces and out-dated assessments, MVA would have made them a fixed
and official part of our tax system,
MVA was supposed to equalize taxes, but this equalization would only have
happened within each class of property. All single-family homes would be re-
assessed at 2% of their current worth, and all apartments (in 7+ unit buildings) at
8% of their current worth.
But there would have been no equalization across the classes. Why should tenants
be taxed on a higher proportion of the value of their unit than homeowners are?
Would you support a MVA system that equalized the level of assessment for
all residential properties, so that the homes of both homeowners and tenants
were assessed at the same percentage of their market values?
Current Tax System
We understand that every year municipalities must budget for the revenue they
need to provide municipal services and meet education needs. Some of this
revenue is raised through property taxes, which are based on the assessed value
of the property.
In the 1940s and 1950s, the assessed value of the property was the same as the
market value, that is, what a property will sell for on the market today. But
municipalities did not keep up with rising market values through regular
reassessments.
In Metro Toronto, the last re-assessment was done in 1954. It was based on
1940s market values, As all assessments in Metro are now frozen, the current
assessed values are still equal to the 1940 market values of these properties.
Incredible but true: the assessed value of every unit and home in Metro is roughly
equal to the market value that property had (or would have had) in 1940,
This is true even for a home or apartment unit which was not built in 1940. Heres
how the new home is assessed in 1940 terms. First, the new homes current worth
or market value is determined, so that the new home can be compared to similar
types of homes in the area that have the same market value. These other homes
(the comparison group) will already have been assessed at 1940 values. The new
home is then given an assessed value in line with the assessed values of these
similar homes.
Property taxes are supposed to be based on the market value of the property; those
people with more valuable property should be paying higher municipal tax than
people with less valuable property. But our out-of-date assessments no longer
reflect the present market values for Metro properties. Since the 1940s, the market
values of houses have increased much more than the value of apartments - about
4 times as much.
It is because of these two things -
1. assessments being out-of-date and frozen at 1940 figures, and
2. market values for houses increasing since the 1950s nearly 4 x faster than
the market values of apartment buildings (due to market forces),
that tenants pay more than their fair share of tax. Heres how the unfairness has
worked its way into our tax system and our tax bills.
In the 1950s, a single-family home and an apartment unit which were worth the
same were taxed the same; simple and fair. But now, the single family home that
used to be worth the same as the apartment is worth four times as much. But
because everyones taxes are based on the assessed value, and because the
assessed values havent changed in 40 years, the house is still taxed the same as
the apartment unit.
The result for tenants? We are taxed on (in buildings with 7+ units) assessed
values that are about 4-11% of the present worth or market value of our unit. But
homeowners are taxed on assessed values that are just 1 -3% of the current
market value of their property,
A comparison of 3 actual properties - a single family home, a condo and an
apartment will show just how unfairly tenants are treated,
A three storey completely renovated Riverdale house with a front and back yard
and parking is charged $1,200 in property tax.
A 2 bedroom condo unit in a 1970s downtown highrise with a view of the lake and
an indoor pool/sanua/exercise area is charged $1,405 in property tax.
A one bedroom apartment in a 1950s downtown highrise with no view and no
amenites is charged $1,788 in property tax.
This system treats tenants unfairly. Many tenants living in small apartments pay
more property tax (through their rents) than homeowners in larger, more valuable
houses.
Would you support a total reassessment of all properties in Metro, so that all
properties would be taxed on their real market value?
To make matters worse, most tenants dont even realize how unfair the current tax
system is. Why? Because the tax is hidden. Tenants dont get a bill for property
tax. No one tells us when the tax goes up. But while landlords are the ones who
write out the cheques for property tax, we tenants are the ones who pay the bill
as part of our monthly rent,
And its a large bill. About 30% of most tenants monthly rent cheque goes to pay
property tax. If we are paying $650.00 a month in rent, we are paying about
$2300.00 in property tax each year.
Would you bring before council a recommendation that tenants should receive
a notice of the assessment on their unit?
Results of FMTA
Municipal Lobby Day - 1993
Blank spaces indicate that
politician did not respond.
1
FEDERATION OF METRO TENANTS ASSOCIATIONS
SUBMISSION TO THE FAIR TAX COMMISSION
L Our property tax system: historical accident, deliberate inequity
At one time, a propertys assessed value was equal to the market value of that property.
Our property taxes are based on this assessed value. However, the assessed values of
property were frozen throughout the province for many years. In some places, Metro
Toronto for example, the assessed values have not changed in 40 years. Of course,
these out-dated assessed values have gradually become only a small fraction of the
properties current market values. The inequity here results from the fact that market
values for homes have increased much more dramatically than market values of rental
residential properties.
Lets take an example. If a home and an apartment in Metro Toronto were both worth
$4,000 in 1950, their assessed values were the same and so were their tax bills. Forty
years later, that same home is now worth about $200,000, while the apartments value
has only increased to about $50,000. Why? Because in Metro, houses have increased
in worth 4 times faster than rental residential properties have.
But, because the assessed values of these properties have not changed, they still pay
exactly the same tax bill.
In other words, homeowners in Metro pay tax based on an assessed value that ranges
from 1% to 3% of the current market value of their homes, while tenants in buildings with
more than 6 units pay tax on an assessed value that ranges from 4-11% of the current
market value of their apartments.
The inequity here is clear. Our property tax system is based on the premise that those
whose property is worth more should pay more in taxes, but the system is not functioning
according to the rules and principles in which it is grounded, This inequity exists
throughout the province. While the exact percentages vary from place to place,
homeowners generally are assessed at a lower proportion of the market value of their
homes than are tenants.
And market value assessment schemes, which have been put in place in most parts of
the province, do nothing to address this inequity. They do not equalize assessment
levels so that all residential properties are assessed at the same level (or percentage) of
market value.
Instead, these schemes only equalize the range of current assessment Ievels within each
class of residential property. For example, MVA equalization in Metro would mean that
all homes would be assessed at 2% (the average of 1 3%) of their market value, while
1
all apartments in buildings with more than 6 units would be assessed at 8% of their
market value. This would be the legislated average of the 4-11% range.
Although the only explanation for these assessment levels is the historical accident of
frozen assessments and specific market trends in different areas of Metro, MVA makes
these levels the basis of the tax system itself.
Wherever it has been put in place
throughout the province, the MVA system has deliberately entrenched and built on these
very disparities.
While there is no social policy to rationalize this unfairness to tenants, the province and
the municipalities have nonetheless seen fit to preserve the status quo. Perhaps they do
so because overtaxed tenants, silent and unknowing, have provided such a lucrative tax
base. No level of government even thought to inform tenants that they paid taxes.
Quite the opposite. Tenants have been told for years that they didnt pay taxes, that they
had no right to belong to ratepayers associations, that they had no right to make
demands of council because they contributed nothing to the municipal coffers.
Perhaps the province has been fearful that those who historically have benefited under
this property tax system will not willingly shoulder their fair share of the tax burden.
But there is absolutely no justification for preserving a system that burdens tenants with
much more than their fair share of the tax bill. When we look at who comprises the
tenant population, we see that almost all low and low-middle income people are tenants.
The average tenant income is at least $10,000 below the average homeowner income.
It must surely be embarrassing to all politicians and bureaucrats that it is these low-
income people whose modest homes are assessed at a level which, in many places such
as Metro, is 4 times higher than that used for houses and condominiums.
Tenants pay so much tax that it accounts for between 3 and 4 months rent per year. It
has been estimated that if the assessment levels in Metro were equalized, the rents of
tenants in Metro would be reduced by over $300 million dollars.
Lower-income people, who generally spend all that they earn, would be able to spend
more in the public market place if their housing costs were reduced. The ripple effects
of this savings to tenants might be substantial.
Recommendation s:
Apparently, the councillors of the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carlton were sufficiently
embarrassed to actually do something about this shameful situation. They decided to
respond to the FTC report and struck a committee to develop some recommendations.
On June 23, 1993 the Council passed the following recommendation to the FTC:
2
All residential properties,
including single family, condominium and rental
residential properties should be assessed at the same fair and consistent values.
Where necessary, transition measures should be implemented to accommodate
shifts in assessment as a result of this recommendation.
We demand that the province act immediately to implement this recommendation
tenants are taxed at the same level as homeowners.
Il. What do tenants get for the taxes we pay?
so that
Not only do tenants pay a disproportionate amount of tax, we also get much less for it.
First and foremost, tenants dont get a tax bill. They dont get a sense of how much they
are contributing to the operation of their neighborhood and city. Lets take an analogy:
imagine a restaurant where one group of people get to sit at the best tables, the best
service in the most comfortable surroundings, and are given a menu to read with all the
prices clearly marked. Other people are placed at small crowded tables in dark corners,
and if they even get a menu, their menu has no prices. They receive very poor service.
The irony here is that those people who are pampered actually pay much less for the
same food; alternatively, they get much more for the same price.
In many cities, tenants also dont get any notice of applications for minor variances or
site-specific rezoning. In other words, they dont have an opportunity to participate in
the process of deciding what is best for their neighborhood. Tenants live in the
community, they pay taxes, they are now allowed to vote, but they are still essentially
invisible and their voices are not heard or welcomed.
One of the services that is very important to tenants is inspections by property standards
department officials. Tenants rely on these inspectors to help them enforce their right to
a wellmaintained home that is healthy and safe. All too often, inspectors are reluctant
to make an inspection and/or to enforce the citys by-laws. Without this support from
the city, tenants find it very difficult to pursue their rights, take court action, and force the
landlord to comply.
What else dont tenants get? They dont get the same level of services with respect to
policing, garbage removal, or infrastructure maintenance. Considering that an apartment
building is much like a vertical community, it is clear that the police and the garbage
workers, the hydro and sewage workers must do much more to maintain and protect a
suburban subdivision of 300 homes, than they must do to service a building with 300
units.
These economies of scale associated with high-rising housing, e housing in which most
3
tenants live, save municipalities huge amounts of money.
I he Infrastructure-installation
costs for a vertical community are much less than for a subdivision suffering from urban
sprawl.
In addition, in high-rises, the landlord is responsible for many things (e.g., installing
sewage lines, garbage removal), and frequently provides many facilities (e.g., swimming
pools, parks) which further reduce the costs of the municipalities with respect to providing
basic services/facilities costs to their tenant population.
Recommendations
.
.
.
We demand that tenants get a notice of the tax bill for their unit. We want tenants to be
notified of all the meetings that are being held to decide the future of their community.
We want inspectors to do their jobs and enforce the standards set by their city to ensure
that everyone lives in adequate accommodation.
Ill. Passing on the savings to tenants
In December 1992 when the province introduced Bill 91, the legislation to enact MVA in
Metro Toronto, it contained amendments to the Rent Control Act which concerned us.
Under the RCA the province was to assist tenants in securing any rent reductions they
might be entitled to as a result of reductions of their landlords tax bill. The province was
to record all tax reductions in the Rent Registry, calculate the appropriate rent reduction,
and notify tenants of this reduction and their new, lower maximum rent.
The December, 1992 amendment specified that the province would not assume financial
responsibility for any of this process. If a municipality was not prepared to foot the bill,
tenants simply would not know that changes to the tax system might benefit them,
This was the position of the same government who wanted to ensure that tenants were
protected from the decimating effects of high rents, to empower tenants by informing
them of their rights: no lower rents, no information to tenants.
While the government said it could not afford the cost of such a process, it admitted that
if each tenants who was entitled to a reduction actually made an application under the
RCA for their rebate, processing these applications would cost the government about
twice the amount involved in automatically notifying tenants. IN other words, the province
was cynically relying on tenants not to enforce their rights under the law, as the financial
basis and rationale for their decision.
R e c o m m e n d -
.
.
.
We demand that any tax savings experienced by a landlord, whether it is an actual
4
reduction in their tax bill or a tax increase which is less than the percentage figured into
the annual guideline rent increase, must be passed directly on to the tenant. Tenants
should not have to pay the same rent when the landlords costs have gone down.
Tenants should not have to pay a full guideline increase when their landlords own costs
are less than the provincial average, especially as tenants always have to pay more than
the full guideline increase whenever their landlords costs are more than the provincial
average.
5
#1 Fairness in Taxation
Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.
Property taxes work for us
For 200 years in Ontario, there have been taxes on all kinds of property, from businesses
to factories to the bungalow down the street. Tenants are also property taxpayers, but
unlike other taxpayers, tenants dont get a municipal property tax bill. Instead, our
landlords receive the bill, and we pay it, through our rents.
The taxes we pay make our cities what they are.
We have good roads, safe streets
patrolled by police, an education system that offers us a chance at a better life, and
infrastructures that provide us with electrical, water and sewage services. We pay for
municipal governments that plan and preserve our cities.
Looking for fairness
As property taxpayers, tenants have the right to a tax system that works fairly for
everyone. Tenants are prepared to contribute their fair share towards the smooth
working of our communities. But what does fair share mean?
The Ontario Fair Tax Commission was created by the provincial government to study
taxation in the province, and to make recommendations for increasing fairness in our tax
systems, including the municipal tax system. The Commission published a Report
recommending several municipal tax reforms which would lead to greater tax fairness.
The Federation of Metro Tenants Associations is considering the Commissions
recommendations and has endorsed a number of them. In developing our policies, the
Federation needs to look at the principles that underlie fair taxation systems.
The Commission points out that common-sense notions of general fairness in taxation
are based on one of two principles: the ability to pay principle or the benefits received
for taxes paid principle,
1. "The ability to pay principle of fairness
This principle holds that it is fair to relate the taxes a person pays to their income. As
people earn more, they should pay an increasing percentage of their income towards
taxes. People with higher incomes are able to contribute more without suffering
financially. This principle also underlies our belief that those who earn the same, should
be taxed the same.
Our provincial and federal income tax systems are based on this progressive taxation
principle. It makes sense to use progressive taxation to pay for services which everyone
is entitled to use and which have broad social and economic benefits, such as the costs
of government, the justice system, education and social assistance. We dont distinguish
between those who may actually use some of these services directly and those who
enjoy the farreaching, spillover advantages of living in a just, educated and well
governed society.
Produced by the Federation of Metro Tenants Associations Sept.94 921-9494
Education/ Social Services -
How we pay for them
Currently, education and social assistance are financed through our municipal property
tax system. The Fair Tax Commission calls the municipal property tax system
regressive, because it has the opposite effect of a system based on ability to pay: as
we go down the income ladder, we find that people are paying an increasing percentage
of their income towards municipal taxes. While property taxes are not designed to have
this effect, census data clearly reveals this pattern.
This is unfair. Those who most benefit from education and social services, should not
bear the greatest tax burden for these services. As everyone is entitled to these services,
which are intended to distribute resources and opportunities more fairly across economic
classes, it is important that they be funded through taxes collected on the basis of an
ability to pay.
RECOMMENDATION OF THE FAIR TAX COMMISSION
THAT education and social assistance be funded through a progressive tax such
an the provincial income tax.
There is another strong reason for removing funding for education from the municipal tax
base. As education accounts for 53% of municipal taxes, municipal tax bills will plummet
with this reform. When this happens, and everyone is experiencing great tax savings, we
believe tenants will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to press for another much-
needed reform. This second reform involves correcting a serious imbalance in how
tenants and homeowners are taxed (see Historical Inequalities). It would result in
homeowners picking up a much larger share of the municipal tax bill. It makes sense to
carry out these reforms together, so that shifting some of the tax burden to homeowners
will be less painful, as they can still expect their tax bill to be reduced by nearly 50%.
2. Benefits received principle of fairness
In other circumstances, it makes sense to test for fairness by looking at the specific
benefits which people receive for the taxes they pay, When we can estimate the amount
of service each household receives, this value for our money approach is useful.
Sometimes it is easy to measure exactly the services used by a household, such as
garbage collection and water use. By charging a user fee, people pay only for the
resources they use, or the work they create for the garbage collectors.
User fees often are designed to encourage people to limit their use of services.
Communities which want to reduce the careless overuse of resources, can discourage
wasteful kinds of behaviour by making people pay for it. User fees create an incentive
to people to exercise control over their consumption. The principle of fairness and the
method of taxation we use should be suitable to the kinds of services being funded,
THAT user fees be applied to water, sewer and garbage (solid waste) services,
based on levels of consumption as well as the costs of providing the services.
#2 Historical Inequalities: Tenants are taxed unfairly
Tenants pay large amounts of property tax. Every year, three to four of our monthly rent
cheques are passed on by our landlords to the city, to cover the taxes on our unit. Most
Metro tenants pay well over $2,000 per year in tax.
The Fair Tax Commission concluded that tenants are overtaxed compared to single-
family homes. This overtaxing occurs because our municipal property tax system treats
tenants unfairly; our taxes are calculated differently than the taxes paid by homeowners,
condominium owners, or coop members. Lets look at the two important factors which
have created this inequality: frozen assessed values and spiraling market values.
Frozen assessed values
Property taxes are based on the assessed value of the property. This value is set by
an assessor. In 1953, assessed values were roughly equal to the 1940 market values of
the properties, that is, what the properties would have sold for in 1940:
1953 assessed values = 1940 market values
Incredible as it may seem, these 1953 assessments of Metro properties have not been
updated, They remain frozen, while debates rage about how to create a fair tax system.
Re-assessments of renovated buildings, or an assessment of a new building does not
result in these buildings getting assessed values equal to their current market values.
Instead, they are given assessed values roughly equal to the assessment they would
have been given in 1953, had they existed, or been in their current condition at that time.
so,
1994 assessed values = 1953 assessed values
Increasing market values
Along with frozen assessed values, the other important factor is that the market values
of all buildings have increased tremendously since 1953, but at different rates. In
particular, real estate trends have pushed up the market values of single-family homes
five times faster than the market values of multi-residential buildings.
The frozen assessed values for single-family homes now represent a very small portion
(about 2%) of the homes current market value, But the frozen assessed values of
apartments have not fallen quite so far behind the apartments market values. They equal
about 10% of the apartments worth,
Assessment levels
The problem is that we are taxed on the assessed value of our homes. So, homeowners
are taxed on a very small portion (2%) of their homes real worth, while tenants in larger
rental buildings are taxed on a much larger percentage (10%) of their homes market
value. These shifting relationships between frozen assessed values and current market
values are called assessment levels.
The resulting inequity to tenants, although not deliberate, is made worse by the fact that
cities must keep each buildings outdated assessment in line with assessments of other
similar buildings in the neighborhood. This creates classes of similar properties that
are similarly assessed, but widens the gap between the different classes.
The chart below shows these assessments levels, based on 1992 estimated market
values.
CLASS O 1 2
1-7 Units
.
3-6 Units
.
7+ Units
.
East York 2.27% 4.14% 10.28%
Etobicoke 2.71 % 4.5 % 10.73%
North York 2.62% 5.4 % 9.91%
Scarborough 2.84% 3.65% 9. 4%
Toronto 1.96% 2.9 % 9.71 %
York 2.41% 3.94% 10.09%
For example, the assessment for an East York unit in a large building (Class 2) is now
10.28% of its market value, but a single-family home (Class O) is assessed at just 2.27%
of its worth. If both properties were worth $100,000 in 1992, heres how theyd be taxed:
market value assessment level assessed value tax
house $100,000 2.27% $2,000 $ 900
apartment $100,000 10.28% $10,000 $4,500
As the assessed value of the apartment is 5 times the homes assessment, the tenant in
the apartment will pay 5 times as much in tax as the homeowner.
Another example: A single family home worth the same as an apartment unit in 1953,
is now worth nearly five times as much as the apartment. However, because
assessments havent been updated, the house is taxed the same as the apartment unit,
just as in 1953,
assessed values market values taxes
53 93 53 93 53 93
house $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $200,000
$50 $900
apartment $4,000 $4,000 $4,000 $40,000 $50 $900
Fairness in property taxation
What is wrong with this picture? Property taxes are supposed to be based on the market
value of the property. Fairness demands that those with more valuable property pay
more tax than those whose properties are less valuable, and that those whose homes are
worth the same should pay the same tax. Instead, out-dated assessments do not reflect
the properties current market values, and so the properties cannot be not taxed fairly
relative to each other. While this inequity is an historical accident, a result of frozen
assessments and spiraling market values, Metro cities have made no move towards
treating tenants fairly.
THAT all residential property be assessed on the same basis whether the property
is occupied by an owner or a tenant.
#3 Questions
If the assessments that our taxes
about taxes
are based on have been frozen,
how does the city manage to increase our tax bill every year?
Every year, the city decides how much money it must collect through property taxes to
meet its budget costs and provide all the services people want and are entitled to. As
property taxes are based on the assessed values of properties, the city totals all the
assessments within its borders. It then calculates the amount of tax it needs to collect
for each $1,000 of assessed value,
This amount of tax the city collects on each $1,000 of a propertys assessed value is
called the tax rate or mill rate. It is applied to every residential property.
Take for example, a mill rate of 450 applied to a property assessed at $5,000. The city
will collect $450 in taxes for every $1000 of the propertys assessment:
$5,000 = 5 X 450= $2250
$1,000
As the cost of providing all the services to which people are entitled increases over the
years, so does the mill rate. Here are the 1994 mill rates (for public and separate school
boards) for all the cities in Metro.
public separate
East York 460,55 462.66
Etobicoke 425.50 429.55
North York 428.34 432.14
public separate
Scarborough 442.64 444.75
Toronto 453.22 452.68
York 479.79 482,44
Weve heard for years about Market Value Assessment (MVA). Would
this create a fairer tax system for tenants?
MVA has not yet come to Metro Toronto. However, in areas of the province which have
adopted MVA, MVA has not abolished the historical unfairness of assessing tenants
homes at rates that are up to 5 times the rate used for single-family homes.
Despite its name, MVA does not mean that buildings are taxed based on their real market
value. Instead, MVA schemes simply average out inequalities within each residential
property class. Every home will then be assessed at the same percentage of its market
value, and every tenant in a multiresidential building will have their taxes calculated
according to the same formula used for every other tenant,
The result is equity within classes, but the inequitable differences between residential
classes remains untouched, In fact, MVA further entrenches the unfairness that already
exists in our current system. Tenants want equalized assessment across all residential
classes, so that all residential properties are taxed based on the same formula.
While this could be accomplished by simply taxing buildings on their real market value,
there are a number of other assessment methods (such as unit assessment) which also
apply a single assessment formula to all residential properties. Besides ensuring that
tenants are not overtaxed, such tax systems might also be generally fairer, as they may
be more understandable and appear more reasonable and stable. FMTA is reviewing
these systems to see which most benefits tenants.
If Metro assessed all residential buildings at the same rate, would
there be reductions in rent? And how would they be passed on to
tenants?
The provincial Rent Control Act already contains a procedure for automatically reducing
tenants rents when taxes are reduced. First, the municipality requests the provincial Rent
Registry to calculate the appropriate rent reduction. The Registry keeps computerized
public records of the maximum legal rents for all rental units in buildings with more than
3 units. It makes sense to use a system which is already in place and which has the
responsibility and the mandate to calculate and record legal rents and any changes to
them that can be justified and approved under the provisions of the Rent Control Act.
The reduced rent is then recorded in the Registry and the municipality sends out
notifications to tenants that their rents have been reduced.
This mechanism would be simple and expeditious. However, when MVA was being
considered, the province introduced amendments to this procedure. The amendments
stated that the province would not assume any financial responsibility for this automatic
pass-through of savings to tenants. Instead, it demanded that Metro Toronto pay all
administrative costs. As MVA died, this amendment was never enacted.
However, this amendment revealed a great deal of political cynicism. The government
knew that the only option for tenants was to make individual applications to get their rents
reduced. The province would have had to process these applications, and if all eligible
tenants had applied, the cost of processing these applications would have been much
higher than for passing-through automatic rent reductions. However, the province was
banking on the likelihood that most tenants would not apply and not receive the reduction
to which they were entitled,
The Federation believes the province should implement the mechanism they have already
legislated, and carry out the intent of their own rent control legislation - to keep rents
affordable and pass on to tenants all the savings to which they are entitled.
THAT a system be created for passing on to tenants in the form of rent reductions
any savings in property taxes that result from tax reform, to be put in place at the
time reforms are made.
#4 No taxation without notification!
The phrase No taxation without representation was the battle-cry that triggered the
American revolution. Representatives must be accountable to us, and this means there
needs to be good communication.
We have to be able to talk to our councillors about
our concerns, and they have to let us know what the city is doing for us, and to us.
The problem is that many city councillors dont think of tenants as taxpayers or
ratepayers, even though we pay more than our fair share of their municipalitys tax bill,
and often make up 50% of their constituency. As a result, many councillors dont
represent our interests, and dont think we need to be informed about what is happening
at City Hall.
[n fact, tenants are not even notified of the tax contribution they make through their rents.
Only the landlord/owner gets a copy of the tax bill. Tenants can do their own calculation
of the taxes they pay, but the information needed to make this calculation will not be
given to tenants over the telephone. We must make a trip to our City Hall, during
business hours. Owners, on the other hand, can get the information from a phone call.
The right to be heard
There is something wrong with this picture. As taxpayers, tenants have the right to know
first, that we are paying taxes, and how much we are being taxed. We need to know
know that we are ratepayers like homeowners, and that our contribution gives us a
stake in the community and a right to have our interests represented.
We believe that tenants who are informed they are paying to keep city programs working,
will want to have a say in setting city priorities, and policies. We will want to make our tax
dollars work for us.
Cities claim it is expensive to notify all tenants in high-rise buildings. However, cities
send out tax bills to the many thousands of highrise condominium owners, plus a
separate tax bill for the condominium common area to the condo corporation. The Fair
Tax Commission says that public openness and the opportunity for public learning is an
important aspect of fairness, Isnt it only fair that some of our tax dollars be directed
towards informing all tenants that we have the right to be heard, just like homeowners?
Three cities support notification in principle
The cities of Scarborough, Toronto, and York have agreed, in principle, that notification
of tenants is an important step towards making the tax system fairer, and municipal
government more democratic. We need to work with them to ensure that their principles
are put into practice.
THAT tenants be notified by the city through property tax notices of the taxes they
are paying through their rents.
#5 What do local governments do with our tax dollars?
The municipal taxes Metro tenants pay through their rents pay for three services from the
three levels of government in Metro:
1. Services provided by your city government to the residents of your city.
2. Services provided by the Metropolitan Toronto government to all of Metro.
3. Education services provided through your local school board to your city.
The six municipalities or cities in Metro Toronto (East York, Etobicoke, North York,
Scarborough, Toronto and York) each have their own City Council. As well, Metro
councillors are elected from large Metro wards to sit on Metro Council. School boards
for each city are also elected to administer the education budget. The funds needed by
school boards are collected through our municipal property taxes.
The city and Metro governments make decisions about many things that affect our daily
lives as tenants. This November, tenants have a chance to vote for a City councillor and
a Metro councillor to work for them at City Council and at Metro Council.
City government
City governments set housing standards to make our homes safe, healthy and well-
maintained. These standards are particularly important to tenants, for without inspections
and city work orders, it is very difficult for tenants to put pressure their landlords to do
the maintenance and repair work for which all landlords are responsible.
Unfortunately, many cities currently do not hire enough inspectors to meet the demand,
and some cities now refuse to make any residential health or property standards
inspections, As our taxes contribute a good chunk to the city coffers, we should demand
that safe and healthy environments be made a priority and that tenants tax dollars be put
towards city inspections and the enforcement of local housing requirements.
City governments are also responsible for fire protection, public health, electric utilities,
and the collection of taxes. With Metro, they share responsibilities for parks and roads,
sewage disposal and water supply, as well as planning policies,
Metro government
Metro government is responsible for public transportation and police and ambulance
services. The reason we are lobbying Metro is that Metro is the level of government
responsible for amending and reforming the current municipal tax system.
Tenants save their cities money
Hundreds of thousands of tenants in Metro live in high-rise buildings, a form of housing
which is much cheaper to service. Higher densities mean that many more people per
square mile benefit from (and pay for) infrastructures such as sewers, water lines and
roads. As well as these economies of scale, landlords of multi-residential complexes
often assume responsibility for garbage disposal and snow removal, sparing the city the
expense of providing these services to thousands of tenants,
As cost-effective
consumers, our taxes should be less, not more than those who add to urban sprawl.
QUESTIONS FOR COUNCILLORS
1. Education and Social Services -
How we pay for them
Our provincial and federal income tax systems are, based on the ability to pay principle
of fairness. This principle holds that as people earn more, they should pay an increasing
percentage of their income towards taxes. It makes sense to use progressive taxation
to pay for services which everyone is entitled to use and which have broad social and
economic benefits, such as the costs of government, the justice system, education and
social assistance. We dont distinguish between those who may actually use some of
these services directly and those who enjoy the far-reaching, spillover advantages of
living in a just, educated and well-governed society.
However, education and social assistance are financed through our municipal property
tax system. The Fair Tax Commission calls the municipal property tax system
regressive, because it has the opposite effect of a system based on ability to pay: as
we go down the income ladder, we find that people are paying an increasing percentage
of their income towards municipal taxes.
This is unfair. As everyone is entitled to these services, which are intended to distribute
resources and opportunities more fairly across economic classes, it is important that they
be funded through taxes collected on the basis of an ability to pay.
The Fair Commission recommends that education and social assistance be funded
through a progressive tax such an the provincial income tax.
There is another strong reason for removing funding for education from the municipal tax
base. As education accounts for 53% of municipal taxes, municipal tax bills will plummet
with this reform. When this happens, and everyone is experiencing great tax savings, we
believe tenants will have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to press for another much-
needed reform. This second reform involves correcting a serious imbalance in how
tenants and homeowners are taxed. It would result in homeowners picking up a much
larger share of the municipal tax bill. It makes sense to carry out these reforms together,
so that shifting some of the tax burden to homeowners will be less painful as their tax bill
will still be reduced by nearly 50%.
Will you support a proposal to have education and social services
financed through a progressive tax such as the provincial income tax
system?
2. Historical inequalities: tenants are taxed unfairly.
Tenants pay property tax through their rents.
Every year, 3 to 4 monthly rent cheques
go towards the landlords tax bill. This amount is not only large, it is also unfair. Many
tenants living in small apartments pay more property tax than homeowners in larger, more
valuable houses. On average, tenants in Metro Toronto buildings with more than 6 units
pay taxes based on a level of assessment that is nearly 5 times that applied to single-
family homes and homeowners.
How has this unfairness worked its way into our tax system and our tax bills?
Property taxes are suppose to be based on the market value of the property; those
people with more valuable property should be paying higher municipal tax than people
with less valuable property. In the 1950s, a single-family home and an apartment unit
which were worth the same were taxed the same; simple and fair.
Since the 1950s, the market values of houses have increased much faster than the value
of apartments about 5 times as fast. Now, the single family home that used to be worth
the same as the apartment is worth 5 times as much.
However, our taxes are still based on assessments that havent changed in 40 years. So,
the house in our example is still taxed the same amount as the apartment unit, even
though its value is 5 times greater. Clearly, the out-of-date assessments from the 1940s
no longer fairly reflect the present market values of Metro properties.
Market Value Assessment (MVA) would not put an end to this unfairness. In fact, it would
deliberately build these unequal assessment levels for homeowners and tenants into the
tax system. making tenants carry a disproportionate share of the tax burden.
A comparison of 3 actual properties, a single family home, a condo and an apartment
show how unfairly tenants are treated under our present system.
a. A three storey completely renovated Riverdale with a front and back yard and
parking is charged $1 ,200 in property tax per year.
b. A two bedroom condo unit in a 1970s downtown highrise with a view of the lake
and an indoor pool/sauna/exercise area is charged $1,405 in property tax.
c. A one bedroom rental apartment in a 1950s downtown highrise with no view and
no amenities is charged $1,788 in property tax per year.
Will you support the equalization of levels of assessment across all
residential property classes to ensure tenants are not burdened
disproportionately with more than their fair share of the tax bill?
3. No tax reform without abolition of tenant overtaxation
Tax reform has been a long time coming to Metro Toronto. Tenants
recognize that it is extremely difficult, almost impossible, to, get significant
changes made to the tax system, particularly if it means shifting a portion
of the tax burden. We believe that once a new system is put in place, it
will be many years before any further tax reform is possible no matter
how inequitable the new system may be.
Therefore, tenants will not support any tax reform until and unless that
reform puts an end to the overtaxation of tenants. We know the current
system is badly in need of reform and indefensibly unfair to tenants.
Nonetheless, preserving the status quo continues to give us the
opportunity to put together a tax proposal that embodies the principles of
fairness and puts an end to the injustices done to tenants. We want your
commitment that you too will not settle for anything less.
Will you agree to refuse to support any new tax system that does not
redress the inequities tenants face?
4. Passing municipal tax savings through to tenants in the form of
rent reductions
Tenants pay taxes, but this payment is buried in their rents, and in the annual guidelines
increases of our rents. Even the guideline increase is calculated to cover inflationary
increases in landlords operating costs, including his municipal taxes. While it appears
easy enough to include landlords taxes in our rent, the question is - how do we get
these taxes out of the rent once tax reform happens and landlords are paying less tax?
The Fair Tax Commission said it never intended that tax reform should result in increased
profits for landlords. it is only fair that the landlords tax savings be passed on to the
tenants who have paid the bill all along.
There needs to be a system for automatically passing through these tax savings to
tenants as rent reductions. The Federation of Metro Tenants believes tenants should not
have to apply for a reduction which has already been made to the tax bill, Tenants
should not be required to go through a time consuming process to secure their reduction
when owners receive an immediate benefit. This is procedurally unfair.
A second point is that the administrative costs of processing applications from all eligible
tenants would far outweigh the costs of creating an automatic pass through system.
When MVA was being considered, the provincial government was prepared to force
tenants to make applications. It was banking on the likelihood that most tenants would
not actually apply, and would not enforce the rights to which they are entitled. The
government anticipated saving millions. Such a cynical approach is unacceptable.
FMTA suggests that Metro work with the province to take advantage of the Rent Registry
system which is designed to calculate and record changes to tenants maximum legal
rents.
The province in the past has refused to fully finance the creation of
an administrative body to pass automatic rent reductions through to
tenants resulting from tax reform. Would you support Metro
contributing to the funding for such a body?
5. The tenant role in tax reform
The Federation of Metro Tenants Associations is currently receiving
$13,600 from Metro Toronto to cover the costs of operating our Tenant
Hotline for 1 hour per day. Only the province currently funds us to carry
out organizing and law reform activities.
The Federation believes that throughout this debate on municipal tax
reform, tenant concerns have not received sufficient attention, particularly
when we consider that tenants comprise nearly 50% of Metros population.
As well, Metros submission to the Fair Tax Commission acknowledged,
Not all classes of property are assessed at the same percentage of
market value, and municipalities have been implicitly subsidizing some
types of property at the expense of others. [This] has resulted in multi-
residential rental properties being assessed at a higher percentage of their
market value than other property classes.
In light of the fact that tenants have been so unjustly overtaxed under the
current municipal tax system, we think it is of paramount importance for
tenants to be directly involved and consulted in the development of any tax
reform proposal.
Will you support funding a FMTA staff person to work on the tax
issue together with all local governments in order to develop an
equitable tax structure which treats tenants fairly?

- -
Yes
FEDERATION OF METRO TENANTS ASSOCIATIONS
Annual General Meeting, October 24, 1992
Property Tax Workshop Resolutions
The Federation of Metro Tenants Associations:
1. Does not support any Assessment Plan which fails to address
the inequities between the property taxes paid (through their
rents) by tenants in buildings of over 2 units and the property
taxes paid by homeowners.
M/S/C Leslie Robinson/Elinor Mahoney
2. Resolved that residential rental units ought to be assessed
and taxed on the same basis as all other residential units.
M/S/C/ Leslie Robinson/Barb Hurd
3. Resolved that all municipalities should send annual notices to
tenants informing tenants of the property taxes assessed against
their units and thus paid through their rents. Municipalities
should also send to tenants any notices designed to explain the
breakdown of property tax collection and expenditures.
M/S/C Leslie Robinson/Anna Thacker
4. Resolved that tenants as taxpayers have rights to services
from municipalities, and in particular ought to receive notices
of zoning changes and variances in their neighbourhoods.
M/S/C Leslie Robinson/Jim Henderson
Annual General Meeting, October 30, 1993
Fair Taxes
As the FMTA understands that tenants are not taxed fairly under
the current tax system, and that the system itself is
contradictory and unfair, the FMTA resolves that:
1)
We will lobby all municipalities in Metro to send tenants
notifications of taxes paid on their behalf by their landlord.
2) We will demand a more fair tax system with a more stable
assessment base than market value
3) We will lobby to have the tax burden for education and
social assistance shifted to more progressive taxes which are
related to an ability-to-pay.
4) We will lobby to have assessments across all residential
categories equalized.
5) We will develop a position on current municipal government
structures, and, the need for further revenue sources for
municipal governments.
The above was moved to present to the Board.
M/S/C Howard Brown/Ray Gallagher
The Federation of Metro Tenants
Associations (FMTA) is Canadas
oldest and largest tenants federation.
We provide help to Metro
tenants in the form of information on their rights as
individuals; as members of tenants associations; and as
citizens. We operate the Tenants Hotline, a telephone line that
provides tenants with information on immediate questions/problems
they may have on issues covered by specific pieces of
legislation: the Landlord and Tenant Act, the Rent Control Act,
the Residents Rights Act, the Rental Housing Protection Act, as
well as the Ontario Human Rights Code and municipal housing
bylaws. In cases requiring legal advice, we refer tenants to
appropriate legal services.
In some cases referrals are given to
a municipal department or to a local politician.
The FMTA strongly believes that there is strength in unity and
that many housing problems can only be addressed by collective
action. To that end we encourage tenants to create tenants
associations in their apartment buildings. We provide groups with
organizing kits and free consultations with FMTA staff to help an
association to get off the ground. We have also received funding
for a two-year pilot project to hire an Associations Agent who
will be able to work with tenants associations on rent control
hearings. This is a unique project that will allow associations
to better argue their cases without resorting to hiring a lawyer.
The FMTA is recognized by political leaders as the voice of
tenants movement in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and has been
viewed as an important stakeholder in all matters relating to
that 51.9% of GTA residents who are tenants. We have been invited
to submit briefs and statements on potential pieces of
legislation such as Bill 121 (the Rent Control Act), and Bill 120
(the Residents Rights Act) as well as to commissions such as the
Fair Tax Commission and the Residential Retrofit Implementation
Task Force.
Since our founding in 1974 we have followed our mandate as a non-
partisan, non-profit information and advocacy centre. We have
also understood that issues affecting tenants often involve
actions and expertise outside our mandate and strengths. To
further the well-being of tenants, we have created organizations
that cater to particular areas beyond our immediate scope. The
Metro Tenants Legal Services was founded in 1979 as a legal aid
clinic that deals exclusively with tenants issues. We helped set
up the Tenants Non-profit Redevelopment Co-operative so tenants
could convert their buildings into non-profit co-operative
housing. In 1990 we joined with other tenants in founding United
Tenants of Ontario (UTOO/LUDO) as a province-wide organization
representing all of Ontarios tenants.
F E D E R A T I O N O F
344 BLOOR STREET WEST, SUITE 403,
TO G E T H E R W E A R E
M E T R O T E N A N T S
TORONTO , ONTARIO M5S 3A7
ST R O N G!
A S S O C I A T I O N S
TEL [416) 921-9494 FAX: (416)921-4177
Dear Dr Golden,
As the umbrella organization of all ratepayer groups in Oakville, and actively involved in
the political activity of the Town, the Region and the Board of Education, we are anxious
to submit our concerns over the potential creation of a super GTA concept of
Government.
In our view, any revision to government that adds to the overlapping functions of existing
government bodies can only be a detrimental development. Canada, and this province,
already have too many layers of bureaucracy and too much government. A GTA that
increases this, or encroaches on the autonomy and accountability of local municipal
government is not supportable, or even warranted.
Already the public suffers too much mindless regulation from excess duplication of
different jurisdictions - and bears the horrendous cost associated with such duplication
of effort. As Federal and Provincial governments proceed to implement some degree of
downloading of costs to the local level, there must also be a total disentanglement of
services. Those with the obligation to pay for services must have a direct say in how, or
even if, those services should be offered.
The new GTA is unlikely to encourage this, In all probability the GTA will evolve into yet
another layer of government, with all its inefficiencies, to create more politicians, more
public servants, more cost while providing the public at large with no apparent value.
Such an entity can all too readily become another vehicle to re-distribute wealth from one
sector of the Golden Horseshoe to another. We deplore such methods, but do subscribe
to the truism that no-one can multiply wealth by dividing it.,. We remain deeply concerned
a new GTA will permit Metro Toronto to fund its expansionist plans off the backs of the
suburban residents who will see little, if any, benefit from such expansion. Such
aspirations, should they exist, are NOT acceptable.
We understand you are in favour of having the Toronto property tax assessment process
fixed at an early date. We would endorse this as a necessity before any changes might
occur within the GTA, but would caution against an acceptance of MVA as the
appropriate way to go forward. This form of property taxation, like the system of
government we now enjoy, came into being in the mid 1850s when the social fabric of
southern Ontario was far different than to-day. In this respect, if you accept our present
style of government is in need of drastic change, then so is property taxation.
You will be aware Tom McCormack has built up an extensive knowledge of MVA, and its
detractions. As an active member of the Halton Citizens Committee on Property Tax
Reform, he was instrumental in preparing a report outlining a variety of options to the
current property tax procedures. That report agreed with the NDP Fair Tax Commission
conclusion that drastic amendment is called for, and that MVA is not an appropraite
model for the 1990s.
The Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform (on which Tom also sits) has
studied alternatives to MVA, and has prepared a detailed report which supports Unit
Value Assessment as a real alternative to MVA, While more study is still required to
determine the value of such an alternative Province wide, we strongly urge your
committee consider this alternative, and to include it in your final recommendations to
Cabinet as a plausible way to fix the existing outmoded system in place to-day.
Our organization would prefer a significant reduction in the layers of government,
including the elimination of Regional Governments so that full local responsibility can rest
with the local municipalities.
Local government can be kept under the spotlight of local taxpayer scrutiny and will
accordingly be much more responsive and accountable to those that pay the bills, The
GTA cannot possibly display such attributes, and will consequently lack any form of real
accountability for its actions. Most probably it will quickly become almost as remote as
the Federal government, and as out of touch with its constituents.
If a new GTA is to exist at all, its purpose should be no more than that of a small co-
ordinating body whose sole rationale is to achieve true economies of scale in the
provision of essential services, using less staff and less cash than is now at the disposal
of all regional governments collectively. The elimination of regional governments can only
be a positive outcome. Their day has passed. Many of their functions can be assimilated
into the local government area of responsibility ( such as planning, roads, etc). Others,
such as police, fire and ambulance, or social services can be fused more effectively into
a provincial system of services to gain the benefit of critical mass. Another advantage of
such an amalgamation would be the elimination of duplication as individual, local
hierarchies of command are dismantled. There is no logic in having a Fire Chief in each
municipality, nor do we really see the need for all the senior support positions which
inevitably flourish when one local service provider competes with another in the
neighboring town. Similar comments can be applied to each police force. Why should
they not all be melded into the O. P. P.?
In Halton region our regional representatives find it difficult to act as a concerted regional
body with an interest in the larger issues affecting all parts of the region. In too many
instances, regional councillors vote for their own community in disregard for the impact
on the remainder. The continued inequitable representation does not make for a citizenry
that can be confident it will be properly considered. In Halton, the old maxim of no
taxation without representation is at odds with reality. Why would we expect a larger,
less responsive body of government to be any different?
At the end of any debate, our organization and its members will support responsible
change. But such change must require a tangible reduction in government and
interventionist activities, It must also accept the recognition that downsizing means a
sharp drop in spending, and that those persons wanting a service are the ones who
should pay for it. In other words, an increase in user fees should also reflect a
corresponding reduction in general taxation,
We appreciate the opportunity to express the views of a considerable portion of the
Oakville population, which has been gathered through regular annual surveys. We hope
our comments will be of interest and value to you as you conclude your analysis and
make your recommendations.
Yours sincerely, -
SEP 30 95 08: 57
905 827 1698 PAGE. 003
Christopher Gauer
2772 Guilford Crescent
Oakville, Ontario
L6J 6Z3
October 2, 1995
Golden Commission
Toronto, Ontario
M5G IA6
Dear Ann Golden
I am writing this letter as a private citizen to comment on the future of the GTA,
not as a member of an interest group. Also, as a professional engineer with
experience working in transportation and environmental assessment with many
municipalities within the GTA, I believe I can contribute a unique insight into the
relevant issues. My main concern is that local political rivalries are dictating
the debate in the media on the future of the GTA. In my view, the purpose of the
GTA reform is to set out a coherent and effective means to allow the GTA to
grow and prosper. An objective perspective on the GTA issues is needed
outside of the political context. This is the only way we can generate real reform
and address the problems with the existing system. The current political insiders
have too much of a vested interest in the present organization and cannot
support any real change.
Reform in the GTA must address a complex set of factors. Each is
interdependent upon the other, as is the viability of each local area within the
GTA. Reform must address the following concerns:
. Less and More Effective Government
. Fair and Equitable Taxation
B The Environment
. Transportation
. Economic Growth
. Planning and Development
The reform of the GTA must create an overall means of government to
effectively address the above issues. I will focus my comments on the areas
where I have some expertise and comment on the other areas.
Submission to the Golden Commission
by Christopher Gauer
The Environment
Historically, North American cities continue to sprawl. In my view, this is the
greatest means of environmental degradation caused by man. We need to
stop the sprawl, put a boundary on growth outside the GTA area and set out
principles for limited growth in rural areas. We cannot continue to eat up
farmland and destroy natural areas. We need to encourage development and
intensification in the urban areas and protect our rural resources through
development in a sustainable manner. No matter how you look at it, a city
cannot be considered as a sustainable environment. Because of this, the rural
environment must be protected. Otherwise we will not be able to feed and
sustain the growing population on this planet. Read Earth by David Brin, for a
possible view of our worlds future in 2040, if we follow our present course of
action.
Therefore, a main consideration of the GTA policy is to set out limits for the
urban area, require intensification with its boundaries and create a sustainable
environment in the rural environs. This overall policy will also serve to support
many of the other fundamental initiatives in the GTA.
Transportation
Transportation within the GTA is subsidized by the taxpayer in many ways.
This includes direct subsidy like the Province or municipality paying for 50% to
75% of the cost of transit systems, to the indirect subsidy of government building
the road and highway infrastructure (although it can be argued that fuel taxes
more than cover the cost of road construction). We need to set out a course of
action to eliminate the subsidies and make our transportation infrastructure pay
for itself. If this is not possible, at least we can reduce the subsidy levels.
How is this done? The answer is intensification of development. Currently, our
transportation systems are run inefficiently. This is due to the peak nature of
rush hour travel and because of the great employment magnet called Downtown
Toronto. This means that the roads and transit systems are at capacity directed
towards downtown in the morning rush hour while the roads, trains and busses
are empty in the opposite direction. The reverse is true in the afternoon rush
hour. This is wasteful, resulting in infrastructure that is not fully utilized.
The solution to the above problems is two fold. First, intensification will allow us
to better use our existing transit and road infrastructure. We need to ensure that
roads, trains or busses do not operate empty or well below capacity, especially
as currently occurs in the suburbs. Secondly, travel to employment needs to be
in both directions, to fully use the transportation systems.
These two solutions can be realized by controlling development outside the GTA
and intensifying growth within its boundaries, Also, the development of regional
sub-centres (like the North York, Mississauga City Centres, etc) must be
Submission to the Golden Commission by Christopher Gauer
encouraged to support two way transportation growth. In this way, our
transportation systems will be better utilized and require less subsidy.
Planning and Development
The basic objectives for planning and development were touched upon in the
discussion of the Environmental and Transportation issues. Unfortunately, these
types of planning initiatives will cause a considerable amount of controversy
from local residents. This is due to the NIMBY attitude and the opinion of local
residents that any change is for the worse. However, to achieve the overall
environmental and transportation initiatives within the GTA, some sacrifices must
be made. Considering the existing urban environment is already degraded from
a natural environmental perspective, we need to focus development there while
restricting growth in the rural areas.
Development outside the GTA must be strictly limited in a sustainable context
(more work is needed to determine what sustainable development entails).
Development within the GTA must intensify, especially in the suburbs. Regional
sub centres must continue to grow to achieve a two way flow of transportation
within the GTA.
The general logic of this position makes sense. In creating an urban
environment, man has generally destroyed the natural condition (except for the
rare oasis of parkland). Therefore development should be focused in this area
at all costs. This also supports the initiative to make our transportation systems
more efficient.
In the rural areas, we need to preserve the low density character, farmland and
natural areas. Development may occur, but at a much reduced level. Farmland
which may not be considered productive today, may be priceless half a decade
from now (not for development but for food production). The natural areas serve
two functions, as a natural rejuvenator of the biosphere and as a recreational
outlet for the urban populace.
Economic Growth
Economic growth within the GTA must be viewed in an overall context, not as a
rivalry between local municipalities, such Vaughan and Toronto (as shown by
the infamous radio ads). In the short term, more growth will occur in the outer
areas of the GTA, as the opportunity for growth is greater (more land, less
density and available capacity within the transportation systems). However, this
growth must be consistent with the Environmental, Transportation and Planning
and Development policies discussed earlier. The difference in growth and the
resultant income in the form of taxation can be shared throughout the entire GTA
by an overall means of governance and through fair taxation. Large disparities
between the local area must be discouraged and eliminated.
Submission to the Go/den Commission by Christopher Gauer
Fair and Equitable Taxation
Each part of the overall GTA must be taxed on the same basis. I leave the
taxation mechanism to the experts. However, the inequities between the City of
Toronto and the suburbs and Metro Toronto and the outlying regions must be
addressed. Part of the problem is unequal provincial funding to the various local
municipalities. Therefore, any provincial funding needs to go into an overall
GTA budget. This would permit taxation in all areas on an equal basis and an
equitable sharing of the provincial funding by all the participant municipalities
within the GTA.
Inequities such as different base years for assessment purposes and varying tax
levels need to be resolved. Again, this requires some hard decisions and an
unyielding approach, as many special interests and those who have benefited
from the present system, will oppose any changes.
Tax rates for the residential and manufacturing/commercial/retail component
must be harmonized on a regional basis. Otherwise, this is just another weapon
for local areas to attract development at the expense of its neighbors.
Less and More Efficient Government
This is the political Pandoras Box.
Each region and local municipality is jockeying for position with the Golden
Commission to protect their political self interest. Wholesale change in the
areas governance structure must occur now, as happened in the 1950s, in order
to achieve the objectives outlined previously. Otherwise, we will be mired in the
same old cycle of local political infighting and posturing and no real reform will
occur, only minor tinkering with the status quo.
How do we reorganize? We need an overall GTA level of government to realize
the Environmental, Transportation, Planning and Development, Economic and
Taxation objectives set forth previously. These objectives are difficult to solve
on the local level, as individual local municipalities will be handcuffed by
residents objecting to traffic, land use, intensification and any other change. A
GTA government would be better able to manage the affairs of the entire area,
administer taxation on an equal basis, allocate funding fairly and address the
overall transportation needs.
The next question is: How do we deal with the current municipal structure? The
simplest and easiest way is to retain many of the existing political entities and
adsorb the remainder into the larger organizations. The proposals put forward
by the politicians are laughable and self serving. The simplest and most
pragmatic new government structure is to have an overall GTA Regional Council
made up of local municipalities which were the former regional municipalities:
Toronto, Durham, York, Peel, Halton and Hamilton-Wentworth. The local
municipalities that make up the existing regions would be adsorbed, as was
done in the 1950s.
5
The net effect of this restructuring is less government, fewer politicians and
rationalization of the services now provided by the existing local and regional
municipalities. For example:
B
B
B
B
B
B
Transportation and Public Works would be a GTA Regional responsibility.
All roads, except for provincial highways, would be under the GTA authority.
Sewer, water and hydro services can be provided in the same manner
Planning and Development can be consolidated into a regional GTA planning
approval process with planning input on the local issues. Too much authority
cannot reside with the local municipalities, unless we want to be run by the
NIMBY residents or plan our city through lawyers at the OMB.
Parks and recreation can be a local responsibility
Economic development would be a GTA regional responsibility
Police and Fire Services should be a GTA regional responsibility
Housing should not reside with the municipalities, but be a Provincial
responsibility
I am sure that many of the other services provided by the existing local or
regional municipalities can be rationalized based on the need for local input and
the efficiency resulting from an overall management of the service.
Summary
Only a bold initiative by the Golden Commission can fix the problems in the
GTA. However, we cannot just put our finger into the dike, but we must
reorganize and repriortize to meet the challenges of the future. Unfortunately,
most of the rhetoric from the political side does not seem to appreciate the
higher, transportation, planning and environmental goals. They only recognize
the threat to their survival.
Therefore, the Golden Commission needs to rock the boat of municipal politics.
If our Provincial Government is committed to efficiency and cost savings, as
it appears it is, then these suggestions are the way to achieve these savings
while charting a course for the future growth and prosperity of the region.
Use of this opportunity to trim government, rationalize taxation and address the
future transportation, environmental and development needs will result in a
prosperous economy and a more sustainable living environment.
Sincerely,
Christopher B. Gauer, P. Eng.
Taxpayer
Alison Gaul
16 Alder Rd.
East York, Ontario
M4B 2Y4
Thursday, September 28, 1995
Attention: Golden Task Force Commission,
Dear sir,
This letter is regarding the City of Torontos attempts to consume
the Borough of East York into its jurisdiction. This small, but
important area of Metro Toronto does not deserve this kind of
disrespect from the City.
East York has a large history and tradition that the City of
Toronto is seemingly thumbing their noses at. How can Metro let a
long lasting part of their community be disintegrated over a greedy
bureaucratic decision?
About 100,000 people populate the East York area; living in its
homes, working at its jobs, and attending its schools. By letting
our Borough be digested by the City of Toronto, many of these
citizens will be the victims of tax increases, job losses due to
the population explosion in one overcrowded jurisdiction, and most
worrisome of all in the point of view of a student, the consumption
of many thousands of school children into the underfunded,
seemingly rundown City of Toronto school. system. I look at the
dilapidated buildings of the Toronto schools and shudder to think
that the bright, clean, and well run institutions belonging to the
East York Board of Education may one day transform into those
decrepid structures if put into the hands of the City.
East York has an independent and unique personality and style. To
annihilate the Borough of East York would be to deny our future of
a truly great place to be. The City of Toronto can find another
part of Metro to swallow up. Try Scarborough, they always wanted to
be a part of us anyway.
Sincerely,
19950926
Ms. Anne Golden, Chairperson
GTA Task Force
20th Floor -2001
Dear Ms. Golden:
Enclosed for your information is a copy of Georginas GTA Vision - Report No. CAO-95-21 of
the Chief Administrative Officer for the Town of Georgina.
This report was presented by Mr. Roman Martiuk, C. A. O., and the recommendations contained
within the document were approved by Town Council on Monday, September 25th, 1995.
(Mrs.) Martha Gibson, A.M.C.T.
Deputy Clerk
/mg
Encl.
cc -- Premier Mike Harris
-- Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs
-- Julia Munro, Member of Provincial Parliament
-- All municipalities within the Greater Toronto Area
905-476-4301 905-722-6516 705-437-2210
Fax: 905-476-8100
TOWN OF GEORGINA
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS REPORT
TO COUNCIL
(1995 09 25)
REPORT NO. CAO-95-21
SUBJECT: GTA TASK FORCE
RECOMMENDATION
.
.
Whereas the Greater Toronto Task Force is currently reviewing the economic vitality of the
Greater Toronto Area and,
Whereas the Greater Toronto Task Force has requested comment from municipalities by
September 30, 1995.
Therefore, be it resolved that the commendations contained within Georginas GTA Vision be
approved and submitted by the Clerk of the Town of Georgina, by September 30, 1995, to:
a) Premier Mike Harris
b) Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs
c) Julia Munro, Member of Provincial Parliament
d) Anne Golden, Chair, GTA Task Force
e) All municipalities within the GTA
REPORT:
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force has requested submissions by September 30, 1995. The
Task Force will use these submissions to
Government.
Attached is Georginas GTA Vision for
contained within Georginas GTA Vision
Council and staff of the Town of Georgina.
Roman Martiuk, P.Eng. CMA
Attach.
/jl
help develop recommendations to the Provincial
Councils consideration
outline broad principles
The recommendations
developed by consulting
For f ur t her informationcontact:
Roman Martiuk, Chief Administrative Officer
(905) 476-4305 Ext. 247
Robert Grossi, Mayor
(905) 476-4305 Ext. 215
GEORGINAS GTA VISION
Production
The Town of Georgina is one of the northernmost municipalities considered to be a part of the
Greater Toronto Area(GTA). Our municipality is approximately 111 square miles in area, a total population
of 32,400 and contains three major population centres, Keswick, Sutton and Pefferlaw, and numerous
smaller communities. The three major population areas have recently had secondary plans completed and
are projected to double in population over the next 20 years. We feel that we are unique with our composite
blend of urban and rural lifestyles and our mix of residential, industrial and recreational opportunities.
We boast 32 miles of direct frontage on our most important natural resource, Lake Simcoe. A large
area of Georgina is dedicated to Class 1 to 3 wetlands. We are a mix of both urban and rural lifestyles. Our
residents have chosen to live in our community because of these amenities.
Major local employment includes retail trade (25%), accommodation (15940), agr icult ur e (10%) and
Education. Employment within Georgina is compr ised of small businesses with 86% having
under 10 employees. Over 70/0 of the working population commute south.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
1o
In 1993, our citizens identified the following strengths that make Georgina a desirable place to be:
Natural resources - near Lake Simcoe
Proximity to Toronto
Tourism and tourist attractions
Large ambitious skilled workforce
Good place to live and raise a family
Abundance of inexpensive land and commercial space
Inexpensive and affordable housing
Good transportation facilities
Good recreational facilities
Clean and unpolluted
In recent years, as provincial finding has become more scarce, we have embarked and continue upon
a path toward
maintaining our services at a level that meets or exceeds our citizens' needs. We provide these
services in the most economical method that we can. We constantly review our operations to ensure that
we are meet ing our Corporate Mission.
Georgina believes that we represent the practical implementation of common sense government every
day. We are not showered with developer money. Our commercial-industrial-residential mix is growing to
meet t he demands of our cit izens. We have developed our Strategic Plan, and we are progressing to meet
the goals defined We clearly understand that change will not occur quickly, rather that it is a progressive
road down which we must travel, implementing the pieces of our plans as we can afford to.
Georgina's GTA Vision 2
Georgina would not invite changes to our municipality that do not serve to strengthen our ability to
meet our communitys goals. We believe that the solutions developed for the GTA must consider the unique
character of municipalities like Georgina, and are not based exclusively on the framework of large urban
centres.
1. Whereas the Town of Georgina is a unique community with an urban and rural
mix, therefore, be it resolved that solutions developed for the GTA must
consider the unique character of communities like Georgina and not be based
solely on the needs of the large urban centres.
Governance Issues
Georgina feels that our relationship with the Region of York has been beneficial to our citizens. We
continue to see an important role for an upper-tier municipality in the provision of major infrastructure
programmes and region-wide common services, and would like to continue our association with the Region
of York.
2. Whereas the Town of Georgina has benefited by its association with York
Region, therefore, be it resolved that the Town of Georgina sees an important
role for an upper-tier municipality in the provision of major infrastructure and
wishes to continue its affiliation with York Region.
Georgina believes that we belong in the GTA Much of our population works and enjoys the
amenities the GTA has to offer, Georgina would not support any plans that exclude our municipality from
GTA-wide solutions.
3. Whereas the Town of Georgina has important links to the GTA therefore, be
it resolved that the Town of Georgina does not support any alternatives that
would not include the Town of Georgina as a member of the GTA.
Over the past number of years, Georgina has developed and strengthened the depth and abilities of
our staff. We believe that the fundamental abilities of our staff to cope with broader and more complex
issues are in place already. We therefore believe that the current Municipal Act and attendant legislation is
cumbersome and binding to both our staff and our Council, and does not enable us to be as creative as we
would like to solve the issues that confront us today. We, therefore, would ask the Provincial Government
to create and implement new governing legislation in the model of the new Alberta Municipal Act that would
empower the local municipality to meet these challenges.
4. Whereas the Provincial Government intends to review the Municipal Act,
therefore, be it resolved that the Town of Georgina supports a new Alberta-style
Municipal Act.
Georgina has a lower population density than many of the more urbanized municipalities in the GTA.
In or&r to meet the needs of our citizens through access to their elected representatives, we strongly believe
that any new legislation must consider the special geographic needs of rural municipalities. Simple
approaches to ward boundaries such as uniform population/councilor ratios should not be used,
5. Whereas the Town of Georgina supports a review of the number of Wards
within Georgina, and whereas Georgina has a low populationde~ity compared
to fully urbanized GTA municipalities, therefore, be it resolved that the
establishment of new municipal ward boundaries should consider the special
geographical needs of rural municipalities and that simple approaches such as
uniform population/councillor ratios should not be used.
In the past, the Province has handed down the responsibility for administration of many matters to
municipalities. This has often been accompanied with detailed regulations and little or no funding. We
therefore ask that when duties are to be conveyed upon municipalilities, that the Province provide broad
Say approach to governance.
Provision of Services
. .
Georgina believes that services with a very high citizen interest and involvement should be
administered at the local level staff and politicians can be most easily accessed. Although
small in population, the geographical separation in Georgina currently poses challenges. Transfer of
responsibilities to upper levels of government could greatly affect access.
7. Whereas the local level of government is the most accessible level and whereas
the public identify with the local, therefore, be it resolved that services with
high citizen interest and involvement should be delivered by the local
municipality, providing the services can be delivered locally at reasonable cost.
Municipalities are in the business of providing service. The shuffling of a citizen from one
government level or department to another is a frustrating and confusing process. Georgina believes that
a "one-stop shopping approach must be adopted by any initiative within the GTA. In this proposal, local
municipalities would provide complete service to the local community, and be responsible to the citizens that
it directly services.
8. Whereas municipalities are in the service business and whereas citizens should
not be shuffled between levels of government therefore, be it resolved that the
GTA Task Force embrace the concept of "one-stopop shopping whereby local
municipalities provide any services that directly impact on the citizens.
We believe that only one level of government should be involved with the provision of a specific
service, Duplication and overlap of services are unnecessary and wasteful. This kind of service distinction
will also assist the citizens unknowing which level of government provides specfic services, thus streamlining
their service delivery.
9. Whereas many services currently involve local, regional and provincial levels of
government, therefore, be it resolved that where practical, only one level of
government should provide a particular service.
In Georgina, we have examined the roles and duties of many special purpose bodies within our own
jurisdiction.Recently, we amalgamated our Library Services and our Recreation Division into a new, more
responsive Leisure Services Department. Georgina supports the ongoing quest to economize and provide
greater accountability by efficiently integrating special purpose bodies into the existing local or regional
municipal organizations.
The key connecting links among all of us is economics, the transportation infrastructure and
telecommunications. These are interjurisdictional issues that should be dealt with on a GTA-wide basis.
Economic survival is a by-product of these global issues. Business demands will not increase without
attention to these specific services.
Economic development could very well be dealt with throughout the GTA as a mutual cooperation
area but we believe that individual municipalities will want to determine their own future and the areas that
they wish to explore. They should be permitted to do so.
11. Whereas economic development, transportation infrastructure and
telecommunications are important issues for the GTA and whereas coordination
of these activities is important, therefore be it resolved that we support
coordination of economic development, transportation and telecommunications
on a GTA-wide basis.
Georgina believes that the planning process should be left entirely to the local municipality. The
current system involves provincial monitoring, approval and double checking. This activity provides little
value and results in significant time delays, With the flexibilityadopt and administer an Official Plan that
represents the wishes of the people through direct and political input, we can shape a community that meets
our residents vision, not the vision of some homogeneous body south of here.
Georgina has worked hard to keep its assessment base current. We believe this to be a necessary step
to ensure tax fairness to our citizens.
15. Whereas the assessment values used within Metro are out of date, therefore, be
it resolved that Metro municipalities should implement reassessment as an
integral part of the Task Force recommendations,
We believe that the education section of the tax levy should be removed. Local municipalities are
not in control of the priorities and spending of local school boards. We must make levy payments regardless
of the paid status of taxes issued. Some municipalities make decisions on local spending as a result of seeing
the educational levies. This can inpact on the accomplishing of local municipal goals.
16. Whereas the levying of education taxes through the property tax system
inherently unfair, therefore, be it resolved that granting systems be adjusted
remove education costs from the property tax base.
is
to
summary
GTA Network:
A Telecommunications Vision for the GTA
A Report by the GTCC Telecommunications Steering Committee
September 1995
GTA Network:
EXECUTI VE SUMMARY
Over the past few months, individuals
responsible for information systems, geo-
graphic information systems and communica-
tions, from various GreaterToronto Area (GTA)
municipalities and regions, worked to address
the basic principles of a comprehensive tel-
ecommunications plan for the GTA: to look at
what has been done so far, as well as to iden-
ti~ what needs to happen in order for a tel-
ecommunications strategy to be implemented.
Irrespective of the form and structure a GTA
Government may take, coordimting telecom-
munications initiatives should be an impor-
tant segment of the GTA governments man-
date. In an era of financial restraint the re-
engineering of government operations and
semice through the application of communi-
cations and information technology has be-
come a priority the world over. Changes in
telecommunications are closely tied to changes
in government st.mcture. The implementation
of a GTA Network should be a top priority of
a new GTA government because it would en-
hance communication across jurisdictional
boundaries and provide greatly improved serv-
ice delivexy to the community. More impor-
tantly, a GTA Network would provide an un-
rivaled economic development tool to ensure
the GTAs pre-eminence in a global market-
place representative of both the public and
private sectors.
Clearly, decisions about telecommuni-
cations should be made on an inter-jurisdic-
tional basis, in much the same way as deci-
sions about transportation and infrastructure.
Developing a telecommunications strategy fits
naturally into the mandate of a GTA gover-
nment, yet, the implications of implementing a
GTA Network reach far beyond government.
Among the fmt actions of a GTA government
should be to strike a Telecommunications
Forum with a directive to establish a GTA
Network. The GTA government will need to
identifi a group of people that will constitute
the Forum and assume responsibility for de-
veloping an implementation strategy for the
Network. This group will need to be repre-
sentative of both the private and public sec-
tors, since government alone cannot be re-
sponsible for implementing a real network
across the GTA. The Forum should be heavily
weighted toward local govemment since that
level represents the closest link to the com-
munity. The important players should prima-
rily be composed of municipal government
representatives; private sector representatives
from both the telephone and cable industries;
the public utilities and educational institutions.
The Forum will need to identi& the extent
and type of existing communications infra-
structure throughout the GTA in order to de-
termine gaps and assess priorities for devel-
opment. Coordinated Internet activities should
be implemented almost immediately to pro-
vide a common communications base and in-
ternational presence while the GTA Network
itself is under construction. And finally, the
Forum will need to ident.i@ the costs associ-
ated with the Network and address funding
issues.
It may take time to actually develop a
workable Telecommunications Strategy and
implement a GTA Network, but consensus was
reached during the visioning exercise, that
developing a unified telecommunications strat-
egy and implementation plan for the GTA was
extremely important and that no single organi-
zation can be responsible for the creation and
delivery of all the content and services on the
network. The Telecommunications Steering
Committee agreed on the following Vision and
Strategic Objectives as a basis from which to
develop a concrete plan of action for a GTA
Network.
Vi si on
To d evelop a wor ld cla ss t elecommu n i ca -
t i on s n et wor k a cr oss t h e GTA wh i ch wou ld
p r omot e t h e efi lci en cy, effect i ven ess a n d
wor ld -wi d e vi si bi li t y of t h e GTA a s a focu s
for gover n me n t ser vi ce, bu si n ess, t ou r i sm
a n d t h e a r t s.
3
4
St r at egi c Obj ec t i ves
B
Wor l d -Wi d e Vi si bi l i t y of t be (XCA i n
t be gl bba l m a r k et p l a ce.
.
Tbe GTA - a Vi r t u a l Gk wer n m en t
f m sed on S er v&e Del i ver y a n d
Com m u n i t y Devei h pm en t .
.
Tbe GT.A Cu m wct ed t br ou gb a S ea m
l k ss a n d Accessi bl e Net wor k
Although the group has been able to agree
on a joint Vision and Goals for establishing a
GTA Ne&vork, it is important to remember that
the recommendations contained in this report
represent a first-cut local government only
perspective. The group clearly recognizes t-he
shortcomings of developing a vision in isola-
tion from the private sector, other levels of
govemment, special purpose bodies and the
community who will be the ultimate user base.
This report should be considered a first step
for developing a GTA Telecommunications
Stmtegy in that it identifks key initiatives which
will need to be undertaken if a network is to
be successfully implemented. In summary, the
recommendations of the Telecommunications
Committee are as follows:
Rec ommendat i ons
Tm T.
1. Tbe GT.A gover n m en t (s) i a %?n t z ~y T el -
ecom m u n i ca t i on s a s a k ey a r ea of r espon -
si bi l i t y wi t bi n i t s m a n d a t e.
2. Tbe GTAgov er n m en t (s) st r z k e a For u m
on T ef ec om m u n i ca t i u n s wi t b st r on g r ep-
r esen t a t i on f r om i bca l gover n m en t , t be
pm -va l e sect or , pu bl i c u t i l i t i es, a n d ed u -
ca t i on a l i n st i t u t i on s t o d evel op a n d i m p l e-
n wn t a GTA Net wor k .
3.AI 1 m u n i ci p a l i t i es &bi n t be GT 4 com -
m i t t o t be cr ea t wn of a sea m l ess, ca r r i er
i n d epen d en t , GTA Net wor k ba sed on open
st a n d a r d s.
4.AU m u n i +a l i t i es wi t bi n t be GT ~ com -
m i t t o t be d k vei bpm en t of t be a p p l i ca t i on s
r equ i r ed t o d el i ver on e-st op gover n m en t
ser vi ce a n d ~xi bl e i n f ~i on a ccess.
5. A GZA I n t er n et pr esen ce wi t b con si st -
en t pr esen t a t i on a n d n a vi ga t i on pr oce-
d u r es sbou l d be d i wel op ed a s a f i r st or -
d er of p r i or i t y.
6. AU m u n i ci pa l i t i es wi t bi n t be GT A, r e-
st r u ct u r e ser vi ce d k l t ver y t o t a k e a d va n -
t a ge of t ek om m u n i Za t i on s, t opr ovi d k a c-
cessi bl e, on e-st op gover n m en t ser vi ce a t
t be l oca l l evel .
7. Al l m u n i ci ~a l i t i es wi t bi n t be GT ~ pa r -
t i ci p a t e i n t be co-or d i n a t ed p r ovi si on of
GT A-wi d e I n for m a t i on S er vi ces.
8. Econ on u k d evel opm en t st r a t egi es wi t bi n
t be GTA i n cl u d k t be pr om ot i u n of ex i st -
i n g t ek ?com m u n i ca t i on s ca pa bi l i t i es i n t be
GT A a n d u l t i m a t el y t be ca p a bi l i t i es of t be
GTA Net wor k .
9. Mu n h pa l pol i ci es be d evel oped on a
GT.A-wi d e ba si s t o en cou r a ge t ek om m u -
n i ca t i on s i n f r a st r u ct u r e d evel opm en t a n d
a n y i m ped i m en t s a n d ba r r i er s t o i t s d e-
vel op m en t sbou l d be i d en t z ~i ed a n d r e-
m oved .
10. Tbe GT A gover n m en t (s), i n cl u d i n g a l l
m u n i ci pa l i t i es &bi n t be GT A u m br el @
com m i t t o t be on -goi n g pr of esswn a l d e-
vet bpm en t of st a f i i n t be u se a n d a p p l i ca -
t i on of t el ecom m u n i ca t i on s t o i m p r ove
gover n m en t ser vi ce d el i ver y.
GTA Network:
I NTRODUCTI ON
Telecommunications refers to the tech-
nology that enables electronic transmission of
voice, video, data and multi-media. It encom-
P~
computer networks, telephone, cable,
satellites, wireless and mimowave.
Wbik we may n ot a gr ee on t be n a t u r e of
cba n ge - we ca n a gr ee t ba t soci et y a s we
ba ve k n own i t i n t be pa st f ew d eca d es -
wi U cba n ge beyon d r ecogn i t wn . I t i s be-
com i n g ch a r t ba t t ber e ba s a l r ea d y been
we cba n ge in t h e l a st f ew d eca d k s t ba n
i n a l l of pr eViOZ&y r ecor d k d bi st or y.
Th omas B. Riley livin g in t h e Heet r on ic Vie :
Movin g In t o a n t h xr t a m Wor ld.
Although the phrase Information High-
way originated in the United States of America,
governments around the world have taken
action to develop national telecommunications
stmtegies, in order to remain competitive in
the global marketplace. The Canadian Blue-
print for Renewing Government Service using
Information Technology appeared around the
same time as Washington released its National
Information Infrastructure (NII) initiative and
various European and Asian nations simulta-
neously issued their position papers, all en-
tering the race towards the Information Age.
Examining any
internationally
published gov-
ernment mate-
rial on telecom-
mu n i ca t i on s
since abou t
1993, it would
appear t hat
everyone had
come t o t h e
same conclusions about the expected magni-
tude of change in society that communications
technology will bring, as well as agree on the
basic principles of connectivity - equitable an
open access; seamless networks, security; and
economic positioning. In an era of continuing
fimncial restraint - the re-engineering of gov-
ernment operations through the application
of communications and information technol-
ogy has become a priority the world over.
Changes in telecommunications are
closely tied to changes in government struc-
ture. Re-engineering government is depend-
ant on advances in communications technol-
ogy. Soaring costs of delivering public serv-
ices such as health care, education and train-
ing, combined with pervasive government
defiats are stimulating interest in the electronic
delivery of public seMces.
I f i n f ~t i on i s t be cu r r en Cy of d em oc-
r a cy a n d gover m n en t a gen ci es a r e a m on g
t be m ost p r ol z f i c col l ect or s a n d gen er a -
t or s of i n f ~W% t ben i m pr ovi n g t be
n a t i on a l i n for m a t wn i n f r a st r u ct u r e pr -
ovi d es t r em en d ou s oppof l u n i t i es f or i m -
pr ova n g t be d el i ver y of gover n m en t i n f or -
m a t k m t o t be t a xpa yer s wbopa i d f or i t s
col l ect i t n q t opr ovi d e i t equ i t a bl y a t a f a i r
pr i ce, a s eni ci en t l y a s possi bl e. NI I
Tel ec ommuni c at i ons
St r at egy f or Canada
Given the transformative effects that ad-
vances in telecommunications will have across
the Canadian economy, the federal gover-
nment has tried to develop a national strategy
i n con s u l t a t i on wi t h a l l i ma g i n a bl e
stakeholders from the public and private sec-
tors by establishing an Adviso~ Council re-
porting to the Minister of Industry. Discussion
at the Advisory Council has contributed to-
ward a national strategy that is uniquely Ca-
nadian, respecting our regulatory history, eco-
nomic realities, market size, industry structures,
international context and unique cultural and
sovereignty requirements. It speaks to gover-
nment using new technologies to deliver serv-
ices more effectively and efficiently and creat-
ing a fiscal climate that encourages investment
and innovation.
The goal for Canada is to build the high-
est-quality, lowest-cost information network
in the world, in order to give all Canadians
access to the employment, educational, invest-
ment, entertainment, health care and wealth-
creating opportunities of the Information Age.
5
III short, the vision is to make Canada number
one in the world in the provision and utiliza-
tion of the information highway, creating sub-
stantial economic, social and cultural advan-
tages for all Canadians.
Because all levels of government are
major users of telecommunications and infor-
mation products/ services, very quickly, fed-
eml strategic initiatives have sparked provin-
cial and local governments, as well as special
purpose bodies to initiate their own stmtegies.
AN levels of government are becoming key
players,
St r at egy f or t he Pr ovi nc e of
Ont ar i o
The Council for an Ontario Information
Infrastructure was formed on the recommend-
ation of Ontarios Telecom-
mu nicat ions St r at egy, an-
nounced Februa~ 1993. It re-
ports to the Minister of Eco-
n omic Develop men t an d
Trade. The Councils mandate
is to provide advice to the Pro-
vincial Government with re-
spect to implementing the Tel-
ecommunications Strategy for the Province of
Ontario and to fund various pilot projects
which fulfill its strategy.
Pr ovi nc i al Vi si on
The Vision for the Province of Ontario
is that, enabled by telecommunications, On-
tario and in return Canada, will be the best
place in the world to live, work, learn and do
business.
Pr ovi nc i al Goal
The goal of the Province is to create: a
telecommunications infrastructure which ena-
bles economic growth; a dynamic growing tel-
ecommunications sector enhancing quality of
life through telecommunications; and the stra-
tegic application of telecommunications by the
Ontario government.
6
GTCC
TELECOMMUNI CATI ONS
STEERI NG COMMI TTEE.
The Greater Toronto Co-ordinating
Committee (GTCC) was established by the
Province in 19S S to identify and examine i=
sues and trends that may have a major effect
on the quality of life, social equity and eco-
nomic vitality of the GTA and make recom-
mendations for action.
The GTCC through various Steering
Committees is investigating and reporting on:
municipal financing, economic development,
quality of life, infrastructure, municipal struc-
ture, assessment delivery and telecommuni-
cations.
The GTCC formed a Telecommunica-
tions Steering Committee with the purpose of
examining the potential for developing a Tel-
ecommunications Strategy for the GTA - one,
high speed integral communications ne~ork
which would ultimately promote the competi-
tive advantage of the GTA as a location for
business.
A Technical SubCommittee on Telecom-
munications was subsequently appointed to
examine the issue and to prepare a summary
report. Although the group has been able to
agree on a joint vision and goals, it is impor-
tant to remember that the recommendations
contained in this report represent a first-cut
local government only perspective. The group
clearly recognizes the shortcomings of devel-
oping a vision in isolation from the private
sector, other levels of government, special
purpose bodies and the community who will
be the ultimate user base. This report should
only be considered a ftit step for developing
a GTA Telecommunications Strategy in that it
identifies the goals to strive for.
The work of the Steering and Technical
Committees on Telecommunications is unique
in that a group of municipal information sys-
tems representatives met with the objective of
looking outward to address the issue of con-
nectivity rather than inward to improve day to
day technical requirements of their respective
municipalities. Over the past few months, in-
dividuals responsible for information systems,
geographic information systems and commun-
ications, from various GTA municipalities and
regions worked to address the basic princi-
ples of a comprehensive telecommunications
plan; to look at what has been done so far, as
well as, to identi& what needs to happen in
order for a telecommunications strategy to be
implemented. It may take time to actually de-
velop a workable telecommunications strat-
egy or implement a GTA Network, but con-
sensus was reached during the visioning ex-
ercise, that developing a unified telecommu-
nications strategy and implementation plan for
the GTA was extxemely important and that no
single organization can be responsible for the
creation and delivery of all the content and
services on the network. The Telecommuni-
cations Steering Committee agreed on a vi-
sion and strategic objectives.
Vi si on
To &velop a wor ld cla ss t elecommu n i ca -
t i on s n et wor k a cr oss t h e GTA, wh i ch
wou ld p r omot e t h e effi ci en cy, effect i ve-
n ess a n d wor ld -wi d e vi si bi li t y of t h e GTA
a s focu s for gover n men t ser vi ce, bu si n ess,
t ou r i sm a n d t h e a r t s.
St r at egi c Obj ec t i ves
.
Wm l d -wi d e Vi si bi l i t y of t be GTA i n
t be Gk bba l Ma r k et p l a ce.
.
Tbe GT A - a Vi r t u a l Gover n m eTI t f o-
cu sed on S er vi ce Del i ver y a n d
Cbm m u n i t y Devel opm en t
.
Zbe GZA Gn m ect ed t b?wu gb a S ea m -
l ess a n d Accessi bl e Net wor k
TELECOMMUNI CATI ONS,
GOVERNMENT SERVI CE AND
THE GTA
The GTA is Canadas largest and most
important City region, comprised of 35 juris-
dictional units. AS the engine for economic
growth in Ontario, the GTA is ideally suited
to be a leader in Information Highway devel-
opment because of the wealth of opportuni-
ties being developed here and because of the
public and private networks, research capa-
bilities, information technology and content
industries which have already located here.
Taking a lead role in network development
would mean increased economic applications
and improved services to GTA residents. Cur-
rently there is no comprehensive, strategic ef-
fort to co-ordinate network development
among public organizations, educational in-
stitutions and private firms in the GTA. Exist-
ing institutional and jurisdictional structures
are insufficient to deal with the GTAs telecom-
munications problems and opportunities. AI-
though individual Information Systems spe-
cialists do a good job at co-ordinating telecom-
munications networks locally, no one is ad-
dressing the connectivity of the broader re-
gion, either at a Local or Provincial gover-
nment level.
Private telecommunications service pr~
viders are responding to convergence changes
in technology by consolidating. Local gover-
nment, espeaally within the GTA must also look
for ways to consolidate - with a view to pr~
meting the competitive advantage of the GTA
to the world.
Convergence provides opportunities for
local muniapalities to move forward by facili-
tating public access to government informa-
tion at all levels, ( eg. council agendas, recrea-
tion programmed, GIS, public health, librar-
ies.) Local government can reach out to the
community and can promote community in-
volvement beginning with simple tools such
as electronic bulletin boards and moving to-
ward interactive town hall meetings and pro-
viding the ability to vote electronically.
These opportunities demand that local
government bring a unified and strong voice
7
to telecommunications policy makers at higher
levels of government. Cities need to monitor
telecommunications policies at the national
and international levels in order to maintain
their competitive position as centres for face
to face and electronic communications.
Private indust~, not government, is
playing the lead role in technological change.
Given the dynamic role of the private sector
in the development and merging of telecom-
munications infmstructure, it is essential for
local government to start looking for ways to
participate, especially given the enormous
quantity and variety of statistics and other land-
based information available at the local level.
Partnership with the private sector is
critical to success. Government and business
in the GTA could begin some joint network
development projects with government acting
as a catalyst. The joint goal could be the de-
velopment of a GTA
Network - an efficient
data system that pro-
vides more conven-
ient and less expen-
sive government serv-
ices for the public. As
the private sector con-
tinues to invest in
n ew t ech n ologies,
advanced networks,
innovative products
and services, govemment could begin to tackle
legislative policy and regulatory instruments.
The building blocks of a GTA Network
infrastructure are already in place but the roles
of the partners needs clearer definition. Build-
ing, running and developing innovative ap
placations for a GTA Network to meet the di-
verse needs of government and business com-
munities and individuals, is too large for any
one institution or company to undertake alone.
The formation of partnerships and alli-
ances with other municipalities and special
purpose bodies in a shared vision will not
come easily. To a large extent every munici-
pality has evolved their own service delivery
culture over many years of trial and error and
is not accustomed to consulting with neigh-
8
bouring jurisdictions on matters of informa-
tion systems. However, taxpayers do not per-
ceive jurisdictional boundaries when demand-
ing better government sem-ice.
Taxpayers want a more user-friendly
govemment, offering better services at less cost
and at times and in places more convenient to
them. Government departments and agenaes
process tremendous numbers of t.mnsactions
and information requests from their citizens.
With traditional methods of processing such
transactions and information requests are not
always easy or convenient and can result in
high administration and mailing costs. Creat-
ing easy to use access points for government
information services are critical.
Expanding and enhancing government
service delive~ by making it accessible directly
from the home or business is a key strategy.
People will use a GTA Network if it meets
their needs. Since the majority of people do
most of their government business at the lo-
cal level, it makes sense that local leaders have
a strong say in what applications are devel-
oped.
Partnerships with Provincial and Fed-
eral governments will further enhance the net-
work. From the point of view of the taxpayer
this makes sense. In the minds of the public,
government services tend to be similar and as
long as they have electricity, water, an upt~
date drivers license and tax refund when they
expect it - the customer does not care where
it comes from. Government seMces from any
level of government should be easily obtAn-
able and accessible.
Currently, to obtain commonly used
government services, taxpayers must contact
several agencies during office hours, at multi-
ple offices. The taxpayer sees a muddle of acts,
regulations, procedures, policies, forms, li-
censes and permits that are never obtainable
from one place. The problem is compounded
by red tape whereby inquiries can rarely be
answered by only one individual.
Government should offer its services in
places where people ~, not where it wants
them to be, and the service delivery must fit
the customers schedule instead of making the
customers schedule fit our traditional sched-
ule. Establishing one stop government shop
ping centres has implications for the way the
public receives services and how it interacts
with government. Municipal services, in par-
ticular, must change from the current busi-
ness day philosophy to providing service 7
days a week 24 hours per day. The technol-
ogy is there to supplement the change - but
most of the current applications are not de-
signed to provide that type of service. The
amount and detail of information is not avail-
able and neither are the delivexy or access
methods.
Rec ommendat i ons
.
Tba l t be GTAgover n m en t (s) i d en t z yy
T el ecom m u n i ca t i on s a s a k ey a r ea of r e-
spon si bi l i t y wi t h i n t bei r m a n d u t e.
.
Tba t t be GT A gover n m en t (s) st r i k e
a For u m on T el ecom m u n i ca t i on s wi t b
st r on g r epr esen t a t wn f =l oca l gover n -
m en t , t be pr i va t e sect or , pu bl i c u t i l i t k ?s,
a n d ed u ca t wn a l i n st i t u t wn s t o a %wel op
a n d i m pbn en t a GTA Net wor k .
WORLD WI DE VI SI BI LI TY
.
GTA I n f -m m a t wn S er vi ces
.
GTA Tel ecom m u n i ca t wn s I n f r a -
st r u ct u r e
.
GT-A a s a Cen t r e of Excel l en ce f or
T el k com m u n i ca t wn s
.
GT A Qu a l i t y of Lz ~e Com pet i t i ve
Ed ge i n a Wor l d Ma r k et p l a ce
.
We Wa n t T&m t o Ca l l Us t o Do
Bu si n ess
World-Wide Visibility of the GTA should be
the single most important objective of a GTA
Telecommunications Strategy. In a world of
global connectivity - We want them to call Us
to Do Business! We want them to call us to
do business, to locate their business here, to
study here, to visit here and to live here. The
GTA represents Canada and Canadian achieve-
ments on the global stage and the promotion
and celebration of the GTA as a World City is
essential from both an economic and cultural
perspective to gain a competitive edge in the
world marketplace.
Any economic development policies
that are developed for the GTA should pro-
mote the GTAs existing telecommunications
infrastructure and its numerous private sector
infmlructure providem and users. It should
promote the GTAs connectivity to the world.
At the same time, government commitment to
telecommunications can be demonstrated us-
ing examples of the various public/ private tel-
ecommunications initiatives such as those in
the health and education fields.
The GTA Network could provide an in-
ternational presence on the Internet which cel-
ebrates the cultural, multi-cultural and educa-
tional achievements whic:h make for the great
quality of life we experience in the GTA. The
GTA is already considered a Centre of Excel-
lence in Telecommunications considering the
skilled labour force and excellent reputation
as a world centre for training and education
promoting opportunities for technology trans-
9
fer between academia, the professions and
business could be an important role for gov-
ernment and be part of a long range GTA Tel-
ecommunications Strategy.
In the past, urban growth was linked to
the development of transportation infrastruc-
ture; now, telecommunications infmstructure
that allows information to flow in, through
and out of cities is just as vital, if not more so,
to urban growth.
The development of cities into World
SuperCities will increasingly be based on their
specific realm of influence, their ability to af-
fect world patterns of behaviour, world events,
global beliefs, and the global economy. One
of the cornerstones of an economic develop
ment strategy for the GTA must certainly be
its telecommunications strategy and network.
By establishing itself as a major international
telecommunications hub, with a wperior in-
ternal telecommunications network, the GTA
can posit ion it self t o become a Wor ld
SuperCity. Hand-in-hand with this initiative,
the GTA should strive to become host to major
centres of excellence in activities such as higher
learning, entertainment, the arts, fashion, and
multimedia publishing.
It is too soon to evaluate the impact of
telecommunications on cities, as technical ad-
vances require time to diffuse - (it took the
telephone more than 50 years to reach 30?? of
households) but it is safe to say that a GTA
Network will have tremendous economic po-
tential that all GTA municipalities could capi-
talize on, considedng the market potential and
resident expertise contained within the GTA
boundaries. The GTA provides a perfect test-
ing ground for new technology, The GTA
Network should strive to ensure that advanced,
competitive telecommunications services are
available to provide the GTA with a competi-
tive edge in a world
nornic activities.
of internationalized ec~
10
Rec ommendat i ons
.
mat econ om i c d evel opm en t st r a t e-
gi es wi t h i n t be GZA i n cl u & t bepm t n ot i on
of exi st i n g t el ecom m u n i ca t t i ca p a bi l i -
t k s i n t be GZA a n d z d t i m u t el y t be ca p a -
bi bl i es of t be GT A Net wor k .
.
Zba t a GT A I n t er n et pr esen ce wi t b
con si st en t pr esen t a t wn a n d n a m ga t wn
p r oced u r es sboa d d be d evel bped a s a f i r st
or d er of pr i or i t y.
THE GTA CONNECTED
THROUGH A SEAMLESS AND
ACCESSI BLE NETWORK
.
Op en Net wor k S t a n d a r d s
.
GTA Gover n m en t s Cbn n ect ed
.
Pu bl i c Access t o Net wor k
.
Accessi bl e
There are two main thrusts of a GTA
Network; to connect the 35 municipalities
within the GTA to each other with a compat-
ible communications system and to provide
common information content on the Network
to the community, from wherever they wish
to access the Nehvork.
Once the municipalities within the GTA
are connected with common basic services
such as E-mail and conferencing it will be-
come easier to discuss the provision of one-
Stop govemment service to tie community and
to integrate the GTA Network with other lev-
els of government. It will be most important
for the various municipalities to agree on the
type of information t-hey will be providing and
ensuring its availability 24 hours a day 7 days
per week. The municipalities will also, jointly,
need to address the issues of security, as well
as the accuracy and maintenance of records.
Finally, it is most important to ensure
that all levels of society, regardless of techni-
cal sophistication, have access to the GTA
Network.
A GTA Network has little chance of suc-
ceeding unless the participating municipal gov-
ernments adopt a compatible set of standards,
protocols and navigational tools for linking
service providers. To ensure that various mu-
nicipalities are connected, guidelines, policies
and standards will need to be developed. The
implementation framework will need to agree
on priorities, phasing, long and short term
action plans, assignment of responsibilities, fi-
nancial requirements, partnerships and fund-
ing sources. Security and monitoring issues
will need to be addressed. As networks be-
come more complex, so does their managem-
ent.
The GTA Network should be viewed as
a single and compatible collection of inter-
comected networks, content sources and selv-
ices governed by a consistent framework of
policies and regulations.
Although the user will treat the GTA Net-
work as a single system, the same type of tech-
nology does not have tc) be used throughout.
The network should recognize and build on
various infrastructure types (cable, telephone,
wireless and satellite). Similarly, as more and
more electrical appliances become intercon-
nected to extend the reach and range of the
consumer in the house (TV, VCR, computers,
CD players, personal communications devices.)
they should each be capable of hooking up
to the network.
The development of a GTA Network
should be promoted because it is a cost effec-
tive way to increase the qual-
ity of service and efficiency for
everyone in the GTA. A phi-
losophy of universal access
and low entry fees should be
fundamental to the develop
ment of the GTA Network.
Its overall goal should
be the provision of service and
outreach to the community.
Tbemoreinfbrmdionbigb wa y s conwintotbe
borne, tbe more likely tbe cost willgo h- becaase
of tbe compelitwe delivery a n d peopl e wi l l st a t t f o-
ca si n g on wba t i s reaUy important - tbe content and
services avaikbk ...
Mik e Bin de r ADM S
~ ~o~
. on Te e h n oIo-
gies an dTeleeommu n ieat ion s for t h eFeder al Depar t -
men t of In du s t r y (2 ma da .
11
Personal computers bave moved computer
science awayfmmlbepumly tecbnicalimperativeand
computing is mhgwtbeexchshm~ oj~a~,
government and big business. It is being cbannelled
directly intotbe bandk of veycreative in&idwaLs at
aillevek ofsociety, becowng tbe means fwcreatwe
expression in botbits aseanddiwelopment. tbemeans
and messages of multimedia will become a bknd of
tecbnicalandartistic achievement.
N. Negroponte.
Rec ommendat i ons
.
l %a t a l l m u n i ci pa l i t i es wi t h i n t be
GTA com m i t t o t be cr ea t i on of a sea m -
l ess, ca r r i er i n d epen d en t , GT A Net wor k
ba sed on open st a n d a r d s.
.
Tba t a l l m u n i ci pa l i t i es wi t bi n t be
GT A com m i t t o t be d evel opm en t of t be a p-
pl i ca t wn s r equ i r ed t o &l i ver on e-st op
gover n m en t s er vi ce a n d p xi bl e i n f or m a -
t i on a ccess.
.
Tba t a l l m u n i ci pa l i t i es wi t bi n t be
GT ~ p a r t i ci p a t e i n t be co-or d i n a t ed pr o-
vi si bn of GT A-wi & I n for m a t i on S er vi ces.
12
THE GTA - A VI RTUAL
GOVERNMENT FOCUSED ON
SERVI CE DELl VERY AND
COMMUNI TY DEVELOPMENT
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
GTA - Lea d &i n T el ecom m u n i ca t i on s
En u bl ed Appl i ca t i on s
Ef f ect we a n d Ef f i ci en t S er vw eDel i v-
er y Acr oss GTA
Com m i t t ed Pa r t n er sh i p Acr oss GT A
On e S t op Gover n m en t S er vi ce
Pol i ci es t o En cou r a ge Pr i va t e I n -
vest m en t a n d At t r a ct Kn owl ed ge
Ea sed Devel opm en t
GTA-wr d e R OW Ma n a gem en t S t r a t -
egy.
Tel ecom m u n i ca t i on s Tech n ol ogy i n
Pu bl i c Ad m i n i st r a t i on
En ba n cem en t of T el ecom m wd ca -
t i on s I n f r a st r u ct u r e (Pu bi 3c/Pr i va t e
Pa r t n er sh i ps]
I n an era of continued financial restraint - the
re-engineering of govemment operations and
services through the application of communi-
cations and information technology has be-
come a priority the world over. The GTA is
ideally suited to be a leader in Information
Highway development because of the wealth
of opportunities being developed here and be-
cause of the public and private networks, re-
search capabilities, information technology and
content industries which have already located
here. Taking a lead role in network develop
ment would mean increased economic appli-
cations and improved services to GTA resi-
dents. A comprehensive, strategic effort to co-
ordinate network development among public
organizations, educational institutions and pri-
vate firms in the GTA should be a top priority
of a GTA government in order to showcase
the GTA as a leader in telecommunications.
A GTA Network combined with the con-
cept of One Stop Government Sewice would
provide effective, and efficient service deliv-
ery across the GTA; ensure access to informa-
tion and increase participation in the political
process. Commitment to staff training and em-
ployee development would not only ensure
quality application and data base development
but increase the use of telecommunications
technology in public administration.
On the ground, land use policies which
encourage knowledge-based development
and public right-of-way (ROW) policies which
encourage private investment would enhance
the available infrastructure demonstrating suc-
cessful public/ private partnerships.
Local government is a major user of in-
formation and communications technology
and many public semices are information in-
tensive - taxation, finance administration, a%
sessment, land use, zoning, tourism info, li-
braries, etc. Public sector organizations con-
tribute a significant market for telecommuni-
cations and information equipment yet rarely
use their market power to achieve economic
development objectives. Cities should moni-
tor development in the telecommunications
industry giving special attention to the impact
of new technology on their locational advan-
tages and assets. Municipalities within the GTA
must develop ways to draw upon private sec-
tor innovations to improve the performance
of govemment operations and to attract new
economic development opportunities.
Public records are an asset held in pub-
lic trust, and represent a unique and valuable
resource - local governments must ensure ac-
cess, security accuracy and maintenance of
these records. AS more information becomes
computerized, face to face information ex-
change so common to the local level of gov-
ernment, will become increasingly more valu-
able.
There are endless opportunities for uti-
lizing a GTA Network in health care, educa-
tion and business - tying the local level to
upper levels of government.
Ed u ca t i on . With an integmted network, local
education becomes more effective, equitable
and economical. Students at small schools
share the classes and teachem of larger schools.
Teachers get advanced tmining without travel
expense. Schools, community colleges, uni-
versities and libraries gain instant access to
each other and the world around them.
Hea lt h Se r vi ce s - e xp e r t physicians and ex-
pensive medical equipment are no longer con-
fined to one hospital, but are available to all.
Doctors are connected to new treatments such
as high speed computer imaging. Health care
professionals learn new techniques more
quickly. Insurance claims and patient records
are handled faster with reduced cost. The
power of connecting numerous and varied
resources enables local health care providem
to do their jobs better.
Bu si n ess. Workforce ret.mining and basic skills
training become more efficient through the
connection to local and regional education re-
sources. Businesses have access to previously
unavailable collections of data sources which
can merge to bring new insights and solutions.
Working at home via telec:ommuting helps the
environment and productivity. Communities
all attract new companies with this state of
the art system creating customers and jobs.
Gover n men t Town Hall meetings take on
new meaning when anyone can join without
traveling all the way to city hall. Each citizen
can access public records, job info, and tax
records, avoiding de-
lays and reducing
gover nment ex-
p e n s e s .
Tel econ fer en ci n g
shrinks government
travel expenses and
emergency personnel
are able to communi-
cate more quickly in
times of crisis.
Although, telecommunications infra-
structure of the future will likely be built largely
by private sector firms, local government can
encourage investment in this infrastructure by
making public rights-of-way available for pri-
13
14
vate fibre optic systems and by providing in-
centives to ensure that this infrastructure serves
all points of the community; in short, identify-
ing opportunities for public/ private coopera-
tion. Telecommunications infrastructure is
currently tied to existing local infrastructure -
especially utilities, water, sewer, all located
within the public ROW, over which the local
government has significant authority and con-
trol. Local government should retain that con-
trol and take an active role in promoting a
GTA-wide ROW Network management strat-
egy.
Without a doubt, the sharing of GTA
infrastructure could accelemte the evolution
of a GTA Network and prevent unnecessary
cost duplication. However, in an environment
where the telephone, cable companies, pub-
lic utilities and government are competing for
the same business, sharing will be difficult.
Government can act as a catalyst and where
the public sector is considering building their
own telecommunications systems, public/ pxi-
vate joint ventures could be used to stimulate
private sector initiatives.
Municipal employees should be edu-
cated about how to use the Info Highway and
informed about its potential for soaal and eco-
nomic development and job creation. Com-
munity networks appear to be good starting
points for information and service delivery
mechanism for municipal government. Organi-
zations must turn from technology per se to
examining the information process and the
value of the information.
To apply technology to public services
not only improves the skills of municipal em-
ployees - but by utilizing telecommunications
information technology in their own organi-
zations, cities are able to develop/ provide
more flexible service and to ensure efficient
functioning of the urban administration. Cit-
ies are natural laboratories for technological
innovation. Policies which encourage new
uses of technology at the local level are es-
sential.
Rec ommendat i ons
.
Tbat a l l m u n i ci pa l i t i es wi t bi n t be
GT A, r est r u ct u r e Service d el i ver y t o t a be
a d va n t a ge of t el ecom m u n i ca t i on s, t op t w-
vi & a ccessi bl e, on e-st op goven m z en t ser v-
i ce a t t be l oca l l evel .
.
Tba t m u n i ci >a l i n f r a st r u ct u r e a n d
R OWp ol i ci es be d evel bped on a GTA-wi d e
ba si s t o en cou r a ge t el ecom m Un i ca t i on s i n -
f r a st r u ct u r e d i wel bpm en t a n d a n y i m p eh -
m en t s a n d ba r r i er s t o i t s d evel opm en t
sbou l d be i d en t z j ?ed a n d r em oved .
B
Zba t t be GZAgover n t n en t (s], i n cl u d -
i n g a l l m u n i ci >a l i t i es wi t bi n t be GT A, com -
m i t t o t be on -goi n g pr of ess i u n a l d evel op-
m en t of st a f f i n t be u se a n d a p p l i i x z l i on
of t eh com m u n i ca t i on s t o i m pr ove gover n -
m en t ser vi c e &l i ver y.
15
GTA Network:
APPENDIX
GO Net and t he Ont ar i o
Net w or k I nf r ast r uc t ur e
Pr ogr am me
The Canadian Radio Television and Tel-
ecommunications Commission (CRTC) has
made recommendations on the Information
Policy Framework which affect all levels of
government as well as the private sector. The
Province of Ontario has produced a position
paper on telecommunications - Enabling On-
tarios Future Aug 92 and is implementing their
recommendations through the ONJP office -
Ontario Network Infrastructure Program.
ONIPS Full Speed Ahead report was written
June 94 and can be considered an Annual
Report documenting their activities in the first
year of operation. ONIP has earmarked $20
million toward the implementation of various
networks in the Province (including Toronto
Freenet, National Capital Freenet, Ontario
Learning and Technology Exchange Consor-
tium, Environmental InterNetwork and others).
The Province is also constructing its own in-
ternal network - GO Net, whose primary aim
is to interconnect the 24 provincial govern-
ment Ministries which, over time, will be ex-
panded to include special purpose bodies and
the broader public service.
Ont ar i o Mi ni st r y of
Tr anspor t at i on
The Provincial Ministry of Transportation is
heavily involved in developing Intelligent
Transportation Systems (ITS) and assessing
how these technologies could be deployed to
allow the public to use Ontarios highway in-
frastructure more efficiently and to conserve
energy and time by making more effective
choices about travel and route alternatives.
Successful deployment of ITS sexvices and
systems will achieve significant improvements
in safety, mobility, productivity and reduce
harmful environmental impacts, particularly
those attributed to traffic congestion known
as Transportation Corridor Management. Col-
laboration with the Ministry in the area of mu-
nicipal telecommunications can be foreseen
in two ways; use of the highway rights-of-way
for telecommunications infrastructure and the
incorporation of municipal GIS data into the
travel and traffic management programmed as
well as the public transportation management
initiatives.
Assoc i at i on of
Muni c i pal i t i es i n Ont ar i o
AMO is proposing a single network connect-
ing all Ontario municipalities over telephone
lines in order to facilitate communication - such
as E-mail, fax, messaging and file transfer
throughout the Province. There will be a cost
associated to being connected to this network,
but the cost will be dependant on the net-
work level already in place within the munici-
pality and region. Since this network will be
provided by a commercial carrier over tel-
ephone lines. Future economic progress in
municipalities will depend on a
large extent on interaci.ive access
to large data bases and special-
ized information. The munia-
pal network will allow Ontario
municipalities to exchange ideas
and innovations and undertake
more sophisticated collaborative
economic development activi-
ties. Municipalities will be inte-
grated with Provincial telecom-
munications infrastructure programs by inter-
connecting to other public netxvorks in On-
tario. Prior to commencing construction of a
Province-wide network, AMO is considering
a number of municipalities in which to run
pilot projects.
Pr ovi nc e of New Br unsw i c k
and Ser vi c e New Br unsw i c k
In September 1993, Premier McKenna ap
pointed a Steering Committee of Deputy Min-
isters, with a mandate to develop a strategy
for government to accelerate evolution of the
information highway in New Bnmswick. (The
Information Highway Secretariat). A Task Force
representing government, industry and
academia prepared a background report out-
lining the current situation and future poten-
tial. New Brunswick provides digital commu-
nications service to almost all its inhabitants
17
and already using the information highway to
deliver education, health and other services.
The potential exists for New Brunswick gov-
ernment to stimulate private sector develop
ment by acting as a model user/ customer. Eco-
nomic benefits from the strategic exploitation
of the info highway will include an increasing
competitive advantage for New Brunswick
enterprise and opportunity for specific new
industry to develop. Social benefits will in-
clude better, more effective and cost-efficient
provision of government services and infor-
mation and an improved quality of life.
The Service New Brunswick project is a
pilot project of the Ministry of Finance and
represents a major reform in the delivery of
government services. It focuses on customer
service and reducing costs by moving from
the present inefficient service delivery infra-
structure to a one-stop for-
tation, and the result is a
modernized service delive~ system that pro-
vides more convenient and less expensive gov-
ernment seMces for the public. The two pilot
SNB centres provide over 60 services and are
representative of 16 government departments,
under one roof and behind a single counter.
The public can pay a number of taxes and
fees, obtain licenses and permits, process
documents and get information on gover-
nment business. It is anticipated that the same
type of service will be provided by electronic
kiosk within a 30 minute drive - from every
resident in the Province - replacing the exist-
ing duplication of service.
Met r opol i t an Tor ont o and
Ar ea
Met r o Ut i li t i es Ta sk For ce
Th e Metro Utilities Task Force on the Evalua-
tion of the Fibre Optics Service (MUTF) was
formed in Januaxy 1 9 9 3 to investigate the fea-
sibility of the member municipal electrical utili-
ties installing a fibre optic communications
network to cover the Metro area (MAN). The
feasibility report was completed in January
1994, concluding that the provision of fibre
optic based services was a feasible business
undertaking, as a cooperative venture among
the utilities. The results and recommendations
of the study were presented to the Geneml
Managers and Cornrnissionem of the Utilities
in February 1 9 9 4 . Th e City of North York re-
viewed the report and recommended proceed-
ing with a Fibre Optic progmm as a joint co-
opemtive effort with North York Hydro, fur-
ther recommending that the Counals of the
other Metro area municipalities be requested
to do the same.
The electric utilities in the Metro area
recognize the benefits of a Metro-wide net-
work for electric utilities, but have not been
able to reach agreement to construct a joint
nemork, at this time, due to the vaxying lev-
els of computerization among the individual
municipalities. The Task Force continues to
meet and discuss standards and communicat-
ions protocol, while the individual utilities of
North York, Toronto and Scarborough are ac-
tively establishing fibre optic networks. Simi-
larly, the Public Utilities Commissions in North
York, Etobicoke and Scarborough are attempt-
ing to establish joint working relationships witA
their municipal counterparts. These initiatives
could form the fmt links in a Metro-wide net-
work of public utilities.
Met r o I nf or mat i on Syst ems
St r eaml i ni ng Commi t t ee
The Political Steering Committee for the
Review of Governance of Metropolitan To-
ronto directed in 1994 that the senior admini-
strative officials from the six municipalities
and Metro form a Inter-Municipal Streamlini-
ng Committee. The objective of the group is
to identify and implement opportunities for
inter-muniapal collaboration and streamhning.
The Committee will be addressing duplication
and opportunities to rationalize services to
reduce costs through enhanced municipal co-
operation.
The Inter-municipal Streamlining Com-
mittee has identified a number of priority ar-
eas within which to develop specific plans of
action and pilot projects: Human Resources,
Waste Management, Emergency SemiCes, Parks
and Information services. The mandate of the
Information Systems Sub-Committee is:
To extdore OD Dortunities to stream-line exist-
ing Dromams to achieve cost savinm and to
consider future DaItIHShiDS in the develop
ment of new technolow
which would DOSi-
tion Metropolitan Toronto commxitivelv.
The Committees workplan, concen-
trates on technical issues and includes: docu-
menting current information systems activities
of the individual member municipalities in Met-
r opolit an Tor ont o, as well as, exist ing
int er cor por at e net wor ks, joint pr oject s,
taskforces, and committees in the area of in-
formation systems and telecommunications.
The Committee is currently identifying
specific telecommunications projects in Metro
Toronto that address common needs and op
portunities, such as Internet, joint training, joint
purchasing etc.
Tel ec ommuni c at i ons Sub
Commi t t ee- Met r opol i t an
Tor ont o
I n February 1995, Metro established a
new Telecommunications Sub committee
which is an amalgamation of two former sub-
committees - The Special Committee on Cable
Television (which was authorized to meet with
representatives of the federal and provincial
governments to discuss cable television is-
sues and to enter into negotiations with the
cable industry) and the Telecommunications
Sub-Committee whose aim was to: promote
the intelligent aty; co-operate with the telecom
industry; showcase telecommunications; and
assist industrial growth. The new Telecom-
munications Committee shall continue with its
former mandates and in addition, will con-
sider matters regarding the installation of tel-
ecommunications infrastructure utilizing Met-
ropolitan road rights-of-way and associated
properties and economic development issues
pertaining to promotion and support of the
telecommunications industry. Recommendat-
ions of the Metro &ea Works Commission-
ers, with respect to fibre optic+ will report to
this Committee.
Met r o Net
Metro Net is the internal communicat-
ions network of the Municipality of Metr@
politan Toronto connecting some 4,000 indi-
vidual work stations in 3 major se-vice areas,
through a fibre optic backbone. Metro owns
some of the fibre optics in the network, for
example lines running along the Don Valley
Parkway, and leases the remainder from a
commercial carrier. With the exception of the
City of Toronto and several individual GIS di-
visions, including the City of Scarborough GIS,
none of the area municipalities are comected
to Metro Net. The potential connection of the
area municipalities, through their respective
City Halls, is currently being considered by
the GTA Telecommunications Committee who
are examining the potential of installing an
ISDN line to Metro Net a!! well as examining
connection through Internet.
Metro-wide Policy for Cable Installation
developed by Metro and Area Works Com-
missioners.
Cable companies cur-
rently apply to municipalities
to install cable (a large per-
centage are fibre) within road
rights-of-way and on other
municipal property, but there
is no consistent policy within
Metropolitan Toronto with re-
spect to addressing these ap
placations. h light of increasing numbers of
applications by various telecommunications
carriers, the six muniapal Work Commissione-
rs, along with the Metro Commissioner of
Tmnsportation, have started meeting regularly
to discuss the issues of telecommunications
and to develop a co-ordinated municipal com-
munications plan and a consistent policy with
respect to the accommodation of fibre optic
installations within municipal rights-of-way.
The objectives of a co-ordinated policy are to 19
promote equitable access to rights of way for
all potential licensed telecommunications pro-
viders; to ensure minimum disruption to
streets; to ensure compensation to municipali-
ties; and to promote competition and imova-
tion which will help ensure that Metro busi-
nesses will have the telecommunications serv-
ices they require.
The application of the Metro-wide policy
will result in the construction of a Metro Net-
work, connecting all municipal governments
within Metro. In addition to increased com-
munication capability, a Metro Network would
have immediate applications for the synchr~
nized traffic signals and unified mapping ca-
pabilities. A Metro network would also a.sist
with the implementation of the AMO provin-
cial network and will further the goals of the
GTCC Technology Sub-committee which
hopes to connect all municipalities within the
GTA.
Publ i c Sec t or
I nf r ast r uc t ur e
The first Public Sector Telecommunica-
tions Infrastructure was proposed within the
region of P&l The Region and
the City of Mississauga issued
a proposal which envisioned
construction of a 300 km pri-
vate ATM network to serve
local and regional gover-
nments, police, fire, libraries,
hospitals and schools, among
other public sector organiza-
tions. The return on invest-
ment, primarily through cost avoidance had
estimated a 5 yea r pay back period. The result
would be a drastically improved network of
communications, 24 Hour City Hall capability
and a community wide network with a de-
creased dependence on private carriers. The
project was tendered but is currently on hold
pending evaluation of a strategic initiative of
Hydro Mississauga, to offer telecommunica-
tions services in conjunction with Ontario
Public Network.
20
Cent enni al Col l ege
The Bell Centre for Creative Communi-
cations at Centennial College opened in Au-
gust of 1994: Th e Centre represents an invest-
ment of more than 25 million dollars, applied
to the tmining and development of techno-
logically literate content creator in all Com-
munications AI-E disciplines. The facilities, in-
frastructure and curriculum of the Centre have
been carefully designed and integrated to
embrace the advances made possible by dig-
ital technology. The Centre is open to stu-
dents, working professionals and corporate
training groups.
The centre represents a significant alli-
ance between Centennial College and key in-
formation technology organizations in the pr-
ivate sector including Bell Canada, Silicon
Graphics, Alias Research and Sony of Canada.
Course enrolment at the Bell Centre is only
one route for corporations which need to train
and retrain their people. The Centre is also
interested in pursuing partnerships with vari-
ous groups to further develop their curricu-
lum and to meet the needs of the outside cor-
porations and government departments. Vari-
ous projects are being considered, including
the development of an information data base
for 24 Hour City Hall kiosks, as well as the
development and maintenance of Internet
HomePages.
SMART Tor ont o
SMART Toronto is a newly-formed, non-
profit organization dedicated to providing
support and awareness for all information
super highway initiatives and applications.
SMART Torontos goal is to position the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA) as a leading centre for
the development of commercial applications
for the information super highway by the year
2000. SMART Torontos Steering Committee in-
cludes: Ted Rogers, CEO Rogers Communica-
tions Inc., Silicon Graphics President, David
Black; Elizabeth McLaren, Assistant Deputy
Minister, GTA, among others. SMART Toronto
is hoping to increase current participation of
40 organizations to 100. Other major cities and
information hubs such as Californias Silicon
Valley and Singapore have similar initiatives.
SMART Toronto organizers plan to offer a tan-
gible, broadband network using ATM tech-
nology, which will link various centres around
the Toronto area, including the planned trade
centre and the existing Metro Toronto Con-
vention Centre, hotels, schools and others.
Smar t 95
I n September, 1995 the World Teleport
Association will be holding its Annual Gen-
eral Assembly in Toronto - entitled Smart 95.
Th e World Teleport Associations mission is
to promote the imovative and creative use of
telecommunications both globally and locally.
Teleports are integrated telecommunications
centres which are being developed all over
the world. k many cases, teleports merge
communications, real estate, economic devel-
opment and urban plaming to create intelli-
gent buildings, or even intelligent cities of the
future. Most of the world leading cities have
teleports which can act as catalysts for growth.
The international conference will have three
days of seminars and workshops as well as a
demonstration of the smart city of the future.
Tor ont o Regi on Li nk age
St udy
The goal of the Toronto Information
Linkage Study has been to review the infor-
mation infrastructure in the Greater Toronto
Area (GTA), to compare progress and use of
information technology with international
competitors and to identify specific strategic
initiatives that can be taken to accelerate the
use, diffusion and benefit of the new tech-
nologies. The report concludes that much of
the basic infrastructure is already in place in-
cluding significant fibre optic, cellular, satel-
lite and the necessa~ digital and switching
technologies to integrate into a comprehen-
sive system with a pervasive local coverage
and a strong global reach. However, the re-
port also indicates that the GTA is not on the
forefront in the development and use of com-
munication and information technologies with
the exception of multimedia and animation
software; that there are relatively few experi-
mental trials of new communications technolo-
gies as compared to other countries and that
our competitors have undertaken large scale
projects to showcase new technologies as part
of an urban-economic strategy. The report
proposes four goals to improve connectivity
in the GTA: To provide seamless connectivity
among people, institutions, government and
business; to maximize gov-
ernment use and access; to
maximize community use;
to develop a GTA Informa-
tion Linkage Strategic Plan.
For more information con-
tact the OGTA.
21
Metro Hall
55 John Street, Suite 202
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 3C6
September 28, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I have taken the liberty of providing you with some of my thoughts on the issues with
which you are dealing. I have served as a municipal politician for 23 years; first as an
alderman in Etobicoke, then on the Etobicoke Board of Control and therefore automatically
a member of Metro Council, and finally as a directly-elected Metro Councillor.
I have seen a significant change in the role of municipal government over those years, and
in particular an increase in the complexity of the issues facing municipal governments.
Since being directly elected, I have served in a variety of roles including chair of the TTC, a
member of the Police Services Board, a member of the Metro Toronto and Region
Conservation Authority and a member of Metros budget committee (now referred to as the
Financial Priorities Committee).
I have remained in politics at the municipal level all these years because I care passionately
about local government issues. The current review of governance in the GTA could have
wide-ranging ramifications for the future of Metro Toronto (as opposed to the Metro
government). It is so important that the decisions taken are the right ones, and not just the
expedient ones.
I attach my comments and hope you give them your due consideration.
...
LG/lkm
cc: The Honorable Allan Leach
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
SUBMISSION TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE
FROM
LOIS GRIFFIN
METRO COUNCILLOR
REXDALE-THISTLETOWN
1 ) The municipal tax and assessment systems must be reformed. No matter
what new structure is proposed, unless the issue of municipal tax
reform is dealt with, municipal government in the GTA will not work
effective y.
There are really two problems. The first is the assessment inequities within Metro. There
must be reform to remove this inequity. I note the City of Toronto proposal tends to sweep
this issue under the carpet. It suggests that the funding of regional services should retain
the existing Metro assessment formula (see page 22 of the City of Toronto proposal where
they advocate the status quo for funding regional services). This approach is certainly
unacceptable to my constituents, who for many years now have shouldered an unfair
proportion of the tax burden because of the outdated assessment system. Reform is needed
and it is needed now.
The second problem is a tax problem, partly the result of the outdated Metro assessment
system, but more related to inequitable government subsidies, and Metro services used by
the residents beyond Metro but not supported by them through their property taxes. This
has caused the problem of Metro businesses being unable to compete with the rest of the
GTA. There are many ways to resolve this issue. The main thing is to resolve it and
resolve it now.
2 ) Some form of regional government is necessary.
The existing regional services are by and large the services that form the back bone for any
large urban area. They are the services that should have uniformity across the region, not
handled by each individual municipality. The suggestion that things such as transit and
police can be run by a committee of Mayors is a suggestion that I just cant buy. Having
served on both the TTC and the Police Services Board, I know how much time must be
devoted to properly oversee those operations. It is not the sort of time commitment that
Mayors can provide. 1 also suggest that this approach might well cost more money.
Mayors are elected to represent their municipalities and by definition to be advocates for
making sure that their municipalities are well-served and get their fair share. It has in
the past fostered the approach of 111 support your subway extension, if you support
mine. (Just check the recorded votes on this issue to see what I mean.)
3) A regional council should have legislative authority to govern. And it
cannot just be an advisory board (as some have suggested).
Regional governments need to be given the authority to govern and make decisions. Right
now, regions have their hands tied by excessive Provincial legislation and cost-sharing
arrangements. As an example, there is something wrong with a system of government that
requires regional governments to go through an extended process of public hearings and
debate before arriving at a decision on subway extensions, and then allows a handful of
provincial politicians to overturn that decision without any public debate whatsoever.
Municipalities must have the tools, both legislative and financial, to make decisions. This
should be a fundamental premise of any reform. The current system makes a mockery of
accountability.
4) Regional councillors should be directly elected so that people know who
is responsible for making the decisions and so that councillors can
focus on regional issues. The system under which I served prior to
1988, where members were elected to the local council and only served
part-time on Metro, did not work well. Far-reaching decisions were
often made without proper consideration or public accountability. The
system fostered parochialism and did not allow a proper focus on
regional issues.
It is interesting to look back at the reasons the Robarts Commission recommended direct
election. It was to let the voter choose who would be responsible for regional issues, to
allow politicians a greater focus on regional issues, and to raise the publics awareness of
regional issues. Certainly the newspapers have done an admirable job of the la t t er s in ce
direct election to Metro. I served as a local Councillor, then as a member of the Board of
Control and hence a Metro Councillor, and finally as a directly-elected Metro Councillor.
I am sure that it will be very tempting to return to a form of indirect election, or serving on
both a local and a regional Council. I would implore you to resist the temptation. First of
all, the time requirements are such that you cant do both jobs the justice they deserve. The
public expects that if you serve on the local council you will spend the time required on
local issues. Regional matters will again become secondary. Some have urged this
approach because they feel that the regional representatives should be delegates of the
local municipality, representing the views as established by the local Council. The fact is,
that on regional issues, the concerns of my constituents may be more closely aligned to
those in the abutting ward of an adjacent municipality rather than in another ward of my
own municipality. A return to indirect election will be a return to the parochialism of the
past. The biggest complaint that 1 get from local Councillors is that we at Metro spend all
our time talking about regional issues! To me that is proof that Metro works.
5 ) Regional government structure in the GTA should ideally cover a large
enough geographical area so that the current inter-regional issues can be
dealt with properly,
I have left this point to the last because it is probably the most difficult to accomplish in a
short time. Boundaries are always a problem, because no matter where you draw them,
someone can always argue that they should be extended farther. The issue of inter-regional
planning, while important, is not as critical as some of the other issues in the sense that
there are other mechanisms to deal with the problem. The Province for example could
decide to provide a larger role in facilitating inter-regional planning. What should not be
done is to fill the gap with more special purpose bodies, agencies or commissions, that are
unelected and therefore not accountable.
CONSERVATI ON AUTHORI TI ES
BRI EF
TO THE
SUBMITTED BY THE CHAIRS OF THE
HALTON REGION CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
CREDIT VALLEY CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
METROPOLITAN TORONTO AND REGION
CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
LAKE SIMCOE REGION CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
CENTRAL LAKE ONTARIO CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
GANARASKA REGION CONSERVATION AUTHORITY
August 17, 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES BRIEF TO THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT I N THEGTA
Who AreWe? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Community Based . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Figure 1Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Our Vision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
The Principles of Watershed Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
.. .. .. .. ..
ROOM
Tne watersned unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Watershed Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Watershed Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Our Changing Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Watershed Planning and Municipal Land Use Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Conservation Lands-A Public Resource . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Figure 2 Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Accountability and Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
FOR IMPROVEMENT
Eliminating Duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Table 1 -Local CA/Provincial Agreements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Improving Service Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Budgets and Financing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21-22
CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES
BRI EF TO THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
OVERVI EW
Within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) the population has grown from 1.5 million
in 1958 to over 4 million in 1995. This growth is projected to continue into the
future. To house and employ this growth will result in continuing land use change
and development.
The GTA Task Force is charged with making recommendations that will guide the
GTA into the 21st century. The focus of this work is on economic health and
competitiveness, infrastructure, municipal management, urban form and municipal
finance.
The GTA needs a growth management strategy that will not only accommodate
the anticipated population growth, but will also maintain its green infrastructure,
the natural web on which the GTA develops and grows. The protection of the
form, features and functions of these important natural resources which include
the valley and stream corridors, the Lake Ontario and Simcoe shorelines, the Oak
Ridges Moraine, the Niagara Escarpment and other headwater areas is key to the
environmental health of the GTA and must be recognized in any future growth
scenario.
Identifying the features, functions and Iandforms that are the components of the
green infrastructure is accomplished on a watershed basis by the conservation
authorities within the GTA. The watershed is the logical, common sense, unit on
which to base ecosystem management, it is water that supports and sustains life.
Within the watershed everything is connected to everything else.
The conservation authorities within the GTA are making this submission to the
Task Force to ensure that the natural environment is on the agenda in any
discussion relating to the future of the GTA.
We recommend to the Task Force that:
B the protection of our environment and the effective management of our
natural resources within the GTA must be part of your decision making
process,
1
B the watershed must be the basic management unit for environme
protection and natural resource management,
B watershed based planning andl management must be a component
planned growth management and human health,
B conservation authorities must be confirmed as the agencies respo
for watershed management,
B
in order to achieve streamlining and to eliminate duplication of s
a comprehensive approach to the delivery of natural resource mana
and environmental protection programs must utilize conservation au
as the locally based one-window agency, as proposed in a brief p
by the Association of Conservation Authorities of Ontario, for prese
to the Province of Ontario, Restructuring Resource in O n t a r i o
B the provincial government must rationalize its water management
strategies, with a much greater emphasis on groundwater protection
management ,
B there must be a rationalization of the financing of all aspects of
watershed management carried out through the conservation autho
B the headwaters, valley and stream corridors, the Oak Ridges Mor
Niagara Escarpment and the Lake Ontario and Simcoe waterfronts m
the green infrastructure of the GTA and their features, functions a
Iandforms must be protected,
B the conservation authorities within the GTA are flexible and willin
embrace change for the betterment of their watersheds and recogni
as the structure and governance of the GTA evolves, we must chan
meet the demands of the future in a renewed and revitalized GTA.
This brief is respectfully submitted on behalf of the Chairs of the conserv
authorities within the GTA. We hope that it will assist the Task Force in
deliberations.
We look forward to playing a continuing role in the GTA reform process.
2
CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES AND WATERSHED MANAGEMENT IN THE GTA
Who Are We?
Conservation authorities are community based environmental organizations
responsible for managing natural resources on a watershed basis. There are seven
conservation authorities whose combined areas of jurisdiction cover the GTA and
beyond, From west to east, we are the Halton Region, Credit Valley, Lake Simcoe
Region, Metropolitan Toronto & Region, Central Lake Ontario, Ganaraska Region
and the Kawartha Region Conservation Authorities.
Because our area of jurisdiction is based on the physical limits of the watersheds,
as opposed to a political boundary, our jurisdictional limits do not coincide directly
with the GTA boundary, as presently defined. Figure 1 illustrates the relationship
between physical and political boundaries and those areas where watersheds
extend outside the GTA.
The preparation of this brief has been a joint effort of six of the conservation
authorities within the GTA. The seventh, the Kawartha Region, has a very small
part of its watershed within the Region of Durham as illustrated in Figure 1 and,
therefore, it is only partially within the GTA. Due to the relatively small area within
the GTA and the fact that the Kawartha Authoritys interests are centred more to
the north, they did not participate in the preparation of this Brief, They have,
however, reviewed the brief and have indicated their support for the
recommendations.
Community Based
The concept of community based watershed management is unique to Ontario. In
1946, the Province of Ontario enacted The Conservation Authorities Act (CAA)
permitting municipalities within a watershed, or group of watersheds, to form a
conservation authority to conserve and manage natural resources. A watershed,
under the CAA, includes all of the lands draining into a river system.
A conservation authority can be formed only by petition of the municipalities in a
watershed; i.e., the local people must initiate the authority. This local initiative
ensures local involvement and perspective in the development and implementation
of authority programs and projects as well as a willingness to share in the cost at
the municipal level.
3
\
\
\
\
Lake Ontario
FIGURE 1
The principles of local initiative and cost sharing partnerships remain valid and have
been expanded. Local initiative now encompasses hands on participation by
Iocal groups. Over the last five years, conservation authorities have returned to
basics to involve the community, directly, in the work of conservation. This has
had a tremendous, positive impact on how we deliver our programs and has
brought us closer to the communities we serve. Our cost sharing partnerships now
include local and community groups, many providing in kind contributions of time
and Iabour, corporations, and committed individuals.
We also provide an opportunity for the public and business to support our
programs financially through our Conservation Foundations which have raised over
$3,800,000 within the GTA over the last five years,
Our Vision
Each conservation authority within the GTA has developed its own vision or
mission statement that reflects the above sentiments as well as their own specific
desires based on the needs, objectives and individual characteristics of their
watersheds.
We share the same vision for the future GTA recognizing that one of the major
problems facing us is the issue of growth management and all of the pressures
that come with providing for an additional two million people. We understand the
need to balance the economic and environmental health of the region and the
problems of financing the infrastructure necessary to accommodate the projected
growth.
Our vision for the GTA is one where:
B
the watershed is the basic unit for natural resource management;
B
the green infrastructure is maintained, expanded and, where
necessary. regenerated;
B
urban growth is achieved in a sustainable way with clean water,
linked green spaces, and healthy communities.
We believe this vision is attainable and that, no matter what the GTA ultimately
looks like, the achievement of this vision must be a basic building block for the
future. We believe that the conservation authorities within the GTA, offer an
effective and efficient mechanism to achieve this vision by working with the
province, the municipalities and the community.
5
Natural resource management and environmental protection must be done on a
watershed basis and conservation authorities, no matter what their size, provide
the mechanism that brings all stakeholders together to achieve a common goal
and allow for the coordination, linking and facilitation that is essential to the
management of water and our other natural systems.
The Principles of Watershed Management
In order to deliver effective watershed management it is necessary:
B to conserve ecosystems in a sustainable manner or, where degraded, to
regenerate;
B to consider the entire ecosystem and all interrelationships amongst
components in a comprehensive way;
B to effectively incorporate community interest in any watershed
management decision;
. to ensure management decisions that are consistent with matters of
provincial policy and direction;
B to ensure simplicity, efficiency and cost-effectiveness; and
B to develop and maintain intermunicipal and interagency coordination and
cooperation.
The Watershed Unit
Managing on a watershed basis is fundamental and has become broadly accepted.
The management of natural resources takes place most effectively within the
context of a natural resource system, an ecosystem. A watershed provides an
ecosystem wherein everything is connected to everything else; where activities
upstream impact on conditions downstream.
The authorities work in conservation and stewardship of renewable natural
resources on a watershed basis puts them in the position of technical expert on
land-water issues. Because of our unique area of jurisdiction, and recognizing that
6
natural systems do not follow political boundaries, conservation authorities
work across jurisdictional boundaries and require an understanding of the
complexities of ecosystem management. The management of our natural
resources on a watershed basis lends itself to the opportunity to address
jurisdictional gridlock by enabling one agency to develop and implement
resource management throughout the watershed. This not only supports a
ecosystem approach based on the input of the community, but is more cos
effective, accountable and consistent.
Watershed Management
Loss of life and property due to flooding, erosion or slope instability results
poor management of the watershed, particularly from a lack of understand
the impacts of human use on natural functions and relationships within the
In the past, our efforts were directed at assuring our own convenience and
i.e., moving rain waters off the streets as quickly as possible and utilizing
valley lands and lakeshores for development to maximize our developable l
These proved to be costly practices which not only directly affected the p
involved, but also degraded our natural resource systems, Dams, channels
erosion control structures provided protection, but continued to alter wate
systems and to affect natural processes within watersheds,
We have considerably increased our knowledge and understanding of the w
which natural systems function and of the potential impacts that can occu
these systems when interfered with by human activity. Just as the smoke
billowing over a community once represented economic prosperity and wo
be viewed as pollution; so too must we realize that the current measure of
economic growth - housing starts - means a continuing loss of greenfields and
continuing pressure on the health of our natural resource systems.
The GTA is recognized worldwide for its green resources. Economic gr
must be balanced with environmental protection to maintain our quality of
Watershed Strategies
A key initiative necessary to move toward a watershed based ecosystem
is the development and implementation of individual watershed strategies
strategies involve all stakeholders including municipalities, interested citize
7
ministries and other public agencies; identify the characteristics and condition of
the natural heritage system within the watershed; establish a vision for the
watershed; identify the protection, management and restoration requirements and
the programs necessary for their achievement; and agree upon the responsibilities
for, phasing and funding of implementation.
The Waterfront Regeneration Trust in its recent, Lake O
ntario Greenway Strategy,
states that:
Over the past several years, watershed strategies of varying kinds have
been prepared for several tributary rivers (i.e., to the Greenway] including
the Credit, Don, and Lynde Creek...ln most cases, strategy development is
led by the local conservation authority, in partnership with municipalities and
local interest groups....
Watershed strategies are intended to outline how characteristics of the
watershed (including water, land, and habitat) can be protected and
enhanced as land uses change. They also set the stage for the preparation
of subwatershed plans, which include further details on water resource
management strategies. Sub watershed plans address issues such as
storm water management, and have most frequently been used in association
with rapidly developing areas....
Both of these mechanisms have the potential to maintain water flow regimes
and significantly improve water quality and habitat connections in waterfront
tributaries, and they should be regarded as important planning tools in all
watersheds feeding into the Green way.
With a watershed/subwatershed strategy in place, all stakeholders, including the
municipality (ies) within the watershed, will have agreed upon which lands are
suitable for development and on the performance standards necessary for
protection, enhancement and/or restoration of the natural heritage system. The
core areas, corridors and connecting links of the natural heritage system are
identified as part of the development of the strategy.
Maintaining the source areas for the GTA watersheds is a significant component of
any watershed strategy. The conservation authorities in the GTA have been strong
advocates for the protection of the headwaters of their watersheds in the Oak
Ridges Moraine and the Niagara Escarpment. We are partners in the development
8
and implementation of strategies to ensure these vital resource areas cont
provide base flow for healthy watersheds, areas of critical recharge for
groundwater, and opportunities for the public to experience and enjoy the
and diversity of the natural environment.
The establishment of the Don Watershed Task Force, in 1992, by The Me
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, and the work of The Credit V
Conservation Authority, on a sub-watershed basis, are proving that a
watershed/subwatershed approach can work and can build the type of
relationships and partnerships required to move beyond planning and into
implementation. As a result of this work, local communities are realizing the
importance of good land management to ensure watershed health and that
protection of the renewable resource base is less costly than future remed
restoration measures.
Our Changing Role
The role of conservation authorities over the past fifty years has been to p
and implement plans, on a watershed basis, to address local natural resou
management issues. The range of initiatives and their focus varies in respons
the natural conditions within the watershed and to the interests and needs
local community, Within the Greater Toronto Area, a particular challenge is t
address the issues associated with the impact of potential land use change
watershed systems and to ensure that ecosystem values are protected. G
management is a critical component of effective watershed management.
Just as our understanding of watershed management has evolved over the
fifty years, so too has the way in which conservation authorities deliver w
management . The concentration of the early days on remedial measures sp
to solving individual resource management problems; e.g., flooding, erosio
soil loss, has been replaced by a broader, holistic approach. Conservation
authorities do not deliver only floodplain management but rather, an integ
community based approach to watershed management.
Watershed Planning and Municipal Land Use Planning
Within the municipal planning process, natural resource features such as,
valleys, stream corridors, wetlands, and shorelines have traditionally been
considered constraints to development. The approach taken has been to
establish technical conditions that must be met in order to achieve develo
9
The objective has not been to protect our resources but rather to accommodate
development, generally at the expense of environmental quality.
We acknowledge and support the responsibilities of municipalities with respect to
land use planning decisions and the primacy of their Official Plans as foundations
for growth and development. Conservation authorities provide valuable input to
and comment on municipal planning proposals and provide the environmental
component necessary to maintain balance within the future GTA. The lands
recognized as natural areas, within the policies of the new Planning Act, are those
lands which authorities have historically restored, protected and conserved, and
advocated the protection of through the planning process.
Conservation authorities have recognized and documented the need to streamline
the commenting and approvals process and have been active in developing
solutions to serve their municipal and provincial partners and the community in a
professional and timely way. The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) is one
mechanism being used to achieve streamlining whereby a conservation authority
provides comments on planning proposals on behalf of The Ministry of Natural
Resources and other ministries. There are many examples of such MOAS within
the GTA and throughout the province, MOAS are seen by conservation authorities
as an interim measure to a more comprehensive approach to natural resource
management reform being advocated by The Association of Conservation
Authorities of Ontario. This approach is discussed further on in this brief.
Conservation Lands - A Public Resource
The resource lands that form part of the linked ecosystem include the waterfronts,
the river valleys, the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Niagara Escarpment and other
headwater areas. Figure 2 depicts these resources and their relationships very
well. These lands form the green infrastructure of the GTA. They provide the
natural web on which the GTA develops and grows. The protection of the form,
features and functions of these important natural resources is a major component
of watershed management. Our ability or inability to protect these resources, will
determine the environmental health of the GTA.
Conservation authorities in partnership with the community, the municipalities and
the province, provide an important mechanism for the protection and management
of these important natural features, Iandforms and functions.
10
o 10 20
Conservation authorities have protected valuable natural resources through
acquisition. Public ownership has been important where the nature of the resource
is such that its use would create a risk to life or property or where it is critical to
the ecosystem and must remain unaltered to perform its natural functions. Public
ownership is also appropriate where public use and appreciation of the resource is
an objective. Public ownership has ensured effective resource management and
provided benefits of public access and use. Through access to and enjoyment of
these lands, the public develops an awareness, appreciation and respect for
ecological values.
These publicly owned lands provide the valuable greenspace component of the
open space system for the GTA, the most populous area in Ontario. Within the
built-up area these greenspace lands may be limited to the waterfront and to valley
and stream corridors; however, across the GTA they serve as both the Provincial
Park and Regional Park systems. As change continues in the GTA, the existing
green infrastructure must be maintained and expanded to ensure the balance
between economic growth and quality of life.
Conservation authorities within the GTA have acquired 24,933 ha {61 ,565 acres)
of land. Our management of these lands is carried out in a manner that values,
respects and enhances their natural and heritage resources. We encourage uses
that are compatible with healthy ecosystems, respectful of the unique character of
the lands and sustainable in environmental, financial and physical terms,
Accountability and Governance
Conservation authorities are established as corporate bodies, to assure their
autonomy in making decisions on a watershed basis; however, an authoritys
members are appointed by its member municipalities and by the province, giving
them the ability and responsibility to represent those interests. At present,
membership on the six conservation authorities within the GTA is comprised of the
following:
82 municipal politicians
21 municipally appointed citizens
13 provincially appointed citizens
12
As in municipalities, authority decisions are made in meetings which are open to
the public and members of the public can easily access the authority member(s)
representing their municipality. Members of the authority who do not fulfil their
responsibilities to the satisfaction of the appointing body, can be removed from the
authority and replaced.
There are adequate mechanisms in place for the accountability of authority
members and their decisions, although they may not have been effectively used in
the past. Municipalities and the province can ensure the publics interest in the
work of the authority by giving their appointees a clear job description prior to
making appointments and by giving them clear direction of what is expected of
them. Further, appointing bodies should require appointees to provide regular,
comprehensive reports.
There are a number of improvements to be made in the current system for
delivering watershed management. There are both overlaps and gaps that need to
be addressed to ensure an ecosystem approach is being taken. There must be,
B a review and rationalization of natural resource management programs
between the province and conservation authorities,
B an Overall provincial water management strategy, as well as
B rationalization of funding arrangements.
Eliminating Duplication
Conservation authorities have, over the past year, been active in discussing the
above issues with the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, both specific to the
GTA and province-wide. The duplication in program interests exists between
conservation authorities and provincial ministries not with our regional or local
municipalities.
The Conservation Authorities of Ontario have prepared and circulated two
documents Blueprint for Success and Documenting the Opportunity
recommending improvements to the delivery of natural resource management
services to reduce duplication. As indicated earlier, there are many areas where
one window approaches have already been put in place to streamline the plan
input and review responsibilities of the conservation authorities and provincial
ministries. There are also one window agreements in place that deal with many
other natural resource management and environmental protection regulatory
functions. Table 1 provides details on the type and extent of these agreements.
An analysis of pilot projects from these examples has demonstrated that, through
consolidating approvals at the conservation authority level, there has been a 40
percent saving on the processing costs and a 35 percent reduction in approval
times,
There is clearly a need for a more streamlined and cost effective approach to the
delivery of resource management and environmental protection and to reduce
overlap and duplication. Based on the demonstrated success of the pilot projects,
The Association of Conservation Authorities of Ontario (ACAO) is preparing a
14
TABLE 1 - LOCAL CA/PROVINCIAL AGREEMENTS
PARTNERS PURPOSE SI GNED UNDER
NEGOTI ATI ON
CA-MNR Plan Review 17 8
Transferred to CA
CA-MNR Public Lands Act 9 5
Permits Transferred to CA
CA-MNR Stormwater Management 12 5
Transferred to CA
CA-MNR CA Coordinates Lakes and 6 7
Rivers Improvement Act
Permits
CA-MOEE Stormwater Management 7 2
Review Transferred to CA
CA-MOEE Water Resources Act 11 0
Permit to take Surface Water
Transferred to CA
CA-MOEE Part Vlll 8 1
Environmental Protection Act
Permits (Septic Systems)
Transferred to CA
CA-MOEE CA Implements Clean Up 29 0
Rural Beaches Program
15
proposal to the Minister of Natural Resources, Restructu
ring Resource Management
in Ontario, which provides a framework for the change that was advocated in the
Blueprint document and outlines a comprehensive approach to the rationalization of
natural resource management and environmental protection through a concept
defined as Community Based Watershed Conservation.
Conservation authorities are cost-effective and efficient organizations well suited to
provide a one-window approach. The proposed restructuring of natural resource
management delivery systems will enhance our ability to manage and protect vital
natural resources within a growing GTA.
There continues to be a lack of coordination between those issues associated with
surface water and with groundwater. The interrelationship between these systems
and their interdependence have become issues in the discussion of the impacts of
new development and, also, solid waste management. Contamination of
groundwater is not only a serious concern for community water supplies but also
for the integrity and health of our surface watershed systems which are fed by
groundwater. Current provincial policies and responsibilities for water-related
issues are spread across a number of ministries and the new government needs to
review how it is organized to ensure water quality and quantity requirements into
the future.
Improving Service Delivery
The brief Reforming the GTA, presented to the Task Force by the Regional Chairs
of Durham, Halton, Peel and York, looks at service delivery and states:
Some services (e.g. parks and recreation) are amenable to significant
diversity and local variation. Other services (e.g. welfare, policing) lend
themselves to broader standardization... the degree of diversity or
standardization simply depends on the nature of the particular service being
considered. The size of appropriate catchment areas is a function of this
diversity/standardiza tion...
Achieving optimal service delivery and management economies also
requires an institutional form that features differing catchment areas.
Economies of scale may suggest that a given service should be delivered at
a regional or GTA-wide catchment are, in order to limit unit costs.
Diseconomies of scale associated with too large a catchment area... may
suggest service delivery via a Iocal...catchment area.
16
Conservation authorities are continually reviewing their organization and structure
to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of watershed management programs.
Recent initiatives have identified opportunities to share certain common functions,
particularly in the area of administrative services, which are not watershed-specific.
Since the passing of The Conservation Authorities Act in 1946, there have been a
number of authorities formed and, as a result of changing community needs and
interests, reorganized. The Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation
Authority was formed in 1957, replacing four smaller authorities: the Etobicoke
(1 946), later including the Mimico; the Humber (1 948); the Don (1948); and the
Rouge-Duff in-Highland-Petticoat (1 954). This union permitted a broader
perspective to renewable resource management and a more substantial financial
base. In 1963, the Sixteen Mile Creek CA(1956), Twelve Mile Creek CA (1958),
Grindstone Creek, Joshuas Creek and thirteen other watercourses within Oakville
and Burlington joined together to form the Halton Region Conservation Authority.
These are only two examples of the type of boundary and jurisdictional changes
that conservation authorities have undertaken and that will be considered to
continue to improve the delivery of watershed management.
What is critical is that watersheds be managed on a watershed basis. The
grouping together of watersheds to achieve administrative efficiencies can be
achieved in any number of ways. The Conservation Authorities Act contains
provisions to accomplish changes in grouping and it has been used, as
demonstrated above, for this purpose. The municipalities within the watershed, or
group of watersheds, have the ability to determine and implement the most
appropriate administrative delivery system.
Budgets and Financing
Conservation authorities were formed on the basis of the user/beneficiary pays
principle, The management of renewable natural resources on a watershed basis
benefits the residents of the local community by their protection from the risks of
flood, erosion or slope instability and by the quality of life which they enjoy. Good
management of individual watersheds, cumulatively, contributes to provincial and
federal objectives and commitments for protecting, maintaining and improving the
Great Lakes system. Where goods or services are provided to individuals, user
fees are charged.
17
For the six conservation authorities within the GTA, the 1994 total operating budget was
approximately $38,000,000. This funding was raised as shown in Figure 3.
SOURCES OF FUNDING
1994 OPERATING $38,000,000
L
39.0%
Figure 3
There has been a significant shift in the proportion of conservation authorities
funding derived from the province, the municipalities and individual fees over the
past fifteen years reflecting substantial reductions in provincial grants and, as a
result, a corresponding reduction in municipal contributions.
Conservation authorities rely more and more on the generation of revenues from
the sale of goods and services. As you can see from Figure 3, these revenues now
constitute over 30 percent of our total funding.
Municipal funding for conservation authorities is based on the use of discounted
equalized assessment, calculated by the province. This is used in conjunction with
a calculation determining the percentage of the specific watershed(s) within the
municipality and an assumption on the population within that area. The total
municipal funding for the operating budgets of the six conservation authorities
within the GTA is approximately one percent of the municipal property tax base.
Based on the population within the GTA this amounts to a municipal levy of $3.50
per capita spending on watershed management but excludes individual tax payer
contributions through their provincial taxes which are spread over the entire
province.
The current use of watershed area, population and some measure of municipal
assessment, to determine the municipal financial commitment to watershed
management is a fair measure of the benefit to the local community and should be
continued. The current use of discounted equalized assessment should be
reviewed to make sure that it is the most appropriate measure of municipal
assessment for the distribution of operating costs. This review would have to take
into account any proposed revisions to the municipal property tax/assessment
system.
In terms of provincial support, there has been a shift from grant supported
programs, through the Ministry of Natural Resources, to funding of the direct
delivery of programs, on behalf of a number of provincial ministries, by authorities.
This has often skewed authorities budgets towards provincial priorities, rather
than the local perspective that was intended.
There is a need to maintain provincial funding but to make it more flexible to
ensure that local community resource management needs can be addressed.
Greater flexibility in the use of provincial grants will ensure that local watershed
community needs can be addressed while still ensuring that provincial interests are
achieved.
19
Funding is a critical issue not only in terms of providing good watershed
management but in all public services. We recognize that seeking more money on
the basis of existing roles, responsibilities and funding arrangements, is not the
way to deal with these issues, but rather that we need to look for opportunities to
simplify service delivery, reduce overlaps and duplication and make sure that we
are providing a value added service.
We believe that through the much needed rationalization of natural resource
management delivery and through the elimination of duplication in the existing
systems, substantial savings to the overall level of public expenditure can be
achieved.
We strongly support the concept of user/beneficiary pays. We have, and will
continue to, identify where costs for service delivery should be bourn by an
individual user/beneficiary. The main beneficiaries of watershed management,
however, continue to be the residents within the watershed and those within the
Great Lakes basin. A cost sharing partnership between provincial and municipal
governments, based on this concept, is an appropriate mechanism by which to
determine funding support.
20
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
We believe that, to achieve the stated objectives of the Task Force, it is essential
that the management of our natural resources and the protection of our
environment not be lost in the discussion of municipal structure, financing and
community involvement, for they are inextricably linked.
No agency or group can accomplish its objectives in isolation. Contemporary
watershed management involves many people. This is particularly true if we are to
achieve the strategies which are, and will be, developed to protect the watershed
ecosystems that we envision shaping the future management of the natural
heritage resources of the GTA.
Conservation authorities have the watershed jurisdiction, local involvement and
cost sharing partnerships to develop and implement an ecosystem approach to the
management of the natural environment. We have the experience of past
management practices and have gained in our understanding of the natural
processes, functions and interrelationships to guide our future decisions. We have
made a direct contribution to the quality of the environment in the GTA and look
forward to contributing our expertise to ensuring that our quality of urban life
continues to be ranked amongst the highest in the world.
The purpose of this brief and our presentation is to bring to the attention of the
Task Force the importance of the natural environment and its management to the
future of the GTA.
We have identified areas for improvement and the key role that conservation
authorities play in managing and protecting our natural resources. We have
discussed how conservation authorities provide a unique mechanism for bringing
together the province, the municipalities and the community, regardless of the
ultimate political configuration of the GTA, to achieve a common goal, the
protection, management and, where appropriate, regeneration of our natural
resources on a watershed basis.
To achieve our vision of the GTA and to assist the Task Force in its deliberation,
we make the following recommendations on behalf of the Chairs and members of
the Halton Region, Credit Valley, Lake Simcoe Region, Metropolitan Toronto &
Region, Central Lake Ontario and Ganaraska Region Conservation Authorities.
21
WE RECOMMEND TO THE TASK FORCE THAT:
B the protection of our environment and the effective management of our
natural resources within the GTA must be part of your decision making
process,
. the watershed must be the basic management unit for environmental
protection and natural resource management,
B watershed based planning and management must be a component of
planned growth management and human health,
B conservation authorities must be confirmed as the agencies responsible
for watershed management,
B
in order to achieve streamlining and to eliminate duplication of services,
a comprehensive approach to the delivery of natural resource management
and environmental protection programs must utilize conservation authorities
as the locally based one-window agency, as proposed in a brief prepared
by the Association of Conservation Authorities of Ontario for presentation to
the Province of Ontario, Restructuring Resource Management in Ontario,
B the provincial government must rationalize its water management
strategies, with a much greater emphasis on groundwater protection and
management,
B there must be a rationalization of the financing of all aspects of
watershed management carried out through the conservation authorities;
B the headwaters, valley and stream corridors, the Oak Ridges Moraine,
the Niagara Escarpment and the Lake Ontario and Simcoe waterfronts must
form the green infrastructure of the GTA and their features, functions and
Iandforms must be protected,
. the conservation authorities within the GTA are flexible and willing to
embrace change for the betterment of their watersheds and recognize that,
as the structure and governance of the GTA evolves, we must change to
meet the demands of the future in a renewed and revitalized GTA.
22
Tel. (416)-961-4384 x.224 (B) Stefan E. Gutkowski, Esq., A.R.C.T.
(416)-769-3947 (R) 65 Windermere Ave., Apt. 406,
Toronto, Ont., M6S 334
Ms. Anne Golden,
Chair, Tack Force on the GTA
Dear Me. Golden,
the tremendous task of seeking optimum solutions to GTA area taxes. Forgive me for not
having your address above, for I lack those details, and in any case this presentation
is being faxed.
My proposal is made in light of the recent mailout by Toronto City Council to its
167,000 tenants, myself included, regarding their property taxes, which are hidden
in the rent they pay. The prior absence of such information has surely influenced
tenant apathy viz. tax burden, and especially participation in local elections.
Numerous representation, such as the recent one by the City of Toronto to which I
contributed, acknowledge this, and the unfair tax burden borne by tenants, but no
solution proposed to date guarantees that a reduced tax burden on rental buildings
will be passed on to their occupants, hence my proposal below.
Proposal:- 1 hereby propose that property taxes on rental buildings be replaced by a
Rental Tax, which would be a set percentage of the net rent, added to it.
What are Net Rent and Gross Rent?:- Gross Rent is the total rent tenants pay now,
including their share of property taxes. Net Rent Is the rent payable after ones
share of property taxes has been deducted. I will be using these terms throughout.
HOW Do You Convert?:- Landlords would be requited to deduct a tenants share of taxes
from his gross rent. He does that by dividing the aggregate property tax paid on the
building, by the aggregate annual rent on all the buildings units, and multiplying
the result by 100 to get the percentage of the gross rent he must reduce it by. The
result is the net rent, the benchmark for advertising rents and calculating rental tax.
How Do You Calculate Rental TAX?:- Assume an apartment renting for $1000 where the tax
share Is the current Metro average of 30%. The net rent would be $700, and, to get the
came tax revenue from this unit, $300, the Rental Tax would be 42.857X.
But Dont You Want To Cut Tenants Taxes?:- Exactly. But even if we were to seek the
same revenue level, tenants paying over 30X in taxes would get a break in total payments.
It then becomes a political/economic question, of how much one can reduce the rental
property tax share without incurring a backlash elsewhere. A 10.17% cut would allow the
Rental Tax rate to be set at 38.5%, yielding an average saving per tenant of 3.05Z.
The tenants of the above $1000 unit would see their $700 net rent incur a rental tax
of 38.5% or $269.50, totalling $969.50, a caving of $30.50 per month.
Wouldnt Landlords Be Hurt By The Change? :- No. The change would require them to deduct
a cost that they are already paying: property tax to City Hall. They wont gain in the
pocketbook,but theyll have lees paperwork; theyll simply have to add Rental Tax to rents.
Wouldnt Some Tenants Be Hurt?:- it depends on how much Councils could afford to cut th
e
more, depending on the circumstances; if so, increases could be capped to avoid hardship,
Right now, tenants pay an average of 30% of their rent in property taxes: come pa
y
more
than others. A rental tax would see all tenants across Town pay the came rate.
- 2 -
Wouldnt Councils & School Boards Be Hurt?:- There is going to be a major shake-up in
Municipal taxation anyways, sO the upheaval is arguably going to hurt. It therefore is
a political-cum-economic question; regardless of what system is ultimately arrived at:-
what percentage of the overall tenant tax burden can councils/boards afford to reduce
without incurring a backlash elsewhere? Its important to realize that a feature of the
Rental Tax, is that its rate would be set by Councils, in consultation with School Boards,
And they would have the right to alter that rate, provided they accept the consequences
politically of so doing. Remember, rents will still go up to meet costs borne by the
landlords, rent controls or no rent controls. When the net rent goes up, the Rental
Taxes collected go up too, so its a blessing in disguise for local authorities! Thats
the attraction of an ad valorem tax, which is what the Rental Tax would be.
But the Rental Tax Seems Needlessly Complicated:- Every tax is somewhat complicated, and
the Rental Tax is no different there. Switching from type of tax to another is more
complicated, witness moving from the Manufacturers Sales Tax to the GST! The purpose
for the switch is fairness. To provide a benchmark from which to reduce the tenants
tax burden, to ensure tenants know how much local tax they pay, to equalize the ratio
of taxes all tenants pay, to simplify calculation for landlords and collection pro-
cedures for councils and boards. It could also provide a benchmark from which to
consider rebates for needy tenants, especially those on welfare who are not living
in assisted accommodation.
Whats Wrong With The Other Proposals?:- All of the other proposals have great merit.
Indeed a lot of effort has gone into each. A broad consensus realizes that the current
tax system is unsustainable, and that one of its biggest faults is the unfair burden
imposed on tenants. However no other proposal guarantee that a reduced tax load on
rental properties will be passed onto their occupants. By replacing property taxes on
rental properties with a rental tax, and by doing so by a means which requires landlords
to deduct current tax shares from current rent, it guarantee that lower taxes will be
passed on to the tenants, by assessing rents rather than property values. With the
Rental Tax, tenants see up front how much local. authorities cost them, landlords
headaches are eased, as its a simple task to add the tax as a specified percentage
of net rent. Its good for City Hall, for as rent rise, so do rental taxes. Its better
all round, and is a solution whose time has come.
I feel the Rental Tax is an essential component of Munictpal Tax Reform, and I urge
you to include it in your recommendations. T. welcome your comments.
Yours Faithfully,
THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF HALTON n .
1151 BRONTE ROAD
OAKVILLE, ONTAR1O, CANADA L6M 3L1
.
OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN
TEL: 905/825-6115 FAX: 905/825-8839
September 28, 1995
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
Re: Region of Halton Position on GTA Reform
I am pleased to submit for the consideration of the Task Force, the attached report which presents the
position of the Regional Municipality of Halton on the issue of GTA reform. This Report was adopted
by Regional Council on September 27, 1995.
I would like to confirm that the position presented in this report is consistent with the Seven Point Plan
articulated in the paper, The Seven Point Plan to Reform the GTA - Leading by Example with
Meaningful Change, submitted by the Regional Chairs of Peel, York, Durham and Halton, as well as
with the position prepared by Mayor Robertson and the Steering Committee for the GTA Mayors.
Should you wish to discuss further any aspect of this position, I would be pleased to meet with you.
I wish you every success as you enter the final stage of your task and look forward to the release of the
final report.
cc The Honorable Mike Harris, Premier of Ontario
The Honorable Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing
THE REGIONAL MUNICLPALITY OF HALTON
RECOMMENDATION
THAT the Region of Halton support the position on GTA Reform: A
Seven Point Action Plan, attached as Appendix A to CH-05-95, and that
this position be forwarded to the Golden Task Force and to the Premier
of Ontario.
REPORT
Background
On September 13, 1995, Regional Council received a presentation on a paper entitled Leading
by Example, which had been prepared by a sub-Committee of the GTA Mayors and Chairs
group, in the hope of providing the basis for a broad municipal consensus on G.T.A. reform.
A number of changes to the paper were proposed to more clearly reflect a Halton position on
the issues. Regional Council voted to support a consensus position along the lines of the Halton
presentation and directed that the Regional Chairman convey that position to the meeting of the
GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs.
I attended the meeting of the GTA Mayors and Chairs hoping that we would achieve a consensus
on a position to present to the Golden Task Force. Regrettably, most of the meeting time was
devoted to hearing presentations from the Hospitals Alliance, The Institute of Municipal
Assessors, Metro Toronto, the City of North York and the City of Mississauga. Following the
presentation of the Seven Point Consensus Paper prepared by the Steering Committee chaired
by Mayor Robertson, the remaining discussion time was largely given over to procedural issues,
rather than a substantive discussion of the paper. As a result, although many of the Mayors
present supported this position, there was no formal opportunity to express that support.
A commitment was made to engage in a full discussion of the proposed position following the
GTA Mayors and Chairs session and to confirm a final Halton position on this topic, to be
- 2 -
presented to the Golden Task Group by September 30, 1995. This report outlines the issues
underlying the pressures for reform in the GTA and presents the proposed Halton position on
GTA reform.
Finally, many position papers have already been presented to the Golden Task Force. For your
information, Appendix B presents a comparison of the key elements of some of the major
submissions to the Task Force. The submissions
are included in Appendix C. I understand the
proposal on local government reform.
GTA Reform: The Issues .
made by Milton, Halton Hills and Burlington
Town of Oakville is currently finalizing its
Over the past several years, there has been a growing pressure for change in government.
This widely-held sense that change of some sort is necessary is in large part a direct result of
the current financially constrained environment. The fiscal problems of the Federal and
Provincial Governments have reached the point where they can no longer be ignored. As the
senior governments have begun to implement measures to bring their deficits under control, the
impacts have been felt by local governments in terms of reduced grants and increased program
or funding responsibility. Taxpayers have also felt the impact through increased levels of
taxation and reductions in services or benefits. There is a strong public sentiment that the cost
of all government is too high and an increased willingness on the part of the public to accept the
consequences of change. Government as we have come to know it can no longer be sustained
in its present form, and as a result, we are now in a major transition period in the evolution of
government.
This situation is not unique to Ontario or the GTA. Governments in some other provinces have
been working through the same adjustments for several years now and are beginning to see
positive results. What is significant for Ontario, and particularly for the GTA, is that the timing
of this financial restructuring has coincided with the major economic downturn of the 1990s.
The rapid growth and buoyant economic conditions of the late 80s and early 1990s ended
abruptly, and the economy in this area has not yet recovered. This has raised concerns about
the erosion of the economic base in the GTA. The loss of local revenues, in part due to broad
economic restructuring, has brought to the forefront some long-standing issues which need to
be resolved. Foremost among these issues, is the matter of different assessment practices within
the GTA and the implications for revenue generation, economic competitiveness and tax equity.
From a Halton Region perspective, the issues which must be addressed by local government
reform are as follows:
1. Growth Management and Economic Development
Current development forecasts for the GTA project an increase in population from
4.4 million in 1991 to 6.9 million by 2021. Over the same period, employment is
expected to increase from 2.3 million jobs to 3.8 million jobs. The majority of the
- 3 -
2.
long term population and employment growth is forecast to occur in the four Regions
on the perimeter of the GTA.
For Halton, the major challenge is to provide the infrastructure and manage this
growth in a way to preserve the distinct communities and environment of the Region.
From a GTA-wide perspective, the challenge is to enhance the long-term global
economic competitiveness of the GTA which will require sound infrastructure, a
strong central core in Metro Toronto in an economically vibrant area, and healthy,
diverse communities throughout the GTA.
In Halton, we are attempting to meet the fiscal challenges of funding growth through
Partnerships with the private sector and other governments.
Financing Local Government Services
There are two fundamental issues which must be addressed: the first is property tax
reform, and the second is the realignment of financing and program responsibilities.
The issue of property tax reform is particularly serious within the GTA. The present
variations in property assessment across the GTA result in significant differences in
the tax burden carried by different classes of properties across the GTA. This raises
equity issues and assessment appeals are eroding the municipal revenue base in
Metro Toronto. The difference in assessment rates also affects the economic
competitiveness of Metro Toronto.
It is essential that this problem be correctly identified. The issue is not that the
assessment practices of the 905 Regions are unifair to Metro Toronto, but that there
is a serious need for property tax reform within Metro Toronto. The greatest
imbalance in taxation levels on different classes of taxpayers exists in Metro. High
density residential properties and commercial and industrial taxpayers bear a
disproportionate tax burden, compared to single family residences. Single family
residences pay a lower share of the taxes in Metropolitan Toronto relative to their
market value than they do in the 905 Regions. As a result, other classes of
properties, eg. commercial and industrial, pay more relative to their market value
than in the 905 Region. The inequities within Metro need to be addressed through
vigorous assessment reform.
The second aspect of municipal finance reform which must be addressed is the
realignment of financing and program responsibilities. Municipalities derive their
revenues from two main sources - assessment-based local property taxes and grants
from senior levels of government, primarily the Province. Over the past years, as
financial constraints have become more severe, grants from the Province have been
reduced. Municipalities increasingly find a shortfall between the cost of the services
- 4 -
they are expected to provide and the revenues raised through property taxes. In
Halton, we have increasingly resorted to some form of user fee to bridge the gap.
Municipalities need a better fit between the services they are required to provide and
their ability to finance thos se services. There is a growing sense that municipalities
must have greater responsibility for the planning and delivery of municipal services,
along with greater say in how those se services are financed.
Finally, the issue of accountability for the property tax bill needs to be addressed.
Local governments are charged with raising the funds required by other public
organizations, such as Police Services Boards, Conservation Authorities and Boards
of Education, without any control over the budgets of these organizations. There
should be greater direct accountability by local governments for the services they
provide and the taxes they levy.
3. Rationalizing and Streamlining Government Services
The subject of rationalizing the responsibilities for government services has been the
subject of much discussion. The disentanglement process between the Province and
AMO several years ago was a major effort to redefine and reassign funding and
service delivery responsibilities for various programs, between the Province and
local governments. While the disentanglement exercise did not succeed in redefining
responsibilities for even limited program areas, the need to-review and rationalize
government services is more critical than ever.
It is time to untangle the web of responsibilities for government services in order to
clarify accountabilities and simplify administrative processes. Split responsibilities
may lead to duplication and often requires substantial resources to manage and
monitor activities. As much as possible, service responsibilities should be assigned
to one level of government only. The Province should establish the framework
within which municipalities operate, but maximize municipal flexibility to operate
in accordance with local needs, practices and priorities. Regulations should be kept
to the minimum level required to ensure that the public interest is met; but where
one government imposes service or performance standards on another government,
it provide funding support consistent with the level of control exercised.
There is also room for streamlining government services at the local level. In
Halton, we have been working with the area municipalities and boards of education
to streamline services within the Region. We believe there is scope for much more
of this type of initiative, with the end result of reducing the overall cost of
government to the taxpayer. Streamlining initiatives should be locally-driven, in
order to find solutions which best meet local needs and circumstances.
- 5 -
4. Municipal Governance
Much of the public debate about local government reform has focused on changes
to governance structures; however, governance structures as structures are not the
root cause of the problems in local government. Changes to municipal boundaries
for the levels of local government will not resolve the issues mentioned above,
without the more fundamental changes associated with tax and assessment reform and
clearer service and funding responsibilities.
Local government reform must respect the diversity among the communities in the
GTA, avoiding a one-size fits all solution and allowing for easy access by our
citizens to all levels of government. In the end, municipal reform must be
accessible, affordable, cost-effective, customer-oriented and easily understood by the
public. For this reason, a single, GTA-wide government is not an acceptable
solution.
The popularity of governance options ignores the substantial strengths of the system
which is already in place. While there are existing mechanisms in place to enable
cooperation and coordination across the GTA, this could be strengthened with a
couple of significant additions. First, it would be useful to establish a coordinating
Forum of the Mayors and Regional Chairs to address cross-boundary planning and
coordination issues on a formal and regular basis. This GTA Forum of Mayors and
Chairs would be a consultative, non-executive body, working with the Provincial
Office of the GTA.
Provincial involvement and commitment to this coordinated approach is essential,
since the resolution of many of the cross-boundary issues ( such as sewer and water
capacity) is critical to the development of the entire GTA and the Provincial growth
objectives. Therefore, we propose that the Province establish a GTA Cabinet
Committee, with a mandate to address GTA issues and work with the GTA Mayors
and Chairs Forum in a coordinated manner. When disputes cannot be resolved
voluntarily, there should be an accepted dispute resolution process to which these
issues can be referred.
GTA Reform: A Seven Point Action Plan
Given the issues outlined above, it is proposed that the Region of Halton present the seven point
plan for GTA Reform attached as Appendix A to the Golden Task Force.
NOTE : Subsequent t o t he wr i t i ng of
t hi s r e por t , f ur t her cor r espondence
from the Town of Halton Hills , and
the submission of the Town of Oakville
have been received and are attached
hereto.
GTA Reform: A Seven
APPENDIX A
to REPORT CH-05 -95
Point
Action Plan
GTA Regions and Municipalities will work with the Province to implement an inter-
related reform program consisting of:
B
Assessment/property tax reform
B
Provincial/municipal financing realignment (SWAP)
B
B
A locally-driven and initiated review of services, representation and boundaries
B
Review of Special Purpose Bodies
B
GTA Coordinating Forum (Mayors, Chairs, GTA Cabinet Committee)
B
Significant Education Reform
B
Province to implement a fair and equitable assessment system FOR EACH
REGION within the GTA, which:
B
B
attains the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential assessment
mix across each Region
B
utilizes variable mill rates to control/phase tax burden shifts between
property classes (within limits to avoid bonusing)
B
B
Utilize improved technologies to update and maintain assessment records
B
SWAP Specifics
Revenue Neutral
Municipalities to finance hard services Province to finance soft services and municipalities
Roads Welfare
Transit (cost sharing) Child care (Includes CAS)
Eliminate all Unconditional Grants
Health Inspection
Property Assessment
Education capital and Education operating costs as balancer
physical plant maintenance*
The SWAP = Revenue neutral formula, no provincial or municipal tax increases.
maintenance of physical plant.
The Challenge of Accountability
Review:
B
District Health Councils
B
B
B
Police Service Boards
B
B
Library Boards
B
Hydro Commissions
Education Option
B
to make education governance more accountable
B
the need to discuss the 905 Regions or cities within Metro assuming full
responsibility for all aspects of building and maintenance of schools and busing
Province (not Boards) responsible for curriculum
B
Province funds a portion of teaching operations, possibly through a per pupil
block grant
B
Province set the terms for Provincial bargaining with teachers
Municipal Services/
A locally driven AND INITIATED process within each Region to:
B
B
commit to rationalize and streamline programs/services
B
B
Province to set timeline and establish broad guidelines
B
recommendations from municipalities in time for 1997
elections
B
Provincial commitment to implement municipally achieved
solutions
PERMISSIVE MUNICIPAL ACT
B
Improved Municipal Act
B
With permissive authority
B
With enhanced range of revenue generating options
B
Regional Chairs
B
Review appropriate Provincial ministry functions with a view
to eliminating duplication with municipal regulatory
functions by 1997
GTA LIAISON COMMITTEE
B
Create GTA Forum of Mayors and Chairs to address cross-boundary
planning/coordination issues on regular basis (eg. economic development, waste
management, sewer/water, transit, environmental standards, large-scale
infrastructure management, etc.)
B
together with the new GTA Cabinet Co-ordinating Committee
B
supported by a small secretariat
B
consultative, non-executive powers (no taxing authority)
B
Province creates GTA Cabinet Co-ordinating Committee
B
involving key Provincial Ministries to deal with GTA issues in a co-
ordinated, ongoing fashion
B
Dispute resolution mechanism necessary where there is no consensus
Potential Savings In The Plan
FINANCING SWAP will eliminate duplication in the administration of cost-shared grants
TO EXAMINE SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES to improve
efficiencies
EDUCATION administration and board costs significantly
GTA FORUM will facilitate partnerships/collabortion,
futher savings
accountability and operating
reduced
opportunities for producing
GREATER MUNICIPAL CONTROL over service levels, resulting in
B
permissive municipal authority
B
reduced Provincial regulationpolicies
SELF I NI TI ATED AND
service/representation/boundaries
RESTRUCTURE PROVINCIAL
reform
DRIVEN MUNICIPAL
to generate further savings
significant savings
REVI EWS of
MINISTRIES to be in synch with local government
On the Seven Point Plan
CONCRETELY ADDRESS THE REAL PROBLEMS FACING THE GTA
responsibilities
Responds to Taxpayers concerns by reducing property tax burden and
generates savings for the Province/Municipalities
Demonstrates a willingness and ability to further improve municipal government
within the GTA
Demonstrates leadership by municipal politicians as agents of positive change
APPENDIX B
TO REPORT CH-05-95
coMPARISON OF GTA REFORM PROPOSALS
SUMMARY ONL
Y
TO SEPTEMBER. 1995
(Prepared by City of Mississauga and used with permission)
i !
APPENDIX C TO REPORT CH-05-95
Facilitated by:
Lifetime Consulting Services
Prepared for:
Burlington City Council
September 25,1995
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea Gover nanc e
This brief to the Province of Ontario and the GTA Task Force has
been prepared by the City of Burlington Council. The brief was
developed with the assistance of a professional facilitator working
with Council through individual interviews, a special half day meeting
of the Committee of the Whole and final review by the Community &
Corporate Services Committee and Council.
City of Burlington Council have developed and adopted the following
5 principles for reform.
Pr i nc i pl e 1:
Pr i nc i pl e 2:
Pr i nc i pl e 3:
Pr i nc i pl e 4:
Pr i nc i pl e 5:
The Ci t y of Bur l i ngt ons uni que geogr aphi c
posi t i on, i dent i t y and qual i f i es shoul d be
pr eser ved. The Ci t y must mai nt ai n
r el at i onshi ps not onl y east t o t he GTA, but al so
w est t o t he Hami l t on-Ni agar a Ar ea.
The Ci t y of Bur l i ngt on must be abl e t o c ont i nue
t o at t r ac t i nvest ment s and j obs. Bur l i ngt on
shoul d mai nt ai n a r el at i onshi p w i t h t he
ec onomi c ar eas of t he GTA and Hami l t on-
Ni agar a Ar ea.
Ther e shoul d be hands-on i nf l uenc e by l oc al
gover nment over t he use of pr oper t y t ax money
f or I oc al benef i t s. Ther e shoul d be no i nc r ease
i n pr oper t y t ax es.
Ther e shoul d be f ew er l evel s of gover nanc e.
Gover nment shoul d be si mpl er , mor e
ac c ount abl e, and mor e I oc al l y assessabl e so
t hat l oc al gover nment i s bet t er abl e t o i nf l uenc e
out c omes.
Non-i nst i t ut i onal i zed par t ner shi ps shoul d be
bui l d onl y t o ac hi eve mut ual benef i t s and be
di sbanded w hen t he goal s ar e ac hi eved.
Gr eat er Toronto Ar ea Gover nanc e
Main Messages from Bur l i ngt on Ci t y Counc i l
1. The Uni que Br i dge Posi t i on of Bur l i ngt on bet w een t he
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea and t he Hami l t on Ni agar a Ar ea.
Burlington is on the western edge of an area defined by the
Provincial Government as Greater Toronto Area (GTA), an area that
works as an economic area. Burlington is also on the edge of
another important economic area to the west. In essence, to be
successful in the future, Burlington must bridge both ways, to the
east and to the west.
The people of Burlington benefit from being located as a bridge
between the GTA and the Hamilton Niagara Area. They have both
the benefits of being a part of Burlington, a developing community,
and of being in the middle of the Golden Horseshoe. The pay to use
facilities in Toronto - universities, cultural centers, entertainment
facilities - as they do in Hamilton and elsewhere. Burlington
residents are willing to pay user fees to support the facilities in
nearby centers but expect their property tax money to support
services in their own community.
Burlington would contribute political and staff resources as part
of coordinating committees. Burlingtons objectives for participating
in such committees are: (i) to achieve the benefit of being part of the
GTA or the Hamilton Niagara Area and, (ii) to protect Burlingtons
unique identity. Members of Council would participate in
coordinating activities and Burlington staff would contribute to
committees and provide information and analysis where appropriate.
Burlington wants to utilize existing political and staff resources rather
than create any other levels of government or other bodies with .
decision-making powers.
- 2 -
Burlingtons unique br idge position linking the GTA and
Hamilton-Niagara Area has implications for its role. The
purpose of this position paper is to define Burlingtons role in any
new structure.
Rec ommendat i on #1
Shoul d t he Pr ovi nc e of Ont ar i o c onsi der a formal pol i t i c al t i e f or
t he Ci t y of Bur l i ngt on w i t h ei t her t he GTA or any ot her pol i t i c al
ar ea, Bur l i ngt on Ci t y Counc i l r equest t he r i ght t o mak e t hat
dec i si on.
2. BURLI NGTONS ROLE RELATI VE TO THE GTA
Members of Council believe that Burlingtons role as t he l oc al
level of government in governance should be strengthened. As the
government closest to the people, Burlington Council can provide
services with the greatest accountability to the electorate.
Bur l i ngt on Ci t y Counc i l shoul d be r esponsi bl e f or ai l muni c i pal
pl anni ng, al l r oads w i t hi n t he muni c i pal i t y ex c ept pr ovi nc i al
hi ghw ays, and c ommuni t y-based ec onomi c and busi ness
devel opment . These ar e I oc al i ssues, not r egi onal i ssues.
Bur l i ngt on Ci t y Counc i l r equest Legi sl at i ve c hanges t o al l ow f or
t he el i mi nat i on of spec i al pur pose bodi es at t he sol e di sc r et i on
of t he Bur l i ngt on Counc i l . Spec i al pur pose bodi es i nc l ude t he
Bur l i ngt on Hydr o Commi ssi on and t he Bur l i ngt on Li br ar y Boar d.
- 3 -
3. THE ROLE OF MUNI CI PALI TY OF HALTON
Members of Burlington Council see the need for change of
governance in Halton Region.
The Hal t on Regi on shoul d be a non-t ax i ng ut i l i t y gover ned by a
c oal i t i on of f undi ng par t ner s pr ovi di ng w ast e management ,
w at er and sew er s, pol i c e and ot her ser vi c es as needed t o
Bur l i ngt on and ot her par t i c i pat i ng muni c i pal i t i es.
4. THE ROLE OF THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
Burlington Council wishes to explore the benefits of being
associated with the GTA.
The GTA agenda shoul d be managed by an i nf or mal assoc i at i on
of par t i c i pat i ng muni c i pal i t i es w i t h a w el l -def i ned r el at i onshi p
w i t h t he Pr ovi nc e of Ont ar i o.
The GTA shoul d have a f or um f or maj or i ssues and ac t i vi t i es
suc h as i nt ended ur ban st r uc t ur e, l ar ge-sc al e i nf r ast r uc t ur e
pl anni ng, envi r onment enhanc ement and ec onomi c
devel opment t hat benef i t al l pat i c i pat i ng muni c i pal i t i es. The
ar ea t o t he w est of Bur l i ngt on shoul d al so have a f or um f or
same. Her e, f or um i s t ak en t o mean f or mal assoc i at i on of
muni c i pal i t i es and not a dec i si on-mak i ng gover nment body.
----
-.
5. THE ROLE OF THE PROVI NCI AL GOVERNMENT
Members of Council believe that the provincial government can
facilitate the operation of local governments by reducing and
eliminating interference in local matters while taking on full
responsibility for truly provincial issues.
The Pr ovi nc e of Ont ar i o shoul d be f ul l y r esponsi bl e f or t he
f undi ng and pr ovi si on of heal t h and soc i al ser vi c es i n c o-
oper at i on w i t h c ommuni t y-based or gani zat i ons t hr ough I oc al
of f i c es.
The Pr ovi nc e of Ont ar i o shoul d w her ever possi bl e el i mi nat e
i nt er f er enc e i n l oc al gover nment by al l ow i ng per mi ssi ve
l egi sl at i on under a new Muni c i pal Ac t . The Pr ovi nc e shoul d
mak e c hanges t o l egi sl at i on w hi c h w oul d el i mi nat e t he
Pr ovi nc i al r ol e i n ar eas suc h as br i dge, sew er and t r af f i c si gnal
desi gns, numer ous devel opment c ont r ol s, I oc al pl anni ng i ssues
and muni c i pal el ec t i on pr oc edur es. The Pr ovi nc e shoul d be
pr epar ed t o ac t on r ec ommendat i ons f r om l oc al muni c i pal i t i es
on a w i de r angi ng l i st of t hese i ssues.
Unt i l a bet t er syst em i s adopt ed by t he Pr ovi nc e, t he Ci t y of
Bur l i ngt on suppor t s t he c ont i nued i mpl ement at i on of r egi on-
w i de mar k et val ue assessment (unt i l t he Regi on bec omes a non-
t ax suppor t ed ut i l i t y), and does not suppor t t he pool i ng of
busi ness assessment i n any ec onomi c ar ea.
- 5 -
Rec ommendat i on #1O
The Ci t y of Bur l i ngt on r equest s t hat t he i mpl ement at i on of
pr ovi nc i al pl anni ng pol i c i es be done t hr ough t he muni c i pal
pl anni ng pr ogr ams, and t hat , spec i f i c al l y i n Bur l i ngt on, t he Ci t y
be t he l ead pl anni ng agenc y, and t hat t he Ni agar a Esc ar pment
Commi ssi on Pl an, t he Par k w ay Bel t Pl an and t he pol i c i es of t he
Hal t on Regi on Conser vat i on Aut hor i t y al l be admi ni st er ed by
means of t he Ci t y of Bur l i ngt on Of f i c i al Pl an, zoni ng by-l aw s and
ot her pl anni ng i mpl ement at i on i nst r ument s.
Bur l i ngt on Ci t y Counc i l enc our ages t he Pr ovi nc e of Ont ar i o and
t he GTA Task For c e t o br oaden its per spec t i ve i n t he c ur r ent
GTA Revi ew t ak i ng i nt o c onsi der at i on w i der ec onomi c ar eas
i nc l udi ng t he Hami l t on Ni agar a Ar ea.
APPENDIX
ATTENDEES
SPECI AL COUNCI L MEETI NG
GTA GOVERNANCE
SEPTEMBER 9,1995
COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Mul k ew i c h
Al der man Br ec hi n
Al der man Bul l oc k
Al der man Car r
Al der man DAmel i o
Al der man Denni son
Al der man Lee
Al der man Lougheed
Al der man Qui nn
Al der man Tayl or
Al der man Tr ueman
Al der man Wal l ac e
Al der man Wood
CI TY OF BURLINGTON
STAFF: Mr . T. Debbi e
Mr . G. Goodman
Mr . R. Lat han
SPECI AL GUEST:
Mr . T. Mc Cor mac k (Member of
t he Gol den Task For e on t he
GTA).
ABSENT:
Al der man Edw ar ds
Al der man Mac I saac
Al der man Sc hol t ens
THE CORPORATION OF THE
Town of Ha lt on Hills
1995 09 2 6
Chairman Joyce Savoline
Regional Municipality of Halton
Box 7000
1151 Bronte Road
Oakville, Ontario L6M 3LI
Dear Chairman Savoline:
Re: Reform in the Greater Toronto Area
file: Ao2/GR
Please be advised that the Council for the Town of Halton Hi l l s at
their meeting on 1995 09 25 enacted the following resolution:
THAT the amended resolution attached as Appendix A to
this Mayors Report dated 1995 09 25 be endorsed;
AND FURTHER THAT this resolution be forwarded to Dr. Anne
Golden, the GTA Task Force, Premier Mike Harris, Ted
Chudleigh, M.P.P., Al Leach, Minister of Municipal
Affairs and Housing and Chairman Savoline, Region of
Halton as this Councils position on the matter of reform
in the Greater Toronto Area.
Accordingly, please consider this correspondence to be Councils
official position on the matter of reform in the Greater Toronto
Ar e a .
Respectfully, your attention to this Council resolution is
requested. Thank you.
Stewart,
Serjeantson
King, Town
Administrator
APPENDIX A
THE CORPORATION
OF
THE TOWN OF HALTON HILLS
Moved by:
Seconded by :
Date: 19950925
Re s ol ut i on No.
-2-
Second Preference That failing the Government of Ontarios endorsement of our first preference, the Town
of Halton Hills herewith reiterates and expands upon its earlier recommendations to the GTA Taskforce as
follows:
a)
b)
c}
d)
e)
i)
9)
h)
AND
that assesment reform be undertaken for the City of Toronto and Metropolitan Toronto before any
further consideration of GTA reform be undertaken.
that the Province and the members of the Greater Toronto Area pursue with diligence the
disentanglement of responsibilities between them.
that the usefulness and necessity of special purpose bodies be evaluated and recommendations be
made.
that new criteria for allocating provincial moneys to all municipalities in Ontario be established to
ensure a fairer allocation.
that the Municipal Act be revised to give municipalities more autonomy and subsequently more
responsibility in decision making.
that strong autonomous local government be identified as the norm and assured and maintained.
that a review of education funding be undertaken with the intent of removing this burden from the
property tax base.
that municipal boundaries remain unchanged until all the above necessary reviews have been
completed.
FURTHER that this Council respectfully requests the GTA Task Force to consider these
recommendations.
May 25, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Thank you for meeting with Mayor Gord
office. Obviously the time allotted
want to refresh your memory about the
you with some input.
The Town of Halton Hills is over 106
Krantz and myself in Gord's
was too short.
H o w e v e r , I
Town I represent and provide
sq. miles, with a population
of 38,444 people. We have two distinct urban centres, Georgetown,
(22, 000) , Acton, (7000), as well as the Hamlets of Norval,
Stewarttown and Glen Williams and numerous small settlement areas
such as Hornby, Silvercreek, Limehouse, Ballinafad and Terra Cotta.
We are fortunate to have the picturesque Niagara Escarpment run
through our rural area. Our employment base is centred primarily
in our existing urban centres, however, commuting to surrounding
areas still dominate our life style. In the rural area, the
farming sector remains a viable entity, consistent with the
character of the Region of Halton. New, planned, industrial
opportunities are emerging in Halton Hi l l s in Georgetown (400
acres) and 401 Corridor Industrial area (1000 acres). However, we
are constrained by servicing limitations which in time I am hopeful
will be resolved.
We have managed to maintain a zero increase in our local property
taxes over the past four years. Our growth has increased in the
Georgetown area over the past five years by 5,000 people, with a
projected increase of 16,000 over the next 15 to 20 years, if
Halton Region can resolve our water source concerns.
Acton has
finally received permission to add 3,000 people with an
infrastructure cost of at least two million dollars for sewage,
water and stormwater management.
,,, / 2
- 2 -
We are somewhat restricted in the cultural, social and recreation
amenities that we can provide as a result of our commitment to a
zero tax impact and the high cost of two urban centres,
10 km.
apart. As a Town, we are consciously cost cutting and continuously
streamlining in order to stretch our resources . For example, we do
not provide a transit system to our residents as it would be too
costly .
I do not want to leave the impression that our quality of life
which we enjoy is lacking. In fact, the opposite is true. Most
people remain or move to Halton Hills because of its beauty, charm,
preserved natural environment, rural areas and open spaces. Halton
Hills is a Town of Communities that treasures and preserves its
hi. storical past and builds on this uniqueness for its future.
As Mayor, I feel that it is essential for
history and community situation in order
community would find it difficult to be part
The feeling here is that the Metro problem
you to understand our
to realize that this
of the Metro solution.
is being forced on the
rest of the Greater Toronto Area when in reality, we are not in a
position to financially help when we have continuously sought to
conscientiously utilize our limited resources to promote harmony
and attempt to fulfil community expectations.
In assessing the current situation, we fully recognize the
importance of the city of Toronto and the Metro area as a prime
economic engine of Ontario
c
We also understand that it is
important to all of the Municipalities for this area to remain
vibrant and competitive in the future. The question then becomes
how does one achieve that goal? Outlined below are my observations
and recommendations for your consideration:
1, The very first step should be to overhaul the property
assessment situations within the Metro area. I realize that
attempts have been made in the past and have failed but, it is
totally unrealistic to look to other Municipalities for any
f or m of assistance when the main system of revenue generation
is in such disarray. While the assessment situation in the
Region of Halton may have been less confusing than the Metro
situation, nevertheless, difficult decisions surrounded by
much controversy had to be made.
The net result is that a
system considered to be more equitable will be implemented for
the 1996 tax year.
2. The City has not appeared to streamline their internal system
of government and service provisions.
Looking in from the
outside, provision Of services, transit, recreation and
cultural opportunities are plentiful.
As well, the education
and employment opportunities, are both varied and appreciated.
.../3
- 3 -
Under the circumstances,
or Metro is a hard sell
should do a comprehensive
a financial contribution to Toronto
in Halton Hills.
Perhaps the City
review and implement the more with
l e s s philosophy respecting their corporate structure and
service delivery. This would provide a level of comfort for
the other GTA communities that they have already sought some
solutions to the problems and in fact,
have their own house
in order.
3. If some form of financial assistance is considered necessary
for the City and Metro area,
it would seem to make a great
deal more sense that it be provided directly by the Province
rather than requesting the GTA municipalities to contribute
directly. This approach would be more appropriate,
particularly if it can be demonstrated that the revenues
generated by the Metro area and contributed to the Province
exceed the Provincial contribution to the Metro area.
4. The GTA community does have common needs.
We need a broader
interconnecting transit system. We could look at
infrastructure, water and sewer. We dont need a large super
city to solve this. Common problems can be negotiated via the
Mayor's committee or through Region to Region or City to City
negotiations. Also, there is too much power at the Province.
Some of the Provincial responsibilities should be handed down.
The simple requests should be closer to the people and more
accessible. This would reduce cumbersome bureaucratic avenues
that people have to take to get things done.
5. I do believe that special purpose bodies are not the answer.
M.S.A. S , District Health Councils, Police Services Board and
other proposed Provincial Authorities that have none or
partial accountability to the public through an elected
official, flies in the face of democracy. The taxpayer finds
this type of process frustrating and confusing.
these agencies
or questions.
SUMMARY
are usually remote and unresponsive
No sense of accountability exists.
Typically,
to concerns
I realize that I have not addressed all of the issues that You are
looking at. However, it is important that you know that we do have
faith in the importance of the Toronto area and understand its
contribution in the area of economic activity,
educational,
cultural and social opportunities.
However, we simply are not in
a Position to finance another community when we know there are high
profile and credible needs in our own community which we have had
to delay in order to control local taxes.
.../4
My Vision for my Community" includes:
Town of Ha lt on Hills
P-O. 60X 128
1 Halton Hills Drive
HALTON HILLS (Georgetown)
Ontario
L7G SG2
May 25, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Office of The Mayor
20th Floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Thank you for meeting with Mayor Gord Krantz and myself in Gords
office. Obviously the time allotted was too short. However, I
want to refresh your memory about the Town I represent and provide
you with some input.
The Town of Halton Hills is over 106 sq. miles~ with a population
of 38,444 people. We have two distinct urban centres, Georgetown,
(22,000), Acton, (7000), as well as the Hamlets of Norval,
Stewarttown and Glen Williams and numerous small settlement areas
such as Hornby, Silvercreek~ Limehouse, Ballinafad and Terra Cotta.
We are fortunate to have the picturesque Niagara Escarpment run
through our rural area. Ou r employment base is centred primarily
in our existing urban centres, however, commuting to surrounding
areas still dominate our life style. In the rural area, the
farming sector remains a viable entity, consistent with the
character of the Region of Halton. New, planned, industrial
opportunities are emerging in Halton Hills in Georgetown (400
acres) and 401 Corridor Industrial area (1000 acres). However, we
are constrained by servicing limitations which in time I am hopeful
will be resolved.
We have managed to maintain a zero increase in our local property
taxes over the past four years. Our growth has increased in the
Georgetown area over the past five years by 5,000 people, with a
projected increase of 16,000 over the next 15 to 20 years, if
Halton Region can resolve our water source concerns.
Acton has
finally received permission to add 3,000 people with a
infrastructure cost of at least two million dollars for sewage,
water and stormwater management.
. . . / 2
Telephone:(416)873-2600 Toronto: (416)798-4730 Fax No:(416)873-2347
- 2 -
We are somewhat restricted in the cultural, social and recreation
amenities that we can provide as a result of our commitment to a
zero tax impact and the high cost of two urban centres,
10 km.
apart. As a Town, we are consciously cost cutting and continuously
streamlining in order to stretch our resources. For example, we do
not provide a transit system to our residents as it would be too
costly.
I do not want to leave the impression that our quality of life
which we enjoy is lacking. In fact, the opposite is true. Most
people remain or move to Halton Hills because of its beauty, charm,
preserved natural environment, rural areas and open spaces. Halton
Hills is a Town of Communities' that treasures and preserves its
historical past and builds on this uniqueness for its future.
As Mayor, I feel that it is essential for you to understand our
history and community situation in order to realize that this
community would find it difficult to be part of the Metro solution.
The feeling here is that the Metro problem is being forced on the
rest of the Greater Toronto Area when in reality, we are not in a
position to financially help when we have continuously sought to
conscientiously utilize our limited resources to promote harmony
and attempt to fulfil community expectations.
In assessing the current situation, we fully recognize the
importance of the city of Toronto and the Metro area as a prime
economic engine of Ontario. We also understand that it is
important to all of the Municipalities for this area to remain
vibrant and competitive in the future. The question then becomes
how does one achieve that goal? outlined below are my observations
and recommendations for your consideration:
1
0
The very first step should be to overhaul the property
assessment situations within the Metro area. I realize that
attempts have been made in the past and have failed but, it is
totally unrealistic to look to other Municipalities for any
form of assistance when the main system of revenue generation
is in such disarray. While the assessment situation in the
Region of Halton may have been less confusing than the Metro
situation, nevertheless, difficult decisions surrounded by
much controversy had to be made. The net result is that a
system considered to be more equitable will be implemented for
the 1996 tax year.
2. The City has not appeared to streamline their internal system
of government and service provisions. Looking in from the
outside, provision of services, transit, recreation and
cultural opportunities are plentiful. As well, the education
and employment opportunities, are both varied and appreciated.
.../3
- 3 -
Under the circumstances, a financial contribution to Toronto
or Metro is a hard sell in Halton Hills. Perhaps the City
should do a comprehensive review and implement the more with
less philosophy respecting their corporate structure and
service delivery. This would provide a level of comfort for
the other GTA communities that they have already sought some
solutions to the problems and in fact, have their own house
in order.
3. If some form of financial assistance is considered necessary
for the City and Metro area, it would seem to make a great
deal more sense that it be provided directly by the Province
rather than requesting the GTA municipalities to contribute
directly. This approach would be more appropriate,
particularly if it can be demonstrated that the revenues
generated by the Metro area and contributed to the Province
exceed the Provincial contribution to the Metro area.
4. The GTA community does have common needs. We need a broader
interconnecting transit system. We could look at
infrastructure, water and sewer. We dont need a large super
city to solve this. Common problems can be negotiated via the
Mayors committee or through Region to Region or City to City
negotiations. Also, there is too much power at the Province.
Some of the Provincial responsibilities should be handed down.
The simple requests should be closer to the people and more
accessible. This would reduce cumbersome bureaucratic avenues
that people have to take to get things done.
5 . I do believe that special purpose bodies are not the answer.
M.S.A. S , District Health Councils, Conservation Authorities,
the N.E.C., Interim Waste Authority, Police Services Board and
other proposed Provincial Authorities
that have none or
partial accountability to the public through an elected
official, flies in the face of democracy. The taxpayer finds
this type of process frustrating and c&fusing.
-
these agencies are usually remote and unresponsive
or questions. No sense of accountability exists.
Typically,
to concerns
SUMMARY
I realize that I have not addressed all of the issues that you are
looking at. However, it is important that you know that we do have
faith in the importance of the Toronto area and understand its
contribution in the area of economic activity, educational,
cultural and social opportunities. However, we simply are not in
a position to finance another community when we know there are high
profile and credible needs in our own community which we have had
to delay in order to control local taxes.
.../4
- 4 -
My Vision for my Community includes:
B
controlled growth with urban separators, a managed
tax base, autonomous control over decisions and
lifestyle, secured and manageable infrastructure
and better choices of employment opportunities.
B
the preservation of historical settlement areas with
their prominent reminders of the past.
B
farming to remain a viable contributor to our economic
base.
B
transportational opportunities throughout Halton will be
available and transportation flows East will be enhanced
both ways. All day transit will be here and utilized.
Toronto will be a viable and accessible destination for
education, employment and fun. Toronto has the
opportunity to remain the Economic Engine of Ontario
a
,
in fact a leader in the World.
In closing, I would be please to discuss these thoughts further
with you.
Sincerely,
Mayor Marilyn Serjeantson
Ms/ sc
REPORT TO:
FROM:
DATE:
REPORT NO.
SUBJECT:
. .
Members of Council
Mayor G. Kranz, Chair, Ad-Hoc Governance Committee
July 4,1995
Milton's Vision for the Greater Toronto Area
RECOMMENDATION:
That the paper entitled Miltons Vision for the GTA, be forwarded to the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force as Milton Councils submission to the ,
Task Force;
And t hat the af orementioned paper be sent to the Governance Committee
for the Region of Halton and other appropriate bodies, agencies and individuals
deemed appropriate by Mayor Krantz and/or Council.
REPORT\
The attached paper represents a consensus position of the Ad-Hoc Committee on
Governance and submissions received from individual Members of Milton Council and
Department Heads. The Greater Toronto Area Task Force is still accepting position
papers on the GTA and it is recommended that the paper be submitted to the Task
Force as Miltons input to the process.
In addition, the paper should be submitted to the Region of Halton Committee on
Governance and any other bodies and agencies deemed appropriate by Mayor Krantz
and/or Council.
Respectfully submitted
G.A
Mayor
GAk/dd
attachments: -Miltons Vision for the GTA;
-
-Proposed Report entitled Reforming the GTA Retooling to Manage
Growth, Ensure Tax Fairness and Improve Local Accountability, by the
Regional Chairs of Durham, Halton, Peel, York;
-Discussion Paper entitled Running the GTA Like a Business, by the
City of Mississauga Senior Management Team
- GTA Fax News - Bulletin Nos. 1 and 2
MI LTONS VI SI ON FOR THE G.T.A.
Mayor G. Krantz,
Members of Council
Town of Milton
July, 1995
Miltons Vision for the G.T.A.
The purpose of this discussion paper is to put forward a Town of Milton Vision on the
Future of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This paper includes a vision for the GTA, a
Statement of Values, and Miltons position in the areas of Governance
and Urban Form,
and, Finance and Taxation.
The request from the GTA Task Force comas at an opportune
time for Milton in that Milton
has just completed an eighteen month planning process which has seen Milton develop
a Strategic Plan and four specific action plans in the following areas:
B Economic Development and Tourism
B Environment and Land Use (a new Official Plan)
. Leisure and Library Services
B Management Information Systems
Milton believes that the vision developed as part of its Strategic Plan can be extrapolated
to the GTA as we believe the Vision and Statement of Values that we have adopted are
fundamental to the well being and success of not only Milton but the GTA ar ea as a w hol e.
As the diagram on the opposite page, shows many factors are currently at work to impose
change on the GTA Municipalities.
Economic Development initiatives have bean carried out on a GTA wide co-operative
basis as municipalities have recognized that attracting investors to the GTA is the top
priority. Every municipality in the GTA will banefit to some extent regardless of where
an industry locates.
The Provincial/Municipal Relationship is under increased scrutiny. With the failure of
the disentanglement exercise there is an increased initial need to address the tangled
web that is the Provincial/Municipal Relationship.
Major Population Growth is forecasted for the four regions surrounding Metro, while
Metro itself will remain static in terms of its population. Over the next fifteen years almost
two million people (another Metro), will be added to Peel, York, Durham and Halton
Regions. Most of these will be from other countries and people leaving Metro itself.
Miltons Vi si on for the GTA
The GTA Mayors Committee was initially formed to focus on Economic Development
issues but has lately broadened its mandate to include other major issues such as
governance, finance and taxation, infrastructure, ate. and has become a major voice in
advocating the Iocal municipal position in the GTA
With the outcome of the recent Provincial election changes will be made to legislation
affecting municipalities (ie: employment equity, Iabour, etc.)
There is no doubt about the need for new and the replacement of deteriorating
Infrastructure across the GTA With the fiscal constraints that exist at all levels of
Government unique and different funding approaches are evolving.
The trickle down theory of public finance will surely see munlclpal transfer payments
continue to dwindle, if not totally disappear. Municipalities are at the bottom of the fiscal
pyramid. As the feds and the province in turn have turned off the tap. Municipalities will
have to continue to assume increased funding responsibilities or cancel programs and
services.
The property tax system in Ontario continues to be in chaos. Assessment bases are not
consistent among regions and individual.municipalities within regions. Metropolitan
Torontos base has not bean updated in over 40 years and the situation continues to
deteriorate. Continuing inequity and appeals are eroding the Metro system to the point
where Metro is losing assessment at the rate of 3- 4% par year. The system has been
under reveiw since the early 1970s but little has changed. The property tax system has
contributed to Ontarios increasingly uncompetitive situation when it comes to attracting
industry and jobs.
Governance of public services is becoming the issue of the 90s. The Provincial Tories
were brought to power with duplication, blurred roles and responsibilities and over-
government as one of their major campaign issues. Municipalities will have to revise the
way services are delivered or it will be forced upon us.
The GTA Task Force has been struck to deal with many of the issues highlighted above.
They must be dealt with in an expedient and decisive way and the newly elected
government is strongly urged to continue the work of the GTA Task Force.
Miltons Vision Statement for the GTA
In July, 1994 Milton Town Council adopted a Strategic Plan for the Town. Community wide
consultation played a major role in the development of the vision, goals and strategies of
the plan. In all, over 1500 community contacts were made. These were accomplished
through surveys, briefs, workshops, interviews and focus groups were made.
Miltons Vision for the GTA
We believe that the Vision adopted for the Town of Milton should be extrapolated for the
GTA and as such we have prepared the Statement that follows as our Vision end
Statement of Values for the GTA
We do not wish to impose our view of the world on others but we believe in our community
and we believe that the community has articulated a well thought out and balanced view,
one that is often heard throughout the GTA
The Vision Statement describes the Vision and Values as follows:
The Vision: To be the Best of City, Town and Country ln North America
The Statement
Of val ues: For Living: A Well-planned Area with a High Quality of Life,
which
. .
For Business:
A Dynamic and Prosperous Economy,
For Leisure: Natural Amenities and Lifestyle Choices,
which
Page 5
B Major infrastructure needs should increasingly be funded on a fee for service basis.
Governance and Urban Form
. Municipal Welfare should be totally integrated with the Provincial program, and be
delivered by the Province and funded from the Income Tax base.
Page 7
B The number of Local Boards and Commissions should be reduced and these special
purpose bodies should report directly to local Councils where overall program
responsibility and funding exists.
B planning responsibilty for the Niagara Escarpment should be assumed by municipal
governments and the Ministry of Natural Resources and/or the Ministry of Environment
should continue with the legal and administrative responsibilities.
September 29, 1995
Ms. Anne Golden
Chair, Greater Toronto Area Task Force
20th Floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
Attached is a report approved unanimously by the Halton Board
of Education at its regular meeting on September 28, 1995. It
represents our Boards input and advice.
Should you have any questions about our report, please give
us a call.
Yours very sincerely,
Bob Williams
and
Secretary of the Board
bw:ld
Attachment
THE HALTON
O F F I C E O F
BOARD OF EDUCATION
T H E D I R E C T OR OF E D U C A T I O N
1995 09 28
Rpt. # 2200
TO THE CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF
THE HALTON BOARD OF EDUCATION
RE: SUBMISSION TO THE GREATER TORONTO
AREA TASK FORCE (GOLDEN COMMISSION)
Background
In February 1995, the Provincial Government established a Task Force
chaired by Anne Golden (popularly referred to as the Golden Commission
or Task Force) to study issues pertaining to the Greater Toronto Area
comprising the Regions of Durham
j
Halton, Metropolitan Toronto, Peel
and York. According to the terms of reference the objective is to
provide direction for the future governance of the GTA, including the
potential restructuring of the responsibilities and practices of
municipal and provincial governments. The Task Force must define a
system and a style of governance, appropriate to the Toronto of the
next century, that promotes economic health and competitiveness,
community well-being and a high quality urban environment. The first
concern of the Task Force is that of developing Confidence in the
Central City. (Appendix A)
To date, the Task Force has received many reports and submissions,
including submissions from Mayors, Regional Chairpersons and cities in
the GTA. The Task Force will continue to receive submissions to
September 30, 1995.
Services, Assessment and Funding Issues
In June 1995, the Chairs and Directors of the four Regional Public
School Boards in the GTA met with Anne Golden and conveyed the
following concerns.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Metropolitan Toronto Boards because of their pooled tax base
currently have the capacity to provide levels of services and
administration well beyond what the Regional Boards can provide
for comparable needs.
There is no agreed base level of services and, therefore, no
ability to determine appropriate expenditure levels.
In any arrangement that brought Regional and Metropolitan funding
together, the Regional Boards of Education could not/would not
raise their per pupil expenditure levels to those of the Boards
in Metro.
Regional School Boards, given that there is no agreed base level
of services, are not prepared to raise taxes in order to allow
Boards in Metro to maintain their current levels of expenditures.
v. Metro Toronto must be urged to revise its valuation methodolog
for assessment to bring it in line with the rest of the provinc
At the June meeting with Anne Golden, the Chairs and Directors agreed
to provide some details of comparative expenditures. Subsequently,
Barbara Moore, formerly Superintendent of Business and Finance with
the Halton Board and recently retired Superintendent of Business an
Finance in the Central Ontario Regional Office of the Ministry of
Education and Training, prepared a draft paper on behalf of the fou
Regional GTA Boards (Appendix B).
Barbara Moores draft paper provides useful information in gross te
of the relative wealth and expenditures of the Regional and Metro
Boards. On page 6 under Financial Information, she states It is
extremely difficult to draw conclusions when comparing the financia
operation of School Boards unless an indepth analysis of their
expenditures is performed.This caution is particularly relevant
when, for example,administrative and classroom costs are examined.
The data (based on the 1994 MET statistics) are not readily compara
because different Boards group expenditures differently, e.g. Human
Resources, Academic Computing are categorized under Instruction in
some Boards and under Administration in others. What is significant
in this report, however, arethe differences in assessment base, mill
rate effort and per pupil operating costs.In the case of per pupil
expenditure for example, the average of the GTA Regional Boards is
$6,804 versus $8,674 for the Metro Boards.
The draft paper also raises the issue of the potential benefits of
pooling of industrial/commercial assessment within the GTA. The
suggestion that this could be to the benefit of the GTA Regional
Boards is based on the assumption that, in a reconfigured GTA
arrangement, assessment ratios in Metro (i.e. industrial/commercial
residential) would remain at their current levels. It iS highly
unlikely that in a pooled GTA environment, the assessment rates in
Metro would remain at their present levels. The lowering of
industrial/commercial levels in Metro, coupled with successful appeals
could lead to a significant reduction in assessment, unless it was
offset by market valuation on residential property, It is debatable,
therefore, whether the GTA Regional Boards have anything to gain fro
the pooling of assessment. In any event, arational valuation and
assessment methodology in Metro should precede any structural chang
to the GTA.
The quality of education and the knowledge and skills of Ontarios
workforce are seen by government and business as major factors in
Ontarios strategic competitive advantage, as well as in human
development planning. The Ontario Government has recognized that
these factors will be even more critical in the future.
The Ontario
Ministry of Finances Ontario Economic Outlook. 1994-1998 states W
population growing by 1.6 percent a year, the need for public sector
services will continue to expand.The demand for education is
increasing even faster,as students seek to upgrade their
qualifications to ensure good jobs in a more competitive world.
Given this prognostication, it is imperative that the Ontario
Government demonstrate its commitment in a tangible fashion. The
Provincial share of funding for School Boards went from 61 percent in
1975 to 34 percent in 1993. In spite of the best efforts of this
Board to be financially responsible, growth and reduced provincial
grants result annually in local tax increases.
Governance and Planning Issues
Municipalities and Mayors, senior staff have noted recommendations
that either Municipalities take over responsibility for education from
Boards of Education or that education funding be removed from property
tax and become a direct responsibility of the province.
Recommendation #3 states the consensus position of the Chairs and
Directors on the issue of School Board jurisdiction.
It is worth repeating that School Boards are among the earliest forms
of democratic local government in this province, preceding the
establishment of Regional and Municipal Boards. There is a long
history and tradition of elected trustees sensitive to the educational
needs of young people, as well as the concerns and interests of the
local community. The Halton Board does not believe that the interests
and expertise of Regional and Municipal Councils, as well as their
other competing responsibilities, would allow them to offer the
quality of service and accountability that School Boards currently
provide.
Proposals that the Regions take over responsibility for building
schools and capital projects are predicated in most instances on the
jurisdiction for education passing to the Municipalities and Regions.
Not only does the Halton Board reaffirm its position that School
Boards retain jurisdiction for facilities, it believes that many of
the issues that relate to the acquisition of school sites and the
building of schools can be addressed in a timely fashion if School
Boards were legislated partners in the planning of land use
development. Currently, School Boards usually only become aware when
plans are already well developed. This does not allow School Boards
to plan, and imposes a hardship on growing Boards to provide schools
at significant cost.
The phasing of development, legislated School Board participation in
land use development planning and the potential use of Educational
Development Charges (EDCs) may facilitate the total planning process,
provide revenues to assist the acquisition of school facilities and
eliminate much of the frustration felt by developers, home buyers and
School Boards.
The Chairs and Directors of the GTA Regional Public School Boards are
united in the view that School Boards are prepared to work
co-operatively with Municipalities and developers to achieve rational,
fiscally equitable and responsible development plans.
It is recommended:
THAT the Halton Board of Education support the following
positions.
1) THAT Provincial Pooling is not deemed as an appropriate
direction for education finance since direct responsibility
and accountability would be lost.
2 ) THAT a rational assessment and valuation methodology be
implemented in Metro Toronto as a precondition to any
pooling of assessment within the GTA.
3) THAT Boards of Education continue to maintain
responsibility for local school governance, finance and
facilities.
4) THAT prior to any final report on Educational Finance
Reform, the Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of
Education and Training, define the specific roles and
responsibilities of Boards of Education vis-a-vis primary
providers in such areas as social services, day care,
health care.
5) THAT prior to any final report on Educational Finance
Reform, the Government of Ontario consult with School
Boards to determine appropriate expenditure levels that
reflect an agreed range of services required to meet
students* needs.
6) THAT the Planning Act be amended to (i) require
consultation with School Boards in the planning of land use
development and (ii) contain a provision to require the
phasing in of new development in accordance with the
availability of adequate school accommodation, as with
other necessary infrastructure.
APPENDIX A
TERMS OF REFERENCE
2
3
*
4
P
P
.
APPENDIX B
DRAFT PAPER
PROPOSED DATA
FOR SUBMISSION TO
THE G.T.A. TASK FORCE
BY THE REGIONAL BOARDS OF
DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL
Prepared by:
Barbara Moore
August 25, 1995
AND YORK
1.
OVERVIEW OF EDUCATION FUNDING IN ONTARIO
Elementary and secondary education in Ontario is a shared responsibility between the
province and local school boards. The province establishes objectives, standards and
guidelines through the Education Act, policy memoranda, and regulations. School boards
determine how education programs and services are delivered, and the resources
required to carry out their responsibilities.
School board expenditures are funded from two major sources - property taxes and
provincial grants.
THE FUNDING MECHANISM
The funding mechanism for elementary and secondary education is embodied in a set of
legal documents known as the General Legislative Grants (GLG) regulations. Through
a combination of operating and capital assistance programs, the GLG Regulation attempts
to mitigate inequities in financial resources among school boards across the province.
These assistance programs can be referred to as equalization payments since they
attempt to equalize the financial resources among school boards by taking into account
the size of the local tax base (i.e., resources available) and the resources required by a
school board to provide the base level of education service.
Two principles guide the determination of the level of provincial support available to a
school board:
(1) All school boards must have equitable financial resources to provide a base
level of education.
(2) All property ratepayers must make the same tax effort to raise the Iocal share
of the costs of providing the base level of education.
Recognized Expenditures
Each year the province establishes a dollar amount per pupil which is intended to
represent the cost of providing a base level of education to a student. The recognized
expenditure level of a board is established by applying the basic per pupil grant amount
to the boards enrolment. (Principle number 1)
In most cases, the recognized expenditure is funded through a combination of property
tax revenue and provincial grants. School board expenditures that exceed the recognized
amount are funded 100% by property taxes.
,.
Property Taxes
Property taxes for recognized expenditures are determined by applying a provincially
determined Standard Mill Rate to the local property assessment in each school board.
The application of a provincially uniform tax rate ensures that all property ratepayers
make the same effort to fund recognized expenditures. (Principle number 2)
Assessment Equal i zat i on
The assessment base of a school board is calculated as the value of all property in the
municipality or municipalities it serves. This is its rateable assessment. For some
municipalities, rateable assessment is at recent market value, while other municipalities
have rateable assessments that are only a portion of market value.
Since it is necessary in the grant mechanism to have a common measure of school board
assessment, assessment equalization factors are applied to convert the local rateable
assessment base to a common level of equalized assessment or adjusted market value.
Assessment wealth is not evenly distributed throughout the province. Some communities
have high-value residential properties or large commercial or industrial complexes that
contribute more to the total wealth in the community. School boards in such communities
have access to a Iarge amount of tax revenue from the property tax base.
Grants From the Province
Grants are provided to school boards to make up the difference between the total
recognized expenditure of a board and the amount of property tax revenues raised
through the application.of the provincial uniform tax rate for recognized expenditures. The
provincial grant ensures that the basic amount per pupil is available to all school boards
using the same tax effort,
The funding principles behind this calculation ensure equality of resources for all school
boards and equality of tax burden for all ratepayers for a base level of education.
Unrecognized Expenditure
School boards can raise additional property taxes to cover expenditures in excess of
amounts recognized by the province. There is no provincial support for unrecognized
expenditures. Therefore, unrecognized expenditures are funded 100% from local taxation.
Local boards are totally dependent on their local assessment base to make up this
excess. Because of the large differences in local wealth of school boards across the
province, the impact of exceeding the recognized expenditure amount causes a greater
tax burden on the less wealthy boards as opposed to the wealthier school boards. This
is the area where major inequities in funding exist.
IMPACT OF FUNDING MECHANISM
The results of the current funding model
3.
on the four regional public boards of the G.T.A.
and the Metro Toronto School Board are outlined below. The data used to prepare this
information has been extracted from the Ministry of Education and Trainings publication
Education Funding in Ontario, 1994.
Assessment Wealth
Diagram 1 indicates the differences in the size of the per pupil equalized assessment
base available to the regional public boards of Durham, Halton, Peel and York and the
Metro Toronto School Board at the elementary panel, The Metro Board has an
assessment wealth which is 2.6 times greater than the Durham Board and 1.5 times more
than York Region Board.
In addition, Appendix A provides the amount of rateable assessment available to each
board for 1994 taxation purposes. This data is from the 1994 financial statements of the
boards.
DIAGRAM 1
4
ASSESSMENT WEALTH COMPARISON
(1993 per pupil equalized assessment by board)
810,739
4.
.-
Provincial Grants
A graphic illustration of the current funding model as it applies to the five boards is shown
in Diagram 2 and the actual per pupil amounts are detailed in Diagram 3.
DIAGRAM 2
THE CURRENT FUNDING MODEL
3
2
I
O
DIAGRAM 3
Peel 5,464
1
York
I
5,186
Recognized Provincial Provincial
Ordinary Tax Grant
Expenditure Yield
4,134 1,763 2,371
4,134 2,651 1,483
4.134 I 2.987 I 1.147
4,134
4,134 4,624 (490)
Over-Ceiling
Expenditure
802
1,004
1.330
1,052
5.
As shown above, Durham Board being the least wealthy receives the largest grant per
pupil from the province, On the other hand, the provincial tax yield for Metro is greater
than the provincially recognized ordinary expenditure by $490. This situation disqualifies
Metro from receiving any provincial grants toward their recognized expenditures.
Unrecognized Expenditures
Two comparisons for the elementary panel showing the impact of the inequities on over-
calling expenditures among the boards are contained in Diagram 4. The mill rate
calculations are based on the equalized assessment wealth figures from Diagram 1. The
first comparison shows the mill rate impact of raising $100 per pupil over the provincially
recognized per pupil amount. The impact directly reflects the individual wealth of each
board compared to Metro; i.e., the mill rate required by Durham to raise $100 per pupil
is 2.6 times greater than Metro.
The second comparison shows the mill rate impact of the estimated 1994 over-ceiling
expenditure for each board. The over-ceiling expenditure for Durham is approximately
one-third of Metros over-ceiling expenditure, however, the mill-rate effort required to raise
the $802 per pupil is 82.5% of Metros required mill-rate effort to raise $2,549 per pupil.
DIAGRAM 4
York
Metro
Appendix B provides the estimated 1994 over-ceiling expenditures of the five boards in
graphic format for both the elementary and secondary panels.
ENROLMENT AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION
The data contained in this section is based on the school boards 1994 Estimates
extracted from the Per Pupil Survey published by the Ministry of Education and Training.
. . .
Enrolment
The student population in the regional boards of Durham, Peel and York has been
growing steadily since 1981. York Region Board, being the fastest growing board, has
increased by more than 66% between 1981 and 1994. Halton, on the other hand,
declined by 11% during 1981 to 1990 and has since Ievelled off. Metros student
population also declined during the years 1981 to 1990 by 21% but by 1994 it had
increased by 18/0. However, the 1994 total enrolment for Metro Toronto School Board
is still below the 1981 level by 6%. Diagram 5 provides total student enrolment in the five
boards, as well as the total enrolment of the four regional boards for the years 1981, 1989
and 1994.
Appendix C provides further details of the enrolment history for the five school boards for
the period 1988-1994.
DIAGRAM 5
York 42,386 57,090
Total for
Regions 217,745 . 232,245
Metro 300,364 237,237
34.69 70,455 23.41 66.22
6.66 260,945 12.36 19.84
-21.02 281,638 18.72 -6.27
Financial Information
It is extremely difficult to draw conclusions when comparing the financial operation of
school boards unless an indepth analysis of their expenditures are performed. Even
though the five boards are similar in many ways, they differ in their resource needs due
to geographic, demographic and socio-economic conditions. Therefore, the comparisons
which follow do not take into account any of these factors.
1 0 0
Elementary
Secondary
INSTRUCTION
Metro Toronto, being the largest of the five school boards, is also the most costly to
operate. The current cost of operating on a per pupil basis for 1994 (elementary) ranges
from Durhams low of $5,006 to a high of $7,042 for Metro with the variance being
$2,036. The secondary figures range from $6,475 to $8,574 for Durham and Metro
respectively with the difference being $2,099. Appendix D details the cost of operating
for all five boards for both panels.
The two areas of expenditure which are constantly being referred to or highlighted for
discussion are the cost of administration and the amount spent on the pupil in the
classroom. The per pupil expenditures for the two areas, as a percentage of the boards
total cost of operating, are compared in Diagram 6.
DIAGRAM 6
Elementary
Durham
Halton
Peel
York
Metro
Secondary
Durham
Halton
Peel
York
Metro
Current Cost Ratio as a Classroom Ratio as a
of Operating Administration % of CCO Instruction % of CCO
5,688 202 3.55 5,098 89.63
5,390 146 2.71 4,767 88.44
7,042 229 3 . 2 5 5,832 82.82
6,475 162 2.50 5,353 82.67
6,981 164 2.35 6,009 86.08
7,097 313 4.41 5,624 79.24
6,653 178 2.68 5,464 82.13
8,674 416 4.85 6,285 73.30
The amount per pupil for administration includes the costs of Business Administration,
General Administration and Computer Services. The percentages for the elementary
panel range from a low of 2.06 in Halton to a high of 3.55 in Peel. At the secondary
panel the range is from 2.35 in Halton to 4.85 in Metro. The dollar variance per
elementary pupil between Metro and the four regional boards ranges from $27 to $125,
and at the secondary panel ranges from $103 to $254.
Per pupil expenditure for classroom instruction shows Metro directs the Iowest percentage
of total dollars spent of all five boards into the classroom, even though their actual dollars
spent are higher than the regional boards.
8.
If the regional boards were to increase their per pupil classroom expenditure to the same
dollar level as Metro, an additional $225 million would have to be raised through the local
mill rate. The dollar amount and the mill rate impact for each of the regional boards is
contained in Diagram 7.
DIAGRAM 7
1994 A.D.E. $ PER PUPIL
TOTAL DOLLARS IMPACT
ESTIMATES
MILL %
RATE INC.
Elementary
Durham 35,766 1,332 47,640,312 25.487 45.02
Halton 25,099 1,023 25,676,277 25.395 22.38
Peel 56,466 734 41,446,044 4.559 13.42
York 4 3 , 8 4 2 1,065 46,691,730 8.353 19.96
Sub-Total 161,454,363
Secondary
Durham 18,386 932 17,135,752 9.167 18.45
Halton 14,813 276 4,088,388 4.044 4.16
Peel 33,987 661 22,465,407 2.471 9.54
York 24,618 821 20,211,378 3.616 10.95
Sub-Total 63,900,925
Grand Total 225,355,288
Appendix E provides in graphic format a comparison of the expenditures for
Administration and Instruction, as well as Pupil Transportation, Plant Operation and
Maintenance, and Capital and Debt Charges.
Expenditures for Pupil Transportation at the elementary level are fairly even for all boards
except York Region which spends approximately $100 per pupil more. At the secondary
panel, Metros expense is very low, while Durham and York are significantly higher.
Plant Operation and Maintenance at both panels for all the regional boards are similar.
However, Metros per pupil costs exceed the regional boards by approximately $500
elementary and $450 secondary.
9.
The per pupil expenditures for Capital and Debt Charges appear to have the greatest
variance among the boards. This is one area where Metros expenditures are very low
compared to the regional boards.
POOLING OF COMMERCIAL ASSESSMENT
One area that could be considered to improve equity to the boards in the G.T.A. would
be the pooling of the commercial tax base. Appendix F shows the effect of pooling
commercial assessment on the basis of resident pupils and the impact pooling would
have on the equalized mill rate. Pooling in the G.T.A. would decrease Metros equalized
tax base by $19.4 billion and increase the base for the four regional G.T.A. boards. The
impact on the equalized mill rate for the regional boards is a fairly significant reduction.
This reduction would improve the regional boards ability to increase expenditures to a
level similar to Metro.
Diagram 8 compares the equalized assessment per pupil (elementary) for 1994 to the per
pupil amount if pooling were to be implemented.
DIAGRAM 8
1994
Resident
Pupils
Durham 35,824
Halton 25,129
Peel ] 56,526
York 43,897
Metro 153,258
1994 Metros Pooled Metros
Equalized Ratio to Equalized Ratio to
Assessment Board Assessment Board
Per Pupil Per Pupil
354,858 2.51 554,871 1.38
547,424 1.63 691,659 1.11
598,070
I
1.49 ] 672,072 I 1.14
II
623,677 1.43 724,660 1.06
892,020 1.00 765,400 1.00
As shown above, the gap in the ratio of Metros per pupil assessment compared to the
regional boards decreases substantially with the pooling of the commercial assessment
base.
YEAR
1988
1989
1990
\
1992
!
1993
1994
50,411
51,640
53,076
54,611
55,534
56,149
2,790
1,983
3,518
2,750
2,863
2,251
16,155
METRO
APPENDIX D
Elementary
ELEMENTARY PANEL
Residential
Assessment
10,404,276,444
1,869,206,891
1,011,059,598
9,090,436,208
5,590,142,868
17,560,845,565
253,417,697
1,079,217,603
1,891,290,053
1,307,355,063
3,529,768,944
246,722,720
8,307,772,080
25,868,617,645 1,933,814,101
APPENDIX B
1 0 0 0
500
0
PLANT OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
CAPITAL & DEBT CHARGES
Secondary
APPENDIX F
EFFECT OF POOLING COMMERCIAL ASSESSMENT
FOR G. T. A. ON BASIS OF RESIDENT PUPILS
ELEMENTARY
7,165,271,017
3,624,473,423
4,182,994,913
4,432,872,251
19,405,611,603
IMPACT OF POOLING COMMERCIAL ASSESSMENT
6.602
8.131
7.354
9.978
-3.209
-1.889
-1.122
-1.316
0.327
Submission to GTA Task Force
Prepared by:
Halton Hills Corridor Development Association
The Association
The Halton Hills Corridor Development Association (the Association)
consists of 86 members each of whom owns land in the corridor between
Steeles Avenue and the 401, east of the City of Mississauga and west of the
Town of Milton. The land is located in the Town of Halton Hills and is known as
the 401 Industrial Corridor. It consists of approximately 1,000 acres and, was
identified by the Town of Halton Hills as a 401 Corridor Industrial Area in the
Towns Official Plan in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, there was no Ministerial
approval of the Towns Official Plan which would have designated the lands for
industrial use, therefore the lands remain with an underlying designation of
rural under the Oakville Official Plan.
The Planning Process
In 1986, the Regional Municipality of Halton commenced its Halton
Urban Structure Review and prepared the Halton Urban Structural Plan
together with a Halton Regional Official Plan. The Association was involved
extensively in this planning process. The Official Plan for Halton adopted by
Regional Council on March 30, 1994, designated the lands agricultural, rural
area. This was despite all the Associations input. The Association has asked
the Minister to refer this designation to the Ontario Municipal Board and, have
recently been advised that the Minister is preparing to defer the designation
which means that the lands will continue with the designation set out in the old
Oakville Plan.
The Association has spent a great deal of time, effort and money towards
representation of their interest in the planning process undertaken by the
Regional Municipality of Halton. The Region currently takes the position that
these lands cannot be designated for industrial use until full services are
available and the means for payment for the services has been determined. It is
very obvious to the members of the Association today that the Region of Halton
will be unable to supply services to the lands for many years to come.
The Submission
As indicated, the Associations members lands abut the City of
Mississauga. Water and sewer services are almost at the border of the corridor
lands and, it is our opinion that it would make good sense for lands in this
corridor to be transferred from the Town of Halton Hills to the City of
Mississauga. Without this transfer, the lands will remain unserviced and
undeveloped for many years and will lose their potential to attract business and
employment to this portion of Ontario. The lands are highly attractive due to
- 2-
their accessibility to United States destinations, the proximity to the 401, 403
and 407 corridors and Pearson International Airport. In our opinion, it makes
good planning and good economic sense to have these lands removed from
the jurisdiction of the Town of Halton Hills and transferred to the City of
Mississauga.
In addition to the economic and planning reasons, there are legal
reasons for the proposed transfer. The Association members for legal reasons
involving litigation cannot deal effectively with the Council of the Town of Halton
Hills on planning for the lands. The Municipal Conflict of Interest Act has left
only three Council members available to consider planning in the corridor. We
are dealing with a Council which cannot and seems reluctant to make proper
planning decisions with respect to these lands.
We would further suggest that development could proceed more
expeditiously on these lands if the extra tier of Regional government were
removed and all powers given to that government were transferred to the area
municipalities.
Conclusion
In conclusion therefore, we support the following:
1. A transfer of the lands within the 401 Corridor to the Corporation of the
City of Mississauga.
2. The disbanding of the Regional Municipality of Peel and the Regional
Municipality of Halton and the transfer of its powers to the area municipality.
Submitted by the
Halton Hills Corridor Development Association
Norbert J. Pike, Vice-President
Address all correspondence to the
Chair of the Board
Box 2700, 1151 Bronte Road
Oakville, Ontario L6J 5C7
Board Office (905) 825-4816
Fax Number (905) 825-9417
Milton/Halton Hills (905) 878-5511
HALTON REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES BOARD
September 5, 1995
GTA Task Force
Dear Dr. Golden:
Reforming the GTA - Discussion Paper submitted by Regional Chairs of Durham, Halton,
Peel & York:
At the Halton Regional Police Services Board meeting held on August 24, 1995, the Board
considered the above-noted discussion paper submitted by the Regional Chairs of Durham,
Halton, Peel & York.
A lengthy discussion concerning this report and impact upon policing in Halton took place. As a
result of that discussion the Board endorsed the following resolution:
WHEREAS the Halton Regional Police Service was established in 1974
through the amalgamation of Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Georgetown Police
Services;
AND WHEREAS the Halton Regional Police Service is an extremely
effective, efficient community based organization, as is borne out by the attached
information;
AND WHEREAS the Halton Regional Police Services Board believes it to be in
the best interest of Halton residents to have the Halton Regional Police Service to remain
intact as an entity;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Halton Regional Police Services Board
advise the Golden Commission and the Solicitor General that it is in the best interest of
Halton residents for the Halton Regional Police Service to continue to provide
policing services for Halton.
Page Two
August 28, 1995
This resolution expresses the Boards serious concerns about the possible implication this may
have on Regional Policing in Halton in particular to the services provided to Halton residents.
If you have any questions concerning this resolution, please do not hesitate to contact me,
Richard Szymczyk
.
Chair
RS:apk
Cc. Chief Campbell
Sandi Humphrey, OAPSB
Paul LaCourse, HRPA
MEDIA
INFORMATION
HALTON REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE
ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW PROJECT
22 JUNE 1995
HALTON REGI0NAL POLiCE SERVICE
NEWS R ELEAS E
Box 2700, Oakville, Ontario L6J 5C7
ORIGINATOR: Sergeant Joseph M. Martin
Media Relations Bureau
(905) 825-4899 or 878-5511, Ext. 5039
CONTACT: As above
FOR RELEASE: UPON RECEIPT -21 JUNE 1995
HALTON REGIONAL POLICE RESTRUCTURE
On Thursday, 22 June 1995 at 9:00 am, Chief of Police, Peter J. Campbell will present,
for the Police Services Board approval, a proposal for a restructured and cost efficient
Halton Regional Police Service. The focus of the reorganization was to advance
community policing concepts and principles and to reduce operating costs while delivering
quality police service to the citizens of Halton Region.
For the past nine months over 100 members of the Halton Regional Police have been
involved in a organizational review project. The Police Services Board directed that a
comprehensive review of the Police Service be undertaken in response to the 1993
provincial reductions of transfer payments (Expenditure Control Program) and social
contract legislation. The theme of the Organization Review Project was to eliminate,
combine or automate.
As 84% of the Police operating budget is personnel costs the Project Teams had to look
for ways of reducing the staffing budget in order to meet the more than 1.5 million dollar
reduction target. This huge task was accomplished with the elimination of many middle
management positions through early retirement incentives. No jobs have been lost
through the process and in fact a small increase in constables will be realized if the
proposal is accepted by the Board. The community policing concept will remain intact.
The media is invited to attend the proposal presentation at HRPS Headquarters, 1151
Bronte Rd., Oakville, Thursday, 22 June 1995 at 9:00 am. The proposal will dramatically
change the organizational structure of the Halton Regional Police Service. Members of
the Police Service Board and Senior officers will be available for comment. Media
packages outlining the entire project will be available at the meeting.
MEDIA
The Organizational Review Project report is the result of a great deal of dedicated effort
by many people who devoted much time to help the organization plan for the future. During
the past nine months of active participation we have learned and grown together. Perhaps
the ancient Chinese proverb states it best:
I f you wa n t on e yea r of pr osper i t y, gr ow gr a i n .
I f you wa n t t en yea r s of pr osper i t y, gr ow t r ees.
I f you wa n t on e h u n d r ed yea r s of pr osper i t y, gr ow peopl e.
Although there have been growing pains, largely we have jointly designed an organization
that we feel will help us meet the challenges of growth in Halton for many years to come.
We also believe that some skills have been developed which will allow us to meet similar
challenges, if necessary, in the future. This has been done through a Team effort involving
over one hundred participants.
Our next challenge is that of carrying out the ideas and recommendations and sustaining
the motivation for ongoing analysis of our processes and reporting requirements. Last
year, the Police Services Board approved in principle a Technology plan to help guide the
organization into the 21st century. This along with our current automation efforts will help
facilitate this analysis.
The recommendations to cut management and staff positions have not been easy. Without
restructuring, Halton Police Service measures very favorable on all productivity and
costing measurements used by the Canadian policing community. But the financial
imperative and public attitudes to tax increases are realities that cannot be ignored. We
have responded accordingly.
We sincerely believe we are at ground zero, having reduced and refocused our resources
to the maximum extent possible. We also believe we have demonstrated responsibility,
we have thinned management and supervisory positions, while zealously guarding our
Constable complement.
Peter J. Campbell, Chief of Police
June 15, 1995
ORGANIZATIONAL REVIEW PROJECT REPORT
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
A.
8.
c.
o.
E.
F.
Background - Halton Regional Police Service had significant cuts to
approved budget levels in 1993 through provincial reductions of transfer
payments, (Expenditure Control Program - ECP), and social contract
legislation. As 84A of the Police budget is personnel costs, permanent
savings in salaries can only be generated by reducing positions. In 1994
and 1995, some organizational changes were initiated. There was a
reduction of seven c!erical positions due to the reduction of public office
hours in our stations and reductions in the levels of supervision in
Communications. As it was unlikely that provincial reductions would be
returned to budget, the Police Services Board directed that a comprehensive
review of the organization should be undertaken. As a starting point a draft
Mission statement was established in August. This report represents the
second phase of our formal review of the organization.
Theme - The main theme of the Organizational Review Project, (ORP), is to
eliminate, combine or automate those activities which take away from
our ability to effectively deliver services or which mean more paperwork and
bureaucracy.
The Objectives of the Organizational Review are primarily to build an
organization to meet future growth and to meet financial constraints.
Project Teams - Several Task Forces were set up involving over 100
members. In guiding our review we established certain guidelines which
along with the Mission Statement and terms of reference helped guide our
activities over the last nine months.
Analysis of Other Police Services - Documentation was received from
other police services in Canada to review reporting relationships,
productivity and staffing issues. In most cases Halton continues to compare
very favorably being close to the best ranking for most comparative
measurements.
Public/Employee Perceptions on Service - Public Survey - Although a
survey was initiated last Fall, the results had little impact on the
Organizational Review Project discussions. We expect to integrate the
findings through the implementation plan to support the proposed TEAM
Concept of Community Policing.
ORP Executive Summary Page 1
2
PROJECT TEAM RECOMMENDATIONS
The following are highlights of the major structural recommendations.
Additional procedural recommendations are attached as Appendix A. Over
170 total recommendations for change have come from ORP. The major
recommendations for change are outlined as follows:
COMMUNITY POLICING:
1. Develop an inter-platoon team approach for policing services
utilizing larger geographic areas (four recommended per district, but
to be determined given the varied characteristic and needs. )
2. Continue the concept of Resource Officers and review present and
future relationship between the concept and the role in community
policing.
CIB OPERATIONS:
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Add one Detecive rank to #l District CIB from existing complement.
Maintain the Detective Inspector in command of RCID that would
now include Intelligence and Surveillance.
Maintain the Detective Sergeants position in the Intelligence
Bureau reporting to the Detective Inspector in RCID.
Eliminate the Defective Sergeants position in the Identification
Bureau which is presently vacant.
The Detective Sergeant in Major Crime assumes supervisory
responsibility for the Identification Bureau.
The Defective Sergeant in Intelligence assumes supervisory
responsibility for the Drug Bureau.
Eliminate the Stenographer position in the Identification Bureau.
Replace the present darkroom printing function with an Electronic
Imaging System.
Create a Civilian Drug Exhibit Person in the Drug and Morality
Bureau under the supervision of a Detective or Detective Sergeant.
ORP Execulive Summa ry Page 2
12. Upgrade a Detective constable position in the Major Crime Unit
tO Detective.
13 Determine the need for a Street Crime Unit to deal with youth crime
and staffed by each interplatoon team.
14 Retain Crime Stoppers and Alarm Coordinator with Major Crime
FACILITIES:
15. Relocate 20 Division to Headquarters building based upon no cost
to the Service.
16. Central Lockup will be continued with monitoring.
17. Continue Fingerprint processing of accused persons from the
Identification Bureau in Headquarlers.
18. Typing of Court Briefs remain in the District to be reviewed as
technology advances.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT SERVICES:
19.
20
21.
22.
23.
Establish Education Services Unit consisting of a Sergeant (new),
D.A. R E. officers, School Resource Officers Safety Village staff.
Create a Community Policing Coordinator Sergeant (new) who is
responsible for coordinating, developing and maintaining central
depository for community programs.
Expand to Full time Victim Services Coordinator, (Civilian), to
coordinate VSU, help with program support and development of
complete guidelines
f or vol unt eer recrui t ment , st andards,
programming and training.
Move Media Sergeant to Community Support to enhance support
of public relations activities within Supped Services. Rename the
function as Public Affairs Unit
Maintain Centralized Traffic, Marine Unit and Auxiliary to be known
as Public Safety Unit. Staff the Marine Unit over the summer months,
with officers returning to District or other Service duties for the winter.
24. All of these units be grouped as the Community Supporl Unit to be
managed by a Staff Sergeant reporting to a senior officer
responsible for direction of Community Policlng programming and
deveIopment
25. Maintain Emergency Services at current strength with Canine
and eventually. E D. U. responsibilitie S. reporting to the Community
Policing Support senior officer.
UNIFORM OPERATIONS:
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
Remove the positions of Superintendent from the districts.
Reduce the Uniform Staff Sergeant positions in the Districts to
t wo.
Retain four Uniform Staff Sergeants (one per platoon) in District
Two during the monitoring of central Lock up and ORP transition.
Eliminate the position of crime Prevention Sergeant from each
district.
Retain the district Crime Prevention Constable in the district with
the ro!e to be redefined in support of the new community policing
model.
Maintain the principle of Community Directed Patrol and/or Village
Constables who will become part of the teams.
INFORMATION SERVICES:
32. Eliminate the position of the Director of Information Services.
33. Determine staffing needs in Computer Services subject to review
by consultants.
RECORDS:
34. Develop a strategic implementation plan for a direct entry system
to be implemented within two years.
35, Eliminate two records supervisor positions contingent upon the
results of the direct entry project.
36
COURTS:
37
38
39
40
41
Convert the Position of a records clerk to a full-time Validator.
Court Services report to the operational support section of the
Service
Fill the vacant Summons Servers positicn Summons department
shall have backup responsibility for Prisoner Escort in future
The Court Bureau operate with one Staff Sergeant, one Sergeant
and seven Constables.
Maintain Court Officer positions as Constable rank.
Eliminate two vacant full-time court brief clerk typists and provide
support through continuing par?-time staff in district #3 and #l.
COMMUNICATIONS:
4 2 Communications Bureau report to the operational support
portion of the Service.
43. Continue the management of the Bureau with a Staff Sergeant
rank.
44. Determine the need for switchboard after 11:00 pm. following the
move to Headquarters by Communications. with the possible
elimination of two positions that are now filled by contract.
HEADQUARTERS AND ADMINISTRATION:
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
Assign an Inspector as the head of Professional Standards and
include a Detective Sergeant and a Detective. Public complaints
and the Police Services Act prosecution function is the
responsibility of the expanded unit.
Professional Standards continues to report to the Chief,
Eliminate the Executive Officer position.
Eliminate the Staff Superintendent position
Change the name Media Relations to Public Affairs. Move position
to new Community Support Services Bureau.
ORP Executive Summar Y Page 6
50
Assign the current secretarial supporl for the Chiefs staff to the
Community Support Services Bureau who wiII also assist with the
work of the chiefs staff.
51.
Amalgamate Planning/Audi/Evaluation Research function in a
single unit to report to the Chief and be augmented by a planning
analyst.
52. Not replace one of the Executive Secretaries. Some support is
necessary. This position wiII continue to be monitored and part-tree
help should be provided as required.
TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT:
53. Continue to explore Video unit evolving to Training Technology
Support for computer based learning.
ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES:
5 4 Further review the Finance managers role. The present Ievel of
supervision in place does not appear to be required.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:
55. Change organization to three tiered structure consisting of
operations, community support and administration. Optional models
are suggested rolling for one to three senior positions reporting to the
Chief.
3 PROPOSED ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:
A. Management - Three overall structures are offered for Board review - the
current model and two options. We are recommending Option#2, (Three
Tiered Model -Exhibit K-1 attached) as the structure that best meets the
need of the new organization and offers the maximum cost savings. This
model groups the organization under the Community Policing banner as:
B
Community Policing - Operations
B
Community Policing - Support
B
Community Policing - Administration
B. District Structure - The proposed structure is set out in Exhibit J and
includes no Superintendents and less Staff-Sergeants. The senior
command is an Inspector rank.
ORP Executivc Summary Page 6
4 FINANCIAL IMPACT
A. ORP Savings - Organizational review at HRPS essentially began with the
1994 budget when reduction in staff salaries was effected with having fewer
station duty clerks with shorter office hours for public access to our district
offices. Thi s al ong wi th restructuri ng l evel s of supervi si on i n
Communications saved about $320,000. The suggested position reductions
and structural changes recommended above will generate eventual
permanent savings of close to a $1,000,000. There are also future savings
of $213,000 to be potentially realized through our ongoing process
evaluation and streamlining. In summary, our efforts in 1994 and 1995 have
brought us close to our targeted savings of $1,500,000.
B. Staffing Levels - 8esides the seven civilian positions reduced in 1994 and
1995, we expect t o reduce another fourteen uniform
management /supervisory and civilian clerical positions from our complement.
We expect that this will be accomplished without layoffs of staff. We
recommend the following:
1. Maintain the total uniform complement to include the redundant
management positions as constables.
2. Hire constables to increase front line service as finances permits in
the future,
3. Upon completion of Organizational Review, develop a Human
Resources forecasting model that will validate future HRPS staffing
needs.
c . Financial Projections - With the current attrition and that expected through
another early retirement program, we are confident in meeting regional
budget objectives in 1996. Analysis of the impact on future years is ongoing.
5 ACTIONS REQUIRED
A. The Police Services Board is asked to approve:
1. The recommendations contained in this Executive Summary
2. The Organization Chart indicated as Option 2- Three Tier model
3. The Implementation plan
4. This report as the continuing document for change and our
organizational plan.
ORP Executive SUmma ry Page 7
M
District Commander
Inspector
I
C. LB. Duty Office
(part time
I I I
Admin/Opns Support
Staff Sergeant -2
Problem Analysis Community Policing
Coordinator
, r 1
Sergeant
(2)
1
Uniform Patrol
1
Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant
(2) (2) (2)
I
Uniform Patrol Uniform Patrol Uniform Patrol
Inter Platoon Team Concept
Larger Geographic Sectors
Village Constables Part of Team
.
Box 2700,1151 Bronte Road
Address all correspondence to the
Oakville, Ontario L6J 5C7
&
Chair of the Board
Board Office (905) 825-4818
Fax Number (905) 625-9417
Milton/Halton Hills (905) 878-5511
HALTON REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES BOARD
POLICING IN THE G.T.A.:
A POSITION PAPER OF
THE HALTON REGIONAL POLICE SERVICE
As the Golden Task Force nears the end of its examination of issues of government
structure and servicing the Greater Toronto Region, policing and governance of
policing have been identified as elements to be considered. This paper will discuss
some of the options being offered.
A variety of policing models have been proposed:
(1) A supercity G.T.A. police service containing the current Metro force and the
four 905'' Regional police services.
(2) A two tiered model consisting of local, city-based community police services
and an upper G.T.A. -wide tier of specialists.
(3) City-based, full-service police organizations. The number of cities in the
G. T.A., in this model, has not been finalized.
Ominously, and curiously, the status quo has not attracted much attention outside
the 905 regions.
Discussion on the three models listed above have all focused on economics of scale,
internal command and control, exchange of information, levels of expertise,
community policing applicability and external control of the police. In sum, it is
hypothesized that bigger is cheaper and better. In support of this position, some hard
data can be put foward relating to elimination of middle management and support
positions and economies relating, in particular, to combining specialized units and
functions (i.e. tactical, marine, identification, etc.).
Nevertheless, intuition - at least intuition - says this mega-force of almost 12,000
employees is too big. Arguing against it are the following factors:
Local input and priority setting will be more difficult to achieve through a
centralized distant (Metro Toronto?) Headquarters function.
Local ownership of the police and of the community by the police will be
difficult to achieve.
Civilian control of any sort, over such a large body, would be made more
difficult.
Managerial control of a large agency could be difficult.
Application of community policing principles, which means local policing,
would be more difficult
Intra-force communication would be impeded by size.
A tendency to increase policing resources in the core of the G.T.A. by
diverting people from the outlying regions seems inevitable,
POI.lCING THE G.T.A
Position Paper of the Halton Regional Police Service
Page 2
b
Coordination of current recordkeeping systems, computer systems,
communication systems and collective agreements would be a huge task.
There would be huge conversion costs related to
uniforms
signage on buildings, cars, stationery
policing procedures and training
forms
>
systems
computers
communication systems
The combined force size is estimated at almost 12,000 employees. With
expected growth in the G.T.A., its size in 2011 would be more than 15,000
and over 18,000 by 2036. Some organizational theorists believe that 15.000
is the ceiling number, above which diseconomics of scale will be found.
THE STATUS QUO
It is clear that some change in governmental structure is inevitable and, in fact, likely
necessary, But, given that policing is a creature of government, it can be created in
any form and need not parallel the structure of the government. The government can
dictate the shape and size of all its services. Therefore, it is not impossible to ignore
the issue of government structure and concentrate exclusively on the form of
policing.
POLICING THE G.T.A
Position Paper of the Halton Regional Police Service Page 3
Regional municipalities with their attendant police agencies came into being about
1974. Now, 21 years later, these regional police agencies have surpassed the age of
majority and are exhibiting significant maturity, These regional police services are
working well and in cooperation with one another. Many joint forces operations are
undertaken throughout the G.T.A. and emergency response in one region is
supported by members of another regional police service on many occasions.
There has been no case made for change for the 905 regions. The only case is for
help for Metro Toronto. The regions should not be victimized by problems which are
not of their making. Their citizens should not pay for the debts of others.
Halton Region enjoys good financial and social health. Its not in trouble. The
Halton RegionaI PoIice Service, while threatened with others by the impact of the
new financial reality, is also healthy.
Many factors, such as the ones set out below, argue for the continuation of the
Halton Regional Police Service.
Halton Region enjoys a low crime rate, particularly compared to Metro.
Halton Region experiences low cost-per-capita policing, marginally second to
York of the 905 regions.
The Halton Regional Police Service, as evidenced by a recent public survey,
enjoys excellent acceptance from the public.
POLICING THE G.T.A.
The Halton Regional Police Service is well known and respected by the citizens
of the Region.
The Halton Regional Police Service is among the leaders in the application of
community policing principles.
The Halton Regional Police Service is under the direction and control of a
Police Services Board comprised of local citizens (as opposed to citizens from
throughout the G.T.A.).
The Halton Regional Police Service is a manageable size (535 members),
permitting good intra-service communication and rapid adjustment to local
needs.
Halton is geographically compact, permitting rapid response to any area.
Halton Region, as yet not as populated as Metro or Peel, has a
characteristically different feel than its neighbors. A concomitant police
agency (H. R. P.S.) can shape itself to match.
The current Halton police agency has local identity, accountability and
consultation, which contribute to community based policing.
POLICE GOVERNANCE
The G.T.A. discussions have also touched on Special Purpose Bodies (S. P.B.)
including police Services Boards (P. S.B. ). The accountability of the Board to the
POLICING THE G.T.A.
Position Paper of thc Halton Regional Police Service Page 5
local council, because a majority of its members are appointed by the Province, is at
dispute, Municipal councillors argue that local taxes revenues, for which they are
accountable, fund policing and therefore council should control the Board. The
counter argument stresses the need for the independence of the police from the
political arm,
The current system is meant to ensure an objective body of people who will make
good choices for all citizens, recognizing policing needs and fiscal realities. There are,
however, variants which might provide a similar balance.
(1) A P.S.B. comprised of citizens elected for that purpose alone in the municipal
elections.
(2) A P.S.B. in which the majority are appointed by municipal council from the
citizens at large and not from council,
Any model which places a majority position in the hands of citizens-at-large is
preferable over majority control by councillors. In this way, police independence
from the political process is ensured.
CONCLUSIONS
1. The demand to examine and change governmental structures in the G.T.A. is
evident and justified. Policing cannot and should not escape that review,
However, Halton is best served by the maintenance of the Halton Regional
Police Service.
POLICING THE G.T.A.
2. A police governance body to ensure the police are appropriately carrying out
their mandate for the good of the community should exist. However, the
majority should not be elected councillors.
POLICING THE G.T.A,
Position Paper of the Halton Rcgional Police Servlce Pagc 7
THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY
OF HAMILTON - WENTWORTH
office Of the Chairman
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden
:
Subject: GTA Task Force Report
At its meeting in late August, Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Council requested me to
prepare a position paper on the relationship between Hamilton-Wentworth Region and the
GTA. Leaving aside the ongoing discussions about the future boundaries of the GTA and
Halton/Burlington, this report outlines a proposed relationship between this Region and its
neighbors (both in the GTA and elsewhere).
While the report has yet to receive consideration by Regional Council, I am aware that
you have established a report deadline of September 30 for written submissions to your Task
Force. I am therefore providing you with an outline of my views, and in due course, I will
forward the official position adopted by Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Council.
cc: - Chairman & Members of the
Administrative Services Committee
- W. M. Fenn, C.A.O.
P.O. Box 910, Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3V9
Tel: (905) 546-4200 Fax: (905) 546-2340
DATE:
REPORT TO:
FROM:
SUBJECT:
REGI ON OF HAMI LTON-WENTWORTH
- RECOMMENDATI ON -
1995 September 29
Chairman and Members
Administrative Services Committee
Terry Cooke
Regional Chairman
Michael Fenn
Hamilton-Wentworth/GTA Relationship (CAO-95-014)
RECOMMENDATION:
1.
2.
3.
4.
That the Regional Chairman write to the Premier of Ontario and to Dr. Anne Golden,
Chair of the GTA Task Force, advising that Hamilton-Wentworth is opposed to being
included in the GTA governance structure/geographic boundary; and
That the Regional Chairman write to the Minister of Transportation confirm this
Regions desire to continue to be represented on the Board of GO Transit, or any
successor special-purpose body dealing with transit and transportation issues affecting
Hamilton-Wentworth and the GTA; and
That the Regional Chairman write to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, requesting that
the Office of the Greater Toronto Area (OGTA) be directed to include the Regional
Municipality of Hamilton-Wentworth, and its constituent municipalities, as voluntary
observers in activities affecting the regional and area municipalities within the Greater
Toronto Area; and
That the Regional Chairman write to the Mayor of Mississauga, as the Chair of the
Greater Toronto Area Mayors Committee, requesting that an invitation to participate
as observers in the GTA Mayors Committee be issued to the Heads of Council of the
regional and area municipalities within the Region of Hamilton-Wentworth; and
2
5. That the Regional Chairman write to the Minister of Municipal Affairs, requesting that
the Chief Administrative Officers of the regional and area municipalities within
Hamilton-Wentworth, be appointed to the Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee
as observers; and,
6. That the Regional Chairman invite the Chairmen of the Regions of Niagara, Halton,
Haldimand-Norfolk and Waterloo, and the Mayors of municipalities such as
Burlington, Grimsby, Haldimand, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Brantford, to meet
to discuss the potential for improved co-operation on matters of economic development,
transportation, conventions, tourism and the delivery of municipal services.
BACKGROUND:
At its meeting of August 22, 1995, Regional Council adopted the following recommendation
of its Administrative Services Committee:
That the Regional Chairman and Chief Administrative Officer, in consultation with all
members of Regional Council, prepare a response to the Greater Toronto Area Task
Force with respect to Hamilton- WentWorth preferred governance relationship with the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force, and report back to the Administrative Services
Committee in 30 days.
Although it was not possible to report within thirty days (in light of your Committees decision
not to schedule a meeting for late September), this report responds to that Regional Council
direction, and it is still possible to convey Regional Councils position to the Greater Toronto
Area Task Force before its early November reporting deadline.
Analysis:
The Golden Task Force:
This Spring, the Rae Government appointed a Task Force, headed by Dr. Anne Golden, to
study the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), based on concerns related to land-use planning,
municipal governance, economic performance and real property assessment and taxation. The
3
Golden Task Force was asked to find ways to solve Metro Torontos long-standing and
worsening property assessment problem, to preserve the vitality and quality of life in the
core of the Greater Toronto Area, and to find better ways to govern and to deliver services
to the citizens in the GTAs 30 area municipalities and five regional municipalities.
After its election, the new Harris Government revised the reporting timetable for the Golden
Task Force, indicating a deadline for verbal reporting of the Task Forces final
recommendations in early November. The Task Force recently established September 30 as
the target date for written submissions, and submissions have been flowing in from a number
of sources, including most of the municipalities within the GTA. The four GTA Regional
Chairs outside of Metro (Durham, York, Peel and Halton) have presented a comprehensive
brief. The Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee, on behalf of the GTA Mayors and
Regional Chairs, has also produced an extensive analysis of the fiscal and economic
competitiveness position of the GTA and its constituent municipalities.
Hamilton-Wentworth and the GTA
Since the external boundaries of the GTA are part of the discussion initiated by the Golden
Task Force, governmental, business and media leaders in the Hamilton-Wentworth have posed
the question of possible Hamilton-Wentworth membership in the GTA. In response, Regional
Council directed the Regional Chairman and CAO to outline a possible response to the Golden
Task Force and to the Province, dealing with the relationship between this region and the
Greater Toronto Area. This report generally responds to that Regional Council direction.
Solving Metro Torontos Problems
It is quite clear that the genesis of the GTA Task Force was a concern over two primary
issues: a perception of uncompetitive property taxation rates in Metro Toronto, and a desire
to avoid the urban decay that has been seen elsewhere in North America. As a result, the
proposed solutions to the problems tend to focus on finance and on municipal structure,
including a reallocation of municipal responsibilities and changes to municipal boundaries.
The submissions to the Task Force generally propose reduced numbers of municipal
governments and assessment reform, including some form of sharing of assessment across the
GTA. It seems evident that the results of many of these recommendations would be a shift
of financial burden to non-Metro GTA municipalities, and a reduction in the number of
municipalities and elected municipal representatives.
4
Hamilton-Wentworths Role in GTA reforms
Given our close economic and transportation relationship with the GTA, should this region
seek a formal relationship with the GTA, perhaps in the hope of benefiting from GTA
reforms of municipal services and taxation?
Hamilton-Wentworth shares the GTAs need for assessment reform. But it is far from clear
that our task would be made easier by linking our efforts with those aimed at solving Metro
Torontos huge assessment problems. It is also not clear how the effort to downsize the
number and size of municipal councils in the GTA would assist this region in its ongoing
reform efforts through the Constituent Assembly.
The case for economic co-operation with the GTA
While close involvement with municipal reform and assessment reform within the GTA may
have little to recommend it to this region, there are clear opportunities for a closer relationship
with our neighbors in the GTA. We have common objectives, particularly in areas such as
transportation improvements (403, GO Transit, Hamilton airport, Highway 6). In the
economic development field, our environmental and advanced manufacturing businesses
straddle the Hamilton-Wentworth/Halton boundary, and we should co-operate more effectively
in economic development activities that support these dynamic sectors. There are similar
opportunities in the area of tourism.
Greater Bay Area Economic Region
Having seen a major restructuring of our regional economy, which is ongoing, Hamilton-
Wentworth is in a position to undergo an economic renaissance. To a great extent, the GTA
is still adjusting to the impact of economic restructuring, as is evident from the continuing
pattern of business relocations within the GTA and the commercial out-migration from Metro.
This region should be charting its own course, building on the assets of the economic region
centred on the Hamilton-Wentworth area, and extending from Niagara to Burlington and
Brantford. As with London and Waterloo regions, the impact of Toronto is strongly felt in
this region, but simple commuter patterns and trading relationships should not be confused
with a need to have this region become an adjunct or the sixth regional municipality in the
GTA.
This course is not one of insularity. The various economic regions in South-Central Ontario
could and should co-operate on air transportation and related economic activity, on
transportation networks (403/407/Highway 6; air; commuter rail), and on other items of
mutual benefit. There are important opportunities to co-operate with our neighbors in
Burlington, in Niagara Region and elsewhere. But too close an association with the GTA has
evident disadvantages for our residents and businesses. As part of the GTA, we inevitably
5
lose much of the potential to set our own course. We also become vulnerable to contributing
to the solution of the fiscal and infrastructure problems facing Metro and the rest of the GTA.
The pattern through which GTA residents pay nearly 50% more for automobile registrations
each year could be
Specific Responses
applied elsewhere.
The Office of the Greater Toronto Area (OGTA) was originally headed by a Deputy Minister
reporting to the Minister Responsible for the Greater Toronto Area (former Environment
& Energy Minister Ruth Grier). More recently, the OGTA has been downgraded to a division
of the Municipal Affairs Ministry, headed by an Assistant Deputy Minister. In general, it falls
to the OGTA to define issues and organize initiatives to meet the needs and requests of the
GTA municipalities and Provincial ministries.
The Greater Toronto Area Mayors Committee, an informal group organized by Mayor
McCallion of Mississauga and Mayor Lastman of North York, has gradually assumed some
prominence in the GTA, and has latterly included periodic observer status for the Chairmen
of the five regional municipalities, including Metro Chairman Tonks. The Mayors
Committee is not related to the Office of the Greater Toronto Area in any formal sense, but
it does have considerable impact on its activities. While the GTA Mayors Committee is a
group with considerable media profile, its record on the development of a consistent,
consensus-based approach is uneven.
Despite the limitations of the GTA Mayors Committee, it may prove useful for Hamilton-
Wentworth Heads of Council to attend periodically, if only to be aware of the activities of our
neighbors to the east, and the substantial Toronto media attention that this forum affords
them. Some of its subcommittees have also done interesting work, although several of the
major initiatives have failed to generate consensus.
The Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee (GTCC) is appointed by the Minister of
Municipal Affairs, consisting of the chief administrative officers or other chief officers of the
municipalities within the GTA. Administrative support has, in the past, been provided
through a combination of staff and funding from the Office of the Greater Toronto Area, and
through resources donated by the participating municipalities. There is an inner group or
Core Committee, drawn from the full GTCC.
The GTCC Core Committee originally was chaired by a senior Provincial civil servant
(although this has subsequently been altered to co-chair status with the CAO of
Scarborough), and it was made up of the chief officers of the municipalities on either side of
the borders of Metro Toronto, together with the Regional CAOs of all five regions. Later
each region was asked to add further area municipality CAOs to the Core Committee, so that
it now comprises the CAOs from Metro, all the Regions and all of the urban area
6
municipalities.
The most interesting work of the GTCC (which generally meets quarterly as the full
committee and more frequently as a Core Committee) has been in studies of the fiscal,
economic, quality of life and economic development issues facing the GTA. Earlier studies
also attempted to develop a strategic plan for development models for the GTA, which were
then presented to a Committee of Heads of Council convened by the Minister of the day, and
then referred to the individual municipal councils for consideration and formal response.
Conclusions:
Based on the foregoing analysis, it is recommended that Regional Council lend its support to
the concept of municipalities within this region co-operating more closely with the GTA, short
of becoming part of the GTA. We should do this, however, without losing our right to
participate as full members of the body that governs inter-regional public transit (GO Transit)
in the Hamilton-Wentworth/GTA area. At the same time, we should explore the merits of
improving the level of co-operation among the municipalities west of the GTA, and including
municipalities within the GTA with whom we share the Bay Area economy. In this way, the
municipalities within this region can have the best of both worlds: close co-operation with the
GTA on matters of economic development and interregional services, but also devoting
attention to building the supporting infrastructure for more intermunicipal co-operation in the
economic region centred on Hamilton-Wentworth, which extends from Niagara to Burlington
and Brantford.
Project Report
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
FINAL REPORT
APRIL 12, 1993
Contents
Executive Summary . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
I
II
Ill
A. Introduction 1
B. Profile of Harbourfront Centre 2
C. Economic impact of Harbourfront Centre
2
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
A. Background 4
B. Study objective 4
C. Definition of economic impact 5
D. Approach 6
Profile Of Harbourfront Centre ..........................................................7
A.
B.
c.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Mission 7
Activities on the Harbourfront Centre site 7
Operating expenditures 8
Capital expenditures 11
Staffing 11
Events held 12
Attendance 12
Contents (Centd)
C. Impacts of combined operating and capital expenditures
on site 17
IV Other Aspects Of Harbourfront Centres Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
A. Harbourfront Centres contribution to Tourism in Toronto 18
B. Economic importance of Harbourfront Centre to the
cultural community 20
APPENDICES
A Distribution Of Visitors By Trip Purpose
B Visitor Volume And Expenditures To Toronto
22
23
Executive Summary
A. Introduction
1. Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre, a non-profit charitable organization, was formed to continue
the public programming activities of the former Harbourfront Corporation. It has a
mandate to organize and present public activities and events, and to operate a 10
acre site along Torontos lakefront on the South side of Queens Quay West,
extending from Queens Quay Terminal on the East to the Nautical Centre on Maple
Leaf Quay to the West.
Harbourfront Centre is one of Canadas largest cultural centres, presenting hundreds
of cultural, educational and recreational events for the public annually. In 1991/92,
Harbourfront Centre attracted about 3 million visitors.
2. Study objective
The objective of this study is to assess the economic impact of the activities related
to Harbourfront Centre. Specifically, we focus on quantifying the economic
impacts of the programming and other services provided to visitors to the
Harbourfront Centre site.
Economic impacts are analyzed separately for activities that are ongoing in nature
and capital projects underway in the base year. Fiscal year 1991/92 has been
chosen as the base year for analysis, due to data availability.
In the conduct of this study, relevant revenue and expenditure data were collected
from Harbourfront Centre and other operators on site. The TEAM model developed
by the Canadian Tourism Research Institute was used to translate the data into
estimates of economic impact.
3. Definition of economic impact
Economic impact is a term generally used to characterize the employment and
value-added accruing to the residents of the geographic regions studied.
Employment impacts are measured in person-years. Value-added is one of the most
commonly used indicators of economic activity, and measures the economic value
created through the production of goods and services. Value added impacts are
composed of labour income, business income and government income.
1
B. Profile of Harbourfront Centre
The funded activities carried out by Harbourfront Centre range from providing
maintenance and upgrading for its buildings and land area on site, to promoting and
organizing cultural events.
In addition to programming activities produced directly by Harbourfront Centre, it also
provides facilities and expertise for a number of shows and events produced by outside
participating organizations, working closely with Harbourfront Centre.
The operations and programming of Harbourfront Centre itself, and events produced by
outside participating groups, draw a number of visitors to the site, and effectively support
a number of independent operators on-site. These include:
Marine operators.
> Independent food and retail operators.
> Parking operators.
> Pier 4 Restaurants.
C. Economic impact of Harbourfront Centre
All results are for fiscal year 1991/92.
1. Expenditures
Total on-site expenditures were as follows:
Operating expenditures by Harbourfront Centre of $16.7 million.
>
Operating expenditures by independent operators on-site of $44.8
million.
>
Total operating expenditure by all operators on-site of $61.5 million.
>
On-site capital expenditure by Harbourfront Centre of $6.2 million.
2. Employment impacts
Total on-site expenditures had the following employment impacts:
> 1,240 person-years of employment in Ontario.
Of this, 1,070 person-years were in the Toronto Census Metropolitan
Area.
Of the employment generated in Toronto:
>
260 person-years were directly employed in the operations of
Harbourfront Centre.
>
510 person-yearn were directly employed by other independent operators
on-site.
> Most of the 70 person-years associated with capital expenditures were
on-site construction work.
3. Other impacts
The total on-site operating and capital expenditure of $67.7 million also generated
value-added impacts of $58.9 million in Ontario and $46.6 million in Toronto. The
distribution of value-added in Ontario is as follows:
>
$39.2 million of labour income.
>
$14.7 million of business income.
>
$5.0 million of government income.
Harbourfront Centre is one of the most popular attractions in Toronto and, together
with other attractions, contributes significantly to tourism activities in Toronto.
Introduction
A. Background
Harbourfront Centre, a non-profit charitable organization, was formed on January 1,
1991, to continue the public programming activities of the former Harbourfront
Corporation. It has a mandate to organize and present public activities and events, and to
operate a 10 acre site along Torontos lakefront, on the South side of Queens Quay West
extending from Queens Quay Terminal on the East to the Nautical Centre on Maple Leaf
Quay to the West (The Harbourfront Centre site).
Harbourfront Centre is one of Canadas largest cultural centres, presenting hundreds of
cultural, educational and recreational events for the public annually.
B. Study objective
The objective of this study is to assess the economic impact of the activities related
directly to Harbourfront Centre. Specifically, we focus on quantifying the economic
impacts of the programming and other services provided to visitors to the Harbourfront
Centre site. At the time of this study, the most reliable data available are for the fiscal
year 1991/92. We have therefore used 1991/92 as the base year for analysis.
Economic impacts are analyzed separately for:
>
Capital projects underway in the base year.
In addition to the activities of Harbourfront Centre itself, there are a number of other
operators at the Harbourfront Centre site providing services to visitors to the site (e.g.,
marine operators) and they are integrally linked to the operations of Harbourfront Centre.
We have included these operators in our study. We have excluded residential and office
activities on the site. A more detailed discussion on the activities included is provided in
the next chapter.
4
In addition to the more quantifiable impacts discussed above, the study also explores two
other aspects of Harbourfront Centres activities:
>
Harbourfront Centres role in generating tourism activity in Toronto, and the
economic dimensions of such activity.
>
The economic significance to the cultural community of support by
C. Definition of economic impact
Economic impact is a term generally used to characterize the employment and value-
-added accruing to the residents of the geographic regions studied. Employment impacts
are measured in person-years. Value-added is one of the most commonly used indicators
of economic activity, and measures the economic value created through the production of
goods and services. (The total value-added produced in the country is known as the
Gross Domestic Product.) Value-added impacts are composed of the following
categories:
>
Labour income, which includes wages and salaries and benefits
(supplementary labour income) of workers, calculated before taxes.
>
Government income, which consists of indirect taxes as well as revenues from
goods and services purchased from the government. Indirect taxes include
taxes such as sales taxes and property taxes, but exclude personal income
taxes and corporate income taxes, which are included in the above categories.
The economic impacts presented in this study include both the direct and indirect
impacts. Direct impacts are the effects associated with the fret round of expenditures
related to the activities under study. Both Harbourfront Centre and the independent
operators on the site generate direct impacts. Using Harbourfront Centres operations as
an example, the first round expenditures include:
> Taxes paid to governments in conjunction with the above expenditures.
Indirect impacts represent the effect of the second and subsequent rounds of expenditure
by suppliers to Harbourfront Centre. Suppliers to Harbourfront Centre generate demand
for labour and goods and services produced by other industries, and earn business
income. This pattern of expenditure flow continues in the economy. Goods and services
purchased in the first round ultimately become labour income, business income and
indirect taxes to government, or leak out of the economy as imports.
In accordance with prevailing practice in economic impact studies, we have not included
induced impacts in our study. Induced impacts are impacts associated with the re-
sending of the direct and indirect labour income generated (e.g., impacts associated with
goods and services purchased by Harbourfront Centres employees using their wages and
salaries earned).
D. Approach
We have collected the relevant information from Harbourfront Centre and prepared a
profile of its operations, including operating budget, staffing, and the nature and number
of events and cultural activities supported.
For other operators on site, we have collected the available revenue and expenditure data
from Harbourfront Centre and Queens Quay West Land Corporation (which holds the
land lease on the Harbourfront site). Where detailed actual data were not available, we
have made our own estimates based on our experience with similar facilities. We have
also reviewed the results from earlier visitor surveys conducted for Harbourfront Centre
on the spending pattern of visitors.
Using the expenditure data for Harbourfront Centre and other operators as the basis, we
applied standard economic impact methodologies to develop estimates of the direct and
indirect impacts. We have used the TEAM model developed by the Canadian Tourism
Research Institute for the Metropolitan Toronto Convention and Visitors Association
(MTCVA). Impacts are determined separately at the level of the Province of Ontario
and of the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (Toronto CMA). The Toronto CMA
includes Metro Toronto and much of the Regional Municipalities of Durham, Halton,
Peel and York. Although the model generates results for the Toronto CMA, it is expected
that most of the impacts occur in Metro Toronto.
In assessing the economic impacts associated with tourism generated by Harbourfront
Centre, we have relied on a separate tourism strategy study that we conducted for
Metropolitan Toronto.
Profile Of Harbourfront Centre
A. Mission
Harbourfront Centre is a non-profit Canadian charitable organization that supports a wide
range of cultural, educational, and recreational activities. Its mandate is as follows:
Harbourfront Centre, on Torontos waterfront, is an innovative non-profit cultural
organization which creates, for a diverse public, events and activities of excellence that
enliven, educate and entertain. Working in partnership with various communities,
Harbourfront Centre nurtures and supports educational and recreational activity, as well
as contemporary artistic creation, through showcasing Canadian and international
talent.
B. Activities on the Harbourfront Centre site
The programming activities presented by Harbourfront Centre occur on the Harbourfront
Centre site. Harbourfront Centre has overall responsibility for the operations of the
cultural facilities and the programming within the site. Activities that Harbourfront
Centre carries out in accordance with its mandate range from providing maintenance and
upgrading for its buildings and land area on site to promoting and organizing cultural
events.
In addition to programming activities produced directly by Harbourfront Centre, it also
provides facilities and expertise for a number of shows and events produced by outside
participating organizations, working closely with Harbourfront Centre. The expenditures
related to the production of these shows and events are included in this study.
Besides the programming provided on site, there are a number of independent
commercial operators on site. These operators are:
>
Marine operators.
>
Independent food and retail operators.
>
Parking operators (some are adjacent to the site).
> Queens Quay Terminal (retail operations).
>
Pier 4 Restaurants.
>
Metro Police Marine Headquarters.
We have included all of the above operators in our analysis, with the exception of the
Admiral Hotel and the Metro Police Marine Headquarters. We consider the Admiral
Hotel to be serving the Toronto market as a whole, but not specifically visitors to the
Harbourfront Centre site. We have therefore excluded it from our analysis. We have also
excluded the retail activities in that building. We have excluded the Metro Police Marine
Headquarters as we do not consider the facility to be providing services to visitors to the
site directly.
In the category parking operators, in addition to parking lots on the south side of
Queens Quay West, we have included certain parking facilities on the north side of
Queens Quay West. Although the facilities are technically outside the site, they clearly
provide services primarily to visitors to the site.
We have included all retail activities in the Queens Quay Terminal in our analysis. In
doing so, we may have overstated the retail activities related to visitors by including the
retail activities related to office workers and residents of the building. We have no
practical way to isolate those activities.
In addition to the operators on site, there area number of operators in related areas which
also serve visitors to the site, such as the retailers in the HarbourPoint buildings. We
have not included these operators in our study.
C. Operating expenditures
1. Harbourfront Centres operations
Total operating expenditures by Harbourfront Centre for the fiscal year 1991/92
were $16.7 million.
A detailed breakdown of these 1991/92 expenditures is shown in Exhibit H-1. As
shown in the Exhibit, about $8.0 million was expended on wages and benefits.
Harbourfront Centre also provides considerable support to artists and the
advertising industry.
8
Exhibit 11-1
Harbourfront Centre -1991/92 operating expenditures
$ millions
Salaries and benefits
Artists fees
Travel and accommodations
Advertising services
Financial services
Business and other services
Rent and utilities
Supplies and repairs
Costs of goods
Other
Business income
Total
8.0
1.1
0.8
1.7
1.2
1.4
1.0
1.0
0.1
0.4
2. Other operations
We have collected revenue and expenditure data from the independent operators
described previously. Where data were not available, we have made our own
estimates based on our experience with similar operations. The result of our
analysis is presented in Exhibit II-2. In order to protect the confidentiality of
individual operators, we have presented aggregated results only.
Exhibit II-2
Operating expenditures of independent operations at Harbourfront
Centre-1991/92
$ millions
Total estimated expenditures of the following operators:
44.8
Events produced by outside participating groups
Marine operators
Independent food and retail operators
Parking operators
Queens Quay Terminal
Pier 4 Restaurants
Estimated expenditure breakdown:
Artists fees
Financial services
Rent and utilities
Costs of goods
Other
Business income
Total
13.3
0.0
0.1
1.4
0.4
3.3
1.8
1.0
18.2
1.3
Combining the expenditures by Harbourfront Centre and those by independent
operators, the total expenditures related to the ongoing activities at the Harbourfront
Centre site are presented in Exhibit II-3.
10
Exhibit II-3
Combined operating expenditures by Harbourfront
Centre and lndependent Operators1991/92
$ millions
Artists fees
Financial services
Rent and utilities
Cost s of goods
Other
Business income
Total
21.3
1.1
0.9
3.1
1.6
4.7
2.8
2.0
18.3
1.7
4 . 0
61. 5
D. Capital expenditures
For the fiscal year 1991/92, Harbourfront Centre spent a total of about $6 million on
capital expenditures, as shown in Exhibit H-4.
Exhibit II-4
Capital Expenditures by Harbourfront Centre-1991/92
$ million
Total capital expenditures for renovation of
duMaurier Theatre Centre and construction of
Molson Place 6.2
E. Staffing
Harbourfront Centre employs 150 full-time staff and up to 350 part-time and seasonal
workers during the summer. The part-time staff corresponds to 70 person-years of
employment.
11
In addition, Harbourfront Centres spending on artists fees provided the equivalent of 40
person-years of employment to performers.
F. Events held
Harbourfront Centre provides a wide variety of cultural, educational and recreational
events to the public. The events range from special one-day festivals to public galleries
open to the public throughout the year. In the year 1991/92, over 5,000 events were
presented. A breakdown of the events by category is provided in Exhibit II-5.
Exhibit II-5
Harbourfront Centre Events1991/92
Category Number of Events
168
143
27
164
72
66
155
294
24
47
32
1,589
1,866
1,115
5,762
G. Attendance
Based on surveys conducted by management, Harbourfront Centre attracted about 3.0
million visitors in 1991/92.
12
I l l
Results
Our estimates of the economic impacts of Harbourfront Centre are presented in this
chapter.
A. Impacts of ongoing activities at Harbourfront Centre
The ongoing activities on the Harbourfront Centre site in 1991/92 are estimated to have
generated 1,160 person-years of employment in Ontario, of which 1,000 were in the
Toronto CMA. Of the total employment generated, 260 person-years (including
artists/performers) were directly employed by Harbourfront Centre, and 510 person-years
were directly employed on site by independent operators, for a total on-site employment
of 770 person-years. A detailed breakdown of the employment impacts is provided in
Exhibit HI-1.
Total expenditures of $61.5 million by Harbourfront Centre and independent operators
generated value-added impacts of $54.1 million in Ontario and $42.7 million in the
Toronto CMA. Value-added measures the economic value generated through production
of goods and services. The distribution of value-added in Ontario is as follows:
is provided in Exhibit III-2.
B. Impacts of capital expenditures by Harbourfront Centre
In the year 1991/92, Harbourfront Centre made capital expenditures of $6.2 million. This
generated 80 person-years of employment and $4.8 million of value-added in Ontario. A
breakdown of these impacts is provided in Exhibit III-3.
13
Exhibit Ill-1
Employment generated by ongoing operations of Harbourfront Centre-
1991/92
Employment by Geographic Region

Province of Ontario Toronto Census
Metropolitan Area
(person-years)
Direct employment
Harbourfront Centre 260 260
Independent operators on site 510 510
Total Direct 770 770
Indirect employment by industry
Agriculture, forestry, mining
Manufacturing
Construction
Transportation
Communications
Wholesale and retail
Finance and services
Total Indirect
Total Direct and Indirect employment
10 0
150 90
20 10
10 10
20 10
30 20
30 20
120 70
390 230
1,160 1,000
14
Exhibit III-2
Annual value-added impacts from ongoing operations of Harbourfront
Centre in 1991/92
Impact by Geographic Region
Metropolitan Area
($ millions)
Total Expenditures 61.5 61.5
Less imports of goods and services 7.4 18.8
Total Value-added 54.1 42.7
Direct Value-added
Labour income
Business income
Government income
Total Direct Value-added
Indirect Value-added
Labour income
Business income
Government income
Total Indirect Value-added
22.4 22.4
4.0 4.0
1.8 1.8
28.2 28.2
13.9 7.8
9.4 5.2
2.6 1.4
Total Value-added
Labour income 36.4 30.3
Business income 13.3 9.2
Government income 4.4 3.2
Total Direct and Indirect Value-added 54.1 42.7
Totals may not add due to rounding.
15
Exhibit III-3
Total value-added and employment impacts of capital expenditures by
Harbourfront Centre in 1991/92
Impact by Geographic Region
Metropolitan Area
Value-added impacts ($ million)
Capital Expenditures
Less imports of goods and services
Total Value-added
Distribution of Value-added
Labour income
Business income
Government income
Total Value-added
Employment Impacts (person-years)
Employment
6.2 6.2
1.4 2.3
4.8 3.9
2.8 2.3
1.4 1.2
0.6 0.5
4.8 3.9
80 70
Totals may not add due to rounding.
16
C. Impacts of combined operating and capital expenditures on
site
In fiscal 199 1/92, combined operating and capital expenditures on site by Harbourfront
Centre and independent operators were $67.7 million.
1. Expenditures
Total on-site expenditures were as follows:
>
Operating expenditures by Harbourfront Centre of $16.7 million.
>
On-site capital expenditure by Harbourfront Centre of $6.2 million.
2. Employment impacts
Total on-site expenditures had the following employment impacts:
> 1,240 person-years of employment in Ontario.
> Of this, 1,070 person-years were in the Toronto Census Metropolitan
Area.
Of the employment generated in Toronto:
> 260 person-years were directly employed in the operations of
> Most of the 70 person-years associated with capital expenditures were
on-site construction work.
3. Value-added impacts
The total on-site operating and capital expenditure of $67.7 million also generated
value-added impacts of $58.9 million in Ontario and $46.6 million in Toronto. The
distribution of value-added in Ontario is as follows:
>
$39.2 million of labour income.
>
$14.7 million of business income.
>
$5.0 million of government income.
17
Iv
Other Aspects Of Harbourfront Centres Activities
A. Harbourfront Centres contribution to Tourism in Toronto
Our approach to assessing Harbourfront Centres contribution to tourism in Toronto is:
>
Second, to identify the significance of Harbourfront Centre among the various
major attractions in Toronto.
We have relied considerably on a tourism strategy studyl we have conducted for Metro
Toronto.
1. Tourist attractions and visitor volumes
To establish the relationship between tourist attractions and visitor volumes, it is
important to understand the motivation of visitors who come to Toronto.
The main reasons visitors come to Toronto, or any other destination, can be
categorized into the following three purposes:
>
Visit friends and relatives.
>
Recreation.
The presence of attractions in Toronto to some extent influences the decision of all
three types of visitors to come to Toronto. But generally, recreational visitors are
most directly influenced by the presence of tourist attractions. Surveys conducted
by the Ontario Ministry of Tourism and Recreation (MTR) indicate that
recreational visitors represented about 3090 of all visitors. (Please see Appendix A
18
which together generate recreational tourism activity. In this role, Harbourfront
Centre is a significant contributor to tourism in Toronto.
B. Economic importance of Harbourfront Centre to the cultural
community
Harbourfront Centre is a major showcase for performing and visual artists. It provides
the facilities and the necessary supporting services, such as promotion and administration
for events and performances, providing the opportunity for artists to exhibit their talent.
In 1991/92 over 400 performing and visual arts groups participated in Harbourfront
Centres events.
A substantial portion of Harbourfronts operating expenditures of $16.7 million in
1991/92 is intended to support the facilities, services, expertise, and marketing which
underlies the programming of Harbourfront, and of events produced by outside
participating groups. In other words, Harbourfront expends a substantial part of its
operating and capital budget on various forms of hard and soft infrastructure for
artistic and community groups.
In 1991/92, Ha.rbourfront Centre spent $1.1 million on artists fees, most of which was
paid to Canadian artists. In addition to the arts professionals directly on the Harbourfront
payroll, these artists fees generated the equivalent of 40 full-time jobs for artists in
Canada.
20
Appendices
21
Appendix A
Distribution Of Visitors By Trip Purpose
Trip purpose of visitors differs significantly depending on the origin of the visitors.
About 85% of all visitors to Toronto are Ontario residents. Based on MTR 1990 data the
distribution by trip purpose of Ontario residents visiting Toronto is shown in Exhibit A-1.
Exhibit A-1
Ontario residents visiting Toronto-1990 data (percent)
Purpose Of Trip
Visit Friends and Relatives 38.4
R e c r e a t i o n 29.9
Business 317
-
Total 100.0
Similar data for visitors from other origins in 1990 are not available. Based on another
MTR survey in 1985, the distribution of trip purpose for other residents is as follows:
Exhibit A-2
U.S. and foreigners visiting Toronto-1985 data (percent)
Purpose Of Trip U.S. residents Other foreigners
Visiting friends and relatives 11.9 34.9
Recreation 57.1 19.1
Business 31.0 4 6 . 0
Total 100.0 100.0
Based on the above data, the percentage of visitors coming to Toronto for recreational
reasons is estimated to be in the 30-35 70 range.
22
Appendix B
Visitor Volume And Expenditures To Toronto
In tourism terms, the Toronto market can be defined in a number of ways. It can
extend as far away as Niagara Falls, Stratford, or other Greater Toronto Area locations.
There is no definitive source of data on visitor volumes and characteristics for Toronto as
a destination. The two most commonly used sources are:
> The Metro Toronto Convention and Visitors Association (MTCVA), which
prepares annual estimates of visitation to Memo Toronto, and
In 1990 the MTR data show 25.9 million visitors visited Toronto, while the MTCVA has
a figure of 16.7 million. Presumably one reason for the difference in these figures is the
larger geographic area covered by the MTR survey. The portion of visitors attributable to
the Region of Peel is unknown. We have used the MTR statistics in this report because
they correspond more closely geographically to the area that we are studying.
According to MTR statistics, the 25.9 million visitors spent a total of $5,519 million in
Metro Toronto. MTR estimates that 119,000 person years of employment were generated
by the visitor industry in 1990. Note that MTRs estimated employment impacts include
induced impacts, which is different from the definition of economic impact used in this
study.
23
KEVIN HARRON
324 Monarch Pk. Ave.
East York, Ont.
M4J 4TI
Thursday, Sept. 28, 1995
Attention: Golden Task Force Commission
Dear Sir/Madame:
I have been informed that the commission is studying the viability
of joining East York with the City of Toronto. As a resident of
East York, and a Student is the East York Board of Education, I am
very strongly against this.
I am concerned about what will happen to East York should this
amalgamation happen. I fear that this will result in a loss of
jobs across the board for East York civil servants and affect the
quality of services offered to East York Residents. I also have
concerns for jobs of several friends who work for the East York
Parks and Recreation department. Education will be affected, and
our representation in the school boards will decrease.
East York residents can currently bring a matter before city
council very quickly, and should East York became a part of
Toronto, I feel that the 100 000 people in East York will have a
dramatic decrease in the influence that they can have in the
affairs of the area. I have very recently become aware of this
problem and have alerted several others in my community to this
effect. All that I have informed had heard very little and were
alarmed at the fact. The general public knows very little about
this matter, and I feel that more effort should have been made to
let the citizens of East York know about this proposal.
I also have concerns regarding the loss of two hundred years of
history, as East York just celebrated its two hundredth anniversary
as a Borough. I also object strongly to the loss of our status as
Canadas only Borough. This unique status is a matter of pride for
East yorkers and I feel that the loss of this status will affect
East York residents.
Thank you for your attention,
Kevin Harron
GARY HEIGHINGTON
TRUSTEE, BRAMPTON EAST
1 04 M IKAD0 CRESCENT
BRAMPTON, ONTARI0 L6S 3R7
Fax (416) 585-6470
Dear Minister
The Mayor of Brampton should leak into his own backyard when it
comes to making proposals to cut the
costs of local government.
I Propose a new model for municipal government in the Region of
Peel. The City of Brampton COunCil has 16 elected representatives.
Compare this to the P&l Board which has downsized the number of
elected trustees to 16 to represent the whole Region of Peel.
The
City of Mississauga and Town of Caledon also have their own mayors
and councils.
In addition, we are represented by a Region of Peel
Council. If we are to downsize,
I believe that this is the most
productive area to our costs. Each city or town council has a City hall.
Bramptons new City Hall cost approximately 30 million
dollars. Local government
is costly. I advocate that the Region
of Peel elect a mayor and council representatives of
the
communities in. the Region of Peel
to form one municipality in the
Peel. Now we could dissolve the three local municipalities and get
rid of three mayors and three administrations. The region of peel
already collects
our garbage, sells
us our water and sewage
services, and looks after social services and regional roads.
Let
the Region assume the rest of the services.
We might benefit with
a regional coordinated public transportation service.
Duplicate
administrations and political positions would be eliminated saving
the taxpayers a
few million dollars.
The New Region of Peel
Municipality would now work efficiently to provide al-i the services
that w e e x p e c t .
The two regional school boards and the one
regional municipal government
would also find it easy to work
together.
This model could be applied to all municipalities in the
G.T.A. and Ottawa.
Fax from Alan Heisey, 29 Bernard Avenue,
I use as a single illustration the rather
astounding statement made directly to me in a
social conversation by the late John Robarts,
formerly premier of Ontario. He told me that he
had $75,000 in improvements made to his
Rosedale home, but that he had not needed a
building permit because he had not touched the
font face of the structure!
John Robarts is Everyperson,. or very, very
many in this reality. I am certain he knew the
law on this matter, but behind the closed doors
of our private castles the law come up against
the realities.
B. Assessment of properties generally is so
complex and convoluted that very few
apartment dwellers have any perception that the
tax levels on a given valuation compared to
private residences may be as much as five or
seven times as high!
The complications of trying to get some
obscure datum called 1993 imposed on
properties, as in Muskoka District, which have
dropped in real terms as much as 40% or more,
challenges the common sense of Everyman.
And assessing commercial and industrial
properties when occupancies may change from
100% at high rents to O in the space of 5 years is
not something our leaders would ever expect
the laity to begin to grasp.
C. A more urgent problem is the only halting
realization that market value assessment will
accelerate inefficient urban sprawl. The good
burghers of Scarborough are aroused that
downtown assessments are completely removed
from current realities -at least compared to
theirs.
(In my own case I moved about a dozen
years ago from a then 12 year old house in
North York which we sold for $240,000 to a
then 80 year old house in the Annex for which
we paid $320,000. Thus the value of our new
property was one third greater than the one we
sold. But the taxes on our new house were one
third less, meaning that in relation to the market
prices of the two properties our taxes were
approximately half of what they had been!)
I thought in my guts that this was the
essence of the case until the Swell commission
studies of the impact of market value
assessment in relation to the costs of creating
and maintaining many municipal utilities and
services. My one third acre lot in Denlow
required substantially great public expenses
than does my 25 foot lot in the Annex, but the
rigorous application of MVA would pretend the
differences do not exist.
In fact they would create real incentives to
build small houses on large lots, because many
of their municipal costs would be subsidized by interests. I am astounded at the indifference of
owners of more valuable houses on smaller lots. waste-chasing provincial politicians to the
I submit that to replace one inequity with
lifetime, apparently perpetual subsidies, for
another one is scarcely what your group was
example, which transit system operators are
commissioned to do and I urge you to factor in
prepared to provide for users of flat fare and
to property taxation some appropriate
grossly subsidized systems who choose to live
correlation for the realities of lot and building
inordinate distances from where they work.
size and the costs of provisioning of at least
Metro Council made the smallest suggestion
some municipal and other services. of recognizing this mindless waste when their
current official plan said that one objective was
2. Ontario municipalities should be able to to reduce the distance between where people
assess income and sales taxes, collected by the
live and where they work.
provincial and federal collection agencies in
There is a tendency when this is proposed to
much the same way as many American cities say that the grand design approach means that
can now. flat fares one day should be replaced by fare by
I remain fascinated at how low a priority this distance the next. I submit that in an inch
has in the attentions of municipal politicians. Of process, moving fully to a fare by distance plan
course the Canadian public, starting with my could be set out as an objective for the first half
wife, has absolutely no confidence that any of the twenty-first century!
increase in taxation by one means will lead to Thus one fiftieth of the subsidies paid to the
an offsetting reduction in another. person who wants to live at one end of the GTA
The great virtue of various sales taxes is that and work at the other could be recovered in fare
however they may be hated they are at least increases in a first year and the second fiftieth
clearly understood and efficiently, for the most in a second year. A strategic direction signaled
part collected. to the larger urban Toronto mass in such a
The same argument applies to the income specific plan would not dramatically alter
tax. I submit that the extent to which decisions made in the first year, but it would
municipalities might choose to introduce one or tend to shift community planning and building
the other of these two revenue generating so that very slowly, but assuredly jobs and
systems would depend on exactly the same workers would move closer.
kinds of considerations that weigh now on More importantly, work/live relationships
federal and provincial governments. would be a vital public planning objective made
Of course elbowing and brawling their way understandable to every young couple renting
into these two alternate taxing systems would their first apartment or buying their first house.
require a marshaling of political will and power I make it clear that I think that longterm
that our fractionated urban councils have never public and private transit costs should be born
got around to addressing, but it could be done! directly by users and not at all by taxpayers,
Complicating the role of GTA municipalities Getting money from the haves and giving it to
in achieving such a share of these taxing bases the have-nets is not done well by transit
is their stunning indifference to their under- subsidies. And shifting from a TTC system
representation in the provincial legislature and where some 30% of the operating costs and
the federal parliament. Even the powerful 75% of the capital costs is born by the taxpayer
Toronto Star had to be elbowed and brawled at
at large to one which functions out of the fare
by me in their shareholder meeting and more box and the gas tank, is such a sea change as to
effectively on the phone to their top editorial
need very long and profound discussion by
writer to get them to recently wrap their
politicians and public.
collective around this subject.
It maybe outside of your terms of
reference, but if the search for fairness and
Cordially (25 minutes after midnight)
equity in urban life is apart of your longterm
mandate, you perhaps should at some time
address how much political power is to be given
to the individual voter and how much taken
away for acreage between the individual voter.
cc interested parties
.
3. A long term strategy of generating more
revenues from users of services is in everyones
September 28, 1995
Marcia Hopcraft
22 Westview Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario
M4B 3H8
ATTENTION: GOLDEN TASK FORCE COMMISSION
Dear Sir/Madame:
I have lived in the borough of East York for all of my 18 years.
I have had the benefits of growing up in a residential community,
where the streets are safe,
crime is low, and the neighbors are
friendly. My neighbourhood is known for having a large number of
elderly residents,
who have lived in East York for many years.
They have stayed in East York because they dont want to lose the
community environment.
They like to walk down the street and say
hello to their neighbors, as do many of the other residents.
There are many community events that bring East York citizens
together. Canada Day at Stan Wadlow Park, baseball games at
various parks, the Annual Street Sale near OConnor and St. Clair
and a Winter Carnival.
There is also Parks and Recreation that
hosts swimming, summer camps, skating,
aerobics and many more
activities.
In East York, we as citizens are allowed to vote on what happens
within our community at local council meetings.
We voted down
strip clubs in East York, and we voted for a building code on a
section of OConnor Drive that permits no building to be taller
than three floors. I am glad that my community was allowed to vote
on these matters.
I would not want someone who had never even been
in East York to decide if a strip club was allowed on my street, or
that tall apartment buildings
could be built behind my house so
people could look into my backyard.
If East York is swallowed up
by Toronto, we will no longer be able to have a say in what happens
to our neighborhood. We could not go to a meeting at city hall,
and voice our opinions.
Many East Yorkers feel that same way as I do. They love their
community atmosphere and do not want it taken from them.
I dont
want to be swallowed up by a faceless Toronto, I want to live in
East Yorks Small Town Environment until I choose to leave.
Dont make my home turn into a house.
Sincerely,
Marcia Hopcraft
TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE COMMISSION:
We have lived in East York (Thorncliffe Park and St.Clair/OConnor)
for over 25 years. We educate our daughter in East Yorks schools
and she has become a proficient swimmer through East Yorks Park
and Recreation facilities. Our Doctor, Dentist, Drugstore, and
Church are in East York. We shop in East York and for 11 years, I
worked in East York.
When we bought our first home, the then Mayor, Mr. Johnson came
over to advise us about a tree in our back yard.
We have had
homeowner meetings with Mr. Prue, Mr. Clotes and Mr. Crone. we
participate in East York community activities.
And that is what
East York is - a community. A community with its own style, a
community of friendly and stable people.
A safe community. A
community with a low crime rate. A community that says home
n
.
East York is quite well known for its senior citizens who own their
own homes - not for being pent up in big buildings or on acres of
green that are not utilized except for the lawn mowers.
They are
not new residents. They have been here for many, many years,
raised their family and decided not to leave.
This says something
for East York. We dont want to be swallowed up by the
facelessness of the big city.
East Yorkers are a breed unto themselves. They like the pace
they have set for themselves and enjoy their home environments.
East York is a way of life - dont take it from US.
Yours truly,
Hospital Council Halton Region Peel Region York Region Hospital
of Durham Region
Hospitals Group Hospitals Group Planning Forum
580 Harwood Avenue South,
Telephone: (905) 683-4943
Suite 4027,
Fax: (905 683-6453
Ajax, Ontario.
LIS 2J4.
September 27, 1995
Dr. A. Golden, Chair,
Toronto, Ontario.
M5G 1E6.
Dear Dr. Golden:
Enclosed is a copy of a presentation made earlier this month to the GTA Mayors
deliberations on proposals for reform in the GTA. It was favorably received.
during their
As you will see, the primary focus of the presentation is the serious underfunding of hospital
services in the high growth population areas. This situation is of growing concern to residents
affected by the resulting service problems.
While the scope of your Task Force excludes health management, we would ask that you address
the implications of your recommendations in relation to the inequitable funding and access
situation for GTA residents in the high growth areas. We would be pleased to provide additional
information that the Task Force or your staff may wish to have on this matter.
With best wishes,
Yours sincerely,
Director: James Armstrong, PhD, CHE
September 15, 1995
For Immediate Release
Hospital Alliances in High Growth Areas Present Underfunding Picture to GTA Mayors
On behalf of the seventeen hospitals in the 905 area code Regions, Jean Achmatowicz, former
Chair of the Hospital Council of Durham Region, pointed out to the GTA Mayors that
underfunding of the hospital sector in Durham, Halton, Peel and York has serious effects on the
citizens of these areas and needs the support of the GTA Mayors for an equitable funding
formula.
Speaking in Richmond Hill to the GTA Mayors, Mrs. Achmatowicz illustrated that while growth
projections into the year 2006 demonstrate that the Regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York
will experience between 60 and 100 percent growth, funding for hospital allocations continue to
be well below provincial averages. The average per capita allocation across the province in
1992-93 was $705, but only $303 to $429 in Durham, Halton, Peel and York. This comparison
is now worse three years later with population increases continuing while budgets remain
flatlined. she said. Any across the board cuts, now being discussed by the government, would
turn this growing inequity into a crisis for hospitals in high growth areas.
On behalf of the four hospital alliances in Durham, Halton, Peel and York, Mrs. Achmatowicz
appealed to the GTA Mayors to support an equitable funding policy across the GTA. It is our
hope that the Metro Hospital Restructuring Report expected later this month will include a
recommendation for equitable funding across the GTA.
We believe it is imperative that equitable funding be implemented; the cumulative effects of the
growing disparity are having an adverse effect on the delivery of service to patients in these
areas, said Mrs. Achmatowicz, Patients are waiting in hallways for beds, cancer patients are
struggling with the long trek out of their regions for treatment, and long waits and rescheduling
for surgery are becoming more and more commonplace. We need the support of every decision
maker in the GTA to help us underline the urgent need for funding to rapidly growing areas of
the province.
-30-
For more information contact:
Jim Armstrong, Director
Hospital Council of Durham Region
Telephone: (905) 683-4943 Fax: (905) 683-6453
PRESENTATION TO GTA MAYORS BY HOSPITAL ALLIANCES OF
DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL AND YORK - SEPTEMBER 15, 1995
THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WE APPRECIATE
THE OPPORTUNITY TO JOIN YOU TODAY, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE SO
MANY OTHER IMPORTANT TOPICS ON YOUR AGENDA. YOUR INTEREST, AND THE
SUPPORT YOU PROVIDE TO YOUR HOSPITALS, IS HIGHLY VALUED.
I AM PRESENTING ON BEHALF OF THE SEVENTEEN HOSPITALS IN THE HIGH-
GROWTH AREAS OF THE GTA--THE REGIONS OF DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL AND
YORK. THE HOSPITALS IN EACH OF THE FOUR REGIONS HAVE FORMED
ALLIANCES TO SAVE MONEY AND TO CREATE JOINT PLANNING OPPORTUNITIES.
I AMA TRUSTEE REPRESENTING THE DURHAM HOSPITALS, AND I WOULD
LIKE TO INTRODUCE THE OTHER REPRESENTATIVES ATTENDING FROM THE
HOSPITAL ALLIANCES WHO ARE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FOLLOWING
THIS BRIEF PRESENTATION:
VIRGINIA MCLAUGHLIN, BOARD CHAIR OF YORK CENTRAL HOSPITAL, JOHN
OLIVER, PRESIDENT, OAKVILLE-TRAFALGAR MEMORIAL HOSPITAL; AND, BRUCE
HARBER, PRESIDENT, PEEL MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. STEPHEN SKORCZ, VICE-
PRESIDENT OF THE ONTARIO HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION IS REPRESENTING THE OHA,
THE PROVINCIAL ORGANIZATION IN WHICH WE ARE ALL MEMBER HOSPITALS.
ANY OF US WHO HAVE HAD A MAJOR ILLNESS KNOW PERSONALLY HOW
VALUABLE IT IS TO BE HEALTHY. NO WONDER PEOPLE PLACE HEALTH CARE AT
THE TOP OF THEIR PRIORITY LIST FOR PUBLIC SERVICES. AS YOU KNOW,
PROFOUND CHANGE IS TAKING PLACE IN HEALTH CARE, AND TODAY WE WANT
TO HIGHLIGHT AN ASPECT WHICH IS PARTICULARLY CRITICAL IN THE HIGH
POPULATION GROWTH AREAS OF THE GTA.
2
FIRSTLY, I WANT TO PUT A CHART ON THE SCREEN WHICH WILL BE
FAMILIAR TO YOU.
(CHART 1: GTA POPULATION: 1961- 2031)
AS THE CHART SHOWS, THE AREAS NOW KNOWN AS DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL
AND YORK HAVE GROWN RAPIDLY OVER THE PAST THIRTY-FIVE YEARS FROM
BEING A VERY SMALL PROPORTION OF THE GTA POPULATION OF TWO
MILLION TO NOW BEING HALF OF THE OVER FOUR MILLION TOTAL. IN THE
SAME TIME PERIOD INTO THE FUTURE, IT IS PROJECTED THAT MORE THAN
THREE QUARTERS OF THE EIGHT MILLION POPULATION WILL BE IN THOSE
AREAS SURROUNDING METRO.
(CHART 2: GROWTH RATES)
CHART 2 SHOWS THE COMPARATIVE RATES OF POPULATION
INCREASE IN THE GTA OVER THE PAST TEN YEARS, AND FORECASTS FOR THE
NEXT TEN YEARS. IN THIS TIME PERIOD, GROWTH IN DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL
AND YORK RANGES FROM 60% TO WELL OVER 100%.
CHART 3 SHOWS THE ALLOCATION OF HOSPITAL RESOURCES BY REGION.
(CHART 3: HOSPITAL RESOURCES)
USING THE 1992-93 FIGURES, WHICH ARE THE LATEST AVAILABLE FROM
THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH, THE BUDGET ALLOCATION TO THE SEVENTEEN
DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL AND YORK HOSPITALS WAS $695 MILLION. FOR THE
METRO HOSPITALS, THE ALLOCATION WAS TWO BILLION, FOUR HUNDRED AND
FORTY-SIX MILLION. THATS MORE THAN THREE-QUARTERS OF THE MONEY FOR
ONE HALF OF THE POPULATION, AND LESS THAN ONE-QUARTER FOR THE OTHER
HALF.
3
ON A PER CAPITA BASIS, CHART 4 SHOWS THE DIFFERENTIAL.
(CHART 4: PER CAPITA HOSPITAL COSTS)
WHILE THE AVERAGE PER CAPITA ALLOCATION ACROSS THE PROVINCE IS
$705, IT IS $1,137 IN METRO BUT ONLY $303 TO $429 IN DURHAM, HALTON, PEEL
AND YORK. THIS COMPARISON IS NOW WORSE THREE YEARS LATER WITH
POPULATION INCREASES CONTINUING WHILE BUDGETS REMAIN FLATLINED.
SOME PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY IN METRO, HAVE QUESTIONED THIS CHART
SUGGESTING THAT PATIENTS CHOOSE TOGO TO METRO HOSPITALS; THAT THERE
ARE ECONOMIES OF SCALE; AND, THAT THE TEACHING HOSPITALS COST MORE
MONEY. EVEN IF YOU ADJUST FOR THESE FACTORS, HOWEVER, THE INEQUITY
REMAINS SIGNIFICANT.
MOREOVER, THE REDUCED INFLOW OF PATIENTS INTO METRO UPON THE
OPENING OF THE MARKHAM AND CREDIT VALLEY HOSPITALS, AND ALSO THE
EXPANSION AT THE AJAX AND PICKERING HOSPITAL DEMONSTRATES THAT
PEOPLE DO WANT SERVICES CLOSER TO HOME. AND, THOSE SERVICES HAVE
ECONOMIES OF PROXIMITY.
IN FACT, AN ADVANTAGE THE HOSPITALS IN THE HIGH GROWTH AREAS
OFFER IS GREATER EFFICIENCY. LONG BEFORE THE CURRENT CHALLENGE OF
DOING MORE WITH LESS, WE HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY CONSCIOUS OF THE NEED
TO PROVIDE QUALITY CARE AT THE LOWEST POSSIBLE COST. WE HAVE HAD TO
DO MORE WITH LESS FOR MANY YEARS--AND, AS A RESULT WE COMPARE VERY
FAVORABLY ON THE STANDARD MEASURES OF HOSPITAL EFFICIENCY, DESPITE
OUR LOWER THAN AVERAGE PER CAPITA FUNDING ALLOCATIONS.
WE BELIEVE IT IS TIME FOR MORE EQUITABLE FUNDING. THE
CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF THE GROWING DISPARITY ARE BECOMING ADVERSE
FOR PATIENTS:
INPATIENTS IN THE HALLS WAITING FOR A BED
CANCER PATIENTS STRUGGLING INTO METRO DAY AFTER DAY FOR
TREATMENT
LONG WAITS AND FREQUENT RESCHEDULING FOR LIMITED DAY
SURGERY FACILITIES
4
WE ARE ENCOURAGED THAT BOTH THE PREMIER AND THE NEW MINISTER
OF HEALTH HAVE RECOGNIZED THE HEALTH CARE UNDERFUNDING ISSUE IN THE
HIGH-GROWTH POPULATION AREAS. WE HOPE THAT THE REPORT ON METRO
HOSPITAL RESTRUCTURING EXPECTED LATER THIS MONTH ALSO WILL
RECOGNIZE THE NEED FOR EQUITABLE FUNDING. OUR HOSPITAL GROUP IS NOW
DEVELOPING A PROPOSAL FOR THE MINISTERS CONSIDERATION TO IMPLEMENT
EQUITABLE FUNDING FOR ALL RESIDENTS OF THE GTA.
IN CONCLUDING, MADAM CHAIR, I WANT TO RETURN TO WHERE I BEGAN.
YOUR INTEREST IN, AND SUPPORT OF, HOSPITALS HAS BEEN VERY IMPORTANT
AND WILL BE VITAL IN THE MIDST OF THE DEBATE ABOUT CHANGES IN THE GTA.
FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT HAPPENS TO BOUNDARIES, TO SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES,
OR TO DECISION-MAKING JURISDICTIONS, COULD SIGNIFICANTLY HELP OR
HINDER THE PLANNING AND DELIVERY OF HEALTH CARE SERVICES.
WITH THE POPULATION GROWTH THAT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WELL
INTO THE FUTURE, WE NEED TO PROVIDE FOR PEOPLES NEEDS. JUST AS LOCAL
PLANNING MUST INCLUDE SCHOOL REQUIREMENTS, WE BELIEVE HOSPITAL
REQUIREMENTS SHOULD ALSO BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT. SO, WE ASK THAT
YOU REMEMBER US IN THE MIDST OF THIS HISTORIC DEBATE ABOUT THE GTA.
ON THE ISSUE OF HOSPITAL FUNDING WHICH WE ARE HIGHLIGHTING
TODAY, WHAT WE ARE SEEKING IS YOUR SUPPORT OF AN EQUITABLE FUNDING
POLICY FOR HOSPITALS TO BENEFIT THE RESIDENTS IN ALL THE AREAS YOU ARE
ELECTED TO REPRESENT. THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL AS WE PURSUE THE
ISSUE WITH THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT.
THANK YOU FOR HEARING OUR PRESENTATION. WE WOULD BE PLEASED
TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
James Armstrong, Director, Hospital Council of Durham Region
Suite 4027, 580 Harwood Avenue South, Ajax, LIS 2J4
Telephone: 905-683-4943 Fax: 905-683-6453
Chart 1: GTA POPULATION: 1961-2031
Regional Distribution: Office of GTA
8
6
4
2
0
1961 1971 1981 1991 2001 2011 2021 2031
CHART 2: GROWTH RATES
20%
o
0/0
METRO
DURHAM
HALTON
PEEL
YORK
CHART 3- HOSP I TAL RESOURCES
1992-93 ANNUAL OPERATING
BUDGET ALLOCATION
$2,446,495,000 78%
$167,327,000
$126,001,000
$257,624,000
$144,413,000
$ 695,383,000 22%
SOURCE: MINISTRY OF HEALTH
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
r
Source: Ministry of Health, 1992-93
SUBMISSION TO THE
On Behalf Of:
Four Seasons Regent Hotels and Resorts
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C. and Forte-King Edward Hotel Ltd.
Caesar Park Hotel Investment Inc.
Prepared by:
Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
September 27,1995
27 September 1995
Chair and Members
Toronto, Ontario
M5G IE6
RE: JOINT SUBMISSION TO GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE WITH RESPECT TO
THE OVERASSESSMENT AND EXCESSIVE PROPERTY TAXATION OF HOTELS IN TORONTO
Dear Task Force Chair and Members:
Please find enclosed, our written submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force in connection with the
longstanding overassessment and excessive property taxation of hotels in Toronto. As testimony to the
seriousness which we attach to this issue as owners of hotels in Toronto, the enclosed document is a joint
submission prepared by Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc. on behalf of the following companies and hotels:
Four Seasons Regent Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Yorkville
C.N. Real Estate Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Toronto Centre
Forte PLC King Edward Hotel
Caesar Park Hotel Investment Inc. Westin Harbour Castle Hotel
Hilton International Hotel
Our objective in making this submission is to ensure that the Task Force Chair and Members are fully aware
of the excessive property tax burdens faced by Toronto hotels and the perspectives of hotel owners that there
is a need for immediate government action on this issue for the 1996 taxation year. In this regard,
expressions of concern from Senior Executives of the submitting companies are provided in Appendix 1.
With respect to its contents, we would advise the Task Force that this submission contains actual financial
information on the operating results of the participating hotels from 1988 to 1994. This information has been
provided by the submitting hotel owners to enable the Task Force Chair and Members to gain an insight into
the very real severity of the problem, which if left unaddressed, is a serious threat not only to the hotels
themselves, but also to the competitiveness and economic health of Metros entire tourism,
Chair and Members
27 September 1995
Page 2
convention and travel industry. The financial data provided are presented in composite form, however given
the sensitivity of this information, we would request that it be treated with the utmost confidentiality by Task
Force members.
We appreciate the opportunity to make this submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force. Should the
Task Force have any questions or require further information, please do not hestitate to contact Mr. David
Larone or Mr. Bruce Morgan at Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc. at 416-360-5000.
Yours very truly,
Four Seasons Regent Hotels and Resorts, Four Seasons Yorkville Hotel
C.N. Real Estate, Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel Toronto Centre
Forte PLC, King Edward Hotel
Caesar Park Hotel Investment Inc., Westin Harbour Castle Hotel and Hilton International Hotel
TABLEOFCONTENTS
Page
Letters of Transmittal
THE SUBMISSION
I
II
Ill
Iv
v
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
The Source of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Required Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The Risk of lnaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
I individual LettersTo The Task Force From The Submitting Companies
Ii Source ofthe Problem: Technical Perspectives
Ill Ontario FairTaxCommission Excerpt
IV City of Toronto Resolution
I INTRODUCTION
Metropolitan Toronto and the City of Toronto in particular, has long been recognized as having amongst the
highest hotel property taxes of any jurisdiction in North America. While it is acknowledged that many factors
contribute to this situation, a major cause of these high property taxes is that historically, hotels have been
significantly over assessed compared to commercial property generally. This overassessment, which resulted
from administrative practice and was not the intent of assessment legislation, has been identified in Metro
reassessment impact studies since 1975 and represents a fundamental inequity in the assessment of hotels
in Metropolitan Toronto. The level of assessment for hotels in the City of Toronto is currently acknowledged
to be 8.2% of 1988 market value compared to level of assessment for downtown commercial properties of
4.5%.
However, the high level of property taxation on hotels is far from being just a technical assessment issue. The
repeated failure of assessment authorities to correct this inequity (despite admitting that it exists) has serious
real world economic implications that extend far beyond the artificial world of assessment. Excessive
property tax burdens have, for many years, been the greatest impediment to achieving profitability in Torontos
hotel industry. Unless reduced to reasonable levels immediately, unfair and excessive property taxes will keep
the hotel industry in a financial position from which it will never recover. This represents a serious threat not only
to the hotels themselves, but also to the competitiveness and economic health of Metropolitan Torontos entire
tourism, convention and travel industry.
In recognition of this near crisis situation, Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc. was retained by the owners of
five major downtown Toronto hotels to prepare this joint submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
The purpose of the submission is to ensure that the Task Force is fully aware of the unfair and excessive
property taxes faced by Toronto hotels and the perspectives of local hotel owners that there is a need for
immediate government action on this issue for the 1996 taxation year. This submission was prepared on
behalf of the following corporations:
CORPORATION HOTEL PROPERTIES
Four Seasons Regent Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Yorkville
C.N. Real Estate Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Toronto Centre
Forte P.L.C. King Edward Hotel
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel
Hilton International Hotel
Submission to the Greater Ioronto Area Task Force On Behalf of: prepared by: Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc..
Four Seasons Regent IIotels and Resorts
C.N. Real Esatate
Forte P.L.C.
2
II THE PROBLEM
+ Hotels Require A Lot of Real Estate, Are Diverse Operations And Are Labour Intensive
From both business operations and real estate perspectives, the hotel industry exhibits many characteristics
that distinguish it from other forms of commercial business and real estate. Unlike office buildings, hotels often
include large areas of non-revenue or marginal revenue generating spaces (lobbies, restaurants, meeting
rooms, recreational facilities) which, while necessary from a competitive standpoint, may not directly support
their costs of operation. In fact, food and beverage revenues have been declining in absolute terms since 1985.
Hotel guest rooms are available and must be rented individually 365 nights per year, as opposed to lease
situations where a tenant contracts to occupy space for longer terms. In order to sell rooms, hotels must offer
a package of guest services and amenities which necessitates multi-department operations. Because hotels
are service oriented, they are also extremely Iabour intensive and as a result, payroll costs are typically the
largest single operating expense for a hotel.
+ The Hotel Industry Is Extremely Price Competitive But Requires Significant Annual
Expenditures Regardless Of Income
The hotel industry is extremely competitive with Toronto hotels competing not only amongst themselves, but
also with hotels located in cities throughout the G. T. A., Canada and North America for business, meeting,
conference, convention, and leisure travelers. Previous studies have shown that hotel property taxes in
Metropolitan Toronto are two to three times those on hotels in the adjacent G.T.A. municipalities of Markham
and Mississauga. In a national context, property tax burdens on Metro hotels are approximately 30% higher than
Montreal and 50% above those of Vancouver properties. Relative to competitive urban destinations in the United
States, hotel properly taxes in Metro rival those of New York City, are marginally above those of Chicago and
are significantly above tax loads experienced by any other major U.S. city.
At the local level, daily competition among hotels within Toronto restricts the prices that can be charged for
rooms and has an enormous effect on a hotels ability to raise rates over a period of time. At Canadian and
North American levels, the hotel industry is also a critical component of Metropolitan Torontos tourism,
convention and travel industry. This role as a central service provider within one of Metros largest current and
future segments of economic activity, requires that hotel owners make significant recurring annual expenditures
in order to maintain the quality and condition of the product. These expenditures provide a basis for effective
local competition and also allow Metro Toronto to continue to compete with other urban tourism destinations
throughout Canada and North America.
Submission t o t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea Task For ce On Behalf of:
Prepared by: Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
+ The Myth
While a great deal has been said in assessment/properly taxation circles regarding recent declines in the
market values of real property, it is generally acknowledged that the years leading up to 1988 represented the
peak of the hotel market in Metropolitan Toronto. With annual occupancy levels in the 75% range and
increasing average daily rates and total revenues, the perception has always been that hotels in Toronto were
very profitable enterprises during this period. The reality of the situation however was quite different.
+ Hotels In Toronto Dont Make Money: Hotels In Toronto Have Not Made Money In 15 Years
Exhibit I summarizes the combined financial results and property tax burdens for the five City of Toronto hotel
properties making this submission for the period 1988 to 1994. Contrary to the popular myth, this information
clearly shows that even at the peak of the market, hotels were not achieving sufficient cash flow to pay
property taxes, maintain the quality of the asset and provide a reasonable return on investment to the
hotel owners. Focussing strictly on 1988 for the moment, Exhibit I shows that after reflecting a true reserve
for capital replacement (9.0% of total revenues according to Cap Ex, a 1995 survey of capital expenditures in
the hotel industry prepared by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants, income available for debt
service (after paying property taxes) was approximately $5,500 per room at the peak of the market. Assuming
the replacement cost of the submitting hotels in 1988 to be conservatively $150,000 per room, and more
realistically $175,000 per room, it is apparent that the return on investment to the owner was at best 3.7%. If
this was the peak of the market, it is safe to say that returns were lower during the earlier part of the 1980s.
As this simple example shows, the submitting hotel properties did not make money even at the peak of the
market.
In hindsight, we now know that what subsequently happened was that the economic recession and associated
declines in revenues and net incomes have totally wiped out owners returns on their investments, and put the
hotels even further behind in relation to uncontrollable fixed costs such as property (realty and business)
taxes. Consider the following dimensions of this situation for the submitting hotels as summarized in Exhibit
1.
1.
*
Income before property taxes declined by 70% from 1988 to 1992. While the past two years have
seen some improvement, current income levels are 40% below those achieved in 1988.
*
Property taxes increased by 31% over the same period (1988 to 1992). In 1988, property taxes
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force On Behalf of: Prepared by: Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P. L..C.
Caesar Park Hotcl Investment Inc.
4
exceeded income available before property taxes and debt service
+ Market Values Have Been Grossly Overstated: Taxes Do Not Relate To Real Cash Flows And Value
The conclusion to be derived from Exhibit 1 is that while hotels continue to accumulate annual losses and are
essentially uneconomic enterprises, the City and Metro levels of government and Boards of Education
continue to extract property taxes from these hotels as though they had value and the ability to pay these taxes.
+ The Bigger Myth: Everything Will Be Okay If We Ignore The Problem
It is a long held premise in the assessment of hotels for realty and business tax purposes in Toronto, that the
hotel market is cyclical, moving up and down over time in a regular and recurring cycle. In response to the
declining hotel market conditions, revenues and incomes experienced over the last few years, the assessment
authorities would predictably respond that given time, the hotels performance will recover to income and value
levels that support the current tax assessments.
+ Hotels Cannot Grow Their Way Out Of The Problem
With respect to this view that the solution to the hotel property tax problem involves nothing more than waiting
for the return of a more positive business cycle, we have two serious concerns. First, as previously discussed,
even at the peak of the market in 1988, the submitting hotels as illustrated in Exhibit I were not supporting
reasonable replacement costs off their cash flows and were achieving at best, poor returns on their owners
investments. Second and most important, based upon our knowledge of hotel markets and operations in
Metropolitan Toronto, we do not believe that the hotel industry is in a position from which it can reasonably be
expected to active significant recovery even by the year 2000. In this regard, Exhibit II provides a projection of
consolidated financial results for the submitting hotels to the year 2000. It shows that in order to return to and
marginally exceed pre-recession levels of income available for debt service, the submitting hotels would have
to achieve 150/. annual compound growth rates in net income in each of the next 5 to 6 years (levels of growth
which have never been achieved by Toronto hotels on a sustained basis). However, even at this aggressive
pace and assuming property tax increases of only 3% per year, Exhibit II shows that submitting hotel owners
would experience no better than the poor returns they did in 1988. Clearly, notwithstanding general perceptions
that the hotel industry in Toronto is recovering because occupancy rates in 1994 and 1995 are approaching
pre-recession levels, hotels in reality face a continuing financial crisis. As Exhibit II shows, even if hotels do
everything right and achieve unprecedented growth in incomes over the next five to six years, they will be
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force On Behalf of: Prepared by: Panell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
5
everything right and achieve unprecedented growth in incomes over the next five to six years, they will be
fortunate to achieve even the unacceptable returns of seven years ago. This analysis ignores the prospect of
another economic downturn during this time frame, which according to Conference Board of Canada forecasts
could possibly occur by 1997.
B The City of Toronto, Metro and The Boards of Education Make More Money Off Hotels Than the
Owners Of These Properties Do
Exhibit Ill summarizes accumulated 1988 to 1994 financial results for the submitting hotels. It shows that after
reflecting a true reserve for capital replacement ( 9.0?40 of total revenue as per CapEx, the 1995 study by the
International Society of Hospitality Consultants), the submitting hotel owners accumulated income available
for debt service totalling $16.8 million over the 1988 to 1994 period. At the same time, the hotel owners paid
total realty and business taxes of $123.7 million, made estimated capital expenditures (necessary to protect
the quality of the hotel assets) of $95.4 million, and paid wages, salaries and benefits to employees of
approximately $398 million.
+ The Unfair Overassessment of Hotels Cost The Submitting Hotel Owners $55.8 million In Excess
Property Taxes From 1988 to 1994.
As shown in Exhibit IV, the submitting hotels assessed at the 8.2% of 1988 market value hotel level paid
property taxes totalling $123.7 million over the 1988 to 1994 period. If these hotels had been assessed at the
same level as office buildings (4.5% of 1988 market value), property taxes would have been only $67.9 million.
Therefore, continuing inaction by assessment authorities and governments cost the submitting hotels
approximately $55.8 million from 1988 to 1994.
B The Situation Is Not Sustainable And Cannot Continue
Given the very real prospects for continued losses or at best poor returns, and the history of government
inaction on the hotel assessment issue, it is unrealistic to expect owners to continue to put money into their hotel
properties in Toronto. In fact, many owners have already made decisions to suspend capital expenditures on
their hotel properties in Toronto. These decisions, while completely rational and defensible from an owners
perspective, have serious negative implications for the competitiveness and economic health of Torontos entire
tourism, convention and travel industry in the years ahead.
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force On Behalf of:
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P. L..C.
Exhibit I
I
$12
$10
$8
$0
($2)
($4)
6
lll THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM
While the economic recession brought the issue of hotel taxation to the forefront of discussion, economic
conditions are not the source of the problem. The source of the problem is that hotels have historically as a
group, been significantly over assessed compared to commercial property generally. This situation has been
identified in Metro reassessment studies since 1975, including the most recent impact study based on 1988
market values which indicated that hotels in Metro are assessed at almost twice the level of commercial
property generally. (8.2% vs. 4.5%).
+ Root of Excessive Hotel Property Taxation Appears Accidental, And Not Intended by Assessment
Legislation
How did the hotel industry in Metropolitan Toronto come to find itself in this position? For a more technical
explanation, the reader is referred to Appendix Il. In laymans terms however, the answer is that this seems
to have occurred accidentally. We do not believe that it was intended by the Province or the Municipalities to
assess, and therefore tax, hotels at separate and higher levels. The opposite was clearly the original intention
of the Province of Ontario.
In 1970, the Province assumed the responsibility of assessment from municipalities throughout Ontario. The
purpose was to re-assess all properties in Ontario at market value. Soon after takeover, it was recognized that
there was a danger of large tax shifts from one class of property to another. More specifically, there was
concern over large tax shifts from the multi-residential sector to the single-family residential sector.
In order to prevent tax shifts while market value studies were being prepared, a temporary amendment to _The
Assessment Act provided that assessments were not to be reduced by the Assessment Review Board or the
Ontario Municipal Board unless it could be proved that the assessment was inequitable when compared to
similar real property in the vicinity. Although this was intended to be a temporary provision, it was interpreted
by the courts to be of a permanent nature even in municipalities that were re-assessed. The Assessment Act
itself was eventually amended in 1986, recognizing the permanent nature of this requirement.
In the earliest appeals against the assessment of hotels, legal counsel and witnesses accepted that similar
real property in the vicinity restricted hotels to a comparison of one to another. It has evolved into a situation
whereby, in order to be successful, a hotel must prove that it is over-taxed more than other hotels are over-
taxed. Since this provision remains operative even after a re-assessment programme, the only opportunity to
Submission to the (k-eater Toronto Area Task Force On Behalf of:
C.N, Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
7
readdress high levels of taxation for the hotel industry is by way of re-assessment to the general commercial
level. This has occurred with various base years throughout Ontario, and Metropolitan Toronto remains the
outstanding exception.
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
IV THE REQUIRED ACTION
+ Comprehensive Market Value Reassessment is Required in Metropolitan Toronto
it is our strong belief that a comprehensive market value reassessment of all real property in Metropolitan
Toronto to a more current base year is long overdue and should be implemented as soon as possible. Once
implemented, it should be mandatory that the new assessment base is subsequently updated on a regular
cycle of three to four years maximum. The ability of elected local and regional political councils to delay or
reject updated reassessment bases must be removed.
In our opinion, an assessment cycle longer than four years lacks the ability to respond to changing
market/ieconomic conditions, particularly for properties in a highly competitive industry such as hotels. If
administratively practical, an even shorter assessment cycle would be better as it would permit assessed values
and the property taxes that are levied on them, to be more sensitive to changes to real estate and business
values.
Comprehensive reassessment in Metropolitan Toronto must be implemented without the types of caps and
clawbacks that were part of the last reassessment effort (for 1993 taxation). While tax phase-ins could be
considered to ease the transition to a new base year, all classes of real property must be reassessed and taxed,
so that they bear a reasonable share of taxation burden relative to their share of the total assessment base.
+ Hotels Can Not Wait For A Comprehensive Reassessment: As An interim Step, Hotels Need
immediate Property Tax Relief
While we believe that a comprehensive reassessment of all real property within Metropolitan Toronto is
required, this process will reasonably take at least 18 months to complete meaning the earliest possible year
for implementation would likely be 1998. The hotel industry cannot wait that long and requires the immediate
and just property tax relief that would result from having assessments reduced to levels of 1988 market value
that are more equitable with those of commercial property generally.
The present and long-standing overassessment of hotels compared to commercial property does not require
further study. It has been well documented in many government reassessment impact studies since 1970. The
overassessment/unfair taxation of hotels has been specifically recognized in the 1993 report of the Ontario Fair
Tax Commission (see Appendix Ill). In recent years, the City of Toronto has also requested that Provincial
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
9
Assessment authorities rectify the situation (see Appendix IV). Notwithstanding, over the past three years, the
Provincial assessment bureaucracy has chosen to adopt The Bigger Myth as described in this submission,
that Everything Will Be Okay If We Ignore The Problem.
+ Regional Assessment Commissioners in Metropolitan Toronto Should be Directed To Reduce Hotel
Assessments for 1996 Taxation
As an immediate measure to reduce the excessive property tax burdens of hotels and in an effort to stem the
serious negative impacts of this situation on the entire tourism, convention and travel industry, Regional
Assessment Commissioners in Metropolitan Toronto should be directed to reduce current assessments on
hotel properties to levels of 1988 market value similar to those exhibited by other types of commercial
properties such as oftice buildings. This redress should occur for the annual assessment roll to be returned
for taxation beginning January 1, 1996.
+ This Action Does Not Require Any Legislative Change: Regional Assessment Commissioners
Have Always Had the Power To Do It
As this submission has clearly explained, this immediate action is critical. However, contrary to what the
Provincial assessment bureaucracy purports, the means to correct the inequity is readily available. Regional
Assessment Commissioners already have the power under the Assessment Act to do it.
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force on Behalf of:
Prepared by: Pamell Ken Forster Consulting Inc.
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P, L,.C.
10
V THE RISK OF INACTION
For over 20 years, hotels in Toronto have been treated in an unfair and inequitable manner with respect to how
they are assessed for property tax purposes compared to other types of commercial property. For over 20
years, hotels in Toronto have been waiting for Provincial Assessment authorities and governments to correct
this unfair treatment either in isolation or as part of a comprehensive reassessment. As we believe this
submission clearly shows, hotels cannot afford to wait any longer and should not have to wait any longer.
Notwithstanding any other recommendations which the Greater Toronto Area Task Force may make regarding
the need for reassessment in Metropolitan Toronto or other broader-based assessment reform issues, Regional
Assessment Commissioners must be directed to reduce current assessments on hotel properties to levels of
1988 market value similar to those exhibited by other types of commercial properties such as office buildings.
This redress should occur for the annual assessment roll to be returned for taxation beginning January 1,1996.
In the absence of an immediate reduction in hotel property tax burdens in this manner, hotels will continue to
face the unsustainable situation where property taxes dwarf property owners income available for debt service.
+ Property Taxes Have Been a Significant Contributor To Hotel Receiverships: Continued Inaction
Will Entrench This Situation For Several More Years
Unless corrected, continued inequitable levels of assessment and resulting high property tax burdens, will
continue to be a significant contributor to the high incidence of tax arrears and receiverships amongst hotels.
It is important not to be fooled by the mirage of improved occupancy rates in 1994 and 1995. Hotels in Toronto
face severe financial challenges today, and the inability to pay property taxes out of operating incomes remains
the most serious roadblock to real recovery.
+ Hotel Owners Will Significantly Reduce or Completely Stop Capital investments in their Properties:
This Will Not Only Hurt Hotels But Metros Entire Convention, Tourism and Travel Industry.
Property taxes are essentially non-controllable fixed costs for the hotel owner. With little or no ability to affect
this expense item, the only possible response for an owner is to reduce annual repair and maintenance
expenditures to absolute minimum required levels, and to reduce or stop making capital expenditures. This
unfortunate but entirely defensible response, represents a threat not only to the hotels themselves but also to
the competitiveness and economic health of Metro Torontos entire tourism and convention industry. Without
immediate action, the natural evolution (signs of which are already evident) will be functional obsolescence,
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force On Behalf of: Prepared by: Panell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
C.N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
11
room closures and job losses
According to an August 1994 study prepared by Price Waterhouse, the direct and indirect value of hotel
expenditures to the Metro economy was estimated to total $1.1 billion annually. Industry wide capital
expenditures in the last five years were in excess of $580 million. The total hotel Iabour force was 15,800
persons, with total annual Iabour/payroll expenditures of $404.3 million. Surely an industry which makes such
significant contributions to Metros economy is worthy of no less than fair and equitable treatment.
+ Inaction Reinforces The Widely Held Negative View That Excessive Property Tax Burdens Area
Serious Constraint to lnvestment/Re-lnvestment in Toronto Hotels
From the perspective of both new investment and re-investment in the hotel industry, continued inaction will only
reinforce the already well established business view that hotel investment in Metropolitan Toronto is severely
constrained under the current property tax regime. In this regard, it is important to note that the hotel
companies making this submission to the Task Force own and operate hotel properties across Canada, North
America and around the world. These companies provide a global perspective on the competitive strengths
and weaknesses associated with owning and operating hotel businesses in Toronto. They are unanimous in
their view that the current high property taxes threaten the viability of the hotel industry in Toronto, and its ability
to make positive and sustainable contributions to Metros economy.
+ All We Are Asking Is To Be Treated Fairly
The reassessment of hotels to a level that is equitable with that of commercial property is not a panacea for
all the economic problems facing Torontos hotel industry. It is however an essential and long overdue action
in the application of fairness and equity. Something must be done now.
Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force on Behalf of: Prepared by: Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
C. N. Real Estate
Forte P.L.C.
APPENDIX I
INDIVIDUAL LETTERS TO TASK FORCE
FROM:
September 26, 1995
Chair and Members
393 University Avenue, 20th floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: Joint Submission to Greater Toronto Area Task Force with Respect to the
Overassessment and excessive Property Taxation of Hotels in Toronto
On behalf of Four Seasons Hotels Limited and the Four Seasons Hotel Yorkville, please
accept the enclosed written submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force in connection
with the longstanding overassessment and excessive property taxation of hotels in Toronto.
As noted in the previous joint letter of transmittal, this submission has been prepared on
behalf of Four Seasons in conjunction with a group of other Toronto hotel owners who
share our grave concern with this issue and continuing inaction to correct it.
As our submission notes, Metropolitan Toronto and the City of Toronto in particular, has
long been recognized as having amongst the highest hotel property taxes of any jurisdiction
in North America. These excessive property tax levels have for many years been the greatest
single impediment to achieving profitability in Torontos hotel industry. Unless reduced to
reasonable levels immediately, unfairly based an excessive property taxes will keep the
industry in a financial position from which it will never recover. This represents a serious
threat not only to the hotel, but also to the competitiveness and economic health of
Metropolitan Torontos entire tourism, convention and travel industry.
Page two
We ask that the Task Force give serious consideration to our comments and
recommendations, and we eagerly await the outcome of its review process and
recommendations.
Yours very truly,
Douglas L. Ludwig
1100
1
rue University
6
e
etage
Montreal (Quebec)
H3B 3A5
514/399-4497
Telecopier: 5I4I399-881O
Erhard Buchholz
President
September 26, 1995
1100 University Street
Floor 6
Montreal, Quebec
H3B 3A5
514/399-4497
Telecopier:514/399-8810
President
Chair and Members
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: Joint Submission to Greater Toronto Area Task Force with Respect to
The Overassessment and Excessive Property Taxation of Hotels in Toronto
On behalf of CN Real Estate and the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Hotel, please accept the
enclosed written submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force in connection with the
issue of overassessment and excessive property taxation of hotels in Toronto. As noted in
the previous joint letter of transmittal, this submission has been prepared on behalf of CN
Real Estate in conjunction with a group of other Toronto hotel owners who share our grave
concern with this issue and continuing inaction to correct it.
in North America. These excessive property tax levels have for many years been the
greatest single impediment to achieving profitability in Torontos hotel industry. Unless
immediately reduced to reasonable levels, unfairly-based and excessive property taxes will
keep the industry in a financial position from which it will never recover. This represents
a serious threat not only to hotels, but also to the competitiveness and economic health of
Metropolitan Torontos entire tourism convention and travel industry.
We respectfully request that the Task Force give serious consideration to our comments and
recommendations.
Yours very truly,
THE KING EDWARD
TORONTO
September 26, 1995
Chair and Members
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: JOINT SUBMISSION TO GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE WITH
RESPECT TO THE OVERASSESSMENT AND EXCESSIVE PROPERTY
TAXATION OF HOTELS IN TORONTO
On behalf of Forte PLC and Forte-King Edward Ltd (o/a The King Edward Hotel),
please accept the enclosed written submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force in
connection with the longstanding overassessment and excessive property taxation of hotels in
Toronto. As noted in the previous joint letter of transmittal, this submission has been
prepared on behalf of Forte PLC in conjunction with a group of other Toronto hotel
owners who share our grave concern with this issue and continuing inaction to correct it.
in North America. These excessive property tax levels have for many years been the
greatest single impediment to achieving profitability in Torontos hotel industry. Unless
reduced to reasonable levels immediately, unfairly based and excessive property taxes will
keep the industry in a financial position from which it will never recover. This represents a
serious threat not only to the hotels, but also to the competitiveness and economic health of
Metropolitan Torontos entire tourism, convention and travel industry.
We ask that the Task Force give serious consideration to our comments and
recommendations.
Yours sincerely,
28 September 1995
Chair and Members
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
RE: JOINT SUBMISSION TO GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE WITH
RESPECT TO THE OVERASSESSMENT AND EXCESSIVE PROPERTY
TAXATION OF HOTELS IN TORONTO
On behalf of Aoki Corporation (Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts, Inc.), the Westin Harbour
Castle Hotel and the Hilton International Hotel, please accept the enclosed written submission to
the Greater Toronto Area Task Force in connection with the long-standing overassessment and
excessive property taxation of hotels in Toronto. As noted in the previous joint letter of
transmittal, this submission has been prepared on behalf of Aoki Corporation (Caesar Park
Hotels & Resorts, Inc.) in conjunction with a group of other Toronto hotel owners who share
our grave concern with this issue and continuing inaction to correct it.
As our submission notes, Metropolitan Toronto and the City of Toronto in particular, have long
been recognized as having amongst the highest hotel property taxes of any jurisdiction in North
America. These excessive property tax levels have for many years been the greatest single
impediment to achieving profitability in Torontos hotel industry. Unless reduced to reasonable
levels immediately, unfairly based and excessive property taxes will keep the industry in a
financial position from which it will never recover. This represents a serious threat not only to
the hotels, but also to the competitiveness and economic health of Metropolitan Torontos entire
tourism, convention and travel industry.
We ask that the Task Force give serious consideration to our comments and recommendations,
and we eagerly await the outcome of its review process and recommendations.
Yours very truly,
The Westin Building, 2001 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98121 Tel: 206-443-6568 Fax: (206) 443-8979
APPENDIX II
SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM:
TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVES
Historical Differences in Level
The most recent valuations of hotels, as with other types of commercial property, are based on 1988 valuations.
The Regional Assessment Oftlce, in very recent studies, confirms that the level of assessment on downtown
hotels is 8.2%. It is also conceded that the level of assessment existing on downtown office buildings is either
at 4.5%, or subject to adjustment on an appeal to 4.5% of 1988 market value.
it should be emphasized that this dichotomy does not suddenly appear with the Impact Study for the aborted
1993 reassessment programme. The difference in levels of assessment has been recognized in previous
studies conducted in 1984 and in 1980. There were also previous studies for aborted reassessment
programmed conducted to base years 1978, 1975, and 1972. A differential is recognized as early as 1980.
The 1984 study indicated an approximate level of assessment for hotels at 11 .4% compared to a general level
of assessment of commercial offices in the downtown core at approximately 6%..
Relative to these levels, it is not an overstatement that hotels in the City of Toronto have paid a disproportionate
share of commercial taxes by hundreds of millions of dollars in this period.
Primary Reason
It is clear that this situation was not intended by either the Legislature, or the City. It is recognized by assessors
that the inequity is the result of historical accident. There was never any design or policy to continually maintain
this dichotomy. The differential in levels was always considered to be temporary, pending reassessment. To
understand the reason for what in effect has become a permanent inequity, it is necessary to examine the
evolution of the Assessment Act. This can be summarized by quoting from the affidavit of a senior assessment
official filed with the court on an assessment appeal:
Prior to 1970 the assessment function was the responsibility of each
municipality. In the early 1960s however, there was a general concern with
the then existing system of municipal assessmert. In response to this
concern, the Government of Ontario commissioned the Smith Committee
(the Ontario Committee on Taxation) to investigate municipal taxation reform.
Its report, published in 1967, identified certain problems in the existing
system. It was decided in 1969 that these problems were sufficiently serious
to justify Provincial assumption of the assessment function.
On January 1, 1970, the Province of Ontario assumed responsibility for the
property assessment function with the following objects:
(a) the application of Uniform standards of assessment
throughout Ontario;
(b) the reassessment of all properties in Ontario at
current market value: and
(c) the maintenance of market value assessment of
properties in Ontario on an ongoing basis.
It was understood at the outset that these policy objectives were to be
implemented over time, so that until realized, there would be a period of
transition. In order to allow for, (a) the maintenance of the financial stability
of existing municipal tax bases; and (b) to avoid disruptive tax shifts within and
between classes of property, during this period, the Assessment Amendment
Act of 1971 was enacted as transitional legislation. In that regard, the&t
introduced two material provisions. The first, now Section 62, maintained
assessments in Ontario as set out on the 1970 assessment foil for the years
1971 to 1974. The second, now Section 65(l), directed the tribunals and
courts, in determining the fairness of an assessment, to have reference only
to the assessment of similar real property in the vicinity.
...ln allowing appeals to be determined by comparison to similar real property
in the vicinity, the transitional process was established in a manner which was
consistent with its objectives namely, the maintenance of the financial
stability of the then existing tax base of Ontarios municipalities and the
avoidance of disruptive tax shifts within and between classes of property.
Expressed in another way, it allowed for the essential maintenance of the
status quo during this transitional period at the same time that it allowed for
the adjustment of the more serious assessment inequitities which had been
inherited by the Province when it assumed the assessment function in 1970.
This affidavit material goes onto explain that the original intention to assess all properties at 100% market value
was subsequently modified by an amendment that permitted market value reassessment by property class
within a municipality. All properties are assessed at a percentage of their market value reflecting the historical
level of assessment to market value each of the five major property classes, being commercial, residential,
apartments, industrial, and farm, This was the kind of reassessment programme envisioned for Metro that has
never taken place.
This kind of reassessment programme has, however, taken place in Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Windsor,
Mississauga, Oakville, Burlington and so on. This therefore, is the primary reason why hotels in the City of
Toronto continue to be disproportionately assessed. In Ottawa, for example, hotels have been reassessed at
the same level of assessment as commercial properties on base years 1975, updated to 1980, and for taxation
in 1993, updated to 1988. London, in three reassessment cycles, equalized hotels with other commercial
properties on 1975, 1980 and 1992 base years.
Transitional Provision Becomes Permanent
The requirement to show an inequity compared to similar real property in the vicinity was originally intended to
protect against shifts between or among the major classes of property (ie. commercial, industrial, residential,
and apartments). Court decisions held that the requirement to compare to similar real property in the vicinity
continued after a reassessment programme into classes. In 1986, the Assessment Act was amended to repeal
the section that stated that this was a temporary provision. The administrative practice has been to compare
hotel assessments to other hotel assessments. In the result, the assessment legislation and the assessment
practice has evolved in such a way that City of Toronto hotels are continually compared one to the other. This
is 25 years after the Province assumed the assessment function with the intention to fairly assess.
Secondary Reasons
Initially, hotels were assessed on the replacement cost approach. This may have been a contributing factor
to overassessment compared to commercial properties. At an Ontario Municipal Board hearing on a major City
of Toronto hotel in 1980, it was held that the method of assessment (ie. cost) was not the determining factor.
The Board held that it must be concerned not by a similar application of technique, and went on to compare
the revenue streams of two other hotels. Thus, even though the comparable had initially been assessed by
cost, a comparison of valuation was restricted to this commercial sub-category. The administrative procedure
of restricting hotels to comparisons among themselves has continued to present time.
In addition, new hotel inventory was assessed byway of substitution. This method of assessment is used by
an assessor when there is insufficient income performance on a new property to measure its value. An
example of this is the assessment of the Crowne Plaza (formerly LHotel). The assessment per room of the
Westin Hotel at 145 Richmond Street was substitutionally applied to this property. There are many examples
of this, and more recently the Marriott hotel was substitutionally assessed by reference to this same property.
When there is sufficient income available, the assessors will value the property, but this assessment practice
has contributed to the high level of assessment.
By the time the Ontario Municipal Board deals with the first major City of Toronto hotel appeal in 1980, the&t
has been amended to give the Regional Assessment Commissioner the right to alter assessments when of the
opinion that they are inequitable when compared to similar real property in the vicinity. The absolute freeze has
been removed. This provision was used to reassess City of Toronto hotels as a specific sub-category. The
effect of this was to fortify the level of assessment on hotels. Certain hotels had their assessments increased,
and older inventory had assessments reduced, recognizing the diminished value. It is fair to say that this
provision has also been used to reassess other sub-categories of property in later years. Moreover, hotel
assessments have historically been closely monitored with respect to major renovations. Major renovation
programmed that were considered to increase market value resulted in new assessments at the prevailing hotel
level of assessment.
These properties are specifically sanctioned by the Assessment Act, and were intended to maintain the status
quo for hotels pending a reassessment programme to the commercial level.
APPENDIX Ill
EXCERPT FROM REPORT OF THE
ONTARIO FAIR TAX COMMISSION
REGARDING HOTEL LEVEL OF ASSESSMENT
Excerpt from Ontario Fair Tax Coremission Report Chapter 29, Page 710:
Because the assessment system must serve as the base for a
pnwincial tax as well as for a local benefits tax, all commercial
and industriaI property in Ontario must be assessed on a uniform
basis.
This uniformity would address two particular problems brought to
our attention. Hotels in Metropolitan Toronto have been assessed
as a separate class of property within the commercial class and
have been subjected to much higher effective rates of tax than
other commercial properties. Hotel operators argue that this
approach to assessment is placing many of them in finacial
difficulty. It is estimated that the property taxes on an average
available room were $4428 in 1991 in Metropolitan Toronto
contrast, income after deducting all expenses, including property
taxes but excluding debt service, was $1,114 per room (Pannel
Kerr Forster 1992, 3, 26). While commercial property in
Metropolitan Tonmto is generally assessed at just over 4 per cent
of market value, hotels are assessed at about 8 per cent. Because
all hotel are assessed at the same rate, and because on appeal a
property owner must prove that his or her property is overassessed
relative to similar real property in the vicinity, assessment appeals
do not resolve this problem. Uniform assessment based on value
in current use would address this concern.
APPENDIX IV
CITY OF TORONTO RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING:
That the Ministry of Revenue be requested to review its
practices and policies of assessing hotels and in particular,
to apply the same level of assessment to hotels as is
currently applied to large office buildings.
City Clerks Department
Office of the Clerk
March 3,1994
Reply
Christine Dodds
Ref: 9407 -004.let
Telephone: (416) 392-7031
Fax: (4 16) 392-6990
TDD: (4 16) 392-7354
The Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto
Ste 220,2560 Matheson Blwd E,
. . .
Mississauga ON L4W 4Y9
Attention; Charles Powell, President
Dear Mr. Powell:
At its meeting on February 28 and March 1, 1994, City Council gave consideration to Clause 4
contained in Report No. 7 of the Executive Committee, titlled Hotel - Taxes.
Council look the folllowing action:
1. Reiterated its request that the Ministry of Finance review its practices and policies of
assessing hotels and, in particular, 10 apply the same level of assessment to hotels as is
cunently applied 10 large office buildings;
2. Extended the process for hotel tax relief, as set out in Executive Committee Report No. 4,
Clause 33, 1993, amended by City Council at its meeting on November 2, 1993, to the 1994
taxation year;
3. Requested that a hotel requesting relief by way of rate reversion to submit to the City Clerk
on or before February 28, 1995, an application for reversion of rates for taxation year 1994,
pursuant section 442 of the Municipal Act;
4. Instructed, that upon receipt of an application from a hotel by the City Clerk pursuant to
section 442 of the Municipoi Act for the reversion of rates from commercial to residential and
upon the hotels compliance with the criteria set out in Executive Commitee Report No. 4,
Clause 33, 1993, as amended by City Council at its meeting on November 2, 1993, the
Commissioner of Finance recommend to the Assessment Review Board a reversion of rates ....
from commercial to residential for the block of rooms closed by the hotel.
- 2 -
Council's action is forwarded to you for your information and any neccessary action.
If you wish to receive a copy of Clause 4, please call 392-7031.
Yours truly,
City Cl
Mcr
iii-
The Honorable Floyd Laughren, Minister of Finance, 7 Queens Park Cres., 7th Floor,
Frost Building South, Toronto M7A 1Y7
Delta Chelsea Inn,Toronto College Park Lid, 777 Bay St, # 1900, Box 108, Toronto M50 2C8,
Attention: Ian Galloway, President
Holiday Inn Dowtown, Singdeer Investment Ltd., Commonwealth Hospitality Ltd, 31 Fasken Drive,
Rexdale M92 1K8, Attention: David Cupta, Controller
Journeys End Downtown, 111 Lombard Street, Toronto M5C 1M2,
Attention: Lise Stuwing General Manager
LHotel, Canadian National Railways, 277 Front Street W, Ste 920, Toronto M5V 2X4,
Attention: Stana Tunkl, Assistant Controller
Marriott Eaton Centre, 525 Bay Street, Toronto M5R 2E8, Attention: Charles Goh, Controller
Park Plaza Hotel, Ardwold Really Investments, 4 Avenue Road, Toronto M5R 2E8,
Attention: Darryl Gray, Controller
Royal York Hotel, 100 Front Street W, Toronto M5J IE3, Attention: J.D. Walmsley, Controller
Sheraton Centre Hotel, City of Toronto, Itt lIndustries of Canada, Sheraton Centre Hotel,
123 Queen St W, Toronto M5H 2M9, Attention: Roman Hryciw, Controller
Sutton Place Hotel, VIP Hotels Limited, Lehndorff Canadian, Lehnodorff Property Management, 360
Bay Street, Toronto M5H 2V6, Attention: Bernard Bictache, Controller
Toronto Hilton International, 145 Richmond Street W, Toronto M5H 3M6, Attention:
Westin Harbour Castle Hotel, 375901 British Columbia Ltd., Harbour Castle Westin,
I Harbour Square, Toronto M5J IA6, atttention: Patrick Murphy, Controller
Days Inn Toronto Downtown, 30 Carlton Street, Toronto M5B 2E9.
Attention: Jonas Vaskas, General Manager
The Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto, Ste 220,2560 Matheson Blvd E,
Mississauga LAW 4Y9, Attention: Charles Powell, President
cc: Acting Commissioner of Finance
City Clerk.
City Auditor
Glen Harold
Director of Planning and Budgeting, Division, Management Services Department
HOTEL - TAXES
The Executive Committee the adoption of the Joint report (February 15, 1993) from
City Solicitor and the Commissioner of Finance:
Origin City Solicitor and Commissioner of Finance . (c06excc93311:76)
Recommendations:
1. That the Ministry of Revenue be requested to review its practices and policies of assessing hotels and,
in particular. to apply the same level ot assessment to hotels as is currently applied to large office
buildings:
2. That the Ministry o fRevenue be requested to immediately remove the commercial concentration tax from
all commercial properties, including hotels, in the Greater Toronto Area:
3. That a hotel-requesting relief-by way Of rate reversion be requested to submit to the City Clerk on or
before Febntary 28, 1994 an application for reversion of rates pursuant to section 442 of the Municipal
Act.
4. That upon receipt of an application from a hotel by the City Clerk pursuant to section 442 of the
Municipal Act for the reversion of rates from commercial to residential and upon the hotels compliance
with the criteria set out in report including the execution of an agreement in a form satisfactory to
the Commissioner of Finance and the City Solicitor, between itself and the City, the Commissioner of
Finance recommend to the Assessment Review Board a reversion of rates from commercial to residential
for the block of morns closed by the hotel.
Comments: Historically for assessment purposes hotels have, in Metropolitan Toronto, been treated as a separate
subclass within the commercial class. It would appear that the assessment treatment of hotel as subclass within
the commercial class has evolved as a practice or policy of the Ministry of Revenue, not as the result of a
legislative requirement.
In its report to be Treasurer of Ontario in December 1992, t he Property Tax Working Group of the Fair Tax
Commission noted that hotels and motels are taxed more heavily than other commercial properties mainiy due to
higher levels of assessment as well as not benefiting from the lower residential tax rate on vacant space. The
Woking Group recommended that all commercial properties should be assessed at a fair and consistent value and
also recommended the abolition of the Commercial Concentration Tax.
It would seem appropriate for City Council to support both of t hese recommendations of the Property Tax
Working Group of the Fair Tax Commission and request the Treasurer of Ontario to give them immediate
attention.
As part of the long term solutlon to the apparent inequities in fhe manner in which hotels are assessed the Ministry
of Revenue could be requested to assess hotels at the same ievel of assessment as other commercial properties i.e.
large office buildings. As well, the Ministry of Revenue could be requested to review current hotel assessments
having regard to the higher vacancy rates currently being experienced by hotels.
If positive changes to the current assessment practices were implemented, the process would address the inequity
in the manner of assessment of hotels in the longer term. However this action, if taken, would not resolve, in the
short term, the problems hotels are currently facing due to the recession. That problem is room vacancies.
When a tenant of space in a commercial office building vacates its space, It brings an application under section
442 of the Municipal Act for the cancellation of business taxes and the reversion of rates from the commercial mill
rate 10 the residential mill rate for the Period Of the year the space is vacant. The application is made tO the City
Clerk, then referred to the Commissioner of Finance and the Regional Assessment Commissioner for investigation
and based on the results of t he investigation either a recommendation or no recomrnendations is placed before the
Assessment Review Board for hearing and disposition.
The Ministry of Revenue considers all of the components of a hotel operation to be one business occupation since
all hotel rooms are theoretically available for occupancy each night. Therefore it would appear that the practice
Is that a hotel does not qualify for a reversion of rates. seasonal businesses, industrial space not in actual use but
with equipment in place i.e. nonoperational manufacturing lines are also treated in the same way as hotels and
therefore do not receive a rate reversion. The Ministrys practice appears to be not whether the space is actually
used but whether the space is capable of being used if the space is capable of being used no rate reversion
recommended.
Hotels, as a group, are unique in terms of how they are assessed and also in terms Of( their role in the tourism and
hospitality industries. The benefits to associated services such as restaurants and entertainment facilities flow from
a healthy hotel industry.
If because of the importance of the tourism industry to the economic life of the City both in terms of the revenue
it generates and the jobs it provides it is felt that relief should be supported for the hotel industry by way of
reversion of rates from commercial to residential in respect of room vacancies, we propose the following criteria
be applied in considering any applications by hotels for rate reversions:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
a block or blocks of rooms in the hotel must be closed off and vacant so as not to be capable of being used
(i.e. sealed off):
the block or blocks must represent at least 20% of the total rooms in the hotel but not exceed 40% of the
total rooms in the hotel:
the vacant block or blocks of rooms must be geographically located together on the same floor or floors:
the rooms must not be scattered throughout the hotel:
the block or blocks of rooms must remain vacant for a minimum period of three consecutive months 10
a maximum period of four eligible consecutive months:
support for relief will be limited to one maximum period of four months in the current calendar year:
the hotel must enter into an agreement with the City, satisfactory to the Commissioner of Finance and the
City Solicitor, providing for, among other things,
(i) notification as to what block or blocks of moms will be closed off, with tie effective
date of such closure:
(ii) prior notlfication with respect to intended reopening of the block or blocks of rooms
with effective date of such reopening:
(Iii) permission for City officials to access the closed off areas for the purposes of spot
checks:
(iv} a method of closure of the block or blocks of moms which is satisfactory to City
officials for example seals.
A hotel requesting relief by way of reversion of rates from commercial 10 residential should submit an application
under section 442 of the Municiipal Act to the City Clerk as soon as possible but in no event no later than February
28, 1994. Compliance with the above mentioned criteria and the submission of the required application would
enable the city to support the application for rate reversion for the eligible space. Once reviewed in the normal
course the application would be forwarded to the Assessment Review Board for hearing and disposition.
1993 City of Toronto Executive Committee Report No. 4, Clause 3 3
For City Counci l Consi derati on at Meeti ng No. 4 on February 22, 1993
PROPERTY TAX UPDATE ANALYSIS
METROPOLITAN TORONTO HOTELS
Prepared For:
Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto
Prepared By:
PANNELL KERR FORSTER CONSULTING INC.
March 1995
3 March 1995
[Mr. Rod Seiling
Executive Director
2560 Matheson Blvd. East, Suite 220
Mississauga, Ontario
L4W 4y9
Oear Mr. Seiling:
RE:
In accordance
PROPERTY TAX UPDATE Anal ysi s; Metropol i tan ToRQNTO HOTELS
with the terms of our engagement, we have now completed an update analysis in
connection with the assessment of hotels for realty and business tax purposes in Metropolitan Toronto.
AS such, we are taking this opportunity to submit our final summary report,
This analysis has been prepared in accordance with the scope of work described in our proposal dated
November 18, 1994. It pertains only to the Metropolitan Toronto market area and is based on our
present knowledge of the operating and financial performance of hotel properties which provided
financial information to Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc. for analysis. This update analysis is also
based on Pannell Kerr Forster's general knowledge of hotel assessment matters in Metropolitan
Toronto.
This analysis has been prepared exclusively for the use and guidance of the Hotel Association of
Metropolitan Toronto in its continuing efforts to achieve fair and equitable levels of assessment and
property taxation for it membership in (Metropolitan Toronto. The contents of this report are intended
to be used by the Association Executive, as well as the Associations legal Counsel and other advisors
in identifying the possible impacts of reassessment of Metro hotels and as an aid in developing
appropriate strategies toward the objective of achieving fair and equitable taxation for hotels in
Metropolitan Toronto. In this regard, it is a condition of permitted use of this document that Pannell Kerr
2.
Forster Consulting Inc. be given the opportunity to review any release or Association prepared material
containing references to the contents and findings of the report.
In connection with the permitted uses and as advice to third patty readers, this report may not be
disassembled or rearranged in any manner that would allow for presentation of only a portion of the
report, without the prior approval of Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.. Further, this report is not to
be used by any consultant, tax agent, legal counsel, Ministry of Finance official, or any other individual,
in connection with any assessment appeal proceedings before the Assessment Review Board, Ontario
Municipal Board, and/or Court.
Possession of this report does not carry with it the right of publication or reproduction in whole or in part,
nor is it intended or permitted to be used for any purpose other than that for which it was completed and
intended.
We have appreciated the opportunity to be of assistance to the Hotel Association of Metropolitan
Toronto.
Yours very truly,
PANNELL KERR FORSTER CONSULTING INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
Letter of Transmittal
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Il. BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF STUDY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ill. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
4.5
Market Overview
Operating and Financial Trends with Metros Hotel Industry
Reassessment of Hotels to Commercial Level Impact in Operations
Reassessment of Hotels to Commercial Level Impact in Tax Bases with
Municipalities
Hotel Property Taxes in Other Jurisdictions
LIST OF EXHIBITS
Exhibit I Historic Occupancy and Average Daily Rates
Exhibit II Revenue Analysis
Exhibit Ill Departmental Expense Analysis
Exhibit IV Distributed Expense Analysis (% of Total Revenue)
Exhibit V Distributed Expense Analysis ($ per Available Room)
SUMMARY REVENUE AND EXPENSE STATEMENTS
Exhibit VI Metropolitan Toronto Hotels
Exhibit Vll Toronto Hotels
Exhibit VIII City of Etobicoke Hotels
Exhibit IX City of North York Hotels
Exhibit X City of Scarborough Hotels
REASSESSMENT OF METRO HOTELS TO COMMERCIAL LEVEL
Exhibit Xl Metropolitan Toronto Hotels
Exhibit XII City of Toronto Hotels
Exhibit X111 City of Etobicoke Hotels
Exhibit XIV City of North York Hotels
Exhibit XV City of Scarborough Hotels
Exhibit XVI Impact on Tax Base
PROPERTY TAX COMPARISONS
Exhibit XVII Metro Toronto vs. Selected Cities in Greater Toronto Region
Exhibit XVIII Metro Toronto vs. Selected Canadian Cities
Exhibit XIX Metro Toronto vs. Selected U.S. Cities
Appendix A Excerpt from Report of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, December 1993.
I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Excessi ve l evel s of r eal t y and busi ness t axat i on ar e t hr eat eni ng t he economi c vi abi l i t y of ,
i ndustry i n Metropol i tan Toronto. A maj or cause of the cri si s i s an i nequi tabl e l evel of prop
assessment . Thi s over assesment whi ch has r esul t ed f r om admi ni st r at i ve pr act i ce, not t he
assessment l egi sl ati on, has establ i shed hotel s as a separate sub-cl ass of commerci al proper
a maj or contri butor to l ongstandi ng and excessi ve l evel s of real ty and busi ness taxes on hote
of assessment on hotel s are currentl y acknowl edged to be approxi matel y 8.2% i n Toronto a
York, 6.45%. i n Etobi coke and 5.5% i n Scarborough whi l e the commerci al l evel was onl y 4.5%
j ur i sdi ct i ons.
The anal ysi s i ndi cates that hotel s wi thi n Metro conti nue to pay real ty and busi ness taxes fa
than their ability to pay. This fact is patently clear despite recent improvements in market cond
a restructuri ng process whi ch has reduced payrol l and other operati ng costs across the i ndu
Metro hotel s, real ty and busi ness taxes compri sed on average, 68.1% of Income Before Fi xed
(Gross Operating Profit) in 1993, and ranged from 65.6/0 in the City of Toronto to 90.1 %. in the
Scarborough. The anal ysi s al so reconfi rms that the si tuati on i s extremel y cri ti cal i n as much
and busi ness taxes greatl y exceed net i ncome before debt servi ce. On a per room basi s th
amount to $4,798 versus onl y $573 of i ncome before debt servi ce.
Hot el s can be provi ded f ai r propert y t ax t reat ment rel at i ve t o commerci al propert y genera
mi ni mal i ncremental i mpact on the tax bases. Total dol l ar i mpact on the tax bases of the fo
woul d be about $42. 4 mi l l i on. I n per cent age t er ms, t he i mpact of r edi st r i but i on as a r e
reassessment of t he hot el s woul d range f rom a l ow of 0. 1% i n Scarborough t o 3. 0% i n To
combi ned i mpact of redi st ri but i on on t he t ot al and commerci al / busi ness t ax bases of t he f o
woul d approxi mate 1.O% and 2.1 % respecti vel y.
Conti nued hi gh and i nequi tabl e l evel s of property taxati on are negati vel y i mpacti ng hotel s, a
contri buted si gni fi cantl y to hi gh i nci dence of tax arrears and recei vershi ps. These recei versh
added i ncremental l y to the i ndustry probl ems as they have arti fi ci al l y created a new l ower c
t her eby put t i ng added st r ai n on r at e st r uct ur es and achi eved aver age dai l y r at es. I n addi t i
l evel s of propert y t axat i on creat e a subst ant i al di si ncent i ve f or owners t o i nvest / re-i nvest i n
1
1994 operating results were not available at the time this report was prepared, th
1993 resul ts are referenced.
2.
improvements, have led to widespread deferral of necessary ongoing property maintenance and have
forced hoteliers to reduce staff in an attempt to pare operating costs to the bare minimum. .
The overassessment of hotels has been documented in numerous reassessment studies undertaken
since the Province assumed responsibility for this function in 1970. The Ontario Fair Tax Commission
has recognized the problem in its December 1993 report (see Appendix A), and the Cities of Toronto,
Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough have requested that the Province rectify the inequities.
Reassessment of hotels to levels that are equitable with that of commercial property (i.e. 4.5%) would
greatly reduce realty and business tax loads on hotels across Metro by an average of 34/0 ($4,794 per
room to $3,178 per room in 1994). This equitable treatment would reduce taxes 39% for Toronto hotels
($5,728 per room to $3,489 per room), by 15.9% for Etobicoke hotels ($3,477 per room to $2,925 per
room), by 26.3% for North York ($3,120 per room to $2,300 per room) and by 13.10/0 in Scarborough
($2,932 per room to $2,549 per room).
The reassessment of hotels to a level that is equitable with that of commercial property is not a panacea
for all the economic problems facing Metros hotel industry. [t would however result in equitable
treatment compared to the commercial sector generally. From an industry perspective, it would also
reduce (but certainly not eliminate) property tax disparities that place the Metro industry at a
disadvantage relative to competitive jurisdictions within the Greater Toronto Area, Canada and the
United States.
The reassessment of hotels to a level similar to that exhibited by commercial property should not be
viewed as an example of Metros eroding assessment/property tax base, but rather as an essential and
long overdue step in application of the principles of fairness and equity.
BACKGROUND AND SCOPE OF STUDY
In September 1992, Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc. in conjunction with David V, Hutchinson,
Barrister and Solicitor, was retained by the Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto to prepare an
analysis and report in connection with the proposed Metro-wide market value reassessment program.
A key issue recognized by this analysis was that historically within Metropolitan Toronto, hotels as a
group have been significantly overassessed compared to commercial property generally. Since
completion of this report in October 1992, the Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto has been
active in attempts to correct this situation and to achieve fair and equitable assessment/property tax
levels for its members.
[n order to assist the Association in its continuing efforts to achieve property tax reform, and in view of
the time that has elapsed since completion of the October 1992 report, Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting
Inc. was retained to undertake an update analysis of key elements of the original report. The specific
purpose of this analysis was to provide more current information and data on the following key matters:
.
research/analysis of recent/historic hotel market and operating results
.
analysis of current/forecast property tax burdens (status quo level of
assessment)
.
analysis of impacts on operations of hotel reassessment to commercial levels
.
analysis of impacts on municipal tax bases of hotel reassessment to commercial
levels
.
comparative property taxation data for hotel properties in other jurisdictions
within the Greater Toronto Area, Canada, and the United States.
[n terms of its structure, this update analysis has been prepared in the form of a Summary Report as
contained in Section Ill. The Summary of Findings contains references to 19 Exhibits as listed in the
Table of Contents. In addition, an Executive Summary is provided.
4.
With respect to the analysis of operating and financial trends within Metros hotel sector, the sample
upon which this updated analysis is based includes the results of approximately 44 Metropolitan Toronto
hotels providing in excess of 18,400 available rooms in 1993. This represents probably the largest
sample base of financial data ever provided by Metropolitan Toronto hotels and underscores the
continuing importance attached to property taxation issues by hotel owners and operators.
5.
Ill. SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Based upon the results as presented in Exhibits I to XIX, the key findings of this update analysis are as
follows:
3.1
1
2.
3.
MARKET OVERVIEW
Hotel occupancy in Metropolitan Toronto has rebounded significantly since 1991.
However the extent of this recovery has not been felt equally across the metropolitan
region. AS shown in Exhibit 1, from a low of 56% in 1991, Metro wide occupancy levels
improved substantially in 1993 and 1994 such that Metro wide occupancy is estimated
at 65/0 in 1994. Improved occupancy performance has been strongest for downtown
Toronto hotels for which 1994 occupancy has returned to 1989 levels at approximately
70%.. In contrast, hotels located in the Metro West (Etobicoke/North York) and Metro
East (North York/Scarborough) market areas have experienced a slower, more
protracted recovery period, with 1994 occupancy levels still well below those achieved
in 1989 and prior years.
In terms of average daily rates, Exhibit I clearly shows that achieved average daily
rates, which first started to decline in 1991, continued to fall in 1992, and have remained
virtually unchanged to 1994. As a result, Metropolitan Toronto hotels in 1994 continue
to experience average rates well below those achieved six and even seven years ago.
Current economic indicators suggest that the hotel industry across Metro will continue
to encounter difficulties in attempts to achieve desperately needed average rate
increases. While occupancy levels in the Downtown Toronto and Metro West market
areas hold some potential for modest rate increases in 1995, general economic
recovery prospects remain fragile. Further, competitive pricing influences within specific
market segments and at the property level will continue to be a determining factor which
may limit the extent to which average rate increases are achieved. This factor will be
operative in all market areas of Metro, but particularly important in the suburban market
areas of Metro West and Metro East.
6.
3.2
1,
2.
3.
OPERATING AND FINANCIAL TRENDS WITHIN METROS HOTEL INDUSTRY
Detailed analysis of the historic operating results (1 988 to 1993) of hotels located
throughout Metropolitan Toronto clearly indicates that decreases in hotel occupancy
and average daily rate experienced since 1989 have severely impacted the net
operating incomes of hotels from which realty and business taxes are paid. While hotel
market conditions have improved in 1993 and 1994 leading to improvements in topline
revenues and bottom line incomes, realty and business tax loads on hotels in Metro
remain significant and continue to consume a high percentage of net operating income
before debt service.
Exhibit II summarizes trends in top line revenue performance over the 1988 to 1993
period for hotels located in Metropolitan Toronto as well as the Cities of Toronto,
Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough. As shown, since peaking in 1988, total
revenue per available room decreased significantly in each year to 1992, with some
stabilization and growth occurring in 1993. However, this trend has not been
experienced equally across the metropolitan region.
For Metropolitan Toronto as a whole, total revenue per available room decreased by
24.6/0 between 1988 and 1993, with a small turnaround in the downward trend evident
in 1993. At the City level, Exhibit II shows a similar overall (1988 to 1993) trend in
declining revenue per room. It is also apparent that as of 1993, the turnaround in the
downward revenue trend was limited primarily to City of Toronto hotels. Overall from
1988 to 1993, total revenue per room decreased by 22.4% for hotels in Toronto, 33.1%
for hotels in Etobicoke, 30.4% for hotels in North York, and 29.2% for hotels in
Scarborough.
As shown in Exhibit II, 1988 to 1993 decreases in total revenues can be attributed to
virtually all operating departments dependant on guest expenditures, with rooms and
food and beverage departments being the most important. As summarized in Exhibit
II, analysis of 1988 to 1993 operating results indicates that declines in total revenues
reflect the following specitic trends:
7.
ROOMS -
FOOD -
BEVERAGE
5.
6.
For all Metro hotels, revenue per available room decreased 19% from 1988 to 1993
(with a turnaround noted in 1993). By City, revenue from this department decreased by
17/0 for Toronto properties, 31 .4/0 for Etobicoke properties, 23% for North York
properties and 26% for properties located in the City of Scarborough.
For all Metro hotels, revenue per available room from this source decreased by 30.2%
since 1988. By City, food revenues decreased by 29.5% for Toronto properties, 29. 0%
for Etobicoke properties, 35.4% for North York properties, 26.9% for properties located
in the City of Scarborough.
For hotels throughout Metro, revenue per available
1988. By City, revenue from this source decreased
64.5% for Etobicoke properties, 48.O% for North
properties located in the City of Scarborough.
room decreased by 50.6% since
by 47.6/0 for Toronto properties,
York properties, and 44.9% for
While top line revenues have decreased significantly over the 1988 to 1993 study
period, the fixed nature of many hotel Departmental and Undistributed Operating
Expenses prevented the reduction of operating expenses to levels necessary to protect
profit margins. Exhibits Ill, IV, and V summarize the analysis of departmental and
undistributed operating expenses for hotels in Metropolitan Toronto for the years 1988
to 1993. The analysis indicates that despite concerted efforts by hotel operators to
control and reduce expense levels, levels of Departmental Income and Income Before
Fixed Charges for Metro hotels have declined substantially.
In terms of departmental expenses, the trend for hotels across Metro has been one of
increasing departmental expense ratios. As shown in Exhibit Ill, total departmental
expenses for all hotels across Metro have increased from 47.2% in 1988 to 50.4% in
1993. Further, this trend is evident in all City market areas within Metropolitan Toronto.
As a result, Exhibit Ill indicates that levels of achieved Departmental Income have for
the most part, fallen consistently since 1988. For Metropolitan Toronto as a whole,
Departmental Income declined from $23,075 in 1988 to $16,341 per available room in
1993, a decrease of 29.2/0. By City area, departmental income decreased by 26.3/0
for Toronto properties, 40.7% for Etobicoke properties, 36.00/. for North York properties
and by 41 .2/0 for hotels located in the City of Scarborough.
Property Tax Update Analysis Metropolitan Toronto Hotels
8.
7,
8.
9,
Exhibits IV and V present trends in undistributed operating expenses using two
measures - expense as a % of total revenue from all sources, and expense per
available room. Changes in the respective ratios of individual line items are self
evident, however at an overall level, it can be noted that these expense items have a
major effect on profitability of hotel operations. As shown in Exhibit IV, total
undistributed expenses as a percentage of total revenue increased throughout the
entire Metropolitan Toronto industry from 22.6% in 1988 to 28.2/0 in 1993. This trend
is evident in all Cities within Metro, and has occurred despite concerted efforts by hotel
management to control actual dollar expenditures for undistributed expense items. The
control of actual dollar expenditures over the 1988 to 1993 period is supported by
Exhibit V which shows total 1993 undistributed operating expenses per available room
at, or below previous years.
Exhibits IV and V also summarizes changes in net income levels for Metro hotels. As
shown, while some improvement in Income Before Fixed Charges (i.e. net income
remaining after departmental and undistributed operating expenses but BEFORE realty
and business taxes, insurance, reserve for replacements, and debt service/rent have
been paid) is evident in 1993, primarily in the City of Toronto, levels of net income are
still substantially below those achieved in prior years. In this regard, Exhibit V shows
that for all hotels across Metro, I. B.F.C. was 46.7% lower in 1993 than in 1988.
Corresponding reductions in levels of Income Before Fixed Charges at the City level
were 39.4% for Toronto properties, 64.7% for Etobicoke properties, 61 .3% for North
York properties and 67.20/6 for properties located in the City of Scarborough.
Exhibits VI to X provide historical income and expense summaries for hotels in
Metropolitan Toronto and each City market area. In addition to the revenues and
expenses previously described, these exhibits include provision for two other major
expenses items, Realty and Business Taxes and Reserve for Asset Replacement. As
shown in Exhibit Vl, while levels of Income Before Fixed Charges for Metro hotels
DECREASED by 46.7% from 1988 to 1993, realty and business taxes INCREASED by
28.5% over the same period. From review of Exhibits VI to X it is apparent that
between 1988 and 1992, an increasing portion of hotel Income Before Fixed Charges
was being consumed by Realty and Business Taxes. For Metro as a whole, compared
to 1988 when they accounted for 25.5% of Income Before Fixed Charges, Realty and
9.
10.
11
12.
Business taxes in 1992 accounted for approximately 82% of Income Before Fixed
Charges (Exhibit Vi). Corresponding 1988 to 1992 increases for Toronto hotels were
from 28.9/0 to 84.2/0 (Exhibit Vll); for Etobicoke hotels from 17.5% to 63.8% (Exhibit
Vlll); for North York hotels from 23.3/0 to 155.7% (Exhibit IX); and for Scarborough
hotels from 22.8/0 to 72.2/0 (Exhibit X).
As noted previously,
improved occupancy
hotel markets within Metropolitan Toronto have experienced
conditions in the past two years. This has resulted in some
improvements in levels of Income Before Fixed Charges and relative realty/business
tax loads for hotels in 1993. As Exhibit VI shows, the relative realty/business tax load
on Metro hotels decreased to 68.1 % of Income Before Fixed Charges in 1993, with the
potential for further decline in 1994. However as noted in Exhibits Vll to X, the impact
of this recovery has not been felt equally across the metropolitan region. Furthermore,
even with recent declines in tax loads relative to net incomes, realty and business taxes
continue to consume a significant percentage of Income Before Fixed Charges. Based
on 1993 results, these percentages at the City level were approximately 66% for
Toronto hotels (Exhibit Vll), 71% for Etobicoke hotels (Exhibit Vlll), 83/0 for North York
hotels (Exhibit iX), and 90% for hotels located in then City of Scarborough (Exhibit X).
After consideration of a Reserve for Asset Replacement Allowance, the percentage of
hotel net income which continues to be consumed by realty and business taxes is even
higher. As shown in Exhibits VI to X, after providing for this required expense, realty and
business taxes comprised approximately 89/0 of net income before insurance and debt
service for Metro hotels in 1993 (Exhibit Vi). Corresponding figures at the City level
were 83.2/0 for Toronto hotels (Exhibit Vll), 101 % for Etobicoke hotels (Exhibit Vlll),
1350/0 for North York hotels (Exhibit IX), and 152% for hotels in the City of Scarborough
(Exhibit X).
The analysis summarized in Exhibits VI to X shows that recently improved market
conditions have led to a reduction in tax loads relative to net income levels in some
areas of Metro. However, the analysis also reconfirms that hotels continue to face a
critical situation whereby realty and business taxes greatly exceed net income before
debt service. For Metro hotels, per room realty and business taxes amounted to $4,798
in 1993, compared to income before debt service of just $573. While per room tax
Pa n n e l l Ke r r Fo r e st e r C o n su l t i n g I n c .
10.
13.
3.3
1.
2.
3.
burdens are highest for City of Toronto hotels ($5,733 vs. income before debt service
of $1,154), the situation is equally severe in Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough,
where the industry on average, experienced operating losses before debt service in
1993.
At the property level, essentially fixed, and high levels of property taxation are a
continuing threat to the viability of the industry.. Existing high levels of property taxation
negatively impact hotel values, and have contributed to a high incidence of tax arrears
and receiverships. In addition, high levels of property taxation create a substantial
disincentive for owners to invest/re-invest in product improvement, and have led to a
widespread deferral of ongoing property maintenance.
REASSESSMENT OF HOTELS TO COMMERCIAL LEVEL
IMPACT ON HOTEL OPERATIONS
Within Metropolitan Toronto, hotels as a group have historically been significantly
overassessed compared to general commercial property. This inequity has effectively
been entrenched in the Assessment Act which to date has been interpreted to preclude
the Assessment Review Board and Ontario Municipal Board from reducing an
assessment, unless the assessment can be proved to be inequitable when compared
to similar real property in the vicinity (i.e. other hotels). This has created a situation
whereby in order for an assessment appeal to be successful, a hotel owner must prove
that a property is over-taxed more than other hotels are overtaxed.
Based upon Ministry of Revenue 1988 market value estimates as contained in the
Metro reassessment impact study, the commercial level of assessment across Metro
was generally acknowledged to be 4.5% of estimated 1988 market values. In contrast,
hotel levels of assessment are generally acknowledged to approximate 8.2%in the
Cities of Toronto and North York, 6.45/0 in the City of Etobicoke, and 5.5/0 in the City
of Scarborough.
Using summary revenue and expense statements for the sample of hotels reviewed,
Exhibits Xl to XV summarize the potential impact on hotel operations of a reassessment
Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
Property Tax Update Analysis Metropolitan Toronto Hotels
11.
3.4
1.
2.
3.
of hotels in Metropolitan Toronto to the equitable level of assessment indicated by
commercial property generally (i.e. 4.5% of 1988 market values). The, analysis
indicates that adjustment of hotel assessments to levels that are equitable with that of
commercial property generally (i.e. 4.5%), would reduce realty and business tax loads
on hotels across Metro by an average of 34%, from $4,794 per room to $3,178 per room
in 1994. Within Metro, this equitable treatment would reduce taxes by 39.0/0 for
Toronto hotels (from $5,728 to $3,489 per room), by 15.9% for Etobicoke hotels (from
$3,477 to $2,925 per room), by 26.3/0 for North York hotels (from $3,120 to $2,300 per
room), and by 13.1 % for Scarborough hotels (from $2,932 to $2,549 per room).
REASSESSMENT OF HOTELS TO COMMERCIAL LEVEL
IMPACT ON TAX BASES WITHIN MUNICIPALITIES
Exhibit XVI summarizes the impact of reassessment of hotels to the 4.5% commercial
level of assessment in terms of its effects on the total and commercial/business
(including industrial) tax base contained within the Cities of Toronto, North York,
Scarborough, and Etobicoke. It should be emphasized that the impacts as presented
would affect not only the City portion of the tax base, but Metro and Board of Education
portions as welt. Further, the estimates as presented are based on raw taxable
assessment base data available at the date of this report.
The adjustment of hotel assessments to a level similar to that exhibited by commercial
property generally should not be viewed as an example of Metros eroding
assessment/property tax base, but rather as an essential and long overdue step in
application of the principles of fairness and equity. Further, the analysis indicates that
the adjustment could be achieved with minimal incremental impacts on the tax bases
located in the Cities of Toronto, Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough.
As shown in Exhibit XVI, the total dollar impact on the tax bases located with these four
cities would approximate $42.4 million in 1994. In percentage terms, the impact of
redistribution of this amount on total tax bases would range form a low of O. 10/0 in the
City of Scarborough, to a high of 1.7% in the City of Toronto. The impact of
redistribution of this amount on commercial/business tax bases only, would range
from 0.2% in the City of Scarborough, to 3.0/0 in the City of Toronto.
Hotel Association of Metropolitan Toronto Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
12.
3.5
1,
2.
HOTEL PROPERTY TAXES IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS
From a competitive standpoint, hotels in Metropolitan Toronto compete for business not
only with other Metro hotels, but also with hotels located in other jurisdictions in the
Greater Toronto Region (G.T.A.), Canada and across North America. In this regard,
Metropolitan Toronto is widely recognized by hotel developers, owners, operators and
investors as having among the highest levels of hotel property taxation in North
America.
Exhibits XVII, XVIII and XIX provide hotel property tax comparisons for Metropolitan
Toronto municipalities and selected cities located within the G.T.A., as well as across
Canada and the United States. In a national context, Exhibit XVlll shows that at $4,798
per room, tax burdens in Metro hotels are approximately 30% higher than Montreal, and
50% above those of Vancouver area properties.
Relative to competitive, urban
destinations in the United States, Exhibit XIX shows that hotel tax loads in Metro rival
those of New York City, are marginally above those of Chicago, and significantly above
tax loads experienced in any other major city in the United States.
DOWNIOWN TORONTO
Occupancy %
Aver age Dai l y Rat e
ME T R O WE S T
Occupancy %
Aver age Dai l y Rat e
METRO EAST
Occupancy %
Average Daily Rate
72.9%
$82.11
73.6%
$96.98
76.0%
$72.43
65.4 %
$79.90
70.3 %
$90.24
70.8 %
$100.00
72.2 %
$75.96
64.9 %
$83.17
63.8 %
$91,38
64.6%
$101.28
64.4 %
$75.87
60.0%
$85.81
56.0%
$88.27
57.5%
$97.10 ,
55.4 %
$72.55
50.9 %
$83.34
56.6%
$86.07
57.3 %
$94.81
54.6%
$71.73
52.2%
$74.90
60.4 %
$86.81
62.2 %
$94.70
56.8 %
$69.13
52.2%
$74.90
65.0%
$87.00
70.0%
$95.00
64.0%
$70.00
55.0%
$74.00
SOURCE; PANNELL KERR FORSTER CONSULTING INC,
YEAR 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
CITY OF TORONTO
$39,664 -7.9%
$20,593 -8.2%
$13,159 -6.3 %
$4,350 - 12.9%
$886 - I I .7%
$676 5,0%
7.5 %
7.7%
6.2%
7.6%
8.0%
8.3%
8.5%
7.9%
8.0%
7.3%
9.3 %
9.1 %
8.4%
12. I %
8.8%
5.8%
5.9%
5.2%
5,6%
6.3 %
4.7%
4.9 %
3.3%
4.9 %
5.3%
3.8%
4.0%
3.1 %
3.5%
3.5%
24,6%
23,9%
20.8%
23.7 %
25.4 %
28.0%
28.5%
25.0%
30.0%
25.0%
30.3%
29.9 %
36.3%
25.5%
28.8%
23,7%
27.3%
32.9%
23.5%
26.6%
25.2%
24.7%
30,2%
20.0%
27.6%
% Change
% Change
% Change % Change % Change 1988- 1993
ADMINISTRATION AND GENERAL
3.0%
5,3%
8.8%
-4.6%
-25. 7%
$2,875
3,198
2,399
2,271
2,367
$2,163
2,373
1,784
2,079
2,141
7.8%
10.5%
5.3 %
-2.2%
-10. 6%
$1,544
1,754
1,212
1,421
1,084
-4.9%
3.2%
-28. 2%
-5.5%
-3.0%
10.2 %
-6.5%
-13. 6%
358.4 %
321. 6%
-5.7 %
-9.8 %
6.6%
-6.2%
-11 .6%
$9,481
12,532
12,210
9,308
8,607
TOTAL REVENUE $43,684 $39,983 $40,522 $34,383 $32,734 $32,933 $35,588
I
DEPARTMENTAL EXPENSES 20,609 20,664 20,228 17,520 17,4 [2 16,592
*
I
INCOME BEFORE INSURANCE
AND DEBT SERVICE 8,537 4
8
386 4,790 1,447 (588) 573 1,101
4,821
1,596
8,809 6,425 4,510
28.9% 36.6% 44.1 %
51 .7%
(1. B. F. C.)
FIXED EXPENSES
3
8
107
1,327
2,697
43.6%
3,413 3,480 3,477
1,393 1,463 1,536
542 (37) 624
63.8 % 70.9% 61 .7%
53.5%
TOTAL REVENUE $38,244 $39,644 $36,512 $32,220 $28,127 $26,607
DEPARTMENTAL EXPENSES 20,205 20,945 19,962 19,114 17,531 15,061
+
DEPARTMENTAL INCOME 18,039 18,719 16,550 13,106 10,596 11,546
t
UNDISTRIBUTED EXPENSES 8,287 9,411 9,262 9,667 8,48 I 7,775
+
FIXED EXPENSES
AND DEBT SERVICE 6,329 5,523 3,257 (850) (2,573) (818) (357)
(1) Estimated at 15% in 1994,
25.5% 32.6% 37.0% 52.1 %
2,860 2,937 2,932
1,260 1,323 1,389
( 1 5 9 ) (1,001) (796)
5,728
1,939
2,239
84.2% 65.6% 57.8% 56.7%
70.5% 113.8% 83.2 % 71 .9%
3,443
1,759
1,562
3,492
1,847
3,395
3,489
1,939
4,478 INCOME BEFORE INSURANCE 6,619 3,486
AND DEBT SERVICE
50.9% 40.0% 35.2% 34.6%
68.8% 50.7% 43.8% 43.0%
3,480 3,477
1,463 1,536
(37) 624 INCOME BEFORE INSURANCE
AND DEBT SERVICE
726
60.5% 27.0% 43,6% 63.8% 70.9% 61 .7%
30.5% 53.5% 86.3%
S ITUATION A T 4.5% GENERAL
COMMER CI AL LEVEL
2,927 2,925
1,463 1,563
516 1,149
3,013
1,612
1,294 INCOME BEFORE INSURANCE 7,187 3,232
AND DEBT SERVICE
52.2% 59.7% 51 .9% 50.9%
70.5% 85.0% 71.8% 70.0%
I
INCOME BEFORE FIXED CHARGES $7,288 $3,439 $2,115 $3,771 $4,301 $4,516
(1. B. F. C.)
CURRENT S ITUATION
2,961
1,328
(850)
3,293
1,395
(2,573)
3,120
1,538
(357)
3,257
AND DEBT SERVICE
82.9% 72.5% 155.7%
1 12.9% 1 10.7% 140.3% 457.4% 1 35.5%
S I TUATI ON AT 4.5% GENERAL
2,300
1,538
463
2,369
1,614
533
2,125
1,328
(14)
2,304
1,464
3
53.5% 52.5% 61.8%
8 1.6% 100.7% 334.9% 99.9% 83.2%
INCOME BEFORE INSURANCE 4,554 2,560 (159)
AND DEBT SERVICE
S I TUATI ON AT 4.5% GENERAL
COMMER CI AL LEVEL
INCOME BEFORE INSURANCE 5,040 3,066 215
AND DEBT SERVICE
2,553 2,549
1,323 1,389
(617) (413)
78.3% 72,3 %
13 I .9 % 1 19.3%
8 1.6%
134.6%
2,625
1,430
(354)
70.9%
115.6%
MUNICPALITY Toronto North York S carborough Etobicoke Total
Tax Impact
Tax Impact of 4.5%
$69,319,000
$38,040,695
$31,278,305
$1,825,843,071
$31,278,305
1 .7%
$1,035,455,141
$31,278,305
3.0%
$415,577,602
$5,145,198
1 .2%
$4,794
$1,606
$1,783
METROPOLITAN TORONTO
$4,798
Toronto
$5,733
Etobicoke
$3,480
North York
$3,125
Scarborough
$2,937
CANADIAN CITIES
Montreal
Vancouver
Quebec City
Edmonton
Ottawa
Halifax
Calgary
Winnipeg
St .Johns
Source: Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
$3,700
$3,187
$2,345
$2,200
$2,000
$2,000
$1,738
$1,591
$1,458
METROPOLITAN TORONTO
S4,798
U.S. CITIES
New York
Chicago
Washington D. C.
Seattle
Boston
Atlanta
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Houston
1993 Conversion: $1 U.S. = $1.2898 Canadian
Sou r ce: Pannell Kerr Forster Consulting Inc.
KING EDWARD STAND
UNION STATION STAND -368-4445
G.T.A. Task Force
20th Floor -2001
Attention: Dr. Anne Golden
On behalf of the 275 members
INDEPENDENT CAB OWNERS
CO-OPERATIVE INCORPORATED
907-55 Kingsbridge Garden Circle
Mississauga, Ontario L5R IYI
Toronto, Ontario
September 7, 1995
I represent, I wish to thank you for the opportunity to respond to
the G.T.A. Task Force. We as independents see five major issues as follows:
First Issue: Licence Fees
One of our main concerns is the high cost of licensing fees each owner has to pay yearly. A taxi
drivers daily wages are down 40% from what they were five years ago. Please note that in the year
1991 we had an increase of 46% from $437.00 in 1989 to $638.00, Then just one year later during
the toughest recessionary times our business can recall since the depression, we were hit with another
45.7% raise in our licensing fees in 1992.
The heavy costs we pay to be licensed takes weeks and for some a months income. Taxi drivers
have to work 12-14 hours a day to make ends meet. At the present time we pay $826.00 for our
1995 licensing fees.
Second Issue: Airport Taxis, Limousines, Out-of-Town Taxis, and Bandits Operating Without a
Toronto Taxi License Who Are Taking Our Business
We in the industry realize that there is a manpower shortage with the enforcement department at
the Metropolitan Licensing Commission and also Metro Police Department. Is it not possible between
the two associations that they could lay some charges the same way they do with a Toronto taxi,
If a Toronto taxi is found taking a fare from another town or city, he is heavily fined in some case
up to four hundred dollars. The money lost to each year the Toronto Taxi Industry is a few million
dollars. However, between the M.L.C. and Metro Police if they would lay some charges and
convictions, it may send out a message to the other illegal taxis operating in Metro.
An example, many airport cabs are picking up passengers within Metropolitan Toronto and
transporting them somewhere other than the airport. If the Metropolitan Licensing Commission has
evidence, they should prosecute the owners and drivers of such cabs for operating without a
Metropolitan License.
Third Issue: Hotels & Livery Cabs
A good percentage of the
we have lost a great deal
independent cab drivers revenue comes from hotels. In the last few years,
of our business from these hotels to livery cabs mainly at the Downtown
YOU Are Safer in an Independent Cab
INDEPENDENT CAB OWNERS
CO-OPERATIVE INCORPORATED
KING EDWARD STAND
907-55 Kingsbridge Garden Circle
UNION STATION STAND -368-4445
Mississauga, Ontario L5R IY1
hotels. As independents, we depend on this area of the market for our revenue. The industry as
a whole feel they have for years been getting the run around by the way the livery cabs have been
favoured on the long runs by the hotels staff. We are not just talking clients that travel to the airport,
but also long runs to Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Scarborough, Brampton, etc. This
also leads to another point. What was the reason why these livery plates where put on the road
in the first place? My understanding is to service weddings, funerals, special parties, etc. What
has happened is they have created two different taxi markets. One for the well-to-do and one for
the ordinary folks & poor. I believe this is discrimination to offer a better and safer cab to one
group of people and ordinary folks have a cheaper class.
With all these livery cabs on the road what is happening is that they have taken away from each
owner and driver in the taxi business their share of the market.
Fourth Issue: One Commission for the Taxi & Limos for Metro
We strongly suggest that there be one commission for the Taxis and Limos in Metro Toronto.
We would strongly recommend that this committee should consist largely of those who have invested
ownership in the taxi business and limo business, as well as representatives from the public, and
also from those who overlook our business.
Fifth Issue: Mechanical Safety Checks Three Times a Year
Taxis in our association are owner and operator, there are no second drivers or weekend drivers.
Whereas company taxis and fleet owners are on the road twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week. If you were to check the records, I believe you will find the percentage of our cars which
go through the Canadian Tire Check very seldom have a major reject. Therefore, we are suggesting
the first three years of a car one mechanical check a year. After the third year and up twice a year
for the mechanical check.
President I. C. O.C.1,
YOU Are Safer in an Independent Cab
INSTITUTE OF MUNICIPAL ASSESSORS
109 RAILSIDE ROAD, SUITE 303, NORTH YORK, ONTARIO M3A 1B2
TELEPHONE: (416) 447-7213
FAX: (416) 447-3452
September 27, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
GTA Task Force
20th floor
Suite #2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Enclosed are three copies of the Institutes submission to the GTA Mayors Committee
on Property and Business Assessment Reform in Ontario.
The Mayors accepted the submission and directed our Institute to send copies to your
Commission.
If your Commission has questions with regard to the contents we would be happy to try
to answer them.
WJL:pz
Encl.
SUBMISSION
OF
THE INSTITUTE OF MUNICIPAL
ASSESSORS
O N
PROPERTY AND BUSINESS
ASSESSMENT REFORM
IN ONTARIO
TORONTO, ONTARI O
AUGUST, 1995
The Institute of Municipal Assessors was incorporated in 1957 to further the
interests, education and professional competence of persons engaged in the valuation
of real property for municipal taxation.
Its professional designation, M.I.M.A., approved by the Ontario Legislature, is
recognized by assessment review bodies, the appraisal community, municipalities,
school boards, corporations, the public and other users of property assessment
services.
The organization has a current membership of 1,260 of which some 65% are
employees of the Ontario Government. Other members serve as tax agents, real
estate appraisers, municipal assessment officers, other realty related professionals and
assessors in other provinces. Its members represent various corporations, commercial
and industrial advocacy groups, realty enterprises, law firms and land based
consultancies. The Institute is the largest provincial assessment organization and
second only to
membership.
the International Association of Assessing Officers in total
The Institute of Municipal Assessors, speaking on behalf of its members, believes that
four principal directions should be taken to reform property assessment in Ontario.
1) The basis of assessment in Ontario should be up to date market value.
2) The implementation of market value assessment should be compulsory with a
regular update cycle.
3) Property assessment should be administered by a corporation, thereby
removing it from taxation policy and the political arena.
4) Business assessment should be eliminated.
Each of these are discussed in more detail in the following pages:
1) MARKET VALUE
ASSESSMENT
It is the position of the Institute that up to date market value is the most appropriate
basis for the assessment of real property. Market value provides an objective standard
of measure of the worth of each property. It is a logical and realistic concept that is
both easily understood and eas ily tested by ratepayers. Many studies have been
undertaken and alternatives proposed (such as unit value assessment which relies on
market) but none has proven to be as suitable and acceptable for measuring the
investment each property owner has in their community.
The facts are
America uses
taxes.
that virtually every jurisdiction which levies a property tax in North
the market value of real property as the basis on which to levy property
The principle of market value assessment is most reasonable since market value is:
B
Both objective and impartial (freely set by the market itself through sales
between willing buyers and sellers).
B
Openly arrived at and generally known.
B
Easily understood by property owners who are generally aware of the worth of
their own properties.
B
A neutral and uniform base on which all properties can be valued and whose
taxes can be fairly compared.
B
An operational benchmark for ensuring fairness by an impartial assessment
appeal process.
B
Historically entrenched in the Assessment Act since 1904 in the absence of
other comparable value standards.
B
Strongly sustained in a body of case law.
The problem with Ontarios property assessment system is that market value
assessment is not in place throughout Ontario, and where it is in place, the base is not
always up to date. Different assessment bases create a variety of problems. For the
homeowner whose house is in Cabbagetown in Toronto and whose assessment is
$3,000, it is difficult to understand why the assessment of their cottage on Lake
.
Joseph in the District of Muskoka is $275,000. It would not be difficult to
understand or relate to if both were assessed on the basis of their 1992 market values.
For municipalities, different assessment bases create problems in determining the
apportionment of shared costs within a county, district or regional municipality.
Take for example, regionally provided services within Durham Region. Each
municipality should contribute to those services based on their assessment wealth,
that is the value of the real estate within their boundaries. However, the regional
municipality is faced with five different assessment base years, ranging from 1940
values in the Town of Whitby to 1984 values in the Town of Pickering. The regional
municipality, therefore, has to enter into cumbersome cost-sharing formulas to
determine the relative assessment wealth of each municipality so it can apportion the
regional costs for services equitably among the municipalities. These formulas are a
poor substitute for a common assessment base and are not understood by all but a
few professionals.
Thus, this distribution cannot be readily explained since taxpayers within Durham
Region cannot compare their individual tax burdens because of the different
assessment bases.
Similar problems exist for school boards and for provincial government ministries that
distribute grants using assessment as the basis for apportioning costs.
2) COMPULSORY
The property tax base is fragmented and individual property assessments bear little
relation to market value and indeed might be termed capricious in their impact.
Some ratepayers pay less than they should and consequently some pay more; all
taxpayers should pay their fair share, no more or no less. Why do these disparities
exist?
True market value assessment has not been implemented in many of Ontarios
municipalities. The Ontario Government in the late 1970s decided to allow
municipalities the option of implementing a modified system of reassessment by class
of property based on market value. Although voluntary, nearly 900/ 0 of Ontarios
municipalities have requested the implementation of this system, however, the base
year varies from one municipality to another. For example, a property in the City of
Hamilton is assessed using a very small proportion of its 1975 market value, while a
similar property in the District Municipality of Muskoka is assessed at 100A of its
1992 market value. Some municipalities have never implemented a market value
based assessment, most notably Metropolitan Toronto and the City of Oshawa. In
addition the modified system preserves historical differences between municipalities.
The implementation of market value assessment should be compulsory. Millions of
dollars of taxpayers money is currently wasted because municipalities have had the
option of declining the reassessment even though the Property Assessment Division
has undertaken the work necessary to complete the reassessment.
As examples, the Halton Region reassessment, being completed now, is projected to
cost $2.6 million; a reassessment of the region of Niagara was completed in 1991 at
an estimated cost of $1.2 million and was subsequently rejected; the various attempts
at introducing reassessment in Metropolitan Toronto have cost approximately $25
million. In all cases, the municipal government is not obligated to implement the
reassessment after reviewing the tax impact studies even though the Province has
incurred these expenses. Taxpayers can no longer afford to pay the costs of
completing a reassessment, when municipalities, often for political reasons, are
permitted to decline the reassessment. Even where a local reassessment is
implemented, a municipality may request an update to its base year, then after
reviewing the tax impact study, may decline the reassessment. This again represents a
major waste of taxpayers money.
The Institute recommends that all municipalities should be required to implement a
reassessment within the next five years and all should be on a regular update cycle of
no more than four years between reassessments.
We further recommend that reassessments after 1995 be implemented only on a
county, district or regional basis and that the counties, districts or regions with the
oldest base year assessments be the first to be reassessed.
Our rationale for this is twofold:
A) A county, district or regional reassessment will eliminate equalization
procedures for shared costs within a county, district or regional municipality;
B) When the entire province is reassessed in five years, it should be all on a
common base year which in itself will serve as the basis for the fair distribution
of provincial grants.
. .
3) ADMINISTRATION BY A
CORPORATION
Points one and two of this brief emphasizes the need for an accurate and up to date
assessment base. It is the opinion of the Institute that an independent and
professional organization is necessary to create a solid base upon which both grant
and tax policy decisions can be taken.
It follows that those jurisdictions which are most affected by the assessment base
should have a voice in the assessment program. In the view of the Institute, these
jurisdictions are Ontario, its municipalities, and its school boards. This would rectify
what is probably one of the greatest weaknesses in the current system. One level of
government is accountable for the preparation of the tax base, while another level of
government is responsible for the collection of taxes.
This can only be achieved by the creation of an independent board with
representation from all three political jurisdictions. Since such a board would have no
authority to make policy decisions, it could be composed wholly or largely by
appointed officials.
In accordance with the previous recommendations, the board would have a statutory
requirement to ensure that reassessments are completed as required by the legislation
governing assessment and reassessment.
4) ELIMINATION OF BUSINESS ASSESSMENT
Business assessment was introduced in the early 1900s to replace what was then a
personal property tax. It was in fact not a true assessment but a device to avoid tax
shifts between classes of taxpayers. It is a prime example of the folly of confusing tax
policies with assessment principles, an error that has been perpetuated many times
over the intervening years. Its rationale has long since been lost and the current
structure has no relevance in todays business world. Since its introduction there
have been very minor changes to the business classification system even though the
business world has changed dramatically in the last quarter century. Therefore, it is
easy to understand the difficulties assessors face with trying to classify a business
according to a system that was created at the beginning of the century.
The Institute recognizes that the elimination of business assessment is not an easy
task. Approximately $1.5 billion in business taxes are currently generated. This tax,
while a large source of revenue to municipalities is plagued with problems. Since it is
an unsecured tax, it requires separate billing and often results in large tax write-offs.
The Assessment Division now spends 20% to 30% of its time identifying and
classifying businesses, together with the subsequent defence on those classifications.
ASSESSMENT AND TAX POLICY
As stated previously for all of this century assessment at true market value has been
contaminated by a series of political and legislative decisions that served only to
confuse the principles of assessment with the vagaries of tax policies.
It is essential that these two functions be separated. The determination of tax
burdens on the various classes of taxpayers is the role of the appropriate political
jurisdictions be it provincial, municipal or school board.
It is not only the role but the duty of the Assessment Division to provide those
politicians with a solid assessment basis on which informed and responsible tax policy
decisions can be made.
The members of the Institute have
Although most of the members are
no personal gain from changes to the system.
employed by the provincial government, they
a r e
speaking, not on behalf of their employer, but rather from their professional
standpoint on behalf of Ontarios taxpayers.
From their perspective, the Institute
members can see how the current system can be improved. The four key changes in
direction described in this paper will lead to improvements in the property assessment
function and will ensure that property taxpayers will each pay their fair share of
property taxes.
9
Febr u a r y 15,1995
S HOP P I NG CENTER I NDUSTRY CALLS F OR P ROP E RTY TAX RE LI E F
We are facing a tax and competitiveness crisis which has reached an acute
stage. Property taxes are making our industry uncompetitive and untenable.
We are the early warning system of a crisis that is building across the municipal
sector of the province. That is the message delivered today to an all-party
committee of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by the Canadian Committee
of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).
According to ICSCs pre-budget submission to the Standing Committee on
Finance and Economic Affairs, property taxes are the single biggest immediate
threat to the financial well-being of the industry. They also pose a direct threat
to the vitality of downtown and suburban shopping areas. Property taxis the
single biggest variable item in determining lease costs to tenants. High tax
costs for tenants result in reduced rental rates, profitability and opportunity for
new development. No development equates to no new jobs, and continuing
pressure on government revenue and services delivered to the public.
Metro Toronto dramatically reflects the problem and its consequences.
Business property taxes (and business occupancy taxes) in Metro Toronto are
much higher than elsewhere in the province and especially than in other GTA
municipalities. Metro has lost 200,000 jobs since 1989. Since 1990, its
commercial-industrial tax base has dropped $100 million/year. In the
surrounding regions, jobs have returned to pre-recession levels and the
assessment base has increased by about 15% (Toronto Star, Oct. 21, 1994).
Local property taxes contribute to continuing job losses throughout Ontario
and are a barrier to recovery. Without action on property taxation, local
businesses will continue to downsize or cease to operate. Shifting the burden
onto those businesses that remain risks accelerating the problem of job loss.
Property taxes matter. Business pays more property tax, combined with the related business
occupancy tax, than any other tax under provincial jurisdiction.
The ICSC submission emphasizes that the problems have their origin and solution -at the
provincial level of government. Key elements of property taxation are controlled by decisions of the
provincial government, including assessment policy, subsidies for municipal services, and transfer
payments for school finding and social assistance costs.
The submission suggests that relief will involve three areas of provincial action: education finance
reform; reform of provincial property tax assessment policy; and transferring local responsibility for
social assistance finding to the province.
ICSC believes these problems should be situated in the context of re-drawing the pattern of fiscal
responsibilities and that the 1995 Ontario Budget should address these issues and indicate short-term
relief measures the government of Ontario will take pending a systemic solution.
There are a number of ways in which the province could act to provide property tax relief, Our
industry is anxious to make our experience and expertise available to the province and to participate
in efforts to address and resolve the issues we have outlined here.
The International Council of Shopping Centers is the trade association of the shopping center
industry. The Canadian Committee represents Canadian-based members of the association. ICSCs
Canadian membership consists of most of the shopping centre owners, operators, developers and
managers, most of the retail chains, banks, financial institutions and lenders, as well as a broad range
of consultants, lawyers, architects, leasing agents and public officials involved in shopping centre
development. ICSCs Canadian membership is now some 2,000 corporations.
In Ontario, shopping centre sales totaled $28.14 billion in 1993, 52% of total non-automotive retail
sales and 37% of the national total.
in pre-recession 1990. The Ontario
sales tax in 1993.
Employment in the industry was 366,000, 43,000 jobs less than
shopping centre industry delivered $1.838 billion in provincial
-30-
Further information: Gordon S. Peck
Chairman, Canadian Committee, ICSC
(416) 863-1215
.
OFFICERS
1995 Pre-Budget Submission
to the
Standing Committee on
Finance and Economic Affairs
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The International Council of Shopping Centers
Canadian Committee
February 15, 1995
ICSC CANADIAN COMMITTEE PRE-BUDGET SUBMISSION
INTRODUCTION
The International Council of Shopping Centers is the trade association of the shopping center
industry. It is a non-profit organization with over 25,000 members worldwide. The Canadian
Committee represents Canadian-based members of the association. ICSCs Canadian membership
consists of most of the shopping centre owners, operators, developers and managers in Canada,
most of the retail chains, banks, financial institutions and lenders, as well as a broad range of
consultants, lawyers, architects, leasing agents and public officials involved in shopping centre
development in Canada. ICSCs Canadian membership now totals some 2,000 corporations.
The shopping centre industry in Canada represents some $76.2 billion in annual retail sales some
52% of total non-automotive retail trade in Canada (Statistics Canada, 1993 figures).
In Ontario, shopping centre sales totaled $28.14 billion in 1993, 37% of the national total.
Employment in the industry was 366,000, 43,000 jobs less than in pre-recession 1990. The
Ontario shopping centre industry delivered $1.838 billion in provincial sales tax in 1993.
ICSC and its members are deeply concerned about the issues the government has identified as
central to its pre-Budget consultations this year: jobs, creating a climate for business growth,
saving taxpayers money, maintaining services, and building a secure and prosperous future.
We are facing a tax and competitiveness crisis. It did not begin with the 1990 recession, but it
also is not easing as the provincial economy recovers. It has reached an acute stage.
Property taxes are making our industry uncompetitive and untenable. As developers, owners and
renters of shopping centers, we are the early warning system of a crisis that is building across the
municipal sector of the province.
For our industry, property taxes are the single biggest immediate threat to financial well-being.
They also pose a direct threat to the vitality of both downtown and suburban shopping areas.
Property taxation is the single biggest variable item in determining lease costs to tenants. High
tax costs for tenants result in reduced rental rates, reduced profitability and reduced opportunity
for new development. No development equates to no additional jobs. And that means a
continuing squeeze on government revenue and services delivered to the public.
Business property taxes (and business occupancy taxes) in Metro Toronto are much higher than
elsewhere in the province and especially than in neighboring GTA municipalities. This leads
not only to profitability problems but also to a significant lack of competitiveness and ability to
attract future investment. Until this dual problem of uncompetitiveness and inequity is recognized
and addressed by government, our industry faces an uncertain and troubling future. In the words
of one of our members, the golden goose is just about cooked.
Metro Toronto provides dramatic evidence of the consequences. Metro has lost 200,000 jobs in
the last five years. Since 1990, its commercial/industrial tax base has dropped $100 million/year.
In the surrounding regions, employment has returned to pre-recession levels and the comparable
assessment base has increased by about 15 per cent (The Toronto Star, October 21, 1994).
Within the Greater Toronto Area, the municipalities with the highest property taxes are also those
with the highest levels of vacant commercial space. We suspect this is a province-wide pattern.
In our view, local property taxes contribute to continuing job loss in throughout Ontario and a
barrier to the recovery of employment. Without action on property taxation, local businesses will
continue to downsize or cease to operate. Shifting the burden onto those businesses that remain
risks accelerating the problem of job loss.
We emphasize that the problems have their origin and solution at the provincial level of
government. Key elements of property taxation are controlled by decisions of the provincial
government, including assessment policy, subsidies for municipal services, and transfer payments
for school funding and social assistance costs.
PROPERTY TAX
Property taxes matter. Business pays more property tax, combined with the related business
occupancy tax. than any other tax under provincial jurisdiction. In 1993, Ontario businesses paid
$5.8 billion in property and business occupancy tax, more than $2 billion more than they paid in
corporate income tax. Even the 1993 property tax bill incurred as the economy was beginning
to recover from the worst recession in 50 years was more than a billion dollars larger than
corporate income tax in the pre-recession boom year of 1989! (Toronto Star, Sept. 19, 1994).
These are province-wide issues. A 1993 study done for CIPREC (Canadian Institute of Public
Real Estate Companies) indicates the dimensions. The study, done for CIPREC by Peat,
Marwick, looked at the period 1988-91 that is, the years from the peak of the late 1980s boom
to the first year of 1990s recession. From 1988-91, municipal taxes on CIPREC member firms
increased 33/0 in total or 10% per year.
As shown in the following charts, occupancy costs for retail stores have far outstripped increases
in retail sales in Ontario in recent years. The first chart shows the situation for retail activity
generally, excluding the automotive sector. Sales increased by only 22% over the 1986-92
period. They are only now growing beyond their pre-recession level, after two years of decline.
But occupancy costs (comprising realty taxes, business taxes, heat, light, water, but excluding
basic rent) went up steadily, by 75% between 1986-92. The second chart shows the
circumstances of drug stores, a retail sub-sector in which sales increased fairly steadily. As the
chart shows, sales went up by 45% over the six-year period. Occupancy costs, however,
increased by 71/0
With reduced margins on the sale of merchandise, the retailer is left with little option but to
reduce staff to keep costs in line.
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991
I
200
180
160
140
120
100
I
Drug Store A Sales (Region of Ontario) 1986-1992

i
Sales Increases VS. Occupancy Costs
~
<c=
. . . .- *.
: ... *..*.*
Total Occupancy
Business Taxes
Realty Taxes
Heat, Light, Water
Common Area Costs
(Excluding Basic
Costs
Rent)
1986 1967 1988 1989 1990 1991
.
I
1 -
1992
6
Because the situation in Metro Toronto is so serious, we are pleased by recent indications that the
Government of Ontario is moving to address the issues of the GTA. Even though there has been
no formal announcement of a GTA Commission or Task Force, we are encouraged by media
reports that the government is looking to find solutions to those aspects of economic and social
life in the GTA that militate against a level playing field and an efficient and competitive business
environment. In our view, property tax reform should be fundamental to such an initiative.
From our perspective, the root of the problem is an entrenched system of property assessment
which is skewed in favour of homeowners. The established inequities contribute to a willingness
to continue to exact additional taxes from non-residential property owners. At the same time,
they also make the search for solutions very difficult. The reluctance to consider change is rooted
in opposition to increasing the share of property tax liability borne by residential taxpayers. As
any elected official will tell you, the political reality is that commercial and industrial tax payers
dont vote. They do, however, create jobs.
Two additional contributors to out-of-control municipal taxes are municipal education and social
assistance costs. Again, while Metro Toronto reflects the worst case, these aspects of the
problem are replicated province-wide. For purposes of illustration and brevity, detail is provided
here for Metro Toronto.
In Metro, education accounts for more than half of the property tax mill rate. In addition, Ontario
municipalities pay 15-20 per cent of social assistance costs, which have increased astronomically
in the 1990s, and to a disproportionate extent in the Toronto region. In our view, any long-term
resolution of the property tax problem will have to include educational finance reform and moving
responsibility for social assistance to the province.
(a) Provincial Assessment Policy Chaos
As set out in provincial statute, there is a fixed relationship between residential and business
property tax [mill] rates. Business mill rates are fixed at a level 17.6% above residential mill rates.
As tax revenues are the product of the assessment base and the applicable mill rate, tax
assessment is critical.
7
As a share of total real estate values, Metro Toronto business properties have increased much
more slowly than residential properties. However, this has not been reflected in relative shares of
taxes paid, because the last overall reassessment was done in 1953. Residential properties in
Toronto, for example, are assessed at less than 2% of their market value, whereas commercial
businesses are assessed at almost 6% three times higher. The result of this property tax
assessment chaos is clear: commercial and industrial properties comprise less than one-third of
the total assessment base but pay 57% of property tax. Another way of describing how the
assessment system is skewed in favour of homeowners: single and duplex residential units
represent 62/0 of provincially-assessed real estate values in Metro Toronto, but pay only 29/0 of
property tax.
The table below shows in dramatic form the relationship between residential and commercial mill
rates, the level of assessment relative to market value, and business occupancy tax.
Property Market Value Assessment as
Proportion of
Market Value
Residential $250,000 2%
Commercial $250, 000 6%
Bus. Tax @ 50%
Taxable 1994 Mill 1994 Taxes
Assessment Rate
$5,000. : 454.22 $2,266.10
$15,000 533.2 $7,998.00
$7,500 533.2 $3,999.00
$11 ,997.09.
Because Metro Torontos property tax assessment base is so skewed in favour of residential tax
payers and has become so over a long period, there are several, reinforcing pressures on business
assessments. This is particularly the case in tough economic times when elected officials are
reluctant to introduce any form of property tax reform which would adversely affect residential
tax payers.
8
(b)
Property Tax Assessment Methodology
Shopping centres are the only form of real estate in which the owners ability to generate revenue
is directly related to a tenants business operations. In essence, owners and tenants form an
economic partnership unlike that experienced in other types of real estate. Typically, shopping
centre tenants pay rent in two ways. They pay a base rent calculated with regard to anticipated
sales levels and an additional amount, calculated as a percentage of sales above this base level. It
is normal for property tax assessors to increase property tax liability on successful tenants who
exceed base sales expectations. These successful tenants contribute a participation rent in
addition to the base rent contracted in the lease. It is this total revenue stream which the
assessors use as a basis for their valuation of the shopping centre.
This unique characteristic means that a profound inequity is built into the taxation of shopping
centres. Consider a downtown office building say, a bank tower containing the same leasable
area as a downtown shopping centre. The bank tower currently is assessed based on the base
rental income obtained from the various tenants. Imagine what would happen to the property tax
assessment of the bank tower if assessors took into account the business performance of each of
the lessees i.e., the banks corporate offices, lawyers, accountants, investment companies, real
estate firms, etc. And yet this is exactly what happens in the valuation of shopping centres for
property tax.
Successful retailers therefore provide an income stream beyond that which is necessary to support
the real estate investment. This excess value is in essence a business, as opposed to a real estate,
value and should not be assessed for property tax purposes.
Unanticipated success therefore comes at a government-imposed cost. However, if a tenant fails
to achieve the sales built into the base rent calculation, there is no parallel interest on the part of
assessors to reduce the assessment to reflect an appropriate attainable rent based on sales
performance.
Because shopping centre property tax assessments look to sales activity, shopping centres are
disadvantaged relative to the so-called big box retail superstores that increasingly are located in
suburban locations and operate warehouse-style. Located in comparable locations in the same
Y
community, competing for the same shopping dollar and relying on identical consumer appeals
(large volume and selection, ease of access, easy parking, etc.), the big box retailer pays
property tax based solely on real estate value, whereas its shopping centre neighbour pays a
premium. This reflects a basic lack of fairness.
(c) Skyrocketing Education Costs
In Metro Toronto, public education costs are about 55% of the property tax bill. The business
share of the total is higher in Metro Toronto than in neighboring municipalities for two principal
reasons. The first is the skewed relationship between residential and non-residential property tax
payers already mentioned. Second, per-pupil education spending is higher in Metro Toronto than
in neighbouring municipalities. According to a recent study by The Board of Trade, this year,
Metros per-pupil spending is about $8,130. This is between 10% and 27% higher than for the
other four GTA regional municipalities (Killing the Golden Goose: How High Property Trees
are Suppressing Metros Economic Recovery -- and What Needs to be Done About It, October,
1994, page 8).
School board staffing across Metro Toronto is one disturbing aspect of education costs. Recent
figures suggest that this dimension of the property tax problem is at its worst in the city of
Toronto. There are almost 29,000 employees of Metro Torontos public school boards, both
teachers and non-teachers. 32% work for the City of Toronto. Across Metro Toronto, non-
teaching staff add up to 61% of the number of teachers.
But in the city of Toronto, of the 9,300 men and women who work for the public school board,
there are 4800 teachers and 4500 non-teaching staff (janitors, secretaries, teaching assistants,
school superintendents, directors, curriculum consultants and coordinators, accounting, personnel
and computer services departments). I n ot h e r words, for every 100 t ea ch er s working for the
Toronto public school board, there are 93 other, non-teaching staff (Toronto Star, Oct. 27,
1994).
Our members have expressed considerable frustration with a related dimension of education costs
- that is, the large number of school boards and the overhead and personnel costs they represent.
We note the public commitment of both the Premier and the Minister of Education and Training
10
to reducing the number of school boards, but are disappointed in the glacial pace of change.
Premier Ralph Kleins government reduced the number of school boards from 141 to 60 in 19
Education spending is 40% provincial. Education finance reform is at the heart of two major
provincially-mandated investigations the Fair Tax Commission and the Royal Commission on
Learning. Both included proposals for reform of the property tax and educational finance sys
principally, removing school board funding from local taxes.
(d) Social Assistance Costs
Two factors are significant here. The first is the loss of jobs associated with the recession. T
second is the explosion in social assistance costs. Despite a provincial cushion for municipalities
with high unemployment rates, the impact on municipal costs and taxes has been enormous.
(e) Municipal Services
Shopping centres in Ontario pay municipal property taxes but do not receive a number of
significant and expensive municipal services. One of our member companies pays roughly
$150,000 of its property tax bill for garbage removal, but then has to arrange and pay for private
service. They find it particularly galling that its privately-provided service costs $16,000 less tha
the service the Company pays for and does not receive municipally. Street-front retailers have
municipal garbage collection and municipally-provided parking and police protection. Shopping
centres do not receive municipal services including police, traffic control, and snow removal.
DIRECTIONS FOR RELIEF
The provincial government is central to any initiative to reduce the burden of property taxes on
our industry. Our experience and that of many other business sectors indicates that to meet these
objectives will involve three areas of provincial action:
B
education finance reform;
B reform of provincial property tax assessment policy; and
B transferring local responsibility for social assistance finding to the province.
11
In 1990-93, the provincial government and the municipalities attempted, through a so-called
disentanglement exercise, to reallocate responsibilities and revenues. In our view, the failure of
disentanglement is attributable to two principal factors. The first is that reform was almost totally
a zero-sum bargaining exercise between the participants; the second is that the provinces fiscal
situation worsened steadily, eventually foreclosing its policy and fiscal flexibility.
It is important to understand that property tax reform doesnt have to be a zero-sum exercise.
Removing at least some of the burden of education and social assistance costs from property taxes
would allow a redistribution of shares at the same time as tax payments are reduced. This doesnt
mean that the current tax bill would simply disappear; at the same time, it recognizes that property
tax reform is part of a huger process of re-balancing governments responsibilities and tax powers
to increase efficiency and reduce waste and duplication.
We believe that systemic reform will not occur before the next provincial election. We also
believe that a provincial government willing to reform these structures must move aggressively
early in its mandate. In doing so, there are two necessary objectives: property tax relief, and
predictability and control.
We believe that these problems should be situated in the context of re-drawing the pattern of
fiscal responsibilities and that the 1995 Ontario Budget should address these issues and indicate
short-term relief measures the government of Ontario is taking pending a systemic solution. The
Budget is more than symbolic in this case: it is the central statement of the governments
intentions in dealing with what must be seen as a core set of economic issues.
There are a number of ways in which the province could act to provide property tax relief One
approach, suggested here, leads to a conclusion that de-linking education and social assistance
finding from property taxation is the answer. It is clear that any long-term solution will have to
deal with two generations of inequities reflected in provincial property tax assessment policy.
Thus, it would include more frequent assessments to reduce volatility in mill rates resulting from
ups and downs in the overall economy, a more equitable relationship between residential and
commercial tax liability and equality among all forms of commercial tax liability, as well as
automatic provision for phasing in large changes. These are all intriguing possibilities.
12
Overall, we believe that high levels of local taxation reflect debt and deficit problems provincially
and that these, in turn, reflect problems in the federal-provincial division of responsibilities and tax
powers and revenues. Thus, one can say confidently that the definitive solution will reflect
comprehensively re-drawn public sector finances.
The final details of how we will get from point A to point B are not yet clear. Property tax
relief is a key step in the right direction. Our industry is anxious to make our experience and
expertise available to the province and to participate in efforts to address and resolve the issues
we have outlined here. Part of working through these problems is to develop awareness that goes
beyond individual homeowners and companies property tax bills and to build consensus around a
solution that advances the interests of all Ontarians. ICSC is working to help create that solution.
-30-
F or fu r t h er information:
Mr. Gordon S. Peck
Chairman, Canadian Committee
International Council of Shopping Centers
(416) 863-1215
November 14, 1995
Ms. Anne Golden
Chairperson for the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Dear Ms. Golden:
Your task forces work is nearing its end. In the newspapers, it was reported that the 4 central
themes of your task force are tax, government, accountability, coordination. I believe the
common denominator is a highly segmented government structure (city and regional). My
brief suggestions follow.
Let us try to keep in mind that the goal is not to create a government empire in the G.T.A., but
instead to create an efficient. compac
service and support the community it represents.
The idea of a single Greater Toronto Area regional government with considerable relevant
powers would resolve some of the problems experienced today which exist in part due to a lack
of coordination and vision between the existing regional governments. Each region seems to
have its own agenda, with a lack of concern for their neighbors. Each region seems to be intent
of draining the economic value of the whole G.T.A. in their favour by attracting as much
industrial, commercial and residential dollars as possible. Pooling of resources, and merging
overlapping and often contradictory efforts will eliminate problems too numerous to mention.
More than regional consolidation, the issue of too many cities in the G.T.A. should considered
quite seriously. It is my belief that Metro Toronto has too many municipalities. Why do 2.3
mi l l i o n p e o p l e n e e d 6municipal governments? The two that stick out like a sore thumbs are
East York and York each governing populations less than 250,000. Get rid of them altogether,
and merge them into neighboring municipalities. I believe one reason York did not get the
Eglinton subway line is because they do not have a loud enough political voice. Compare this to
North Yorks Mayor Lastman who has nearly 600,000 strong voices to back him up. Even
outside Metro Toronto there are too many cities, again each with their own agenda that they
would bring to the proposed G.T,A regional government. Brampton, Bramalea, Malton....and so
forth. Too many govenments, Merge them to reduce costs and make coordination amoung
them easier. The day for numerous municipalities has come and passed when the farmland in the
area was developed many years ago.
In Metropolitan Toronto, I think the better idea is to create 4 compact borough governments
(Scarborough, Etobicoke, North York and Toronto) with limited powers and administrative
NOV 15 95 09 : 02
duties, and create a new City of Toronto to cover the entire area of Metro Toronto as it exists
today with only one mayor and the final word and control over the development and
administration of the area. Too much time is spent arguing who should get what and pay for
what in the Metro region today. Each Metro councilor has their own agenda of representing their
own little part of the region. If an idea is not favourable to their little city, they vote against or
slow down the process of implementing it. In creating only 4 larger boroughs, less political
competition and less quarreling will be the result. There would be an elected representation by
population in the new City of Toronto government. This area is the hub of the entire G.T.A. and
things need to change within this region more than simply getting rid of the Region of
Metropolitan Toronto and creating a super G.T.A. regional government to replace it and the other
surrounding regional governments. Each city in the existing Metro Toronto region must
understand that creating city centres of their own (as North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke
seem hell bent on doing) is competing with Torontos urban development plan.
However competing and often contradicting plans and agendas are not a problem which exists
solely between the cities in Metropolitan Toronto. Mississauga definitely has drained a lot of
commercial and industrial business away from Metro Toronto. Now Vaughan and other cities
are starting down the same path. Creating a G.T.A. government with a plan a direction for the
whole area which respects new city of Toronto as the central core of social and economic activity
will focus politicians attention where it belongs. I believe it belongs on the City of Toronto ( or
borough of Toronto as I outlined above in my proposition for a new City of Toronto). I read an
article in the Mississauga News several months ago which explained the idea that the concept of
a downtown which is generally refined to as downtown Toronto and how this concept is
slowly, and rightfully so according to the author of the article, diminishing. Is this the plans
politicians have for Toronto? If it is not, this is not the way it appears. All surrounding cities
and regions should come in line with a common vision for the G.T.A. and specifically Toronto.
I could discuss many issues which you are faced with but I would like to highlight one. The area
is spreading too fast. Do we want Toronto to resemble the face of New York (at one extreme) or
Los Angeles (at the other extreme)? The reason I focus on this issue is as follows. As the area
spreads, more cities come into the picture. When 1 first moved here 16 years ago, it used to be
Metropolitan Toronto and Mississauga which were the major players in the area. Now others are
coming into line. It is not enough to eliminate city and regional governments and create new
ones which cover larger areas. New cities will appear at some point down the line. Ten, twenty
five even fifty years in the future, the next generation will be faced with the same issues. We
must slow dowm the urban Spr a w l b y c r e a t i n g a n
. .
increased density in the areas which have
already been swept by our advance outwards from Toronto. Somehow the changes you propose
must allow the new powers to be to have the political necessary to influence this. Personally I
feel a lack of sense of community when we are all so spread away from each other. Having
grown up in Montreal where typically people live in duplex style homes and streets are lined
with cafes, restaurants, cinemas, clubs, bars, and so on, I feel urban sprawl needs to slow down
and the density needs to increase in the area. This would obviously be short of going overboard
which would in turn create more problems. Nonetheless, land must be treated as more than just a
commodity which is in abundance. Costs increase significantly with urban sprawl. More
NOV 15 95 09 : 03
infrastructure (roads, highways, etc.), an increase in the number of social services centres (rather
than increasing the number of employees at existing locations to serve the increased number of
people living in the area), transit services, and so forth. People are taxed to the hilt. Maintaining
and even decreasing taxes cannot by achieved by budding new infrastructure for a thinly spread
population. It is not cost effective. In twenty-five years, we may need to build a subway line
through Mississauga. How can we expect to do that when we are having problems today
building the Sheppard line? Politicians and T.T.C. representatives claim ridership did not
warrant the construction of the Eglinton subway line. This is expected when the population in
spread as thinly as it is over the Metro region. Pooling tax dollars is not enough. Land should be
treated as all other resources; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. First, we must reduce the amount we use
by creating greater density of the land we have already used and will use.
A lack of social and economic vibrancy exists in the City of Toronto today. The City has
potential for more and your task force is at a crucial point in the development of the area. The
time your task force has been given has been shortened to (I believe) half of the time allotted by
the late premier Bob Rae. I trust this has not effected your considerations. Your deliberations
should be guided by the fact that you too live in the area and hope for a better tomorrow. We
will all be affected by your suggestions. Make them powerful and radical if you feel they will
serve us all better in the future. I hope they are balanced and not affected by any partisan
affiliation.
Sincerely,
Copy
Ms. Barbara Hall, Mayor of the City of Toronto
Mr. Mike Harris, Premier of Ontario
Ms. Hazel McCallion, Mayor of Mississauga
Mr. Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Ms. Elizabeth McLaren, Deputy Assistant Minister (Office for the G.T.A.)
Mr. Alan Tonks, Chairperson for the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
NOV 15 95 09 : 03
Maria Karmiris
134 Milverton Blvd.
Toronto, Ontario
M4J 1V1
Thursday, September 28, 1995
Dear Sir or Madame,
This letter is in regards to the proposal which would make East
York part of the city of Toronto. While I do not live in the
borough, I believe that creating a larger city will create more
problems than it will solve.
It may appear to be an economic
benefit; along with this one benefit come many problems.
The people of East York are used to the laws and bylaws that are
governed by their borough.
Trying to force a group of over 100 000
to suddenly accept the dictation of the city of Toronto would be
difficult to achieve.
Asking East York citizens to conform to
different building codes, pay different property taxes and place
their jobs with the borough in jeopardy is to large of sacrifice.
While during hard economic times money should be a major concern,
it should also be considered
that there are 200 years of history
and community that make Canadas only borough unique. Money is not
a good enough reason to take away the feelings of pride and
security that are associated with the citizens of East York.
I sincerely hope that this proposal will be reconsidered due to the
overall negative
impact it will have on East York as well as
Toronto. Im sure that there are other alternatives to sustaining
the expenses of the city and the borough separately.
Finding
alternatives will serve the purpose of keeping everyone happy
without threatening to change the lives of many East York citizens.
Sincerely,
Maria Karmiris
Jeffrey Kay
360 Ridelle Ave. Apt914
Toronto Ontari o M6B IK1
Tel : (416) 782-9252
September 18th 1995
Anne Golden, Chair
20t h Fl oor-2001
Toronto Ontario M5G 1E6
SEP 19 1995
9 5 , 2 5 1
(GTA TASK FORCE
Deer Ms. Golden,
In response to your letter of August 10th, here is my vision of a more integrated public
transit network for the Greater Toronto Area.
My comments come from the perspective of transit patron who has used the system on a daily
basis for over 15 years. In that time I have gained an appreciation for the complexities that go
into running a transit system that carries well over a million people a day. The city has grown
beyond the Metro Toronto boundary, but this arbitrary line separates the frequent service and
extensive route network of the TTC, from areas with little or no service outside the rush hour. In
these outlying areas many routes do not follow a direct line, An even worse problem confronts a
prospective transit user who wishes to cross the Metro boundary and must pay two fares.
Over the past two years the Transit Integration Task Force of the Ministry of Transportation
made a detailed study of problems of providing public transit in the GTA. A review of their work is
important, as they made a number of valuable suggestions in creating a seamless and more cost
effective network. An important point made by the Task Force is that currently public transit is a
purely municipal service. Efforts to run buses across municipal boundaries are currently faced
with numerous bureaucratic obstacles ranging from closed door operation to the requirement of
*full cost recovery . Changes must be implemented quickly to ensure that public transit is a
viable transportation opt ion for trips between different municipalities within the GTA
A regional body is required to guide transit agencies in the GTA, in their delivery of transit
services. A degree of local input is still required for bus route changes since the type of customer
that uses transit differs across the GTA. In the high density downtown core, traveling distances
are less, headways are much shorter and ridership is much higher. People will choose to travel
by transit to and from the core even if they already own a car. In the new suburbs where
population densities are much lower, the road pattern inhibits the operation of well patronized
routes that have a high cost recovery. Here the private automobile is a much more attractive
method of getting around. We cannot simply rebuild the road network and expect transit to have
the same level of ridership as in the downtown arm. But there is no clear boundary between these
two types of urban landscape. Drawing the line between these areas is thus virtually impossible.
Within the region of each transit operator, a flat fare (and free transfers between routes) is
now being charged for a ride of any distance, at any hour. Rules similar to this have been in effect
since the days of horsecars. This type of fare structure has a long history, and will be very
difficult to change. Even though most transit users who travel further would agree to paying a
greater fare, there is no consensus as to how different amount should be calculated and how these
different fares should be collected. Toronto has no major natural features, such as a large river or
escarpment, that can be used as a boundary for transit zones. Therefore I suggest a variation on
fare by distance. The charging of a second fare at the Metro boundary, be done away wi t h, and
transfers would only be valid for a specified time period, such as two hours. For trips longer than
two hours an additional cost is incurred. (If such a system is to be introduced, two aspects of the
TTCS operation must be examined. Some subway stations have fare paid platforms, where it is not
necessary to show a transfers when moving between the Subway and surface routes. Secondly,
subway transfers are dispensed from automatic machines, and are available to anyone, not only
those people who paid a fare at that location.) I briefly considered the use of a substantially
reduced fare where the rider would not be entitled to transfer privileges, but due to significantly
different distances covered by the various routes now operating in the city. A fare valid for only a
short time period e.g. 30 minutes would only be practical if the Proof of Payment system, with
roving ticket inspectors is expanded to the entire system. I do not see happening in the near
future.
I also encourage the introduction of other initiatives to provide the people of the GTA with a
more unified public transit network. The same tickets and tokens should be used across the GTA, A
single telephone information service must be formed that can guide riders through their enti re
t r i p.
Budgets for transit capital projects must be examined as part of an overall transportation
infrastructure. Highways and rail lines are alternate methods of moving people, Rapid Transit
routes can move more people, take up less space and are much lass damaging to the environment
than our rapidly growing highway system. Some cities in the United States have recognized these
facts and reallocated funds for highway projects to new passenger rail routes.
A wider GTA vision is required for planning and construction of Rapid Transit and GO Train
lines. Recent discussion of the TTCs RTEP program appeared to be carried on independent of the
plans to upgrade the GO system. Greater coordination can be obtained through a transit agency that
is responsible for al I forms of public transit in this area.
A trip on public transit must be viewed in its entirety from local bus to express bus to rapid
transit to commuter train. A new public transit agency must have a vision wide enough to include
all these modes of travel. A look at our highways will show the current volume of cross boundary
traffic. If a fraction of the this traffic can be diverted to transit every resident of the GTA will
benefit.
Changi ng l ocal boundari es or reorgani zi ng the responsi bi l i ti es of regi onal and l ocal
government will not change the demands placed on public transit. Changes should be made with a
view towards simplifying the transit network to attract new users, I look foward to hearing the
results of your work, especially as they relate to public transit.
Yours truly,
BLAKE F. KINAHAN
METRO COUNCI LLOR
LAKESHORE- QUEENSWAY
August 16, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor - Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Re: Metros Input Into the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
As you may know, Metro Toronto Council will be forwarding to you its final
submission to your task force before the deadline of September 30, 1995. I do not
support the Council position. Instead, my position is outlined in the attached
memorandum dated June 28, 1995, which I presented to the Members of Council
at the Council meeting of that day. It contemplates, in effect, one municipal
government for the entire region and accessing the income tax base of the region
to fund its operations.
During the debate at Council on June 28, 1995, Mayor Michael Prue of the
Borough of East York made an interesting comment, He indicated that urban
planners had told him that, to determine where a city ends, one simply goes up in
an airplane at night over the area and notes that the city ends where the lights end.
Mayor Prue was in favour of the preservation of his borough and the elected
representatives who sit on its Council. It was interesting to note that in Mayor
Prues approval of the framework for Metros submission to you, he did not
advocate the establishment of 28 boroughs for the Municipality of Metropolitan
Toronto, each borough having its own municipal government exactly like the
Borough of East York. If its the best way to govern East York, why wouldnt it be
the best way to govern my ward which has a population of 77,855 (as at 1991)
compared to the population of the Borough of East York of 102,696 (as at 1991)?
In reflecting further upon the comments of the urban planner who spoke with
Mayor Prue, I would submit that such an airplane flight at night would, in fact, make
it obvious that the idea of one municipal government for the the entire area is the
correct approach. If one goes up in an airplane at night, one does not see different
coloured lights in the City of Etobicoke which are different from those of the City of
North York. Similarly, one does not see any difference in the lights between the
City of Mississauga and the City of Etobicoke, or the Municipality of Metropolitan
Toronto and the Region of Peel. i n fact, all one sees is a continuous display of
lights. The metropolis of the Greater Toronto Area does indeed end where the
lights end, but one only sees one metropolis.
Accordingly, I hope you
as you take an airplane ride up
will seriously consider this submissionespecially
at night over our metropolis.
Yours very truly,
Blake F. Kinahan
BFK/cdr/799
cc: Members of Council
(without enclosure)
BLAKE F. KINAHAN
\ lETRO COUNCILLOR
L.AKESHORE-QUEENSWAY
METRO
MEMORANDUM
Date: June 28, 1995
To: Members of Council
Re: Metros Input to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Recommendations:
It is recommended that Council adopt as Metro Councils collective vision for
the Toronto Region and preliminary framework for reform of municipal government in
Greater Toronto:
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
The creation of a new level of government, the Greater Toronto Area
Council (the GTA Council), which would assume all of the powers of the
current upper and lower tier municipalities in the GTA.
The elimination of the Area Municipalities, Metro and the other
Regional Councils which make up the Greater Toronto Area.
The GTA Council would be directly elected with each Councillor
representing 40,000-50,000 residents.
The resulting GTA Council would have upwards of 100 Councillors and
it may be appropriate that it be modeled on the Legislative Assembly
with political parties and with the selection of the Chair of the GTA
Council being the leader of the party with the most seats. (The difficulty
with this suggestion is whether the party system is more democratic
than the way our Council currently operatesespecially after direct
election was instituted. )
The exact boundary of the area over which the GTA Council would
have jurisdiction would be based on the projections of population in the
region as of 2020 or thereabouts.
Ward boundaries could simply be based on the Provincial riding
boundaries except that they are divided in two so that there are double
(7)
(8)
(9)
(lo)
the number of local representatives to the GTA Council as there are
representatives to the Legislative Assembly.
Elections for the GTA Council could take place on the same day as a
Provincial election.
Financing of the operations of the GTA Council would be through a
combination of property tax, user fees and income tax on persons
working or living or doing both in the GTA (the proposal would simply
be a percentage of the provincial income tax; the income tax on
persons who work in the GTA could simply be based on a payroll type
of tax which the employer could keep track of and remit to the GTA
Council at the same time that remissions are made to the Provincial
Government. The payroll tax would be a deduction from employees
salaries and would be specifically noted on pay stubs). Provincial
grants and subsidies would be eliminated since they would in effect be
replaced by the income tax on persons working or living or doing both
in the GTA. The disentanglement process that was started would be, in
effect, achieved at least in so far as financing arrangements.
Property Tax could either be based on market value assessments or
simply unit assessments based on the size of house or lot being
serviced (the current location premium which is part of market value
assessment would not be needed because of the tax on income).
Councillors on the GTA Council could do double duty and could be the
public school trustees for the area they represent. The powers of the
school boards could be transferred to the GTA Council.
Submissions:
Introduct ion:
The Rae Government created the GTA Task Force whose terms of reference
indicate that its objective is to provide direction for the future governance of the GTA,
including the potential restructuring of the responsibilities and practices of municipal
and provincial governments. The Task Force must define a system and a style of
governance, appropriate to the Toronto of the next century. initially, the mandate of
the GTA Task Force was to be completed no more than 18 months from its initiation.
The Harris Government has now indicated that it expects, apparently, a final report
some time in October. This new compressed time frame has resulted in the CAO
coming forth with his report of June 26, 1995, which indicates his vision for the reform
of municipal government in Greater Toronto. In effect, our Council meeting today has
changed from a preliminary assessment of the process to achieve our final
recommendations to, in fact, an initial declaration of our preliminary recommendations.
As a r esul t , I have suggest ed t he above bei ng our pr el i mi nar y
recommendations and do apologize to my fellow Councillors for not bringing this
forward earlier. Once again, the compressed time frame has made it more relevent to
put it forward immediately. I had hoped to work on this matter during the summer.
Instead, the summer can now be devoted to flushing out the ideas presented above if
they have any semblance of support by Metro Council.
The ProbIem;
The terms of reference of the GTA Task Force suggests that the system of
managing our cities at both the municipal and provincial levels is under extraordinary
financial strain and is no longer matched to the tasks it faces. I dont believe that we
are currently in a crisis state. Yes, our region has been deeply affected by the
recession, but our region is still one of the most successful regions in the country and
in the world, and is still one of the best places to live.
There is a general perception by the public that there are massive amounts of
duplication of government and that massive amounts of money would be saved if we
eliminated one or more levels of government. So how much duplication is there?
Metros big three are Police (the cities do not do police), welfare (the cities do not do
welfare) and the T.T.C. (the cities making up Metro do not provide transit). Similarly,
the cities making up Metro provide services like fire (Metro does not provide fire
service), etc. Attached as Exhibit 1 is the page of what services are delivered by the
two levels of government as noted in the brochure called Metro and You. It would be
my submission that even if you eliminated all of the duplication, the savings would not
be substantial.
In any event, our region is one of the most successful regions in the world and
the four levels of government, which have jurisdiction in it, have not interfered with our
ability to be successful; it probably has enhanced it.
We Are One City:
Attached as Exhibit 2 is a map of the GTA showing the 1991 population
distribution in which one dot represents 25 persons (source - Metropolitan Toronto and
Greater Toronto Area, 1991 Census Atlas, Series A Data, produced by Metro
Planning). The phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words, is fitting. The heavily
blackened area in Exhibit 2 is continuous. It is one giant metropolis.
Attached as Exhibit 3 is a map showing the political boundaries for the map in
Exhibit 2.
Exhibit 4 shows the Employment incommuting to Metro Toronto and the
Employment outcommuting from Metro Toronto both for 1986 and estimates for 2011.
This exhibit was first published in the Metro Planning document The GTA: Concepts
for the Future (published November 1990). It seems to me that if you work in one area
and live in another, commuting each day, both areas are part of that individuals city.
METRO
B Met r o Pol i ce
B T T C
B Met r o Am bu l a n ce
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
wh eel -Tr a n s
soci a l ser vi ces
t r a f f i c con t r ol
m a j or r oa d s
r egi on a l pa r k s
wel f a r e a ssi st a n ce
sewer a n d wa t er ser vi ce
ch i l d ca r e
r ef er en ce l i br a r i es
h om es f or t h e a ged
ga r ba ge d i sposa l
p r ocessi n
g
of r ecycl a bl e
Met r o Zoo
bu si n ess l i cen si n g
m u n i ci pa l gol f cou r ses
expr esswa y
s
a n d t h ei r
l i gh t i n g
Exh i bi t i on pl a ce
T or on t o I sl a n d s/f er r y
ser vi ce
OKeef e Cen t r e
CI TI ES/BOROUGH
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
r
c
f i r e p r ot ect i on
h yd r o
h ea l t h ser vi ces
m a r r i a ge l i cen ses
l oca l l i br a r i es
col l ect i on of ga r ba ge a n d
r ecycl a bl es
d og l i cen si n
g
a n d pou n d
S er vi ces
z on i n g
si d ewa l k s
st r eet l i gh t i n
g
h a r bou r
pa r k i n
g
l ot s a n d p em i t s
t r a f f i c r egu l a t i on s
ped est r i a n cr ossover s
l oca l pa r k s
r ecr ea t i on a n d com m u n i t
y
:en t r es
a x col l ect i on
bu i l d i n g byl a ws
evi d en t i a l st r eet s
ol l ect i on of wa t er bi l l s
pa r k s
pl a n n i n g
r oa d s
sewa ge disposal
water supply
solid waste management
libraries
licensing and inspection
snow removal
non-profit housing
t r a f f i c si gn s
collation of fines
Storm drainage
8
property management
METRO AND THE GTA

1991 Pop u l a t i on Distribution
: Dot = 25 Per sons
M E T R O A N D T H E G T A ~
Orientation - Regions & Municipalities
Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
Employment Incommuting to Metro Toronto
2011 - 84244
17
Exhibit 5 is a schematic diagram to show the difference between areas in
which there are separate cities and areas in which you really are only one city. Exhibit
5 is a schematic diagram of two cities, City A and City B. Years ago, City A and City B
were separated by a great distance with farm land in between. City A had road grid A;
City B had road grid B. Marked is the location of local park A and local park B,
respectively; House A and House B and Waste Facility A and Waste Facility B.
Clearly, when the distances between City A and City B were great, it made sense for
issues like the location of the local parks, the local waste facilities, the actual road grid,
and whether a stop light is to be up the street or not, should be dealt with by the local
Council representing the individual city.
Over the years, the schematic diagram changes to the diagram in the bottom
half of Exhibit 5 which shows that City A and City B are now adjacent to one another,
separated only by a street I call Common Street. The individuals in House A may, in
fact, prefer to use the local park B across the street, than their local park A. Does it
make sense to have different city governments supply the services to House A and to
House B when they are right across the street from one another. Of course, it doesnt.
Both houses have to have water supplied to them, both houses have to have their
sewage removed, both houses have to have their garbage dealt with. If House A
wants a stop light at Common Street, they will have to go to both City A and City B to
accomplish that. It doesnt make any sense to have the local services to House A or
House B delivered or supplied by different city governments. House A and House B
are in the same metropolis. House A and House B may be in different
neighborhoods and they may be vigilant in their preservation of their respective
neighborhoods and that can be achieved whether or not their water is supplied to
them by City A or City B or an amalgamated City AB.
GTA Governance:
Given that we are one city, one metropolis, the proposal would be to eliminate
all of the area municipalities and regional governments making up the GTA. Instead,
there would be the creation of a new GTA Council. The GTA Council would be directly
elected by residents of the individual wards. The ward sizes I would suggest could be
half the provincial ridings.
Because the GTA Council would have of the order of 100 people and
consensus may be hard to achieve from 100 individuals, it is suggested that political
parties be utilized as with the Legislative Assembly. The Chair of the GTA Council
would be selected in the same way that the Premier of the province is, namely the
leader of party with the most seats on the GTA Council. Whether or not the
governance of the GTA Council should be set up on the basis of cabinet ministries
should not be decided on at this time. Instead, an evolutionary process would be
appropriate. In my own view, however, the party system is less democratic than the
way our Council currently operates (especially after direct election was instituted).
It could be possible to have a transition period before all assets and liabilities
of the area municipalities and regional governments are transferred to the new GTA
Council. The thought here would be that the regional governments could first be
eliminated. Then, there could be a process of time to eliminate the city governments.
During that time frame, the members of the GTA Council from those area municipalities
could meet as a caucus every two weeks to decide any issues relevant to their area
municipality.
If the order of day is to eliminate as many elected representatives as possible,
there is no reason why the Councillors on the GTA Council could not do double duty
and be the public school trustees for the area they represent. (In fact, there maybe a
problem because of religious requirements.)
Financing of the GTA Council:
This recession has highlighted, in my mind, the stability of the property tax
system and it, accordingly, should remain a cornerstone in the funding of the GTA
Council. While the Province had to deal with a massive decrease of revenue and a
massive increase in its deficit, Metro did not have that problem and thus was better
able to cope with the challenges of the recession while at the same time to balance its
books.
Currently, Metro Torontos gross budget of $3.5 billion is comprised of $1.7
billion being made up of Provincial grants and subsidies, $0.6 billion from other
revenue and $1.2 billion from property tax. The Provincial grants and subsidies are, in
fact, income tax, gas tax, sales tax, etc. They represent some portion of income tax,
gas tax, sales tax, etc, which are generated in the region.
When I first started to look at this issue, I initially divided up the services that
municipalities provide into 3 columns, whether the particular service is only important
where one lives, where one works, or in order to get from ones residence to ones
place of employment. It becomes clear that services like parks and schools are only
relevant where one lives and not where one works or are important to enable
someone to get from his or her place of employment to his or her home. Services like
water and garbage must be provided at both at the persons residence and where that
person works. Police Services must be provided where one lives, where one works
and even in going from ones home to ones place of work. Major roads really only
need to be provided from place of work to residence. This kind of analysis can assist
in how the revenues can be generated to pay for those services.
That kind of analysis, in my view, leads to either the concept of income tax or a
payroll tax for persons who work, or live or do both in the GTA. This may not be as
important if we go with a model of one metropolis and only one governing body for that
metropolis. If we maintain the two tier form of government, it may be appropriate to
have a payroll type of tax so that a person living in Mississauga and working in Metro
Toronto would in fact pay a portion of their income tax to both the Mississauga/Peel
Councils and the Toronto City/Metro Toronto Councils. The appropriate amount of tax
could be based on an analysis of the services utilized by the average person who
works in the city and yet who lives outside the city.
The concept of one governing body, however, does eliminate the need to a
great degree of that kind of analysis, since it can be assumed that, with the wide
ranging metropolis, most people would live and work in the same huge metropolis.
One source of revenue that Metro uses is a user fee. In my view, user fees
should not pay 100% of the service provided. I would rather see a 50-50 split on the
basis of 50/0 from user fees and 50/0 from general revenues. Currently, water is paid
on the user fee basis. While an individual can reduce the amount of water required for
their lifestyle, there is a minimum amount of water that is needed and it would seem to
me that a progressive form of taxation should be at least part of the payment of those
services. Having at least 50/0 of those funds coming from non-user fees would be
appropriate in my estimation.
Currently, almost 50% of Metros budget is based on provincial subsidies and
grants. I submit that we should move away from provincial subsides and grants. In
fact, there should be a disentanglement of the funding. To replace the subsidies and
grants, the GTA Council should have the ability to tax income. It would simply be a
percentage of the Provincial income tax that is obtained from the region. The specific
percentage could be decided on a once and for all basis or could vary each year as
part of the budget process. Similarly, the GTA Council could obtain a set percentage
of sales tax generated in the metropolis, gas tax generated in the metropolis, etc. All of
those new sources of revenue would simply be a substitution of what is happening
now indirectly by way of provincial grants and subsidies. The difference is that the
Province would not have to be approached everytime the metropolis wanted to spend
some money on a project which now requires or depends upon a provincial grant or
subsidy. The GTA Council would have greater autonomy and the ability to fund its
priorities.
Summary:
These then are my initial submissions in respect of this matter. It is
contemplated that we will come to a final Metro position in September. During the
summer, I will be further expounding on the ideas presented in this paper
If you have any questions in respect of these ideas, pIease dont hesitate to
ask.
B F K
BFK/cdr
Attached
TOWNSHIP OF KING
Submission to the Golden Task Force
on G. T. A. Reform
Se p t e m b e r , 1 9 9 5
Let us do what we do best
/
LET US DO WHAT WE DO BEST: TOWNSHIP OF KINGS SUBMISSION TO
THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE FOR GTA
REFORM
.
I WHO ARE WE? I
The Township of King is a prosperous,
rural municipality composing, in area,
19 percent of The Regional
Municipality of York and a population
of 18,577.
We area rural-based municipality, with
four distinct communities: King City,
Nobleton, Schomberg, and Ansnorveldt,
as well as the Hamlets of Kettleby,
Lloydtown, Pottageville, Laskay and
Snowball.
We are the home of the world famous
vegetable basket - the Holland Marsh,
as well as world class horse and dairy
farms.
The Township of King is almost entirely
on the Oak Ridges Moraine;
characterized by the wooded rolling
hills and headwater streams that flow to
Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe, and is
the principal groundwater recharge of
the Humber & Schomberg Rivers
watershed.
We have a strong historical base, being
one of the birthplaces for responsible
government in Canada. Jesse Lloyd,
from Lloydtown, was one
of the prime leaders of the 1837
Rebellion.
We provide a buffer between the
G.T.A. cities and the rural farmland,
and we provide forests for clean air,
fresh water, food, and recreational
opportunities in the G.T.A.
There is a strong desire among the
residents of King Township to retain a
separate, autonomous municipality, and
to control our own destiny, however the
recently elected Council recognizes that
we must take our economic and social
place in the G.T.A.
We can support the G. T.A.s quest for a
world class market place by providing a
variety of communities, lifestyles and
opportunities - we offer the pleasures
and relaxation of country living in close
proximity to the city.
We are serviced by Go Transit, and
major transportation links including
Highways #400, #27, #9 and #11; we
are located one-half hour from Pearson
Airport, and less than one hour from
downtown Toronto.
- 1 -
LET US DO WHAT WE DO BEST:
TOWNSHIP OF KINGS SUBMISSION TO
THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE FOR GTA
REFORM
.
We are currently the home of the
C.I.B.C. Training and Development
Centre. We recognize a role for this
municipality to build on our strengths
by becoming the host community for
similar corporate conference centres and
head offices. There have been
precedents set for this type of
development in American cities such as
Lexington, Houston, Atlanta, Raleigh,
Chicago, and throughout Europe. In
order to do this, we strongly advocate
remaining politically separate, yet
working in harmony as a community of
communities.
Past experience in Southern Ontario has
shown that when an urban municipality
amalgamates with a rural municipality,
the rural character and attributes
disappear. King Township is a beautiful
non-renewable resource that should not
be spoiled.
Seneca College has established a
substantial rural campus in the
Township of King. The University of
Toronto and Humber College are major
land owners and may soon be locating
here. We look forward to these
educational centres adding to our
attraction of prestigious, rural
development. Other educational
facilities include the Country Day
School, the Holland Marsh Christian
School and Montessori Schools. These
facilities, with the expansive campus-
like grounds compliment our rural
atmosphere.
The Township of Ki ng has
conscientiously worked at efficiency
and streamlining. We have managed to
reduce local municipal taxes since 1989
and maintained a zero increase for the
past four years. During this time, the
education portion of taxes has escalated
to 74.5% of the property tax in the
Township of King, and Provincial
funding has decreased.
We are eager to advance our economic
possibilities and yet preserve our rural
character. In order to do this we need
the mandate of a separate political
entity.
JUST IMAGINE:
A LARGE RURAL AREA HIDDEN
IN THE HILLS, JUST NORTH OF
TORONTO, WITH A STRONG
ECONOMIC BASE, OFFERING
RURAL LIFESTYLES, BEAUTIFUL
SCENERY, AND PLACES TO GET
AWAY FROM IT ALL.
-2-
TOWNSHI P OF KI NG
P RI NCI P LES F OR GOVERNANCE
I.
II.
III.
w.
A healthy, safe, vibrant choice of communities
and life styles
A strong, economically viable and sustainable
future
Accountable, efficient, cost-effective service
oriented government
Protection of our delicate environment
LOCAL COUNCILS ARE ACCESSIBLE, CLOSE TO
THE PEOPLE, AND KNOW AND UNDERSTAND
THE NEEDS OF RESIDENTS.
- 3 -
WHAT THE TOWNSHIP OF KING HAS DONE
AND IS DOING TO IMPROVE GOVERNMENT
c1
O
El
O
El
No debt on general tax levy
No tax increase for four years
- local taxes reduced from 1990
Substantial reserves
User pay recreational services
Reduction in staff of 10% from
1989 to 1994
Initiation & completion of strategic plan
Staff training
Volunteer boards of management for
libraries, arenas, halls, museum, parks
Deferred capital projects
Volunteer fire departments
Open forum before Council
- 4 -
TOWNSHIP OF KING
G.T.A. ISSUES IDENTIFIED
c1
c1
c1
O
El
Duplication of Government services
- Provincial Ministries, special
purpose bodies and municipalities
are all dealing with same issues
Too much red tape
Lack of accountability by some
levels of Government
Lack of
power for the
municipalities to initiate some
private sector partnerships and to
handle certain responsibilities
Lack of co-ordination of long-term
planning
for infrastructure
throughout the G.T.A.
Decline of Metro core
Inequitable assessment
High cost of education
- 5 -
TOWNSHI P OF KI NG
RECOMMENDATI ONS
I.
II.
III.
IV.
v.
VI.
VII
Retain municipal boundaries
Re-organize/modi@ Regions to be more
effective in providing major infrastructure
services, policing and social services; The
remaining services to be provided by local
municipalities
Co-ordinate and re-organize p r ovincial
ministries and special purpose bodies
Privatize delivery of services wherever
practical
Reform the
flexibility to
Municipal Act to provide
local municipalities
Reform the tax assessment process to a fair
system - first in Metro, then throughout the
Province
Reform the educational system
- 6 -
August 30, 1995
GTA TASK FORCE
Th e Re g i o n a l
Dr. Anne Golden
M u n i c i p a l i t y
o f Du r h a m
Chair
HEALTH
DEPARTMENT
Head Office
1615 Dundas Street East
Suite 210
Whitby, Ontario
Canada L1N 2L1
(905) 723-8521
Fax: (905) 723-6026
TOr: (905) 686-2740
GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G IE6
Dr. Golden:
On behalf or my colleagues, Drs. Peter Cole, Helena Jaczek, and Robert
Nosal, I wish to thank you for meeting with us two weeks ago to discuss
the impact of GTA restructuring on the administration of public health
services. In particular, we are grateful for being able to engage in open
and honest conversation and we appreciated your ability to direct the
discussion while at the same time actively listening and understanding our
points of view.
As per your request, we wish to summarize the main points that we raised
at the meeting and to provide you with additional information about the
staffing and funding of our and all health departments.
The main points that we raised about the organization and administration
of public health services in a restructured GTA are as follows:
1 . The integrity of existing public health services must be preserved
or enhanced. These services were characterized as involving
community health planning, health protection and promotion,
communicable disease control, and contracted services (e.g., home
care services). As regards health promotion, we explained that
public health plays a key role in leading and participating in local
health promotion initiatives but in collaboration and coordination
with other agencies, especially community health centres which are
also key players in some communities. We also noted that the
level of services provided in these categories vary, appropriately,
among health departments, based on local needs and priorities and
available funding and other resources. Finally, public health
services should continue to be an essential municipally-based
service mainly because of its relevance to and interrelationships
with other municipally-based services such as housing, land-use
planning, public works, and social services in addressing the
broader determinants of health. Despite this preference, public
health should continue to bean integral component of the health
sector.
I. . .
100% Post Consumer
- 2 -
2. A population base of between 250,000 and 1 million is appropriate
for organizing individual health departments and administering
public health services. If public health services continue to be
municipally-based, and if regional governments are eliminated,
using this population base, health departments should be governed
by an elected governing body such as an elected board of health
or a municipal council. Both of these, options could also be
considered if a health department needs to service more than one
municipality to achieve the desired population base. However, if a
single municipal council is selected to govern a health department
that serviced more than one municipality then some mechanism
would need to be devised to ensure that the health department is
also accountable to the other municipality(ies).
3. If the funding for public health services is included in a provincial-
municipal financial disentanglement exercise, it is reasonable for all
existing public health services to become 10O% provincially funded.
Existing and future funding should be allocated on a needs and
not historical basis. For example, base budgets could be based
on the number of households served. Additional high risk criteria
(e.g., socioeconomic, educational, cultural diversity, etc.) could
then be applied to accommodate health departments with
exceptional needs. This is very important to us because, on a per
capita basis, we are among the lowest funded health departments
in Ontario.
4. Health departments are currently actively engaged in health and
other planning activities that often extend beyond the community
and public health sectors and the existing health unit boundaries.
In addition, as regards community health planning, health
departments are likely to be much more involved than district health
councils, leading to possible conflict, competition, and duplication.
As regards the staffing and funding of health departments for non-
contracted public health services, it is perhaps easiest to refer to the
pertinent tables from the document 1994 Funding & Stating Report for
Ontario Boards of Health. These tables are based on the program
planning framework contained in the Mandatory Health Programs and
Services Guidelines. Briefly the Guidelines are based on four public
health goals: Healthy Growth & Development, Healthy Lifestyles,
Communicable Disease Control, and Healthy Environments. There are
twenty programs grouped under these goals and each program has
specific goals, objectives, requirements, and standards. A copy of the
Guidelines has been attached to this letter for your information and use.
I. . .
- 3 -
Table 1 (Appendix A) indicates that based on FTEs/100,000 populati
and budget per capita, Durham, Halton, Peel, and York Region are amo
the lowest staffed and funded health departments in Ontario.
Table 2 (Appendix B) indicates that for all Ontario boards of health 47.5
of staff and 68.8% of the budget are allocated to Healthy Growth
Development and Healthy Lifestyles programs. Tables 3-6 (Appendix
have the same information as Table 2 but for Durham, Halton, Peel, a
York Region. Appendix D is the preface of the report and includes a Da
Use Limitations section and Glossary of Terms. These data may not
truly capture all of the non-contracted public health services that a
provided in response to local needs such as participating in commun
health planning and responding to community health protection deman
In addition, these data do not include information on two new programs
which boards of health received funding during 1994: Hepatitis
Vaccination and Tobacco Control Act Enforcement Programs.
As regards contracted services, we do not have complete information
all 42 boards of health. However, for Durham, Halton, Peel, and Yo
Region, table 7 (Appendix E) indicates that 39.2% of staff and 66.2%
funding for all public health services are allocated to providing
purchasing contracted services. These services include Environmen
Protection Act, Part Vlll enforcement, home care, infant developmen
mental health, and plumbing inspection services.
In closing, although it is difficult to describe the organizatio
administration, staffing, and funding of Ontarios public health system,
hope that this information is accurate, complete, and useful to you and
Task Force.
If necessary, please contact the undersigned for clarification or additio
advice or assistance.
, MHSc, CCFP, FRCPC
Commissioner & Medical Officer of Health
cc. Dr. Peter Cole
Dr. Helena Jaczek
Dr. Robert Nosal
APPENDIX A
Table 1
1994 Provincial FTE and Budget Summary by Board of Health
for Public Health Branch Funded Programs only
Board of Health
Population*
I 1
Algoma
132,400 7 3 . 2 a
453,900 152.
East York
105,900 63.,
190,700 1 10.
80,500
319,:
157,:
Porcupine
Scarborough
.
74.67
165,1
39,5
Toronto (City)
655.3
A
i
29.74
Provincial Total
10,818,000 5268.00 48.70 315,822,163 29.19 82.86 17.14
(1) Includes all Public Health Branch funded programs (cost shared and 100%)
(2) Costs other than salaries and benefits
B Population statistics are based on information from Statistics Canada
See notes at the beginning of the book for more information.
APPENDIX B
Table 2
(1) Indi vi dual program budget s i ncl ude al l ocat ed admi ni st rat i ve cost s.
(2) I n cl u d es Teac hi ng Heal t h Uni t ; CI NOT; Unor gani zed Ter r i t or y; Loc al Pr ear m
such as Speech and Audi ol ogy, Genetics, etc.
(3) Allocated administrative cost s are r ef l ec t ed pr ogr am budget s.
APPENDIX C
Table 4
1994 Board of Heal t h (BOH) Budget Information by Program
Halton Region
APPENDIX C
Table 5
1994 Boar d of Heal t h (BoH) Budget f nf or mat i on by Pr ogr am
Pe e l Re g i o n
FTE Bu d g e t ( 1 ) Per Capi t a $
To t a l Pe r c a n t o f To t a l Pe r c e n t o f To t a l
BoH FTE BoH Budget
Heal t hy Gr owt h and Devel opment
He a l t h y Ch i l d r e n 55. 85 19. 8 4 , 2 8 6 , 1 7 5 2 6 . 2
He a l t h y Ad o l e s c e n t s
5 . 1 4
2 1 . 5 7 7 . 7 1, 645, 628 10.1 1.97
He a l t h y Ad u l t s 22. 00 7 . 8 1, 656, 081
10. 1 _ 1. 99
He a l t h y El d e r l y 21. 40 7 . 6 1, 664, 937 10. 2 2 . 0 0
Re p r o d u c t i v e He a l t h . 85 200, 330
. 24
Se x u a l He a l t h 14. 40 5 . 1 1, 234, 829 7 . 6 1. 48
Su b t o t a l 136. 07 4 8 . 3 10, 687, 980 6 5 . 4 12. 82
He a l t h y Li f e s t y l e s
Tobac c o Use Pr event i on - Cost Shar ed 3 . 7 9 1. 3 290, 129
. 35
Tobac c o Use Pr event i on - 100% 4 . 5 0 1. 6 371, 215 2 . 3 . 4 5
Subst anc e Abuse Pr event i on .
Nu t r i t i o n Pr o mo t i o n . 6 1 2 6 , 0 0 ; . 8 . 15
P h y s i c a l A c t i v i t y P r o m o t i o n 1 . 1 0 . 4 79, 350 . 5 . 10
Su b t o t a l 11. 09 3 . 9 866, 699 5 . 3 1. 04
Communi c abl e Di sease Cont r ol
STD - AI DS 6 . 8 0 2 . 4 5 4 6
8
4 2 4 3 . 3 . 66
STD - Ot h e r 148, 216
5 . 8 0
. 18
Va c c i n e Pr e v e n t a b l e Di s e a s e s 2 . 1 431, 832 2 . 6 . 52
Tu b e r c u l o s i s Co n t r o l
1. 50 118, 350 . 14
Ou t b r e a k Co n t r o l 2 . 5 6 . 9 199, 962 1 . 2 . 24
I n f e c t i o n Co n t r o l i n i n s t i t u t i o n s
-
1 . 1 2 . 87, 625 . 11
Fo o d Sa f e t y
19. 67 7 . 0 1, 509, 989 9 . 2 1. 81
Wa t e r Qu a l i t y
2 . 7 9 1. 0 214, 268 1. 3 . 26
Ra b i e s Co n t r o l 1. 55 . 5 119, 027 . 7 . 14
Su b t o t a l 4 3 . 6 9 15. 5 3 , 3 7 5 , 6 7 3 2 0 . 7 4 . 0 5
Emer genc y Response . 31 . 1 23, 805 . 1 . 03
1. 31 . 5 9 9 , 1 0 6 . 6 . 12
Su b t o t a l 1. 62 . 6 122, 911 . 8 . 15
Gener al St andar ds
Equal Ac c ess
5.20 1. 8 368, 007 2 . 3 . 44
1. 43 . 5 109, 706 . 7 . 13
Su b t o t a l 6 . 6 3 2. 4 477, 713 2 . 9 . 57
Ot her
Ot her Programs(2)
-
706, 913 4 . 3
7 3 . 1 3 2 5 . 9
. 85
No n - a l l o c a t e d a d m i n i s t r a t i o n
6 . 0 0 2. 1 1, 216, 831 7 . i 1 . 4 6
Budget Adj ust ment . 00 . 0 - 1, 112, 545 - 6 . 8 .
Su b t o t a l
8 2 . 8 3 29. 4 811, 199 5 . 0 2. 31
Grand Tot al 281. 93 100. 0 1 6, 342, 175 100. 0 20. 94
I
APPENDIX C
Table 6
1994 Boar d of Heal t h (BOH) Budget I nf or mat i on by Pr ogr am
York Region
FTE Budget(1) Per Capita $
Total Percent of Total Percent of Total
BoH FTE BoH Budget
Heal t hy Gr owt h and Devel opment
He a l t h y Ch i l d r e n 3 0 . 4 7 17. 8 2, 351, 732 2 1 . 9 4 . 0 9
He a l t h y Ad o l e s c e n t s 14. 65 8 . 6 1, 144, 175 1 0 . 7 I . 9 9
He a l t h y Ad u l t s 9. 14 5. 3 748, 971 7 . 0 1. 30
He a l t h y El d e r l y 8. 00 4 . 7 648, 383 6 . 0 1. 13
Re p r o d u c t i v e He a l t h 2. 25 182, 337 1. 7 . 32
Se x u a l He a l t h 8 . 1 7 4 . 8 651, 858 6. 1 1. 13
Su b t o t a l 72. 68 42. 5 5, 727, 456 53. 4 9. 95
He a l t h y Li f e s t y l e s
Tobac c o Use Pr event i on - Cost Shar ed
Tobac c o Use Pr event i on - 100% 2. 00 l . 2 2 5 3 , 3 6 ; 2 . 4 . 44
Subst anc e Abuse Pr event i on 1. 10 . 6 8 9 , 6 3 7 . 8 . 16
Nu t r i t i o n Pr o mo t i o n 1. 65 1. 0 144, 833 1. 4 . 25
Ph y s i c a l Ac t i v i t y Pr o mo t i o n . 60 . 4 4 9 , 5 9 7 . 5 . 09
s u b t o t a l 5. 35 3. 1 537, 432 5 . 0 . 93
Commmi c abl e Di sease Cont r ol
STD - AI DS 5.00 2.9 409,195 3.8 .71
STD - Ot h e r 2. 65 227, 991 . 40
Vac c i ne Pr event abl e Di seases 7. 95 4 . 6 580, 885 5 . 4 1. 01
Tu b e r c u l o s i s Co n t r o l 2. 50 1. 5 193, 017 . 34
Ou t b r e a k Co n t r o l 3. 85 2 . 2 320, 560 3 . 0 . 56
I n f e c t i o n Co n t r o l i n I n s t i t u t i o n s 2. 63 1. 5 222, 719 2. 1 . 39
Food Saf et y 1 2 . 2 7 7 . 2 1, 015, 391 9 . 5 1. 76
Wa t e r Qu a l i t y 2. 72 1. 6 228, 249 2. 1 . 40
Ra b i e s Co n t r o l 1. 82 1. 1 151, 697 1. 4 . 26
Su b t o t a l 41. 39 2 4 . 2 3 , 3 4 9 , 7 0 4 3 1 . 2 5 . 8 2
Heal t hy Envi r onment s
Emer genc y Response . 49 . 3 39, 032 . 4 . 07
Non-Commun i c a b l e Di s e a s e I n v e s t i g a t i o n . 30 . 2 27, 084 . 3 . 05
Su b t o t a l . 79 . 5 66, 116 . 6 . 11
Gener al St andar ds
Equal Ac c ess . 32 . 2 30, 127 . 3 . 05
. . . . .
Su b t o t a l . 32 . 2 3 0 , 1 2 7 . 3 . 05
Ot her
Ot h e r P r o g r a m s . 00 276, 677 2 . 6 . 48
Al l o c a t e d Ad mi n i s t r a t i o n ( 3 ) 42. 62 2 4 . 9
No n - a l l o c a t e d Ad mi n i s t r a t i o n 8. 00 4 . 7 773, 937 7 . 2 1. 34
Budget Adj ust ment . 00 . 0 36, 000 - . 3 .
Su b t o t a l 50. 62 2 9 . 6 1, 014, 614 9. 5 1. 83
Gr and Tot al 171. 15 100. 0 10, 725, 449 100. 0 18. 70
APPENDIX D pg. 1 of 5
1994 FUNDING AND STAFFING REPORT FOR
ONTARIO BOARDS OF HEALTH
PREFACE
OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS AND FUNDING
The Health Protection and Promotion Act (HPPA) requires that all boards of health provide a
basic minimum level of public health service to all Ontarians, as described in the Mandatory
Health Programs and Services Guidelines. In addition to mandatory programs, boards of health
may deliver optional programs and services that respond to local needs.
Most public health programs and services are cost-shared between the Ministry of Health and
local municipalities, 40% provincial/60% municipal in the six boards in Metro Toronto and
75%/25% in the remaining
36 boards of health. The following programs are funded 100% by
the Province: Dental Program for Children in Need, Dental Coaches, Family Planning/Sexual
Health, the Teaching Health Unit Program, Speech and Audiology, AIDS Prevention and
Control, Tobacco Use Prevention, Genetics and Unorganized Territories.
In 1989, the Guidelines for Mandatory Programs and Services were revised, resulting in twenty
mandatory programs and two general standards being identified. The budgeting system was
subsequently also revised, in order to reflect resource allocation to programs.
PURPOSE OF REPORT
The Funding and Staffing Report is prepared by the Public Health Branch (PHB), and uses
information from the Program-based Planning and Budgeting (PPB) system. The information
has been extracted from the 1994 budgets as submitted by boards of health to the Ministry of
Health and reflects subsequent budget approvals from the Ministry. The budget amounts shown
in this report are total public health funding, i.e. combined provincial and municipal funding.
i
APPENDIX D
The purpose of this report is to provide a provincial picture of how
pg. 2 of 5
the financial and staffing
resources allotted to Public Health Programs have been allocated across boards of health in
relation to the four public health goals and their respective mandatory programs.
This report may generate questions, discussion and challenges about the current and future focus
of resource allocation in public health and mandatory program implementation. It may raise
more questions than it answers, and the Branch would consider this to be a positive outcome.
This document is not intended to establish resource allocation targets or standards for the various
mandatory programs.
Setting budgeting and staffing standards has been deliberately avoided
because local differences and needs require variation in program resource allocations amongst
boards of health.
FORMAT
The financial and staffing information contained in this document is organized as follows:
provincial summary by individual boards of health, provincial summary by programs, board of
health information by program and program information by board of health. Funding for Home
Care is excluded from all these tables.
The budget and staffing information shown by program is aggregated data that falls under six
categories - the four mandatory program goals, general standards and other. Data about the
twenty mandatory program standards are summarized according to the four goals that they fall
within - Healthy Growth and Development, Healthy Lifestyles, Communicable Disease Control
and Healthy Environments. Aggregating the data according to these goals has been done to
minimize inconsistencies between individual programs because programs are based on different
local needs. As such, in some cases, it may be more relevant and meaningful to look at the
resources allocated to the entire goal rather than to individual programs.
A category of Other shows resources allocated to all programs and expenditures other than
those that fall within one of the four mandatory program goals or general standards. These
include local optional programs, provincial programs that are specific to only some boards of
health (e.g. Dental Coach, Teaching Health Unit Program) and administration costs.
ii
APPENDIX D Pg. 3 of 5
POPULATION FIGURES
B
Statistics Canada preliminary post censual estimates for 1994 were used as the
denominator of some of the columns in this report(Statistics Canada, Catalogue No. 91-
213). These figures are only available at the Census Division level (i.e. County/District
or Regional Municipality). This means that some of the boards of health jurisdictional
boundaries do not match the boundaries used in the population estimates. In most cases,
the difference is less than 2.5 percent and is ignored.
B
In two cases (Metropolitan Toronto; Muskoka-Parry Sound/North Bay) adjustments have
been made to the population base to more closely match boards of health jurisdictional
boundaries.
B
In the case of Metropolitan Toronto, 1992 estimate figures for each municipality (1994
estimates are not available) was used. This provides a good population base for each of
the boards of health within Metropolitan Toronto, but it may be somewhat low for the
City of Scarborough.
B
In the case of Muskoka-Parry Sound and North Bay Boards of Health, we went back to
the 1991 Census The populations for each of the Census Divisions in
question (i.e. Muskoka, Parry Sound, Nipissing) were added together and then
redistributed to either the North Bay or Muskoka-Parry Sound Boards of Health based
on Census Sub-division (municipality) figures. The same percentage breakdown between
the two boards of health was then applied to the 1994 combined populations estimates of
the Districts of Muskoka, Parry Sound and Nipissing. This hybrid figure was the
population base used in the report. The underlying assumption is that the proportion of
population in the two boards of health remained constant from 1991 to 1994.
DATA USE LIMITATIONS
Caution must be exercised when using the data to make comparisons or draw firm conclusions.
A variety of factors may influence the apparent diversities and inequities that would be noticed
when comparing one board of health to another or one program across boards of health.
The following are some factors to be considered when using this data:
B
- information contained in this report is budgeting and staffing data that has been
extracted from the 1994 budgets as submitted by boards of health to the Ministry of
Health and subsequent budget approvals from the Ministry. Actual in-year expenditures
and allocations may vary from budgeted and approved amounts.
111
APPENDIX D pg. 4 of 5
B
Information reported in these tables does not reflect reductions in budgets due to social
contract requirements, nor does it include the one time funding for the Hepatitis B
immunization project.
B
In some programs, especially the Healthy Growth and Development and Healthy
Lifestyle programs, staffing allocations may be reported inconsistently among boards of
health because these programs are usually integrated for program delivery, with cross-
-referencing of several activities.
B
Information reported through PPB is usually based on activity tracking systems used by
boards of health. As there are differences in tracking policies and systems in individual
boards, this could be reflected in the reported full-time equivalent numbers (FTEs)
allocated to a program. The reported FTEs may be an inaccurate account of actual
staffing resources by program.
B
Boards of health are at various stages of implementation of mandatory programs, and
individual programs are also at different stages. Hence some boards of health with full
implementation may appear proportionately high in resources against boards of health
with minimal implementation to date.
B
Boards of health are required to deliver mandatory programs based on the needs of the
local population that they serve. Diverse demographics and community needs require
different levels of programming.
iv
APPENDIX D Pg. 5 of 5
1994 FUNDING & STAFFING REPORT
FOR
ONTARIO BOARDS OF HEALTH
Glossarv of Terms
Allocated Administration Costs
Costs that are deemed to vary based on the number of program FTES (for example, supervisory
staff, clerical support, office supplies, rent, travel, etc.) and which are allocated out to
programs.
Budget Adjustment
Includes such costs as offset revenue, salary gapping, and in-year enhancement approvals for
administration costs to be allocated into programs the following year.
Full-time equivalent staff.
Non-Allocated Administration Costs
Costs that are deemed not to vary based on program FTEs (for example, selected staff such as
Medical Officer of Health and Business Administrator, boards of health member honoraria,
accounting fees, etc.) and which are not allocated out to programs.
vi
[
APPENDIX E
Table 7
905 Regional Public Health Departments
(Based on 1994 data)
August 1995
Th e Re g i o n a l
M u n i c i p a l i t y
o f Du r h a m
HEALTH
DEPARTMENT
Head Office
1615 Dundas Street East
Suite 210
Whitby, Ontario
Canada L1N 2L1
(905) 723-8521
Fax: (905) 723- 6026
Tor : (905) 686- 2740
September 1, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dr. Golden:
Please add the attached Appendix C, Table 6 to the submission that was
sent to you from Drs. Peter Cole, Helena Jaczek, Robert Kyle, and Robert
Nosal on August 30,.1995. Unfortunately, the appendix was inadvertently
omitted from the submission.
Thank you for your cooperation and assistance with this request.
Yours sincerely,
cc. Dr. Peter Cole
Dr. Helena Jaczek
Dr. Robert Nosal
100% Post Consumer
President: LINDA TORNEY
15 Gervais Drive, #407
Vice-Pres: PAT CLANCY
Don Mills, Ontario
Secretary: HORACE SINGH
M3C 1Y8
Treasurer: SHANNON HALL
Phone: (41 6) 441-3663
Fax: (416) 445-8405
September 20, 1995
Taskforce on the GTA
Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Attention: Anne Golden
Dear Ms. Golden:
Attached is a copy of our brief to the GTA Taskforce. Please note that our brief is
compatible with that of CUPE Ontario, which has already been submitted to you. A copy
of the CUPE brief is appended to our document.
We also would like to note that this is not our final comment on the GTA and we reserve
the right to develop our positions further.
We look forward to meeting with you on
October 10th, and to participating in further discussions in the future.
Yours truly,
Linda Torney
on behalf of the signatories
of attached brief
Attachment
opeiu 343
Ont ari o Federat i on of Labour
President: LINDA TORNEY
Vice-Pres: PAT CLANCY
Secretary: HORACE SINGH
Treasurer: SHANNON HALL
SUBMISSION
TO THE
PROVINCIAL TASKFORCE
ON THE
BY
Brampton-Mississauga & District Labour Council
Oakville & District Labour Council
Durham Regional Labour Council
Labour Council of Metropolitan Toronto & York Region
Toronto-Central Ontario Construction & Building Trades Council
Canadian Union of Public Employees District Councils of
Metro Toronto, Peel, York Region & Durham
September 19, 1995
opeiu 343
13 Canadi an Labour Congr ess
15 Gervais Drive, #407
Don Mills, Ontario
M3C 1Y8
Phone: (41 6) 441-3663
Fax: (41 6) 445-8405
Ont ari o Federat i on of Labour
SUBMISSION ON THE G.T.A.
PREAMBLE
This submission is made on behalf of Brampton-Mississauga and District Labour Council,
the Oakville and District Labour Council, the Durham Regional Labour Council, the
Labour Council of Metropolitan Toronto and York Region, the Toronto-Central Ontario
Construction and Building Trades Council, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees
District Councils of Metro Toronto, Peel, York Region and Durham. Together we
represent over 300,000 members in the Greater Toronto Area. You have already received
a submission from CUPE Ontario. The two drafts are compatible, and a copy of the CUPE
brief is appended to this document.
The debate thus far on the GTA has consisted mainly of conflicting, and sometimes self-
serving, submissions by municipalities within the Greater Toronto Area. Most of these
submissions have discussed structural changes with little or no analysis of the impact on
services and on jobs in our regional area.
It is impossible for us to respond to each of these submissions. None of us have the time
or resources for the extensive analysis required to determine whether Politician As plan is
better than Politician B. Rather than attempt this exercise, we have chosen to focus our
submission on some basic principles which should govern any structural changes to the GTA
governance and which, we fear, are being lost in the shuffle.
1) Quality of Urban Life
The GTA is unique. Despite its size, it is still a livable city. We enjoy a vibrant downtown
core, standards of safety and cleanliness well above those of most urban centres, a rich and
diverse cultural life and good public services. Greater Toronto is a long way from perfect,
and much could be done to improve our quality of life, but in comparison with other urban
centres, it has been enormously successful.
This is reflected in the remarks of visitors to the GTA in particular, those from the United
States. In addition to creating an urban environment of which we as residents can be proud,
the GTAs livability is a major factor in one of our local economys main components -
tourism.
Maintaining and improving our quality of life must be the major emphasis of any changes
to the GTAs governance and service delivery.
2) Maintenance and Improvement of Public Service
A livable city is made up of many things. Parks, schools, roads, transit, social services,
health care and a vast array of hard and soft infrastructure make our region one in which
we choose to live and in which we can enjoy our lives.
Good public services is an
investment in community and a major incentive to business to locate in our region. While
there is always room for improvement, services in the GTA are a primary factor in the
economic health of the region in comparison to other urban centres worldwide. Any
restructuring plan must focus on maintenance and improvement of public services as a
major priority.
. . . 2
- 2 -
3) Full Employment
Quality of life has much to do with the economic health of a region. The GTA has suffered
dramatic job loss in recent years. In addition to eroding the tax base for all levels of
government unemployment places a serious strain on municipal and community services as
cities and agencies struggle to meet the needs of increasing numbers of residents without
adequate income. The loss of purchasing power created through massive unemployment has
caused unprecedented bankruptcies in the retail and service sector, causing yet more erosion
of municipal tax base. GTA municipalities therefore experience rising costs and falling
revenues.
Job retention and creation must be of primary concern for a healthy community. Public
sector employment is a major component in the regions economy. Not only do public
service workers provide the very services that make the GTA livable and attractive to
tourists and business, they provide a stable tax and disposable income base for the regions
municipalities and retail/service industries.
Plans for the GTA should not be governed by spending reductions and tax cuts designed
to achieve the lowest common denominator in competitiveness. Rather, they should focus
on developing and marketing the regions considerable strengths.
4) Public Control and Accountability
There are good reasons for maintaining services under public control. First and foremost,
it provides for accountability. No other delivery mechanism can ensure that citizens have
a voice in the services which are so important to their quality of life. Second, good
infrastructure planning cannot be achieved if delivery is splintered into a variety of private
sector deliverers. Nor is there any incentive for improvement, or even retention, of services
if they are in the hands of the private sector. Third, private deliverers will be governed by
profit. This will remove access from many GTA residents, and in many cases these will be
the people most in need of the services. There is a fourth and very important reason for
public control in the delivery of GTA services, and that is accessibility. While many argue
that GTA municipalities have a long way to go in this area, many municipalities within the
region have expressed a commitment to fully accessible service delivery. This is especially
important in an area as culturally diverse as the GTA. The private sector is unlikely to have
either the will or the capacity for a commitment to accessibility.
5) Where do we go from here? - Public Access
To date, there has been little process in the GTA discussions. Some individual
municipalities have heard deputations on their own submissions to the taskforce, but there
has been no comprehensive overview to place before residents for their comments.
. . . 3
- 3 -
Before any restructuring is undertaken, there must be adequate opportunity for informed
public input. Any major change in delivery of service will have major impact on the
recipients of these services. The recommendations of your taskforce need to be
accompanied by analyses of the impact on quality of service and on jobs, and should be
followed by a campaign to raise public awareness and seek input in a meaningful way. The
municipal level of government is the most important level to most of us. Municipalities
make decisions which impact directly on peoples lives. In a time when many residents
believe they have no access or control over provincial or federal decisions, these same
residents believe their voices count at the municipal level. This is a trust which must not
be destroyed. Decisions facing us regarding the GTA are far too important to be rushed
through, or introduced in a vacuum.
SUMMARY
In conclusion, we believe the principles of quality of life, maintenance and improvement of
public service, full employment, and public control and accountability must govern your
taskforces recommendations. We also urge that you recommend a fully informed public
discussion of your recommendations, and we look forward to participating in that process.
opeiu 343
APPENDIX A
BUI LDI NG A SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY:
CUP E ONTARIO's VI SI ON FOR THE GREATER ToRoNTO AREA
P r esen t ed t o the GTA Task Force
May 1995
Preamble
It is incumbent upon all
stakeholder groups to ensure that citizens of the 21st century in the
will live and work in a sustainable community, one that is safe,
healthy and economically viable. Local government structures must be both democratically
elected and held accountable for actions to achieve that goal.
Quality public services are integral to the sustainability of any community and to the quality
of life in the community. Social and physical infrastructure are twin pillars supporting the
quality of life for individuals, families and the economic health of the community.
Accessibility, equity, justice and excellence are all important features of the community.
And developing quality public services is fundamental to building strong social and physical
infrastructure.
Care must be taken in the creation and maintenance of a sustainable community not to
diminish these pillars which support economic development and social security. Attention
must be paid to the fact that quality of life does not come for free.
Quality of life in any community is conditional upon the economy being able to sustain
superior working conditions, wages and benefits in our workplaces. Our objective should
be workplaces with upper end jobs requiring high levels of skill and compensated
accordingly. And we should strive for safe, secure and healthy work environments.
Successful planning for the 21st century requires that we incorporate each of these elements
in a meaningful way. We should strive for an evenness in community and economic
development which does not allow for a single-minded focus on one aspect of economic life
(e.g., low-wage competitiveness) to diminish the quality of life for all.
The following are principles which CUPE Ontario believes will ensure the well-being of our
community into the 21st century:
Principles
Full employment. It is critical that there be an adequate number of full-time, well-
paying jobs for those who need or desire work. There must be an increase in
employment opportunities. Low-wage options which industrial and public sector
restructuring has unleashed on our economy must be eschewed.
Building A Sustainable Community
CUPE Ontarios Vision for the Greater Toronto Area.
Page 2
B
Safe, productive work. The production process and the workplace must be safe and
healthy for both workers and the community. Health and safety, and environmental
regulation do not destroy jobs, rather they guarantee that business modernizes to
comply with regulations, and that our communities are made safe from toxins and
other pollution.
.
An environmentally-sensitive economy. Environmental-sensitivity makes good
economic sense. The pursuit of environmentally-sensitive goods and processes is
consistent with the pursuit of new market opportunities and new job opportunities.
The existing public sector infrastructure and workforce should be approached as
precious resources to maximize and facilitate the creation of green communities.
B
Highly-developed public infrastructure. The GTA has already a highly-developed
public infrastructure (physical, institutional and social). Transportation networks and
skilled labour pools have been identified as critical factors (far greater than tax
competitiveness) in the decision for business to locate in any metropolitan area. Our
public transportation systems, and educational and training facilities, for example, will
require strengthening over the next decades.
B
Superior human resource development. Human resources need to be protected and
expanded to ensure a highly-trained and skilled workforce integral to the
development of a high wage economy. Employment security and advancement will
need to be promoted and supported. The development of the human capital in the
GTA will require training and skills development, as well as redeployment
mechanisms and protocols to ensure that the disjunction between employment
opportunities and workers skills is minimized.
B
No privatization of public services. Services provided in a 21st century GTAwould
not be commercialized, privatized or contracted out. A process for examining
services already contracted out would be established to determine the feasibility of
bringing that work back in-house.
A sustainable economy cannot be built on privatization downsizing and irresponsible
homage to the rhetoric of competitiveness. The objective of proper planning for
economic and community development is to attract industry and to retain industry
in high wage, high skill sectors.
The commitment of industry to the values and goals of the community are every bit
as important as the commitment of the community to industry. Economic
development premised on narrow profit-maximization objectives does not form the
basis for a continuing partnership between industry and the community.
For example, irresponsible competitiveness can lead decision-makers to conclude that
taxes must be lowered in order to attract business. Studies indicate that business and
Page 3
property taxes are not a major factor in the decision to locate in one metropolitan
area over another. Creating conditions which foster a weak tax base is detrimental
to the provision of public services which are so essential to healthy communities.
Cutbacks to public employment inevitably impact negatively on local consumer-based
businesses.
.
Public accountability, consultation and control. There must be broad-based public
and employee involvement in sharing municipal and regional planning. The rights
of unions to organize and defend its members must be a given. Unions must be
accorded a role as an EQUAL and knowledgeable partner with politicians, users of
services, and community groups in an open government process. The GTA must be
accountable to the citizens who live within its boundaries, not only at election time
every three years, but every day in between in a process which is equitable, fair and
progressive.
For example, unions representing workers of the GTA should be involved at every
step of the decision-making process. They should be consulted and accorded
standing in deliberations around budgets, and other finance matters such as work
organization job design, and contracting in.
Greater cooperation between the municipal and provincial levels of government is
essential if(a) common problems are to be resolved in a timely and efficient manner,
and (b) decisions which contribute to constructive change are to be made
expeditiously.
.
Planning. Planning for todays and tomorrows needs must be consistent and
integrated into the change process. All stakeholders must be part of this process.
In particular, community and labour participation in planning is essential to assure
long-term economic development.
B
Excellence. The development of excellence in a community is dependent upon every
level of that community working toward a common goal. Unions, user groups,
community groups, and business must all share a responsibility for making a
community a sustainable one. The economic vision must be one of a high wage
sustainable community, not one of a low-wage, lowest common denominator, attract
business at any cost vision. We must ensure that public administrators and managers
are committed and appropriately trained to achieve this vision.
Our community should strive not only for excellence in business, but excellence in
the living standards for its citizens. The opportunity for an enjoyable life should not
be sacrificed for the narrow interests of those who wish only to reap profits.
Businesses who support the goal of excellence in the quality of life in the community
should be encouraged. Those who do not support these goals should be discouraged
and denied public support for their ventures.
Page 4
The creation of excellence should not be confused with the creation of a low-wage
economy through competition. A downward spiral on wages only results in an
erosion of the overall tax base. The erosion of the tax base will result in cutbacks
to public services, ironically at the very time there will be, by necessity, a greater
demand on public services. Tax abatements and fiscal give-aways do not attract
businesses with a commitment to economic development for the benefit of the entire
community.
Sustainable economic development is possible when the community establishes basic
standards of employment (working conditions, wages, benefits, pollution, business
practice, etc.) and proceeds to cultivate employment that meets or betters those
standards.
Our community must be prepared to attract good employers and to discourage
bad employers. More importantly, our community must be prepared to cultivate
economic activity through the retention and renewal of existing jobs. Communities
thrive when their core economies are upgraded and positioned for expansion. Public
sector infrastructure (technical assistance, training, skills development) are essential
to that renewal.
Public services are integral to a healthy economy. The GTA in the 21st century must
strive to attract business and economic ventures which incorporate progressive
community and workplace values into their corporate cultures.
Economies which are built upon a good foundation (good schools, universities and
colleges with a commitment to life long learning, superior roads, highways and public
transportation systems, social services which contribute to the well-being of those in
need, public waste management systems which accentuate waste reduction through
3 Rs, public health services which ensure that citizens receive a superior level of
health care so that our population is healthy and active.
These features attract business to a community not drive it away. A healthy, vibrant
community with a correspondingly healthy workforce is vital for economic
development.
Public services must be adequately funded. All levels of government must shoulder
the responsibility to ensure that public services are properly funded. The GTA will
have the public mandate to develop mutually agreed-upon systems for sharing the
cost of public services with other levels of government. Tax reforms which generate
new revenues should be used to fund quality public services.
The introduction of user fees should not be used to replace progressive forms of
revenue generation. Public services must be accessible to all groups in the
community irrespective of their ability to pay.
.
CUPE Ontarios Vision for the Greater Toronto Area. Page 5
B
Public services must be easily and fully accessible. Access to public services must
be equitable across the entire spectrum of the community. Differential access on the
basis of any individual characteristic (e.g., culture, race, gender, geographic location
disability) to services should be eliminated.
.
Public services must be comprehensive. Public services are delivered by all levels of
govemrnent community boards, agencies and utilities. In every community, a
network of services has developed over time. Gaps and inequities in services
sometimes occur. It is important to have a proper process for analysis and reform
of services to re-establish a comprehensive delivery of services.
B
Clear standards are essential. Clear standards must be established and retained for
the delivery of public services. The local government of the GTA would work to
ensure that reform of both national and provincial standards are informed by the
local experience and that the quality of life in local communities is both protected
and enhanced by reforms.
.
Effective use of resources. Delivery of services by the not-for-profit sector ensures
that all available resources are directed to the provision of that service.
Co
nclusion
The people of the Greater Toronto Area have a right to a sustainable community complete
with a full-range of quality public services and infrastructure.
They have a right to
participate in decision-making about what the goals of economic development should be.
They have a right to participate in the administration of the economy itself to ensure that
economic objectives are consistent with community objectives.
Our democratic processes for public control and accountability must reflect as closely as
possible the wishes of the community and decision-making bodies must be reflective of the
composition of the community. Labour must play a key role in both shaping the direction
of the GTA economy and building a sustainable community into the 21st century.
opeiu 491/343
Nick Lavalle
73 Brownlee Ave.
Woodbridge, Ont.
L4L 8H4
Ms. Anne Golden
Chairperson, GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
November 22, 1995.
I would like to express my strong concern regarding the use of
property taxes as the ma-j or source of funding for our education
system. This is a concern that has been expressed by many in the
City of Vaughan, as well as elsewhere.
In Vaughan, approximately 72% of our property taxes goes to the
local school board. This year I am paying more than $4,000
simply for my education portion. I think this is outrageous.
It is particularly hard to take when fellow co-workers, friends
etc, who make the same wage that I do, pay about half (some pay
closer to one-third) of what I do simply because they live in
Toronto, i.e. assessment rich areas.
For many years I have been telling anyone that would listen that
there is no correlation between the value of a persons home and
the ability of that person to pay the associated property taxes.
Some people have all their wealth tied up in a home, while for
others their home represents only a small. portion of their
wealth.
Some have large mortgages, which reduces their wealth, while
others have no mortgages at all. Some people are on fixed
incomes due to age, injury or unemployment and yet these people
are expected to contribute the same amount towards the cost of
schooling children, regardless of their other assets or income
levels.
Of course the problem has grown worse,
as Ontario's dependence on
property tax for the funding of education has grown from just
over 40% in 1974 to more than 60% in 1992.
In fact, Ontario is
far more dependent on property taxes than any other province in
Canada.
The sad part is that the politicians have known this all along
and did not have to wait until December of 1993, to find out from
the Fair Tax Commission that:
1. Residential property taxes are regressive. Lower income
families pay a higher proportion of their income in property
taxes than higher income families.
and
2. Households in similar financial circumstances pay very differ-
ent amounts of property tax.
Indeed the relationship between
the amount of property taxes that you pay and your household
income is nearly random.
You might be interested to know that in May of 1991, Premier
Harris wrote in a response to a letter from me, "... local
ratepayers have assumed a larger portion of education costs. I
agree that this is an unfair burden,
since property taxes are not
based on the ability to pay.
Young couples purchasing their
first home and seniors on fixed incomes are particularly hard hit
by this trend. Our party is committed to a full review of the
education finance system. We will be developing a position in
conjunction with the work of the Fair Tax Commission on this
issue.
U
Given that the Fair Tax Commission has now reported, I would hope
that the present government is working to incorporate its recom-
mendations as they relate to education funding.
While I understand the difficulties in net using property taxes
as a source of funding, I suggest that it is more difficult to
stick with something that is wrong and unfair.
I encourage you to do what is right and fair and promote the
significant reduction and the eventual elimination of property
taxes as the basis for funding our education system.
In this
regard I would be pleased to meet with you to discuss my ideas in
greater detail.
Yours very truly,
Nick Lavalle
(905)856-9040
Marie Leone Valerie Plunkett Wanda Halliday Robert Coaten
90 Burnt Bark Drive 127 Montezuma Trail 17 Obris Crescent 503-1095 Neilson Road
Scarborough Ontario Scarborough, Ontario Scarborough, Ontario Scarborough, Ontario
MIV 2J8 Ml V 1 K4 MIS 3G6 Ml B 5K5
November 21, 19 9 5
Dear Madam Chairman and Task Force Members:
After reading about the input from the GTA Mayors, GTA Regions,
individual Cities, individual School Boards we are fed up. The only
jurisdiction that has knowingly eliminated their own positions is
Metropolitan Toronto. All other jurisdictions have proposed that we are
over taxed and over governed but always by someone else.
This letter comes to you from a group of taxpayers,
who have
fought with the Metropolitan Toronto School Board (Scarborough School
Board) for a number of years, having had some wins, we feel that the
bureaucrats have taken control and some of our elected officials have
been manipulated by the system.
We are over governed, we are over taxed and we feel like our tax
dollars go into a deep dark hole with only dribbles going to the areas
that are necessary. The areas we expect to fund include Police,
Education, Transportation and limited Social Services.
Every report that has gone to the Golden Commission says eliminate
them not me. This is our opinion and we believe that we are supported
by a majority of residents.
ELIMINATE THE SCHOOL BOARDS. They are a waste of tax
dollars. We want to educate children and. we are NOT doing that.
Provide each child with a certificate that can be taken to any
Provincially approved school. The Provincial Government should set the
curriculum (the same across the province) and monitor the accreditation.
This system should satisfy the Constitutional requirements for the
Separate School. All schools would then be forced to be competitive and
fight for the dollars to stay open. Each school should be run by a
volunteer board setup with taxpayers and teachers. Capital
expenditures and salaries would be managed by a single tier government.
In Metro, the city councillors should be eliminated and the Metro
Councillors will handle all issues. It has to be cheaper to have 1
level of government in Metro than to have SIX. All departments will be
amalgamated with the 6 city centres meeting the needs of specific local
problems. (This could be a standard set up through out the GTA.)
- 2 -
Special Boards and Commissions, e.g. Police Services, T.T.C.,
Library Boards, should be abolished and made departments of the single
tier government. This would allow public participation in decisions
made by these bodies, accountability to the public by elected officials
and some form of control which does not now exist.
M E M O R A N D U M
To: Anne Golden
Chair
From: W. A. Liczyk
Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer
RE: MUNI CI PAL FI NANCI NG
Date: May 15, 1995
Further to the meeting on Monday, I jotted down some questions and financial options
that could be considered,
Can disentanglement be re-invented for municipalities?
. Consider the issues of transfer payment equality, assessment reform
(residential with commercial & industrial) and service funding to create a net
zero sum package.
We need to consider Provincial programs that can be more effectively delivered by
the municipalities. Funding of such programs would become an issue in the
disentanglement exercise.
How politically acceptable are any solutions to either one of the three political
parties? Should we beconsidering/influencing their proposals/getting commitment
that they will seriously consider and/or accept taskforce recommendations.
What financial options are possible? Politically acceptable? We need to
concentrate on implementable solutions and hopefully come up with
recommendations like the Royal Commission on Learning - recommendations that
any political party can accept, otherwise we will become yet another report on the
shelf.
. What does GTA pooling of commercial and industrial assessment do to
municipalities? What about pooling Vaughan, Markham and Mississauga
commercial and industrial assessment with Metro municipalities?
. What does an expansion of Metro borders to include Vaughan, Markham and
Mississauga do the tax problem (Particularly if combined with equalized
assessment which Metro tried to bring in
This may relieve the issue.
B Will consideration of variable mill rates
after the Province didnt approve
-
MVA)?
create a competitive environment that
replicates/further exercabates the current crisis situation?
(s this concept inconsistent with a level playing field concept and minimizing
the flight of business to municipalities with lower tax rates?
. Because education is about 55% of the tax bill, it is the single largest issue for
taxpayers - with respect to value. If funding by the income taxis not possible, how
can education financing be more accountable to our taxpayers? Taxpayers want
to see accountability improved.
NOTE: Would education financing by the income tax only increase the
amount of GTA dollars that are redistributed out to the rest of the
Province? My guess is yes since GTA urban incomes are higher on
average than the rest of the Province,
.
:js/maja
J.J.Long
92 King St.E.Unit 404
Toronto, Ontario
M5C 2V8
Municipal Reform Commission
Sept. 29,1995
Dear Members:
To summarize my proposals regarding reforming municipal government
Toronto once again. I believe that the following reforms should take
There should not be one large Toronto region
{
instead there should
current Metro Toronto boundaries surrounded by an inner rinq
in the
place.
be the
region
containing the southern parts of the present Peel and York reagions and
southwestern portion of Durham region.
The number of municipalities in the
core and ring regions should be reduced with more logical boundary lines
implemented as in my previous letter.
The province should take over the management of all rail rapid transit
lines (GO and subways) and divided highways in the inner and ring regions.
Since the province provides the major funding for the construction of such
rail lines and roads it should decide where they should go best on a
regional basis.
I have provided copies with maps with my previous letters. This is just a
final reminder submission.
Yours truly
John
Cc.
J.Long
Hon. Al Leach M.P.P.
Queens Park
Toronto, Ontario
Lon gwood s
September 15, 1995
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
The publisher and editors of Focus on Canadian Municipal Assessment and Taxation (FOCUS)
feel that the review of property assessment and taxation by the Greater Toronto Area Task Force is
the most important review undertaken since 1904. Therefore it is important that a submission
limited to the subject of assessment matters be prepared and extensively circulated and approved.
Since November 1986 FOCUS has produced a monthly newsletter directed to individuals and
organizations interested in or involved in municipal assessment and taxation. It is the only
national monthly newsletter in existence dealing with assessment and taxation.
Focus was initially published by CCH Canadian Limited and was succeeded in February of 1994
by Longwoods Publishing Corporation. Subscribers vary from provincial governments, school
boards and municipalities to consulting, law and accounting firms, and industrial and commercial
corporations across the country.
There is a conscious effort on behalf of the publisher and the editors to ensure that the
commentary is objective and consistent. To that end a Publications Board is in place consisting of
rcprcsentativcs from assessment tribunals, assessors across Canada and legal and consulting firms.
Two weeks ago a draft submission to the Task Force was circulated to more than 700 recipients.
The positive response to this draft submission has been extensive. Supporting comments came from:
The Canadian Bankers Association and its member banks;
Major retail department and food stores;
Major automobile manufacturers;
Large property owners and managers;
The legal profession;
The accounting profession;
All IeveIS of government, including the federal government,
school boards, municipalities and townships;
Tribunals; and
The consulting industry.
Negative responses were very limited and generally felt that the submission was too narrow and
should include items of taxation policy such as variable mill rates. The full particulars of
responses are available upon request.
On behalf of our editorial advisors, our subscribers and our readers I am pleased to make these
submissions to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
Yours respectfully,
Focus on Canadian Municipal
Assessment and Taxation
Publisher
Longwoods Publishing Corporation
264 Adelaide Street West, Toronto, Ontario M5A 1N1 B Tel (416) 864-9667/ Fax (416) 661-9530
Spec i al I ssue
SEPTEMBER 15, 1995
The publisher and editors of Focus on
Canadian Municipal Assessment and
Taxation arc pleased to make this
submission to the Greater Toronto
Area Task Force.
On August 31, 1995 a draft submission
to the Task Force was circulated to
more than 700 recipients including
subscribers, property owners,
municipalities, school boards, boards
of trade and industry advisors.
We were pleased to receive a positive
response to this submission by:
The Canadian Bankers Association
and its mcmber banks;
Major retail department and food
stores;
Major automobile manufacturers;
Large property owners and
managers;
The legal profession;
The accounting profession;
All levels of government, including
the federal government, school
boards, municipalities and
townships;
Tribunals; and
The consulting industry.
Their agreement with the substance
and details of our comments arc
reflected in this submission.
1. There should be a distinct
separation of Assessment
Policy and Taxation Policy.
Historically, in the public eye
assessment is synonymous with
taxation. This has lead parties
opposing tax increases for their
respective properties, to rally
against market value re-assessment
when, in fact, their objections
should have been in respect to the
changes in taxation. The method
of assessment should stand on its
own merit, how it translates into
taxes is another issue.
The publics lack of differentiation
between taxation and assessment
arises in part as a result of current
restrictions on how mill rates are
set. Under this perception a
change in assessment auto-
matically meant a change in
taxation. Municipalities in
Ontario should have both the
freedom and responsibility of
setting their own taxation policies.
This notion requires some
flexibilit
y
in the setting of mill
rates, i.e., a variable mill rate
system. Ontario should have a
system of assessment which:
B
B
B
B
provides across the province
an equitable basis for levying

property taxes;
provides for the taxpayer, the
jurisprudence to protect against
the imposition of inequitable
assessments thereafter property
taxes;
provides an efficient
operational mass appraisal
system which derives results
which bear some relationshi
p
to
realistic economic conditions
throughout the province;
provides the residents of the
province with an assessment
system that is understandable
and regarded insofar as
possible as being equitable;
B provides for the municipalities,
regional governments and
school boards a realistic basis
upon which the taxes can be
levied.
Il. Market Value Assessment
Should be Implemented
throughout the Province
by 1998.
Throughout the world, the
assessment system that has met
the above criteria is market value
assessment. Under Section 19(1)
of the Assessment Act, land or
real propert
y
is to be valued at
market value. Market value, as
defined under Section 19(2) ... is
the amount that the land might be
expected to realize if sold in the
open market b
y
a willin
g
seller to
a willing buyer.
The jurisprudence that has
developed with respect to market
value ensures that the taxpayer has
sufficient protection to ensure an
ultimately equitable assessment.
The other methods of assessment
put forward do not have this
historic protection nor do the
y
have the history of acceptance and
success that the market value
system has experienced.
We concur with the recomm-
endations of the Corporation of
the City of Mississauga made to
the Task Force relating to A
Framework for Property Tax
Reform insofar as it calls for the
Focus on Canadian Municipal Assessment and Taxation . Volume Ill, Special Issue on GTA 1
implementation over a time frame
of full market value assessment.
III. Timeframe for Completion
of Full Market Value
-
Reassessment
The Corporation of the Cit
y
o :
Mississauga in its submission
proposed that the full market
value assessment be completed
.
within ten years prefaced b
y
a n
initial class reassessment under
Section 58(3) of the Assessment
Act completed within the initial
five years.
Based upon our experience, the
experience of jurisdictions such as
the Province of British Columbia
and the Cit
y
of New York, and
the state-of-the-art of computer
systems available, it is our
recommendation that the Greater
Toronto Area, and, in fact, the
province of Ontario be reassessed
to market value base of 1996 for
taxation year 1998. Thereafter,
reassessments should be conducted
no later than ever
y
two years until
the year 2000. Subsequently,
reassessments would be conducted
annually. This is a practical and
realistic approach.
IV. Who is to be the Assessing
Authority?
One of the principle steps in
d iffer ent iat in
g
bet ween
Assessment and Taxation Policy is
the independence of the assessin
g
au t hor it
y
and its direction b
y
it s
clients as opposed to its direction
b
y
the province. The proposal b
y
the Peterson government for the
creation of an independent
assessing authorit
y
premised upon
the British Columbia experience
was positive. The problem with
the proposal was that the authorit
y
would still be subject to the
control of the province as
opposed to the control of its
clients. The clients of the assessin
g
aut hor it
y
are, in the first instance,
the taxpayers, then the
municipalities and schoolboards.
The board of directors of the
assessing authorit
y
should be
representative of its clients. In the
reassessment program, as is the
practice in Alberta and certain US
States, an
y
deficiencies in man-
power could be compensated for
and augmented b
y
the private sector
if necessary.
V. Tax Impacts
We agree with the submission of
the Cit
y
of Mississauga that tax
impacts should be phased in over
a period of five years. Any
assessment increase should be
matched b
y
a corresponding
decrease. All changes would be
applied to all property owners at
the same rate.
VI. The Assessment Act Should
Remain in Place
Historically, the Assessment Act
and the jurisprudence developed
throughout the years provides the
protection for the taxpayer.
Amendments to the Assessment
Act should revolve about the
removal of the freezin
g
provisions
which were implemented when it
became apparent to the then
government, that for whatever
political reasons full market value
would not be implemented.
VII. Appeal Procedures Under
the Assessment Act
The review procedures under the
Assessment act, although not
perfect, have, due to the
personalities involved and the
proceedings implemented,
increased in efficienc
y
and
responsibility to the taxpayer and
the assessin
g
authority. We would
recommend that the appeal and
review procedure presently
available under the Assessment
Edi t or i al and Publ i c at i on
Boar d Member s
Char l es Ander son, B.A., LL. B.:
Vertlieb, Anderson, Barristers and
Solicitors, Vancouver, British Columbia
Loui se Bel anger , Leduc, Belanger,
Boisvert, Laurendeau, Rivard, Montreal,
Quebec
Dougl as S. Col bour ne, C. A., B. A., Vic e
Chairman, Ontario Munic ipal Board,
Toronto, Ontario
Car l B. Davi s, Chernos, Conway,
Barristers, Toronto, Ontario
Rene Gagne, AEC Valuations (Western)
Inc . Edmonton, Alberta
Pi er r e Gal ar do, LL.L., Partner: Paquet,
Galardo, Nantais, Barristers and
J er r y Gr ad, P. Eng. AEC Valuations Inc .,
Ant on Har t , Longwoods Publishing
Corporation, Toronto, Ontario
R. Wi l l i am Headen, RI (B.C.), Deputy
Assessment Commissioner, British
Columbia Assessment Authority, Victoria,
British Columbia
3
Pet er Mac Lel l an, AACI, Chief
Technical Appraiser, Nova Scotia
Department of Munic ipal Affairs, Halifax,
Nova Scotia
I an W. Mc Cl ung, Ml MA, Direc tor,
Appraisal Servic es Branc h, Ontario
Ministry of Financ e, Oshawa, Ontario
Br enda Mi nor , AEC Valuations Inc.,
Willowdale, Ontario
2
J .P. ORei l l y, Property and insurance
Management, Ford Motor Company of
Canada Limited, Oakville, Ontario 3
Davi d St ew ar t , Direc tor Property Tax
& Insuranc e, Cambridge Leaseholds
Limited, Toronto, Ontario 3
Ron Szabo, Manager, Munic ipal Taxes,
Sears Canada Inc ., Toronto, Ontario 3
J ac k A. Wal k er , Q. C., Walker, Fox and
Schwarz, Barristers and Solicitors,
Toronto, Ontario 2
Exec utive Board
2
Editorial Board
3
Publications Board
Focus on Canadian Municipal Assessment and Taxation B Volume Ill, Special Issue on GTA
Should you not receive (18) pages, please call 416-246-1449
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair, Greater Toronto Area - GTA Task Force
393 University Avenue, 20th Floor - 2001
Toronto ON M5G 1E6, Tel: (416) 3271515
Fax: 327-1516
[ RECEIVED I
August 30, 1995
I I
Subject: GTA t ec hnol ogy s t r at eg y
Dear Dr. Golden:
Further to my telephone conversation of last week with Mr. Harry Kitchen, he
kindly advised me to furnish you some information on Et obi coke Technol ogy
St rat egy. Please find the following documents for your attention.
1 . The Basi s of a Muni ci pal Technol ogy St rat egy (2 pages) .
2. Et obi coke Technol ogy St r at egy Devel opent , Backgr ound (5 pages).
3. Et obi coke Technol ogy Devel opment Task Force ( 5 pages).
4. Et obi coke Technol ogy Survey (5 pages)
Municipal technology strategy, a missing 1 ink in our national system of develop-
ment, is a base for a municipal economic development and a buiIding block of our
national technology strategy. GTAs technology strategy will certainly have
profound impacts on the prosperity of Toronto region, as well 1 as on Ontario.
Should residents of GTA become concerned about the economic future of this area.
they would contemplate that in the new technoeconomic paradigm, outdated
economic development activities will not perform properly. The apparent decl i ne
i n t he economi c at t r act i veness of GTA s core is just a sign of this trend. I n
a rapidly changi ng and globalizing economy, conventional businesses endeavors
have very 1 limited applications, if any. A proper way to stimulate community
economic development could not be based on the technology-less economic plans.
In reorganizing the local government of GTA, Im confident, an important subject
like municipal technology strategy will be taken into consideration. Please feel
free to call me, if you need further information in this respect.
Sincerely yours,
I
Darius Mahdjoubi, P.Eng.
Pus. Im going to write an article on the Basis of Municlpal TechnolOgy
Strategy for the next issue of The Economic Development Journal of Canada. This
article, however, will not published before your deadline of September 30, 1995.
2055 lslington Ave Suite 1506, Etobicoke ON M9P 3R1 Canada Tel: (416) 246-1449 Fax 246-1747 E-Mail: bj4B7@freanet.torontoan.
DARIUS MAHDJOUBI
Industrial consultant
The Basis of Municipal Technology Strategy
1.
This short presentation is about the basis of municipal technolog
y
strategy, The approach rnay seem very
simple, because it is basic and practical. But it is not a pure theoretical or academic approach. Indeed, it may
take a while that this approach being studied or discussed at an academic level.
2. Technology has always been a base for economic and production activities; no production could be
performed without having access to technology, On the other hand, production and economic acflvities have
always been a base for technology development. If we regard technology and economy as two interconnected
systems, their relationships may be presented in tthe following ohart.
3. Technology strategy is a distinct, but integrated part of socio-economic development plan. Indeed, a
furhter development of this approach suggests that the economic, technologic, environmental and socia~human
development plans should be integrated to each other.
4. In all businesses the level of decision making in going down.
If we regard government as, or similar to,
a business there should be a tendency toward community level systems.
5. The cross-section of development of technology strategies as a base for economic development plans
and further actions of communities and municipalities maybe called Municipal Technology Strategy .
6. Based on similar statements, businesses need also to define their technology plans to be integrated with
their business pl ans.
2085 Islinglon Ave., Suite 1508, Etobicoke ON M9P 3RI
Tel: (416) 246-1449 Fax: (416) 246-1747
95 17 : 26 PAG E . 002
7. The conventional approaches which have confined technology strategies to the generous endowments
of cent ral governments for the support of R&D correspond to the linear model of innovation which developed
based on the needs of the Cold War era.
8. Land use study has bean a pillar of municipal economic development strategies for many years. This
activity may continue to play a role in municipal planning. However, re-zoning land to commercial or industrial use
will no longer produce growth of commerce and industry,
9. Land use planning corresponds to the static model of production, In the context of land, labour and
capital, municipalities have confined themselves to land use studies and land re-zoning as an asset. In the new
economies, where knowledge and information are key players, municipal economic development plans narrowed
to land use and re-zoning will have very limited applications, if any.
10. Based on the conventional land use planning, municipalities have spent immense budgets to make
directories for vacant lands and buildings,
11. Should knowledge, information, technology and human resources become the major players in the new
economy, then municipal governments have to figure out new roles to sustain in the new economy. Competitive
advantage of cities does no Ionger come from cheaper land, knowledge infrastructure is more important than roads
and sewage systems.
12. When used as a basis for planning and economic development strategies, technology development
becomes a bread and butter issue for both corporations and governments. Technology development can and must
be utilized as a practical vehicle for continuous improvement, integral to all aspects of short, medium and long
term community planning.
13. Business directory publication has been another pillar of the conventional municipal economic
development activities. Business directories are usually based on Standard Industrial Classification- SIC code.
Classification of businesses by SIC code offers little Information of value for purpose of technology development.
A plant site conducting vehicle maintenance maybe classified under the general activities of parent corporation.
Knowing the SIC code reveals little about the subject site and its knowledge asset values, if any.
14. Municipalities should know about the present and planned technological capabilities of the businesses
in the given catchment area. Complaining about deficiency in R&D expenditures or shortage in the utilization of
advanced manufacturing capabilities may provide little relief for this task.
15. New technological classifications and nomenclatures targeted at SMEs can be used for the municipal
technology surveys.
16. Encouraging investors not familiar or active in a city to invest is another column of conventional
municipal economic development activities. This programs heavily concentrated on outsiders, usually pay Iittle
attention to the fact that development is an indigenous process and exogenous factors have limited influences in
the development and progress of a community.
17. Municipalities should define how their citizens could actively participate in the process of techno-economic
development, as well as social and cultural of their community.
This process would create much better
atmosphere for outsiders to come in and take part in further development of a given community.
DARIUS MAHDJOUBI, P.Eng
Industrial Consultant
Etobicoke Technology Strategy Development, Background
August 1995
The Etobicoke technology strategy has been a pioneer in initiating a new outlook towards municipal
technology development plans. This report covers that process, which may be classified into three main
stages:
Stage 1. Technology Development Group, Etoblcoke Chamber of Commerce
In May 1993, the Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce created a technology development group, to explore
opportunities for technology development in Etobicoke. This group introduced a new approach to technology
strategy as a base for economic development plans.
Technology has always been abase for economy; no production could be performed without having access
to needed technology. On the other hand, production and economic activities have always been a base for
technology development. If we regard technology and economy as two interrelated systems, their
relationships may be presented as in chart 1.
Following a national pattern, Canadian economic development activities are interrelated through the Federal,
Provincial and Municipal economic development programs. Considering technology and economy as two
interrelated systems, as depicted here, there should be interactions between the federal, provincial and
municipal technology and economic development programs.
There have been tendency toward community level programs. Further development of technology strategies
as a base for economic development plans and more actions of communities and municipalities is being
referred to as Municipal Technology Development Strategy.
Conventional approaches towards technology development, which have confined technology strategies to the
generous endowments of central governments for support of R&D programs, correspond to the linear model
of innovation which is bound to change.
Municipal technology strategy is a distinct but integrated part of socio-economic development plans. Indeed,
the economic, technological!, environmental and social/human development plans maybe integrated to each
other, as depicted in the National Development System.
Stage 2. Etobicoke Technology Development Task Force
In September 1993 the technology development group began calling itself Etobicoke Technology
Development Task Force. People Making Technology Work, the first report of this group, developed a new
approach toward conventional municipal development.
Land use study, for a long time, has been a pillar of municipal economic development programs. This ,
approach corresponds to the conventional (Industrial age) economy with three factors of production: land, ,
Labour and CapItal. Labour is provided by the citizens, and capital by the investors, most probably out of the
given area. Land is the last variable that municipalities are able to deal with. Land use studies may continue
to play a role in municipal planning. However, re-zoning land to commercial or Industrial use will no longer
2
produce growth of commerce and industry in a region.
The new economy has new variables, and knowledge/information is going to become the main ec
pl ayer, compared to l and and capi tal . In the new techno-economi c paradi gm, knowl edge generat
an acti vi ty l i mi ted to R&D i nsti tutes or academi a. Every organi zati on whi ch i s goi ng to survi ve,
act i ve i n knowl edge support . Devel opment of t echnol ogy st rat egi es, l i nked t o t he economi c d
plans, is the name of this game in every region.
Stage 3. Joint Adjustment Commi ttee of Etobi coke
In May 1994 the Joi nt Adj ustment Commi ttee of Etobi coke - JAC was i ni ti ated to Seek Ways an
Devel opment Technol ogy Strategy for Economi c Devel opment , JAC S acti vi ti es i n the peri od o
t o May 1995 wer e c onc ent r at ed on t wo pr oj ec t s : Technology Development and Information
(Communication) Technology Development.
The di fferent stages for carryi ng out the Technol ogy Devel opment proj ect may be presented as
1. Etobicoke Industrial Survey: Small/medium size traditional manufacturing industries
consti tute the backbone of Etobi coke economy
v
2. Etobi coke Technol ogy Survey: Deficiency in management of technology is the main
i nhi bi tor of further devel opment of Etobi coke busi nesses.
3. Supporting SMEs Technology Development Plans: Potential Players: Government
Organi zat i ons (Indust ry Canada, MEDT), Fi nanci al Organi zat i ons (Banks).
4. innovation In the Innovation Systems: The R&D concentrated innovation in bound to
change and a new innovation based on design and development and covering wider aspects of
technology development is emerging.
5. Federal Government Support of SMEs Technology Development: Development of
Technology Diagnostic Tools as part of Canadian Technology Network
3
7. Appraisal of Intellectual Capital
8. Reviewing the Process: The Present Report
9. Next Action: Seeking new means and ways for development strategy for economic
development
Na t ion a l Sys t em of De ve l op me n t
NationalI Na t ion a I Na t ion a l Na t ion a l
En vir on men t
Tech n ology Econ omic
Sys t em Sys t em Sy st em Sy st em
P. 09
DARIUS MAHDJOUB1
Etobicoke Technology Development Task Force
Background
Etobicoke, with more than 300, 000 residents, is one the six cities that form Metropolitan Toronto. Etobicoke has been
a powerful industral engine of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) economy since World War Two when the Etobicoke
lakeshore industrial park grew rapidly. In the lat e fifties the Rexdale industrial park in north Etobicoke became one
of North Americas first geographically segregated industrial parks. Etobicoke became the largest employment centre
in the GTA outside of the City of Toronto,
Economic expansion in Etobicoke reached a plateau In the 1980s. By 1990, structural disinvestment in Etobicoke was
well under way, veiled by a cyclical recession. As community economic policy development remained idle vast working
capital resources were being transferred out. From 1981 to 1993, over 30,000 full time employment positions in
Etobi coke di sappeared.
compelling Reasons for Adjustment ActIon
In May 1993, the Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce created a working group to explore opportunities for technology
development in Etobicoke. This working group was chaired by Mr. Darius Mahdjoubi, and grew rapidly to include
representatives from many local businesses and public sector organizations. In September 1993, the group began
calling itself The Etobicoke Technology Development Task Force , a self organizing deliberative assembly, dedicated
to public policy development on local and regional technology issues. Organizations represented in the Task Force
have included both private companies and professionals as well as publicly managed and regulated stakeholder. The
list of members Is appended.
The Task Force seeks to identify strategic economic development opportunities, attract working capital, diffuse skills
and knowledge bases while exploiting their economic potential and sustain a public policy development process which
synergizes private and public sector human resources and procurement power on a community action level to induce
technology development and local participation in a global economy,
Understanding that Etobicokes economy is entirely integrated into the GTA and acknowledging that the destiny of
Etobicoke cannot be excised from that of Metro Toronto, this community technology development Strategy must not
be viewed as parochial in focus only because its financial resources limit the execution of programme to a finite
catchment area. The Etobicoke Technology Development Task Force is being monitored closely by Human Resources
Clanada, the Premier's Council and Industry Canada for evidence of broader institutional relevancy which stakeholder
believe it may demonstrate within a national technology development policy. Members of the Task Force understand
that the changes which will most benefit Etobicoke are likely to be derived from the personal initiatives of plant
managers, human resource managers and entrepreneurs. Todays business decisions are already casting the mould
for the way future citizens will live and work in what is now Etobicoke.
The Etobicoke Technology Development Task Force is resolved to energize industrial adjustment and innovation in,
Etobicoke through the capitalization of strategic business opportunities. Such projects wilt be presented to private and
public funding partners in the form of technology development strategies which exploit the unique character of human
relationships, geographical sites, building structures and the development of niche processes and products in Etobicoke
l o
production systems. The Task Force does not intend at this time to develop new programs but will endeavour on a
west cost management basis to market and assist in the execution of existing federal, provincial and private funding
programs in partnership with community stakeholder procurement officers and private sector venture capital firms.
2085 Islington Ave., Suite 1508, Etobicoke M9P 3R1 Tel: (416) 246-1449 Fax (416) 246-1747
Joint Adjustment Committee (JAC\
In February of 1994, the Task Force applied for federal government assistance under the Industrial Adjustment Service
of Human Resources Canada. Members of a Joint Adjustment Committee (JAC) were appointed by the Task Force
and by the City of Etobicoke respectively. Task Force appointees to the JAC were chosen from the business
community and include Peter Broadhurst, vice president, Litton Systems Canada; Peter French, vice president, OCAM
Ltd, The Giffels Group and J.C. Sollinger, president Endacom 2000. Appointees to the JAC for the City of Etobicoke
include Councillor Brian lneson of Etobicoke City Council and Catherine Boivie, the City of Etobicokes Director of
Computer Services.
The JACS non-aligned chairperson Barrie Wray, a former dean of Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology,
a former engineer and a former patent examiner is a longtime Etobicoke resident homeowner, uniquely qualified to
represent the interests of resident citizens of Etobicoke. Treasurer Sam MacKlnlay, superintendent of business for the
Etobicoke Board of Education, demonstrates a knowledge of Metro Torontos inter-governmental civil service, acquired
through many years of public administration service. Staff member Darius Mahdjoubi is an industrial consultant and
proponent of a United Nations plan for engineering education and technology development in emerging nations. Staff
member Greg Warren is an association management consultant, former president of the Etobicoke Chamber of
Commerce and an appointee to the Premiers Council.
The JACS programme has been devised through a deliberative process made possible by the generous contribution
of volunteer time from JAC members and members of the Etobicoke Technology Development Task Force. The JAC
secretariat is solely supported by the financial contributions of federal taxpayers whose
interests have been judiciously preserved by Industrial Adjustment Service consultant Nancy Green. The enabling
contributions of directing officers of Human Resources Canada and the Honourable Lloyd Axworthy, Minister have
allowed the Task Force steering committee (JAC) to undertake three projects:
1. A survey of Etobicoke public sector information network strategy.
2. A survey of the technological capabilities of Etobicoke firms.
You may find the following resource publications of the committee useful. These documents maybe down loaded from
the Task Force electronic bulletin board in text and WordPerfect formats. Log on at NovaLink, v.32bis, 14.4kbs,
PCBoard/Rosemaii, (905)-278-1831.
1.
2.
3.
Technology Development Statement of the City of Etobicoke, Jan 17, 1994, Brenda Glover. [d] file
ETOBPLAN.zip] In this statement, Etobicoke emphasizes on the role of technology development, A preamble to
the policy says that an area of increasing importance in the economic viability of a country, city or a business is
technology development. The effective use of technology is a major determinant of success in the struggle for
competitive advantage in a market place that expands with trade agreements. The Etobicoke technology
development statement is a pioneer in North America.
Does a Post Scarcity Economy Compel a Search For New Economic Models, Darius Mahdjoubi, Greg
Warren, 1993. [d] file ECOMODEL.zip]. This is a discussion of the changing influence of factors of production in
the new economy, the relationships between economy and technology and the need on the part of business,
education and public policy developers to recognize the diminishing influence of land, energy, material and Iabour
in the production cycle and the increasing economic importance of information, knowledge, human resources in
this process.
People Making Technology Work, Darius Mahdjoubi and Greg Warren, 1993. A case for community technology
development strategies. [dl file PMTW.zip]. This paper is dedicated to the proposition that technology development
may be most successfully executed at the lower government tier where an accessible public policy development
process allows resident and corporate citizens to develop a consensus for local action, mobilize volunteers and
2
February 1994
Etobicoke mounts the technology wave
Etobicoke Council has put
an unusual emphasi s on
technology development. On
January 17th,, a motion to
adopt a municipal policy was
moved by CounciI for Ineson
and passed unani mousl y.
Councillor 1neson.
Chairman of the Planning
Committee, said later that he
was encouraged 10 see
Etobicoke take such a positive
step: The world is changing so
rapidIy that if we dont do
something Iike this w e w i 11
always be running to catch up
with the mainstream. At one
t i me knowl edge was t he
gateway to progress. Now the
problem is to assimilate a body
of information that is doubling
every two years.
Council adopts development policy
Pl ay a mi nd game, he
continued. Think what life
was like fifleen years ago and
compare it to today. Look at
computers. Fifteen years ago
the state of the art was a n 8
kilobyte PET, What are w e
going to be using in fifteen
years time? It has not been
invented.
From the City Managers
Office, Brenda Clover, who
drafted the policy, said it
Shows leadership from our
Council that they would be
willing to look at this is as a
cooperative venture t0 assist
businesses to become more
competitive and prepared for
the future.
A preamble to the policy
says that An area of
increasing importance in the
economi c vi abi l i t y of a
country, a city or a business is
technology development. The
effective use of technology is a
major determinant of success
in the struggle for competitive
advantage i n a market place
that . expands With trade
agreements.
Thr ee cl auses put t he
devel opment message I n
strong terms: The City of
Etobicoke will recognize and
support technology
development through:
Par t i ci pat i on i n the
Technology Development Task
Force, spearheaded by the
Etobicoke Chamber of Comm.
erce, and other organizations
with similar aims.
Active p r o v i s i o n o f
information from al I levels of
government t o Et obi coke
businesses, with a view to
increasing their technoIogy
development awareness and
capabilities.
Sponsorship of business-
focused seminars which relate
to technology developmen t,
i n terna ti onaI business
opportunities and innovative
strategies.
Dari us Mahdj oubi i s an
industrial consultant who, for
t he l ast year , has been
st udyi ng t he rel at i onshi p
between economics and
technology for [he Etobicoke
Chamber of Commerce. Hc
believes that this action by
Co u n c i l makes i t t he f i r st
muni ci pal body i n Nor t h
America to adopt a technologv
development policy.
DARIUS MAHDJOUBI
Etobicoke Technology Survey
New Yardstick for the Technological Capabilities of Small Medium Sized Enterprises
Introductlon
Etobicoke, Ontario is one of the six cities that form Metropolitan Toronto, This document covers the final
report of phase one of a technological survey on Etobicoke businesses. The survey is part of the Etobicoke
technology strategy which is a pioneer project in municipal technology strategy in Canada.
The Etobicoke Technology Survey has been developed to provide a sound information pool about the current
Technological capabilities and potential technology development plans of Etobicoke businesses. Small and
medium sized manufacturing industries constitute the backbone of Etobicokes economy, a case similar to
many other cities in industrial countries, This survey is based on a new approach towards technology
development, which looks at technology as a subject much wider than Research and Development - R&D.
R& D consists of a hierarchy of three stages: basic research, applied research and development. R&D is
also divided into product and process development. By considering the three stages of R&D hierarchy along
with product and process development, R&D can be characterized using a matrix with six cells.
R&D, as a classification for technology development, evolved during and in the early years after the Second
World War. However, since 1960s, it has become the dominant measuring system and index for science and
technology development. Expenditure on R&D has been used as the main yardstick for quantifying the
technology development capabilities of nations.
According to the most recent Science and Technology Statistics by Industry Canada, 3,566 Canadian
business enterprises performed R&D in 1991. That number corresponds to only 0.4% of total Canadian
businesses. The same source reveals that the top 100 firms accounted for 68% total Canadian R&D
expenditures and the remaining 3,466 firms accounted for 32%. Based on this data, two thirds of business
R&D has been executed by 112 ppm (part per million) of Canadian enterprises, Among the G-7 countries,
Canada has the highest ratio of government and university to business R&D expenditure. However, despite
this statistic, Canada it has so far achieved too little success in translating good research ideas into
commercial success.
The R&D approach to technology development is based on a methodology that Iooks at technological change
2085 Islington Ave., Suite 1508, Etobicoke, Ontario Canada M9P 3R1 Tel: (416) 246-1449 Fax (416) 246-1747
as a phenomenon which is exogenous to production system and is closely dependent upon, and di rectl y
generated by, prior scientific research, R&D, as an indicator of technological development, only measures
the tip of the iceberg. For further information about the evolution of R&D, please refer to Innovation in the
Innovation System, another report of this series.
R&D based studies are not able to provide comprehensive information about the technological capabilities
of small/medium sized enterprises- SMES. New yardsticks are needed to classify and quantify technological
capabilities. Developing methodologies which are able to classify technological capabilities of SMES has never
been an easy task. The Etobicoke Technology Survey was initiated to tackle this issue.
Understanding the role of informatlon/knovvledge in the new economy end exploring the design and
development capabilities of businusses have been the driving force behind the development of the
Etobicoke Technology Survey. Theoreoretical basis underlying this methodology-corresponds to recent
economic studies by Paul Romer and Richard Lipsey - has been discussed in Etobicoke Technology Survey
background andPeople Making Technology Work. TheBackground part of this report covers a summary
of the developed methodology and classification.
Keeping with this methodology, an Etobicoke technology development questionnaire was developed. The
pilot phase of the Etobicoke Technology Survey covered a dozen of firms with a wide range of activities.
Incorporating some refinements, the first phase of the survey was performed on about 40 randomly selected
small medium sized manufacturing industries in Etobicoke. Results of these studies were presented in
Aggregate of Phase One of Etobicoke Technology Survey .
Major Conclusions
1, Surveyed businesses are basically outward-oriented. Only 10% of the businesses Iook to Etobicoke
as their major market, compared with 75A and 65% that Iook to Canada and the U.S. respectively, On the
other hand, 40% and 80% of the businesses look at Canada and U.S. as sources of competition.
2
70% of businesses indicated that they have product development units, However, only 20% plan to
develop this unit,
3
0
70 % of businesses referred to development/adaptation as their major technology resource for
product development, only 15% indicated that they have performed basic research to explore new products,
while 30% marked appiied research. Production based on receiving well defined orders has been indicated
by about 40% of businesses as a technology resource. The above data verify that traditional R&D criteria
do not adequately reveal the whole range of technology development capabilities, e.g. adaptation or order.
4. More than 75% of businesses have marked that they have quality controi units, which is the highest
rate for technology development units, even higher than product development units. However, the
development of quality control capabilities has not been a major subject in traditional R&D studies.
5. More than three quarters of surveyed business revealed that they have no documented technology
development plan. The same ratio marked that the processes of re-organizing their technology development
units and studying technological capabilities of their competitors are performed spontaneously and ad hoc.
Deficiency in management of technology, covering the above subjects, is the greatest inhibitor of the
technological capability of the surveyed businesses.
2,
9 5 17 : 35
6. 60% and 40% of surveyed business have received support from the IR&ED Tax incentive and IRAP
program respectively, corresponding to a national survey statistics by Stats-Can.
7
0
Cash flow and banks have been the major sources of financing for the businesses, 70% and 40%
respectively.
8 Manually controlled machinery is still a major source of equipment for surveyed businesses. In fact,
55% of businesses indicated manually controlled machinery in their fabrication process. Office systems tend
to employ the most advanced machinery. Almost three quarters of the businesses use individually and/or
integrated controlled computer systems in their offices.
I
Technology Plan: The Missing Link
Etobicoke businesses are trying very hard to cope with the pressures of world competition. The adaptation;
stages of product development and quality control are their main source of technology development.
However, as mentioned above, the major obstacle for further development of area businesses is deficiency
in the management of technology and technology planning. More than three quarters of the businesses
explicitly indicated that they do not have documented technology plan.
1
A technology plan should describe the main patterns and potential changes in the technological strategies
of a business. The domain of a technology plan, therefore, is much broader than defining the technical
aspects of products, R&D projects or management of engineering sections. A technology plan, as a
management tool, should be integrated and associated with the conventional business Plan - the
managememt tool for planning, controlling and analysing a firm. Business plans, in addition to managers, are
also used by investors and government officers.
I
In the knowledge-based industries, where Iife-cycle of technologies is shorter than Iife-cycle of projects,
managers should associate technology planning with financial planning. They should be careful that
conventional accounting process and financial planning, following the traditional economic principles, are
based on the context of given technologies.
In the new knowledge-based and technology-oriented economy, it will not be possible to rely on traditional!
business plans which are not associated with proper technology plans. Fast changing economies, which are
fuelled by the increasing pace of technological developments and are based on ideas and innovation, cannot
confine themselves to the context of technology-less business plans.
We have not yet configured the standard technology plans, which are able to be integrated and associated
with business plans, This may become the first priority in assisting businesses to assist themselves.
The integration of technology and business plans should create an excellent management tool to let
managers to plan, execute, analyze and control innovative businesses. In addition, the integration of financial
and technology planning should make it possible for managers and members of executive boards to consider
all of the aspects of a comprehensive business plan,
Banks and financial institutions are the main market and support for the development of technology plans.
However, government technology support programs, such as IRAP and IR&ED tax incentive, may also find,
them very handy.
Brett Mangov
67 Presteign Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
M4B 3B1
September 28, 1995
Attention: The Golden Task Force Commission
Dear Sir/Madame,
It has been brought to my attention that there is talk of joining
the Borough of East York with the city of Toronto. As a resident
of East York for over 19 years, I am against this matter.
I am concerned mostly with the job aspect. What I mean is, the
people that work for the Borough will be out of work. 1 am sure
that these people will find other jobs but this is not the point.
As an employee for the Borough this past summer, I am in fear that
possibly next summer I will be out a job. For me to be worried
about this is much less significant than the other employees who
have been employed by the Borough for many years.
I just wanted to let you know that as a resident of East York, I am
concerned with this situation. I am sure that I am just one of the
100,000 people residing in East York that feels this way.
Yours sincerely,
Brett Mangov
Lorne V. MCCOO1
September 27, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I am pleased to enclose a copy of the Town of Markhams submission to the Task Force which was adopted
by Town Council on Tuesday, September 26th.
Yours sincerely,
Lorne V. MCCOO1
encl.
Town of Markham Anthony Roman Centre
101 Town Centre Boulevard, Markham, Ontario L3R W3
(905) 479-7755
Fax (9o5) 415-7504
The notion of what government
should idealistically or
ideologically do must be replaced
by what government can .
realistically do.
There are limits to governments
ability to raise revenues as well as
to what even unrestrained taxation
and spending can meaningfully
achieve.
Government cannot run the
economy so that which non-
governnt organizations can do
better, whether volunteer or
private, should generally not be
done by government.
Government spending should start
with available resources not
merely desirable expenditures and
as many government activities as
practical should be organized as
temporary from the outset.
To guarantee true value for
money, all government activities,
particularly those relying on
subsidies or grants, should be
subject to consistent, comparable
and concrete performance
B
B
B
standards, rigorous measurement

and public reporting.
Stronger, but fewer, local
governments should be both the
doers and the primary day-to-day
contact with the taxpayer. Region-
wide authorities should provide
specific services directly to local
governments.
Unnecessary, overlapping and
conflicting approval authorities
between Ievels of government
must be eliminated and
transferred to the organizations
closest to and most accessible by
the taxpayer.
Moves toward privatization,
particularly where essential
services are involved, must be
very carefully considered to
unequivocally safeguard public
interests; guarantee continuity and
standards of public health and
safety; and maintain absolute
accountability to the public.
with acknowledgements to the
writings of Peter F. Drucker
LEGAL SERVICES COMMISSION
Clerks Department
I , J a n i c e Ha r r i s o n , Manage r o f S e c r e t a r i a t S e r v i c e s o f t h e
Cor por a t i on of t he Town of Ma r kha m, d o h e r e b y c e r t i f y t h a t t h e
f o l l o wi n g i s a t r u e r e s o l u t i o n , whi c h wa s pa s s e d by Counc i l a t
i t s me e t i ng he l d on Se pt e mbe r 26t h, 1995:
RESOLVED THAT the report attached hereto be endorsed
by the Council of the Town of Markham as its
submission to the Golden Commission and that copies
also be forwarded to the:
Honorable Mike Harris, Premier, Province of Ontario
Honorable Al Leach, Minister, Municipal Affairs
Honorable Dave Tsubouchi, Minister, Community &
Social Services
GTA Mayors Committee
Greater Toronto Area Co-ordinating Committee
Region of York
Markham Board of Trade
DATED at t he Town of Mar kham t hi s 27t h day of Sept ember , 1995.
(-
Town of Markham Anthony Roman Centre
1O1 Town Centre Boulevard, Markham, Ontario L3R 9W3
(905)477-7000
Fax (905)479-7771
Submission of the Town of Markham
to
The Golden Commission
This discussion paper does not attempt to delve into every aspect of governance
that requires change, nor does it attempt to duplicate the exhaustive analysis,
financial or otherwise, already undertaken by others or yet to be revealed by the
Golden Commission.
The paper solely purports to offer 8 guiding principles and 8 of the most
important actions that Provincial and Local Governments should take, in
partnership, to address governance issues in the GTA.
We believe it is agreement on the fundamental principles, political will and
partnership that will cause the multitude of detailed actions critical to success to
happen as a matter of course.
Chief Administrative Officer and
Senior Management
September 1995
INDEX
Guiding Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. ...1
ACTIONS
1- Examine Cutting the Number of Local Municipal Governments But Strengthen their Role ............2
2- Privatization Before Regionalization . . . . . . . . . . . ......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..........................4
3- Examine Cutting the Number of Regional Governments and Review their Role............................6
5-ReportCards not Reports.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
6- Revised Municipal Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
-
8- Temporary Means Temporary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........13
Local municipal government is the only remaining level of government that is
readily accessible to and directly shapeable by the general public. It is the
most efficient level of government and the most readily identifiable to the
community. Being on the front-line and directly in the firing line, it
characteristically has had to be the most responsive to customer/constituent
demands and is often most quickly able to shift with changing needs and
conditions.
Any poll or study done over the past decade continues to reinforce that the
public wants to be more involved in the process of government decision-
making; demands greater accountability from those spending their tax dollars
and expects greater and more meaningful access to their elected
representatives.
Whatever changes are made to the form and processes of governance in the
GTA, they must move resolutely in this direction rather than removing local
government further from the public, whether perceived or in fact.
Efficiencies of scale remain to be realized in varying degrees throughout the
GTA and it is entirely conceivable to cut the number of local municipalities by
approximately half without violating these principles . . a process which must
be consciously and conscientiously moderated by the need to maintain public
access to and influence over decision making; respect diversity between
municipalities, both in size and character; recognize historical and community
context; foster mechanisms for partnership on matters of common or
complementary interest; and maintain checks and balances between the
various competing community or political interests.
2
On paper, the number of municipalities in existing York Region could be
readily reduced by up to half from 9 to 4 or 5. However, we recommend that an
impact evaluation be completed, within one year, on reducing the number of
local municipalities within all defined regions by approximately that amount to
determine the extent of savings and other benefits that may result from doing
so, subject to the overriding principles outlined on Page 2. While
acknowledging that local municipalities could vary widely in population and
size, depending on the circumstances, many might approach an optimum
range at mature development of between 250,000 and 500,000 people.
The notion of eliminating all local municipalities (in existing York Region) in
favour of one large regional government runs contrary to all of these principles
while bringing into question fundamental issues of economies of scale. When
institutions get too large and cumbersome the supposed economies of scale
tend to evaporate and move in the opposite direction . . . being more costly,
less flexible, and less subject to influence by the general public.
Free-standing special purpose bodies like library boards should be eliminated
and incorporated as local municipal departments.
Unlike the Metro Toronto proposal, urbanizing areas should not be strictly
severed from adjacent rural areas. Fundamental growth management strategy
requires that jurisdiction be maintained over the rural/urban interface.
Assessment growth in urban areas can assist in making community services
available to rural taxpayers that they could not otherwise afford. It also
prevents Ieap-frogging of development and sprawl into inappropriate areas
designed solely to broaden the assessment base of smaller communities.
However there are certain, largely rural, municipalities in the east that may be
remote both in terms of location and commonality of interest from the
remainder of the GTA. They should be given the opportunity to opt out of the
GTA to the County system should their interests be better served by doing so
(subject to confirming the boundary adjustments that might be required along
the GTA border to adhere to the principles of rural/urban fringe growth
management noted in the preceding paragraph).
3
We recommend the Province set up a special commission to hold hearings
and make final decisions on boundaries and the division of assets in the event
of unresolved disputes between municipalities.
Before service delivery of any kind is contemplated to be started or continued
at a region-wide level there should be a formal evaluation of the potential for it
to be completely privatized not merely contracted out, thereby eliminating the
bureaucracies that normally grow around the delivery or co-ordination of
services. Legislation may be required from the Province to give effect to these
initiatives and to set up the framework for private companies to operate under
Provincial Iicence or charter.
Certain areas come quickly to mind that have already been successfully
applied in Great Britain and Europe. Like gas or cable companies, sewer and
water departments were privatized and required to meet efficiency and
performance standards while matters of public interest were made subject to
government regulation and review. The same could also be considered for
hydro utilities.
In Britain, low-income tenants were turned into home owners by transferring
assisted housing projects to them. This also had the spin-off effect of making
these communities more self-sufficient, better maintained and safer.
The increasing tendency of the Federal Government to get out of the
transportation business by selling airlines and railways suggests further
opportunities to privatize aspects of municipal transit. Transit services in York
Region municipalities, for example, are virtually all contracted out today while
major equipment is jointly tendered, fares harmonized, and cross-border travel
accommodated all by agreement.
4
The feasibility and desirability of extending contracting out or full privatization
to GO Transit and the TTC may be debatable, but should at least be evaluated
along with the notion of allowing private companies to provide complementary
services to feed into or supplement the existing system in addition to providing
off-peak and a range of other specialized services.
Rather than, devoting limited government grants and subsidies to bulk
operational costs they can also be focused, under a privatization scenario, to
offset the costs of maintaining transit affordability for low income earners
(special rate monthly passes); transit accessibility for the physically
disadvantaged (mobility bus, capital renovations for handicapped); and major
capital expansions on a joint-venture basis.
Those who would argue that higher fares and service cuts may follow
privatization need only look to government-run systems that are doing the very
same things in face of ridership shifts, dropping revenue and falling subsidies.
Privatization opportunities could actually result in a broadening of services and
options for consumers.
Similar consideration should be given to other service areas. In parts of the
United States, for example, certain protective services (fire and ambulance)
have been contracted out along with a limited number of other social services.
However, paramount above all considerations is to maintain high standards of
public protection and community control over such critically sensitive services
as policing, health and fire protection. We should not lose sight of the fact that
many government services should not be privatized. As well, experience
across North America demonstrates not only can government deliver high
quality and efficient service but it can direct what would have been profits
back into the community to lower taxes or enhance services when operated
under similar philosophies and entrepreneurial management.
It would not be fair to completely repudiate the system of two-tier municipal
government that has been acknowledged as one of the more workable
governance models in North America over the past decades. However,
circumstances are changing rapidly bringing to the forefront a discussion of
certain aspects or modes of existing region-wide governance.
With some noteworthy exceptions on both counts, Governments tend to act
like governments while boards tend to act like businesses. Government
bureaucracies serving identical client groups tend to become increasingly
competitive, rather than complementary, in their actions wasting scarce human
and financial resources in the process, to say nothing of the impacts on
productivity and efficiency.
It is with these thoughts in mind we recommend that the manner in which
region-wide authorities act could change from that of intervening levels of
government to something more akin to complementary boards of management
controlled by the local area municipal governments. Representation would be
made up solely of the Mayors and local municipal Councillors elected at large
within the constituent municipalities. The extent, if any, to which it would be
necessary or preferable to retain government status for any or all of the
region-wide functions would have to be evaluated. Membership on any
reporting commissions woul d si mi l arl y be l i mi ted to those el ected
representatives.
The problem with many special purpose bodies in the past has not been their
existence, but that they were not directly controlled by locally elected
municipal Councils and they were not accountable, like municipal
departments, on a day-to-day basis for their operational performance and
interactions with the public.
In a similar manner to that recommended for local municipalities, we suggest
the number of region-wide authorities could be reduced by approximately half,
from 5 to 3, to provide limited, well-defined, and often temporary services to
local governments including assuming the role of broker for joint projects or
privatization initiatives as well as of arbitrator to resolve local differences over
cross-boundary issues. (See Attachment A)
Foregoing a debate on the relative merits of the Metro Toronto proposal, the
only model for a supra-regional government that makes any sense whatsoever
is not a megalithic replacement for the 5 municipal regional governments, but,
the creation of a bona-fide city-state.
This, however, would require a fundamental, unprecedented, wholesale and
altogether unlikely transfer of power and revenue collecting authority away
from the Province to a competing entity. While senior levels of government
have not been adverse, in the past, to passing debts, costs, responsibilities,
obligations and limited authority down the line, they and their attendant
bureaucracies have historically been adverse to handing away power and
financial control in a manner that is so fundamentally and compellingly
threatening to their own role and existence. The general public may also have
legitimate concerns about the concentration of power or the lack of checks and
balances possible in a large city-state government. Therefore we consider
both the Metro Toronto proposal and the concept of city-state unworkable.
Direct election to Regional Councils on a ward-basis has proven to be no less
parochial, more expensive, more confusing to the voter, and no more effective
than the system of local municipal representation by the Mayors and
councillors elected at large locally. It has, however, contributed to the
growing division and a loss of continuity between local and Regional Councils
and to the inevitable competition for constituencies among politicians and
bureaucracies.
We note that when the supporters of direct election point to the greatest
accomplishments of the Metro Toronto federation, most if not all were
achieved while constituted entirely of local municipal Council representatives
throughout the various eras.
7
To achieve efficiencies; align areas of influence more closely with the broader
infrastructure, watershed and growth service areas; and to produce a more
balanced distribution of population and political power across the GTA, we
recommend evaluating the impact and desirability of:
B
B
B
B
B
B
merging the five regional governments into
remaining untouched while York/Durham to the
west would amalgamate (subject to the limited
1);
eliminating direct election in Metro Toronto in
Council representation at the regional level;
three with Metro Toronto
east and Halton/Peel to the
local option noted in Action
favour of a system of local
transferring many day-to-day government functions to local municipal
governments with a corresponding rationalization of the bureaucracies;
incorporating school boards into the regional-wide authorities (the
appropriateness of which would be determined, as much as anything, by
the manner and degree to which public access and control is best
maintained);
consolidating taxation collection and disbursement powers within local
municipalities which, by joint agreement, would control the amount and
provide transfer payments on a pro-rata basis to fund the functions of the
region-wide authority (with the possible exception of school boards), for so
long as their continuance remained necessary, relevant, and cost-effective;
mandating the region-wide authorities to arbitrate and decide on unresolved
cross-boundary issues, subject, possibly, to OMB appeal.
Finally, there is a wealth of expertise and available resources in local
governments that can be brought together to assist management board
activities without the need to create overlapping bureaucracies or build new
facilities. The use of highly experienced community and business resources
should also not be discounted.
There should be complementary assessment systems across the GTA that
would, in stages, bring assessment base-lines more or less into sine and
provide for a more appropriate and aggressive schedule of re-assessment
(every 5 years) throughout the GTA. Similarly, phasing in tax impacts
resulting from reassessment over five years would provide an appropriate and
manageable adjustment period for affected property owners. Municipalities
should maintain the ability to impose variable mill rates while consideration
should be given to combining all non-residential taxes.
Metro Toronto has more dramatic inequities compared to surrounding regions,
where assessment is more up-to-date, suggesting that it be the first to
undergo re-assessment particularly before any consideration is given to other
measures designed to improve Metros financial position vis-a-vis surrounding
regions (like merely moving the Metro boundary north to capture a significant
portion of York Regions commercial/industrial tax base).
School-related funding should preferably not come from property tax, however,
any consideration of pooling property taxes for education or other purposes
might best be confined within each of the 3 redefined regional boards (or
governments, if need be) outlined in this report. Should pooling on a broader
scale be considered then it must include a complementary consideration of
sharing the capital and other costs of growth being incurred by the surrounding
regions.
9
Finally, consideration should be given to raising at least a portion of school-
related costs through direct user fees which, if it achieved only a very modest
re-distribution of the load between users and the general taxpayer, would be a
positive step.
In high demand areas, school boards should be permitted to negotiate
arrangements with private companies to front-end the cost of new school
construction including leasing, lease-to-own, and any other innovative
arrangement that would get the needed facilities built, regardless of the
institutions ranking on the Ministry of Educations capital funding priority list.
The end result of all changes made within the GTA should not increase the
burden on local taxpayers, including any and all downloading of costs or
obligations from the Province to municipalities.
The public and its political representatives have no meaningful way of
measuring the relative efficiency and effectiveness of their government and
educational institutions, beyond the annual tax bill. While institutions in
consultation with constituents must maintain total control over the level,
range, and cost of services they choose to provide to meet local needs, we
recommend development, within two years, of Province-wide standards for
setting, measuring and reporting performance. These results should be
published regularly, ranking all governments and schools against their peers.
The public has a right to know how well their institutions are being managed in
comparison with others and how well their children are being taught, measured
in overall scholastic achievement, when compared to other schools.
10
We further suggest that parents should be allowed greater freedom to enrol
their children in the school of their choice, subject to space availability and
possibly a form of user fee, thereby employing competition to upgrade
teaching and administration standards naturally, weeding out inefficient or
ineffective administrators and teachers over time. In this manner, the
availability of scarce grant and subsidy dollars can also be predicated on
institutions maintaining appropriate service delivery performance levels.
While reiterating the need for a more streamlined, enabling, entrepreneurial
and concise Municipal Act we recommend that the Province immediately
commence a process to adopt a new act only within the GTA because:
B
B
B
B
B
there are many differences between issues in the GTA and other parts of
the Province that need to be taken into account;
we have the capabilities needed to follow through decisively;
we are dealing with willing hosts possessing common interests eliminating
the spectre of Province-wide consultation and consensus-building that
could delay or frustrate appropriate action in the GTA;
municipalities and regions elsewhere in the Province may have different
needs that should be taken into account, while those in the GTA may have
no relevance to them;
it will provide a working model to be evaluated, refined and improved before
pursuing Province-wide implementation.
The process should be a dynamic one that involves regular reviews and
contemplates continuing refinements to the act as experience dictates and
opportunity provides.
Where local bodies have been established to fulfil the requirements of
Provincial legislation or policy, the Provincial role should be strictly limited to
ensuring that the strategic and operating policies of the organization are not in
conflict with formally stated areas of Provincial interest.
Provincial Ministries should not be involved in or impose a duplicate process of
review and approval on matters that flow through the agency on a day-to-day
basis. Review and approval authority should be delegated directly to the
standing agency. It is always possible for Provincial Ministries to conduct
periodic reviews to ensure the agencys day-to-day decision-making has not
diverged from Provincial interests. But the need for significant additional
protection against this is unlikely given the many checks and balances already
in place such as with the long-standing role of the OMB. With the role and
reputation of the MTRCA well-established, for example, there should be no
need for the involvement of the Ministry of Natural Resources staff in such
matters as development approvals, regional and local storm water
management projects, etc. This would have the added benefit of streamlining
customer service practices; eliminating confusion that often arises among
clients over the sometimes conflicting or constantly shifting preferences,
standards, and practices of the different bureaucracies; and provide a
simplified venue for addressing issues or disagreements.
Where Provincial legislation or policy imposes significant obligations on local
municipalities to devote increasing human and financial resources to meet
these new requirements it is often at the expense of other functions or
necessitates a reallocation of tax dollars.
All such proposals should be preceded by an analysis of the cost of
implementing them and accompanied by a corresponding transfer of resources
from the initiating Ministry to local governments to enable them to do the job
being required of them. Maybe this would inject a moderating influence over
certain initiatives where, instead of the most complicated and costly package,
we will agree that . . . good enough is good enough.
12
Failing this, municipalities should be given some freedom of choice as to the
level of service they can provide back to the Province or be allowed to
consider fee for service and user fee arrangements.
Local municipal governments can also be the agent or provide the venue for
the decentralization and delivery of a wide variety of other government
services to the consumer on a one-stop shopping basis.
Government legislation, policy and programs are often enacted to solve
temporary problems, but the legislation and bureaucracies never go away.
New programs, regulations and activities should generally be enacted for a
limited period of time preceded by:
B
B
B
a clear statement of the results expected to be achieved over that period;
an explicit commitment to abolish, once the problem is resolved; the
conditions which gave rise to the original legislation significantly change; or
it fails to produce promised results;
a mandatory expiry date requiring a formal review and evaluation of the
foregoing.
Examples might have included a whole host of initiatives
been long since eclipsed by radically changed social and
along with the virtual elimination of support funding.
and policy that have
economic conditions
13
APPENDI X A
EXISTING REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS
HALTON
SED STRUCTURE
REV
MARKLAND HOMES ASSOCIATION
Roger Shaw
33 Broadfield Drive
Etobicoke, Ontario, M9C 1L4
President
29 September 1995
20th floor, Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden
INTRODUCTION
[Home] 622-0442
[Office] 367-0680
[fax] 367-0429
RECEIVED
I am writing as President and on behalf of the Markland Homes Association, which
represents over 1,200 homes in Markland Wood, an area in central Etobicoke, lying north
and south of Bloor Street West near the boundary with Mississauga. The area was
developed just over 30 years ago. It includes mostly middle income citizens, in detached
residences, several apartment buildings [both rental and some condominium buildings], and
one low rise co-operative development. It includes a small shopping plaza, several schools
and public recreational facilities.
Our Association was formed when the area was developed, and has been active ever since.
It publishes a monthly newsletter, keeps our neighbourhood aware of community issues, and
supports a charitable fund raising event, and community events, childrens sports teams and
charities. Approximately 85 to 90% of homes in the area have consistently been paid up
members. The Association asks you to consider the following issue, which it believes is
fundamentally important in reform of the municipal government of the Greater Toronto
Area:
Any reform of the system of municipal government in the Greater Toronto
Area must include the creation and maintenance of a fair and uniform system
of property taxation and assessment.
2
We ask that this be drawn forcibly to the attention of the provincial government, which has
ignored many past recommendations for reform of the property tax system in the area by
duly appointed bodies and commissions. The issue particularly affects our area, but it affects
most of Etobicoke in general, and many other areas throughout Metropolitan Toronto
(Metro). We are sure that you will be aware of much of the history and background of this
issue. However, we wish to emphasize the concern and feelings of frustration in our area
about lack of reform to date, and the reasons for that frustration.
PROPERTY TAXES
It seems self evident to us that if all taxpayers are paying into a common pool, for common
expenses, they should all be taxed on the same basis. In the case of property taxes, the law
of Ontario has stated that they be collected on the basis of the market value of the land,
including buildings.
The municipal government of Metro, and its constituent municipalities, including Etobicoke,
are funded from three main sources - property taxes, including business tax based on the
property tax [currently about $1.2 billion] , transfer payments [$1.7 billion], and user fees
[$0.6 billion]. Metro receives no subsidy from the Province of Ontario for schools and police
[amongst other expenses], unlike almost every other area and city in the Province. The funds
are collected across Metro from property taxes and paid into a common pool. The funds are
then distributed out according to various formulas. For Etobicoke taxpayers, they have been
distributed, 57% to the school boards, 27% to Metro, and 16% to Etobicoke [in the last
several years].
Although the money has been collected from across Metro, and paid into a common pool
and paid out for common expenses, it has not been collected on a fair and uniform basis.
For example, many areas in the City of Toronto were valued in 1940. Many homes in
Etobicoke were not built until the 1960s or 1970s, and were valued at the time they were
built. An Etobicoke property worth $250,000, might have an assessed value two, three or
four times as large as a Toronto property that was also worth $250,000. Naturally, the
Etobicoke property pays two, three or four times as much tax as the Toronto property. The
same problem occurs in Scarborough, North York, and in other areas of Metro.
MARKET VALUE ASSESSMENT REPORT
In 1992, when Metro received the report of a Metro wide revaluation of every property in
its boundaries, prepared on the basis of 1988 values, the true extent of the disparities
became apparent. In 1993, Etobicoke paid more than $70 million over what it should have
paid if property taxes were collected uniformly across Metro Toronto based on market
value. It was said that about 80 % of properties in Etobicoke would have a tax reduction
if market value assessment was implemented. North York, and Scarborough also paid more.
The City of Toronto paid much less than its fair share.
3
We understand millions of dollars were spent in preparing the report, and it provides the
data necessary to fairly reassess every property in Metro, at least on the basis of 1988 values.
Although property values perhaps rose slightly in 1989, and subsequently fallen considerably,
we doubt that the relative values have changed substantially. In other words, we are not
aware of evidence that the values in the City of Toronto have fallen more than values in
Etobicoke, for example. Certainly, the commercial business core of the City of Toronto has
suffered severely. However, so has the commercial business and industrial business in
Etobicoke in the same period. It therefore appears that Etobicoke is continuing to pay
roughly $70 million more than its fair share in 1994 and 1995. This is a severe burden on
a municipality that has suffered an exodus of industrial and commercial businesses that
continues to the present. The same is true to a lesser extent of North York and
Scarborough.
In many cases, those businesses are relocating in adjacent municipalities to the West, where
property taxes are much less than in Etobicoke. We in Markland Woods can look across
Etobicoke creek to Mississauga, and see an urban community that is very similar to our own.
It has the same density of development at least to Highway 10 and beyond, a similar road
system, utilities and schools, and yet it receives a grant from the Province of Ontario that
subsidizes its education costs. Obviously, it can reduce its property taxes accordingly.
Opponents of the implementation of market value assessment in Metro have complained
that the 1988 values calculated in the report were at a high point in the market, and should
not be used currently. This ignores the obvious point that the absolute values matter very
little. The only thing that matters are the relative values between properties contributing to
the common pool. As an example, current assessed values are a fraction of current market
values. Therefore, the important question is whether relative values have changed
substantially since 1988. The study could obviously be updated and should be on a regular
basis. Obviously, the longer the delay in implementing market value, the more need there
will be for updated figures. The problem could be reduced by changing the law, to allow
appeals from assessment by allowing taxpayers to refer to the assessed value of similar
properties throughout the area, rather than just similar properties in the vicinity.
PROPERTY TAX REFORM - SOME HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
The history of attempts to reform and rationalize the property tax assessment system does
not encourage us. The provincial government has repeatedly looked at reform proposals for
Metro, and backed away from them, in the face of opposition from the strongly vested
interests of taxpayers who have been paying vastly less than their fair share of property taxes
for many years [mostly from the City of Toronto].
The Assessment Act of Ontario has provided that land shall be taxed on market value, at
least since 1904. Section 19(1) of the 1990 Assessment Act says:
Subject to this section, land shall be assessed at market value.
4
Section 19(2) says:
Subject to subsection (3), the market value of land assessed is the amount
that the land might be expected to realize if sold in the open market by a
willing seller to a willing buyer. [subsection (3) deals with farmland]
This is the fundamental principle of the present Assessment Act and has been for at least
90 years. One would think that to carry that principle into effect, assessment authorities
would carry out periodic adjustments on a systematic and uniform basis across the Province
to ensure that the assessed value of each property reflected its current market value. This
was not done. Properties tended to be assessed at a certain point in time, typically when
they were subdivided, or built upon, and added to the assessment roll without subsequent
changes.
We understand the last wide reassessment of properties in Toronto was conducted in 1940.
When areas in Etobicoke and elsewhere in Metro, were built up and developed, they were
valued at their then current values, or some multiple of them. No wholesale reassessment
of properties across Metro Toronto has been done to the present day.
THE USE OF APPEALS
Appeals cannot be used to correct disparities in assessed value between different vicinities,
because Section 60 (1) of the Assessment Act says:
the amount of any assessment of real property shall not be altered unless the
Assessment Review Board, Ontario Municipal Board or court is satisfied that
the assessment is inequitable with respect to the assessment of similar real
property in the vicinity, and in that event the assessment of the real property
shall not be altered to any greater extent than is necessary to make the
assessment equitable with the assessment of the similar real property.
This might be regarded as fair, if a taxpayer was proposing to compare the value of his or
her property with the value of a property in a different city or region. Such properties would
be paying taxes to different municipal authorities, and might have many other factors that
would make comparison difficult. It is grossly unfair, if the taxpayer is proposing to compare
a property in the City of Etobicoke with one in the City of Toronto, or other local
municipality of Metro. All pay into a common pool of funds, and all receive the benefit of
those funds.
The 1992 report on Metro properties provides hundreds of thousands of examples of
disparity. For example, a property on Binscarth Road in Rosedale [in the City of Toronto]
with a market value of $1.35 million paid $4,647 in taxes. A property on Sackville Street in
Cabbagetown [in the City of Toronto] with a market value of $300,000 paid $1,355 in taxes.
A property on Broadfield Drive, [in the City of Etobicoke] with a market value of $350,000
5
paid $4,664 in taxes. All figures are 1988 values and 1993 taxes. These examples are not
isolated examples. Each area referred to contains many properties assessed on a similar
basis. Why should taxpayers not be able to make such a comparison in appealing an
assessment? There may be reasons why the properties are not comparable. The frontages,
the age of the buildings, the type of construction, the desirability of the area and so forth,
will vary. The market value of each has already made adjustments for such variables to a
large degree. It is inconceivable that such matters could begin to account for the vast
disparity in the ratio between market value and assessed value.
The disparity is not accounted for by the difference in mil rate between Toronto and
Etobicoke. Differences in that rate only reflects the 16 per cent share of revenue that goes
to the local municipality. The assessed value of each property reflects similar disparities.
In any event, the Assessment Act has barred such comparisons, and in the result, no appeal
or set of appeals can remedy large disparities that have resulted between different vicinities
in local municipalities, and between municipalities in Metro Toronto.
1971 ASSESSMENT REFORM
In 1969, the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Darcy McKeough, promised reform of the
assessment system, and said that Ontario:
would establish uniform standards to replace the present patch-work of
differences and inconsistencies.
The Assessment Act was accordingly amended in 1971, to provide that the Minister of
Revenue could, if the Minister considers that, within any class or classes or property, any
parcel or parcels of real property are assessed inequitably with respect to other parcels of
that class, if so requested by a resolution of the council of such municipality - direct that
changes be made in the assessment roll. In effect, Market Value assessment was to be
enforced across the whole province. However, such a fuss was raised by vested interests that
the Act was then amended to say that, for that year, the assessment roll of a municipality
to be returned in each year for taxation in the following year shall be the same as in the
previous year, unless there was a specific problem with the assessment of one property with
respect to real problem in the vicinity. As previously mentioned, such local adjustment could
not deal with disparities between different vicinities. This was the so-called freeze which
was apparently intended to be temporary. However, each year the temporary freeze was
continued, until it was finally made permanent. It is now contained in Section 58 (1) of the
Assessment Act.
However, market value assessment could be and was introduced on a municipality by
municipality basis, as local councils could be persuaded to see its wisdom. By 1993, 733
Ontario municipalities or approximately 86% of them have introduced it. They include
municipalities surrounding Metro Toronto - but not, of course, Metro Toronto itself.
6
THE BLAIR COMMISSION
In 1977, Ontario setup the Blair Commission to report on reform of property taxation. That
Commission said:
We believe it is no longer possible to sustain the largest single source of
public financing upon a base so riddled with discrepancies and unfairness.
THE FAIR TAX COMMISSION
In 1992, a working group of the Fair Tax Commission reported to Ontario on property taxes.
It described the current system as a complex amalgam that results in a hedge-podge of
varying practices that ensures non-comparability and confusion which in turn results in a
wide variation in effective tax rates.
In its final report, released in 1993, the Fair Tax Commission commented, in relation to
property taxes:
The assessment system is a patchwork quilt of inconsistent approaches that
frustrates attempts by governments to achieve fairness in local government
finance and by taxpayers to understand how their property tax bills work.
It recommended that Ontario should assume responsibility for the funding of education,
from provincial general revenues, and that residential assessment should not be based on
market value, but on size of building, dimensions of lot, and type of building. It went on to
suggest that weighting factors be used to ensure that the resulting assessments reflect
variations in the value of properties in their current use, as shown in their rental value.
Weighting factors would be permitted to vary, based on location, to achieve assessments
which reflect value in current use. The Fair Tax Commission thought that the rental value
of a property is a better measure of its current use rather than fair market value: since a
tenant is not paying either for the right to earn a future capital gain or for the right to
change the use of the property.
We do not wish to get into the issue of using an alternative basis for the calculation of
property taxes, other than to say that the system proposed by the Fair Tax Commission
seems even more complicated than one based on fair market value. However, we do not see
why Etobicoke [and other areas] should continue to pay vastly more than its fair share while
this academic debate goes on.
The present system is based on market value. It should be fairly implemented
unless and until it is changed.
7
1992 MARKET VALUE PROPOSALS
In October, 1992, a proposal was passed by Metro council, over the vehement opposition
of the City of Toronto, that would have introduced a modified form of market value
assessment in Metro. Taxpayers would have only received one-half of the reductions to
which they would have been otherwise entitled, and commercial properties only one-quarter,
and even then, only over a period of five years. It further provided that residential taxpayers
who faced increases would not have to pay them for years. The resulting shortfall in revenue
was to be funded by the commercial and industrial sectors. The proposal represented very
slight progress towards a fair system, but was turned down flat by the Province
notwithstanding.
On March 27, 1993, representatives of Markland Homes Association, including the writer,
and many other taxpayers and groups from across Metro demonstrated at Queens Park in
favour of property tax reform. Politicians from Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough and
elsewhere gave speeches. Mayor Bruce Sinclair of Etobicoke made the strongest speech of
all. He was quoted in the Toronto Star the following day as follows:
Its taxation without fairness, Its a 40-year old mess and it needs fixing. The
problem can only be solved at Queens Park.
The Markland Homes Association had a well-attended meeting on Market Value
Assessment at a school in Etobicoke, in April, 1993, and many who attended were angry at
the present situation and demanded action. Etobicoke Council retained a lobbyist to push
Metro and the Queens Park for progress. In April, 1993, Scarborough council declared war
by filing 1,001 appeals of individual property assessments in the City of Toronto. The City
of Toronto retaliated by filing 5,000 appeals of Scarborough property assessments. These
battles subsequently fizzled out. The Province then imposed a $25 charge for the filing of
an assessment appeal, which had previously been without charge.
EQUALIZED ASSESSMENT
Having been turned down by Queens Park in its half-hearted reform proposal in late 1992,
in July, 1993, Metro Toronto Council then proposed a system of Equalized Assessment.
In effect, it recognized that some municipalities were paying more than their fair share of
taxes. An equalization factor would be calculated based on the relationship between current
assessment of properties, and their corresponding market value in each municipality.
Metro Toronto said:
Using equalized assessment, the total assessed values of all properties in
municipalities and not those of individual taxpayers, are equalized or made
comparable to ensure that the tax burden for both Metro and school board
costs are shared fairly across the Metro Toronto municipalities.
8
Unfortunately, the Metro proposal was that only part of the tax bill will be equalized - the
26% portion that went to Metro itself. The 57% portion that went to the school boards and
the 17% portion that went to the local municipality was not changed. The excuse that Metro
gave was:
Consultation with the school boards has indicated that there is a lack of
consensus at this time regarding issues of implementation of equalized
assessment for school board purposes.
Metro did not said why the school boards should be asked to determine basic questions of
taxation equity and fairness that had nothing to do with the running of schools. We regard
this as an evasion of responsibility by the politicians who were responsible.
Furthermore, the proposal would only have been phased in over a three year period - one
third of the change each year. In the case of Etobicoke it would have meant that by 1996,
Etobicoke would have saved $10.5 million. Metro Toronto estimated that the average
residential taxpayer in the City of Toronto with a property assessment of $5,000 would have
paid $36 more by 1994, or an increase of 1.5%. A similar Etobicoke taxpayer would have
saved about $36. It did not seem like much progress towards equity, nor did it seem that it
would have hurt the taxpayers in the City of Toronto very much.
Metro Toronto invited public submissions and four public meetings were held at Metro Hall
from October 4 to October 12, 1993. Two representatives of Markland Homes Association,
including the writer, went to the first meeting and made a presentation on behalf of the
Association. We said that the proposal was at least a first step in the direction of equity, and
should be supported provided it was followed up with equalization of all property tax
assessment. Our presentation was well received by most of the management committee.
Although the average City of Toronto taxpayer would only have paid 1.5% more, and then,
only after three years, the City of Toronto vigorously fought the proposal. The eminent
architect, Jack Diamond, claimed that the result would destroy the fabric of the City. It was
suggested that if enacted, the City of Toronto would resemble the inner City of Detroit in
a short period of time.
The equalized assessment proposal was passed by Metro Council, and flatly turned down
by the Province of Ontario. To our knowledge, nothing more has been done to date.
In the light of this history, we are gravely concerned that even if a wide
sweeping reform of the whole municipal structure of the Greater Toronto
Area is effected, the reform of property tax assessment will be postponed or
swept under the rug once again.
9
CITY OF TORONTO PROPOSALS TO GOLDEN COMMISSION
We have read that the City of Toronto has presented a proposal to your task force, which
would mean that financially, it would secede from Metro. It would keep all of the
commercial and industrial taxes in the City (which it estimated at about $298 million) for
itself. It pointed out that areas such as Mississauga, Oakville and Markham, around Metro
Toronto, get a subsidy from the provincial government for school taxes that Metro does not
get. The City of Toronto then suggested that those unfortunate municipalities, such as
Etobicoke, who are squeezed in the middle, go cap in hand to the Province to ask for a
subsidy.
This City of Toronto proposal ignores the fact that the Greater Toronto Area is an
integrated area, that a large proportion of the people who own the businesses and firms in
the City of Toronto, and who work in those businesses and firms, come from throughout
Metro and the surrounding area. In effect, taxpayers from Etobicoke and elsewhere who
work and/or own businesses and property in the Central City area would be paying large
property and business tax payments to subsidize the schools and government of the City of
Toronto. They would also pay even higher taxes for their own schools and municipal
expenses in areas where they reside.
CITY OF MISSISSAUGA REPORT
In June, 1995, Mayor Hazel McCallion of Mississauga and her Council adopted a report that
recommended a uniform system of full market value assessment across the Greater Toronto
Area. They said that the failed attempt to implement market value assessment in Metro
Toronto has created a ticking time bomb that threatens the economic health of the whole
area. Mississauga has had full market value assessment for some time.
CHARTER OF RIGHTS
We read in Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal
protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination ...
There is no doubt that if property taxes were assessed on the basis of race, or the colour of
ones skin, or sex, or religion, or other such factors - they would be unconstitutional. These
are what are referred to as enumerated grounds of discrimination. We believe that the
present treatment of various areas of Metro, including our own, in respect of property tax
assessment, is an analogous ground to those previously mentioned. It is, in effect, based on
the age of the property [which affects when it was assessed] and has no necessary
relationship to any proper factors. Accordingly, we suggest it is in breach of the Canadian
Charter of Rights. We ask the Commission to consider this issue.
10
PROPERTY TAXES IN A GREATER TORONTO AREA
If changes in the Greater Toronto Area municipal government are made, and a regional
municipal government introduced, it is essential that municipal taxes be collected [and
distributed] on a fair and uniform basis. I believe that residents in our area are not
necessarily opposed to a reform of the municipal system, provided local autonomy is
preserved in local services. A system under which services that the City of Etobicoke [and
other local municipalities] presently provides - continue to be administered by the local
municipality, and other services are administered by a Greater Toronto government would
presumably preserve local autonomy. We would expect substantial savings in administration
expenses, reduction of bureaucracy, rationalization of transit and other authorities, and a
large reduction in the number of politicians at the upper level.
However, if such a reform is introduced, but the present patchwork quilt of property tax
assessment is simply incorporated and carried on unchanged in a new Greater Toronto area
system - then we adamantly oppose it.
CONCLUSIONS
We ask the Commission to incorporate into its report strenuous recommendations that the
assessment of property taxes be rationalized and made fair. The necessary groundwork for
the implementation of market value assessment in Metro has already been done in the 1992
report. Surrounding areas already have market value assessment. Any other option will lead
to the continuation of a system that has been pronounced as chaotic by every governmental
commission that has looked at it, and endless discord and fighting between levels of
municipal government and taxpayers.
Yours truly
Markland Homes Association:
Markham
8100 WARDEN A VENUE
FAX: (905) 513-4145
Hydro Electric Commission
P. 0. BOX 4700
TELEPHONE (905) 477-3810
51.3-4134
5134135
September 25, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
G.T.A. Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
EXECUTIVE/H. R.
Dear Dr. Golden:
Submission Reparding Hydro-Electric Commissions within the G.T.A.
Markham Hydro proposes that your Task Force not make any recommendations on the electrical
system within the G.T.A.
Restructuring of Ontario Hydro and Ontarios electrical system has been the subject of much
discussion and intense scrutiny over the last few years. More recently a number of reports have
been released with far ranging recommendations. These reports include:
1. Ontario Hydro and the Electric Power Industry (Farlinger Reports)
2. Competition, Convergence and Customer Choice (Ontario Hydro)
3. Institutional Options (M.E.A. and Ontario Hydro)
4. Joint Study into Retail Electricity Service in Ontario (M.E.A. and O. H.)
5. AMPCO Position on Electricity Market Restructuring (AMPCO)
6. The Future of Ontario Hydro (P. W. U.)
Not only are the recommendations contained in these reports far reaching, they are often at odds
or conflicting. Different positions and conclusions are drawn on critical issues such as:
1. Private vs Public Ownership
2. Pool Concept vs Open Access
3. Vertically Integrated Provincial Utility vs Separate Business Units
4. Degree of Competition in the Generation of Electricity
- 2 -
Further, these reports deal specifically with the three major components of Ontarios electricity
system: Generation, Transmission and Distribution and their inter-relationship with each other.
Our electrical system is in many ways unique, envied by other jurisdictions, the backbone of our
economy, complex and in need of modification and restructuring - mostly financial.
The Distribution component of the system which is primarily the responsibility of municipal
utilities throughout the province represents approximately 15% of the cost of power. Generation
and Transmission which are presently managed by Ontario Hydro represent 85% of our
electricity costs. Most, if not all studies conclude that this 85% represents the greatest potential
for future cost containment and improvement.
The electrical system, particularly the distribution part of the system receives no provincial
funding through taxes, subsidies or grants. The service is self-supporting and financed on a user
pay basis.
Markham Hydro recognizes the need to review and recommend improvements for a more
effective and efficient delivery of services in the G.T.A. We do, on the other hand, have
concerns that your Task Force include and make recommendations on the distribution system
in the G.T. A. and cite the following reasons.
1. Ontarios Electrical System is a province wide network involving generation,
transmission and distribution. To review and make recommendations on one
component of the system (distribution) and for one area of the province (G. T. A.)
serves no practical purpose.
2. The system is complex. Minor tinkering and adjustments serve no practical
purpose and could ultimately harm the provincial economy and those it is
intended to serve.
3. Detailed, thoroughly documented reports have arrived at significantly different
conclusions on how the system should be improved or possibly restructured.
4. Unlike other municipal services which are being reviewed by your Task Force,
municipal utilities are self-supporting and receive no funding from any level of
government.
Markham Hydro is recognized within our industry as one of the more progressive and innovative
municipal utilities in the province. We have made representation to the M. E. A./Ontario Hydro
Joint Retail Study. We recommended:
1. Restrictive regulations in the Power Corporation and Public Utilities Acts should
be amended to encourage progressiveness and competitiveness.
2. The consolidation/merger of utilities should not be mandated. We support
consolidation where it is jointly agreed that it is beneficial and economically
feasible.
- 3 -
3. Local accountability be retained because it results in improved service to the
customer.
In conclusion, we agree that our industry needs to change. We are prepared to be active
participants in that process. We support the governments intention to establish a formal review
process that will thoroughly address industry issues. For this reason and those previously cited,
we strongly recommend that your report not include recommendations on the G.T. A. electrical
system.
Yours truly,
W.L. Burnett
Chairman
/jj
cc: The Honorable Brenda Elliott, Minister of Environment & Energy
The Honorable David Tsubouchi, Minister of Community & Social Services
General Managers - G.T.A. Utilities
Tony Jennings, C. E. O., Municipal Electric Association
.511 Meadow Wood Road,
Mississauga, Ontario,
L5.J 2S4.
October 20th, 1995.
Dr. Anne Golden, Chair,
393 University A v e n u e ,
20th Floor - 2001
T o r o n t. o, Ontario, M 5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden,
GTA Reform
At the October 12, 1995 meeting of the Directors of the Meadow
W ood Rattra y Ratepayers Association, ( representing over 250
households i n the riding of Mississauga south, ) t h e C i t y of
Mississaugas recommendations for GTA reform were discussed.
It was unanimously agreed that the Association endorse
Mississaugas recommendations in their entirety.
The Regional form of government,
as it exists today, is simply an
additional level of bureaucracy which is not required and
provides little if any value for the costs imposed on the over
burdened taxpayer. The majority of the services provided by the
Regional level of government are an overlap of services provided
at the Municipal level or, i n some instances, a complete
duplication.
We strongly recommend that a change to the GTA as proposed by
Mississauga will provide a
more effective use of t a x p a y ers
dollars and will result in a more efficient provision of services
to the public.
me t r o a c t i o n c o mmi t t e e
on publ i c vi ol enc e agai nst
w o me n a n d c h i l d r e n ( METRACI )
158 Spadina Road. Toronto, Ontario M5R 2T8
(416) 392-3135
Dr. Anne Golden,
GTA Task Force
FAX: 327-1516
Dear Anne,
FAX (416) 392-3136
October 2, 1995
Making Transit Stops Safer for Women, Scarborough Moves Forward (1991 ) were
a result of the personal safety audits initiated by METRAC with the TTC. Designated
Waiting Areas(DWA s), emergency bars and intercoms in subways and Request Stop
Programs on bus routes at night are changes due to our community based evaluation
process which we call safety audits.
METRACs involvement in developing planning standards with the City of Toronto and
other municipalities has led to safety standards against violence in underground
parking garages. They have been repainted white, with colour coding to improve
visibility. Lighting has been increased to enhance the safety of women and others
using these facilities.
METRAC has worked with colleges and university campuses throughout the GTA
including Sheridan College, Centennial College, University of Toronto, Humber College,
George Brown College, Ryerson Polytechnical University. Our involvement has meant
the development of Safety programs for women and orientation for first year students,
as well as emergency intercoms throughout campuses, many physical improvements
in lighting, landscaping and reducing of possible entrapment sites.
Our work has extended to public schools and School Boards in different parts of Metro
Toronto where we are working to develop sexual assault prevention policy and
programs.
In writing to you, we want to ensure that the concerns which women have for their
own personal safety and that of their children, are not lost in the restructuring of
Metro Toronto and the GTA. Many of the area municipalities surrounding Metro have
started to work on personal safety issues in their communities. METRAC has worked
with a number of them to help refocus their strong commitment to property safety
onto personal safety for women and children.
We urge you to take this into consideration in your recommendations for the new GTA
structures. We ask that you count us in when reviewing services which have an
important role to play in facilitating the Transition to GTA Government. it is crucial
that the personal safety concerns of women and children be considered when
restructuring essential services like policing, transportation, fire fighting and planning.
We would be pleased to help in any way we can.
Sincerely,
FROM
APPOINTED CITIZEN-MEMBERS OF THE METRO CULTURAL
ADVISORY COMMITEE
o we ARE
We are the appointed citizen-members of the Metro Cultural Advisory Committee.
We support the efforts of the Advisory Committee as a whole. It is important for all
of the public to recognize Metros commitment, financially and spiritually, to all
members
levels of
cultural endeavour in the region, whether it be high art, pqk cultural, or community
programmed.
As an additional indication of our concern, we wish to speak in our capacity as appointed citizen-
members, in order to directly express our views to the Task Force. We feel we are in a unique
position, historically, which enables us transmit our sense of the structure and relevance of
culture within greater Toronto.
HY WE C_ARE
Arts and culture act as magnets, drawing people in an ever-evolving dialogue with their
environment. Our involvement in culture gives a frame of reference within which we can
express our heritage, gaze at our future potential, and improve our self-image.
But even more than that, culture affects our daily lives in ways which are manifestly tangible:
- it absorbs the largest number of volunteers of any activity in the community
- it trains and provides full and part-time employment to innumerable participants
- it provides more tourist dollars and local resident involvement than all sports events in
greater Toronto combined
- it acts as the prime motivator for attracting senior executives and business leaders,
given a secure environment with good educational opportunities
- it attracts sophisticated technologies because of the strong link between experimentation
in the arts and the technological cutting edge
- it provides a living, breathing network that allows people to engage in conversation
about their work, their lives, their hopes, their fears.
Culture permeates every aspect of our lives and our cultural institutions are big business in the
finest sense of the word.
Unlike other social agencies tied to municipal, regional, and provincial financing, we are, of
necessity and by the very nature of our achievement, not an organized and co-ordinated body.
We require more time to communicate to the cultural community to put our house in order.
We appeal for:
B a
a
moratorium on decisions concerning the cultural community, with a reasonable
time limit, to be instituted immediately to allow us a period, along with other
organizations, to discuss the potential for realizing economies within our community and;
Brief from the
metropolitan toronto
sewer and watermain contractors
association
to the
TASK FORCE
on
Restructuring Water Supply & Sewerage Systems
in the GTA
September 1995
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden, Chair and
Members of the Greater Toronto
Area Task Force
20th Floor-Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Task Force Members:
Our association members are major stakeholders in the GTA and are very
interested in the affairs and health of each of the municipal governments that are
included in the geographic areas in Ontario known as the GTA. Your review of
the governance and structure of the GTA will include the potential for
restructuring the responsibilities and practices of municipal and provincial
governments. It will deal with the interrelated issues of urban form,
infrastructure, and economic competitiveness.
As a specialist group, experienced in the construction of water supply and
sewerage systems, we believe that this review is timely. Constructive and well
thought out revisions can improve the delivery of water and sewage infrastructure
services to the people in the GTA and add to the economic competitiveness of the
area. It is obvious that our member companies and employees will be directly
affected by changes in the structure of governance in the GTA.
The Metropolitan Toronto Sewer and Watermain Contractors Association
members include contractors and suppliers who employ on average 15,000
persons directly. Our industry builds almost one billion dollars worth of sewers
and watermains annually. About 40 percent is in the greater Toronto area.
We are an integral part of the economy of the GTA and contribute to its growth
and present prominence. In turn the communities and enterprises in the GTA are
our best customers. The health of the area and its capital programs are critical to
the success of our members and the employment of many people.
So with this introduction of our association, we take pleasure in providing the
task force with our submission on our observations and recommendations for the
restructuring of the supply of water and sewage services. Our interests are to see
that growth in the areas municipalities is enhanced by the most economical
delivery of the new services needed, along with an aggressive attack against
possible degrading of the environment from new growth and from the lingering
problems of past growth.
We feel privileged to have been given the opportunity of making this submission.
We will be pleased to discuss it with the task force members to clarify our views
and answer your questions. Please contact us through our Executive Director,
Mr. Sam Morra.
Yours truly,
Tony Maio
Sam Morra
President, MTSWCA
Executive Director, MTSWCA
Brief to
TASK FORCE
on
Restructuring Water Supply & Sewerage Systems
in the GTA
Table of Contents
Page
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OUR BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE
SYSTEMS SINCE THE 50S
These Past Years were Times of Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Results of the Last 45 Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
THE NEEDS IN THE GTA FOR 1995 AND BEYOND
Lack of Coordinated Water and Sewage Servicing
is Restraining the Growth in the GTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
New Ideas Needed for the Next Expansion of
Water Supply and Sewerage Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE APPROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL
LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR RESTRUCTURING THE WATER
SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE SYSTEMS IN THE GTA
We have reviewed the history of the water supply and sewerage systems in the GTA over
the last 45 years; the needs and challenges in 1995 and beyond; and have ideas on meeting
the GTA needs in the servicing of the present and future populations.
It is our opinion that water and sewage servicing of the communities in the GTA will not
be a constraint on their growth and prosperity.
The following are our recommendations for the organizational structure of government
responsible for managing water and sewage servicing in the GTA:
Basic principles:
B
a reduction in the number of municipal agencies is essential.
B
a common set of standards for service, water conservation programs,
pricing and metering, customer service, maintenance and
rehabilitation of systems.
B
uniform contracts and construction/materials specifications that will
reduce the cost of these services.
B
an organization that can provide an integrated approach to systems
planning and construction.
B
all costs of operating and owning the water supply and sewerage
systems must be on a user pay basis. The rates should be designed to
give credit for both water conservation and wastewater reduction.
Proposed structure:
B
create a new GTA Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (new
Authority) to own and operate the trunk systems of watermains,
sewers and treatment plants for all communities now situated within
the five regional governments.
B
reduce the existing scope and staff of all GTA municipalities to reflect
the transfer of trunk systems.
B
the new Authority will be the Areas representative on matters
regarding sewer and water servicing on any GTA planning committee
or planning authority.
B
the new Authority will wholesale its services to Halton, Peel, York
and Durham Regions and to the six Cities/Borough in Metropolitan
Toronto.
B
there will be a continuation of the retail functions of the present six
City/Borough water and sewage organizations in Metro Toronto
B
there will be a continuation of the present regional organizations in
Halton, Peel and Durham, but restricted to the retail of water and
sewage services to its customers.
B
change the structure in York to be similar to the other Regions in the
retail of water and sewage services by consolidating all local system
ownership and operations into one Regional retail system.
B
the unit charge for the wholesale of water and sewage service should
be uniform for all retailing utilities.
This proposed organization of systems assumes the continuance of the Regional
governments. It is recognized that this may not be safely assumed, considering the multitude
of more perplexing issues before the Task Force, that could eliminate or reorganize the
present Regional/Metro structures and final geographic areas in the GTA. Application of
the principles suggested above will still apply if the Regional governments do not exist in
the final plan. In the event that this occurs, the retail function should be given to the new
Authority.
OUR BRIEF
HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER SUPPLY AND SEWERAGE
SYSTEMS SINCE THE 50S
These Past Years were Times of Confidence.
The history of the development of the major systems from the 50s to today reflects in a
significant way on the farsighted planning of the systems managers and elected people of
that period. The investors were the newly formed Metropolitan Toronto, the Province of
Ontario and the 4 Regions surrounding Metro. We estimate that more than one billion
dollars was spent on these systems in the 50s and 60s. In todays dollars this would be
about 3 times that amount. The elected people and planners possessed great confidence in
their ability to develop systems to serve the communities that now make up the GTA. It was
indeed the sign of the times.
The major extensions to water supply and sewerage systems in the GTA regions took place
in the 50s and 60s for Metropolitan Toronto and in the 70s and 80s for Halton, Peel,
York and Durham. To a large degree, each has been planned and built as a stand alone
system with a minimum of integration of each to serve more than its own. The supply of
water from Metro to York Regions southern communities is an exception. The
York/Durham sewage system is another exception, serving parts of these two regions.
However it was brought about because of the inability of York Region to be serviced more
naturally by the Metro Toronto sewage systems.
These existing systems have served the areas close to Lake Ontario and their capacities have
been essentially committed. The next areas of growth in the GTA are in the second tier
communities, away from Lake Ontario, with greater costs for service.
The Results of the Last 45 Years
The past 45 years have had positive results. Some of these are:
B
There is now a substantial customer base to enable all systems to operate,
own and build new works on a user-pay basis.
B
Most of the municipal water supply and sewerage systems are either now
entirely paid for, or are free of significant debt. Many have substantial
reserves to look after maintenance and replacement.
B
Many of the new works projects are financed on a cash basis using current
revenues from water/sewage rates and development charges.
B
The creation of the regional water and sewage schemes allowed the GTA
communities to grow to their present sizes, to serve the many new homes and
enterprises that has made the GTA prosper.
B
The major regional schemes have made it possible to eliminate the need for
over 30 small wastewater plants,
discharging into small streams and
watercourses.
B
Shutting down of many groundwater pumping stations leaves this resource for
the natural stream flow.
B
Many groups in our GTA community have benefited, including the members
of our association and their employees.
Some of the less positive results include:
B
There still remains the residual problems with respect to lake waterfront and
stream/river pollution in all parts of the GTA serviced areas. The combined
sewer overflow problems in the older parts of the GTA have yet to be
corrected.
B
The Regional Municipality of York is in the precarious position in that is
isolated from the lake, and has been dependent on developing joint schemes
with other regional governments for its major water supply and sewage
treatment needs for its southern communities.
THE NEEDS IN THE GTA FOR 1995 AND BEYOND
Lack of Coordinated Water and Sewage Servicing
is Restraining the Growth in the GTA
The terms of reference for the Task Force outlines many of the issues that can potentially
restrain the growth in the GTA. The provision of water and sewage servicing for the present
planning of growth is not a major problem. There is in the GTA no shortage of resources
to plan and build the next system of trunk sewers, watermains and treatment plants.
There is now a solid base of customers and financial resources to support the next wave of
expansion of these important services. The dependency on investment from the province in
the 60s and 70s does not exist today.
What is sorrowfully needed is planning and cooperation of all municipal governments.
Together they can create a global plan for integrated systems that transcends the separate
area needs.
4
Some of the obvious requirements of today for these systems include:
B
Replenish the inventory of trunk system capacity that had been created in the
past 45 years. Any surplus capacity in place now has been fully committed
for present short range development.
B
Although servicing will play a critical role in planning new development,
there is a need for the development and acceptance of sound integrated
official plans covering the GTA entirely. They must contemplate the
preservation of natural resources, economic development and infrastructure
needs based on public preferences.
B
With these macro-scale development pictures, it is possible to forecast overall
needs and the location of the service areas and their ultimate development.
The past planning has considered artificial limits, without the expectation of
continuance of growth beyond these horizon years. The planning of pipe
systems and treatment plant sites must look beyond such horizons. This does
not necessarily mean constructing sewers and watermains now to serve the
ultimate development for that area.
B
The planning of the spine of the infrastructure systems to meet the long range
needs must be accompanied with setting standards of service to be used by
all regions and municipalities. This would include water conservation
programs, pricing
rehabilitation.
New Ideas Needed for the Next
and metering, customer service and maintenance and
Expansion of Water Supply and Sewerage Systems
The new water and sewage servicing requirements are in the second tier of communities
away from Lake Ontario. The service areas near the lake are essentially fully supplied. The
conventional way is to reinforce the existing systems for the new demands. Planning of the
trunk systems and new treatment plants should consider possible solutions such as plants and
pipes built inland in the new areas, with a minimum of disturbance and aggravation to the
present residents and enterprises. Water supply from another Great Lake source could be
more easily afforded by an integrated system.
Fully coordinated planning and construction of new systems can give each of the present
trunk systems advantages in the following ways:
B
Integrated planning of the trunk systems will reduce the need for a major
upfront investment for each system. Trunk watermains and sewers can be
located to serve more than one region during the early stages of development,
followed in later years with new trunks in other locations to facilitate the next
phases of development.
5
B
The construction of treatment plants and pumping stations can be modular
and provided on a just-in-time basis to follow the real and actual growth
of the communities. This reduces the risk of extended upfront financing for
projected growth rates that may not be attained.
B
The new systems could provide security of service, allowing for major
system failures and maintenance shutdown periods.
B
The coordination of development of overall systems to serve the GTA will
allow the construction of the new works to proceed on time and on a sound
financial basis. It will also provide the expanded and existing communities
with the most economical service. If the systems remain stand alone, major
upfront financing is required for each system to look after growth.
B
The GTA business community at large will benefit. The planned growth will
allow many companies and enterprises to participate. Our members and their
employees will be among them.
B
The results of providing the most cost effective service will enhance the
competitiveness of the region.
OUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE APPROPRIATE FUNCTIONAL
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL LEVELS
OF GOVERNMENT
The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housings terms of reference ask the Task Force to
report on:
B
the appropriate geographic scale, hierarchy and responsibilities of municipal
government;
B
the appropriate fictional responsibilities of the municipal and provincial
levels;
B
the appropriate operating principles for effective, efficient and accountable
urban government.
The following are our recommendations for the organizational structure of government
responsible for managing water and sewage services in the GTA:
Basic principles:
B
a reduction in the number of municipal agencies is essential.
6
B
a common set of standards for service, water conservation programs,
pricing and metering, customer service, maintenance and
rehabilitation of systems.
B
uniform contracts and construction/materials specifications that will
reduce the cost of these services.
B
an organization that can provide an integrated approach to systems
planning and construction.
B
all costs of operating and owning the water supply and sewerage
systems must be on a user pay basis. The rates should be designed to
give credit for both water conservation and wastewater reduction.
Proposed structure:
create a new GTA Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (new
Authority) to own and operate the trunk systems of watermains,
sewers and treatment plants for all communities now situated within
the five regional governments.
reduce the existing scope and staff of all GTA municipalities to reflect
the transfer of trunk systems.
the new Authority will be the Areas representative on matters
regarding sewer and water servicing on any GTA planning committee
or planning authority.
the new Authority will wholesale its services to Halton, Peel, York
and Durham Regions and to the six Cities/Borough in Metropolitan
Toronto.
there will be a continuation of the retail functions of the present six
City/Borough water and sewage organizations in Metro Toronto
there will be a continuation of the present regional organizations in
Halton, Peel and Durham, but restricted to the retail of water and
wastewater service to its customers.
change the structure in York to be similar to the other Regions in the
retail of water and sewage services by consolidating all local system
ownership and operations into one Regional retail system.
7
B
the unit charge for the wholesale of water and sewage service should
be uniform for all retailing utilities.
This proposed organization of systems assumes the continuance of the Regional
governments. It is recognized that this may not be safely assumed, considering the multitude
of more perplexing issues before the Task Force, that could eliminate or reorganize the
present Regional/Metro structures and final geographic areas in the GTA. Application of
the principles suggested above will still apply if the Regional governments do not exist in
the final plan. In the event that this occurs, the retail function should be given to the new
Authority.
One major complication in the creation of the new Authority will be in the transfer of assets
from the original owners. This can be solved by having each consider their contribution as
their share in the value of the assets of the new Authority. Part of the annual cost of
operation of the new Authority will be paying a return on investment to the investors.
These earnings could be used to reduce their charges for retail water/sewage service to their
respective customers.
The acquisition of facilities upon the creation of the South Peel Water and Sewage System
was a variation of this idea. The province purchased the useful assets and included this cost
in their charges for delivery of the water and sewage service to the five original participants
in the scheme.
In the creation of Metropolitan Toronto, the City of Toronto was the major contributor of
trunk water supply and sewerage systems to the new Metro. The City enjoyed a discount
in the unit cost of water for a limited number of years.
We are an integral part of the economy of the GTA and contribute to its growth and present
prominence. In turn the communities and enterprises in the GTA are our best customers.
The health of the area and its capital programs are critical to the success of our members
and the employment of many people. We strongly believe that the implementation of our
recommendations will have a positive effect on the health and economic competitiveness of
the Greater Toronto Area.
8
September 27, 1995
Ms. Anne Golden
Chair,
20th Floor-2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden,
I am pleased to enclose the comments of the Metropolitan Separate School Board to the Greater
Toronto Area Task Force. The comments were adopted by the Board at its meeting of
September 21, 1995 and reflect the positions of the Board on education funding including the
proposals for the pooling of commercial and industrial assessment, school boards governance, and
cooperation amongst school boards in the GTA Region.
.----
Although the Chairman of the Board and I could not attend the update you presented to GTA
school boards on September 19, my representatives who attended advised me that the discussions
were candid and informative. We were gratified to learn from the various issues reviewed at the
meeting, that the comments attached for your consideration are well within the bounds of thinking
that the Task Force has arrived at to date, although I realize much input is yet to be received and
assessed.
I wish you the very best in the daunting task which lies ahead, and look forward to receiving the
upcoming report of the Task Force.
Sincerely,
attached
METROPOLITAN SEPARATE SCHOOL BOARD
COMMENTS TO
A. J. Barone
Paul B.R. Fernandes
Chairman of the Board
80 Sheppard Avenue East
Toronto, Willowdale
Ontario M2N 6E8
OFFICERS AND OFFICIALS OF THE
1995
Paul B.R. Fernandes
Chairman of the Board
Tony Marzilli
Vice-Chairman of the Board
Pina Losiggio
Honorary Treasurer
A.J. Barone
Director of Education and Secretary
Deputy Directors of Education and Assistant Secretaries
J.E. Jasenee (Administrative Services & Treasurer)
L.C. Cromien (Human Resources & Field Operations)
N.M. Forma (Program Design& Field Operations)
TRUSTEES
MSSB COMMENTS TO THE
This submission is in response to the July 11, 1995 invitation from the Minister of Municipal
Affairs and Housing to share our position and suggestions on the future of the Greater Toronto
Area.
OVERVIEW.
.
ADAPTATION B COOPERATION B SYMBIOSIS. These may well be the watchwords for
government as we move into the 21st. century. It is apparent even today that government
institutions cannot exist in isolation. On the one hand the exigencies of cost reduction and
demands for accountability are wide ranging and touch upon all aspects of public service, and no
where are they more evident than in the Greater Toronto Area. On the other, the public and the
provincial government press for change, new services, which require additional financial
resources which tax local resources to their limits. The need to do more with less becomes more
evident as we face the future.
The MSSB notes that one of the objectives of the GTA Task Force is to consider
education financing issues as they affect the Greater Toronto Area/Metropolitan Toronto in light
of the Royal Commission on Learning, and the Fair Tax Commission, and government initiatives
following from the recommendations of the Commission, but that it should not deal with issues
of Education Governance. .
MSSB further notes that the Task Force is asked to define a system appropriate to the
Greater Toronto Area of the next century, that provides economic health and competiveness,
community well-being and a high quality urban environment.
The Board also understands that one of the questions which the Task Force will consider
is how local spending control can best be exerted over the seemingly non-discretionary elements
of the municipal budget - including amongst others, education.
As a result it is important for our Board, which is the largest single school board in the
Greater Toronto Area, to make its views known regarding these aspects of the review being
undertaken by the Task Force.
BACKGROUND:
The Ontario Fair Tax Commission Report recognized that the current system of funding
of education is neither fair nor is it working.
The Final Report of the Commission recommended that the core funding of education be
from Provincial general revenues and that allocation of the core amount was recommended to be
based on per pupil costs, student needs and community characteristics.
The Final Report also recommended that school boards continue to be allowed to generate
revenue through a local levy on the residential property tax base, above the core amount, to a
maximum often percent of the local provincial allocation.
Following issue of the Fair Tax Concern report, the Metropolitan Separate School Board
determined that it generally supported the principles of education finance reform outlined in the
Ontario Fair Tax commission - Final Report.
The Metropolitan Separate School Board also indicated that it supports the principle of
funding education from a more progressive tax base, and the principle of allocating funds based
on per pupil costs, student needs and community characteristics.
Subsequent to the Fair Tax Commission Report, the Ontario Royal Commission on
Learning issued its report, in which it clearly stated that equity in education requires financial
equity. With that understanding, the Commission examined the way education is financed in
Ontario and concluded that there are two issues. The first is equity, that is, whether the system
distributes available resources in a manner that is fair to all students in the province. The second
is adequacy, defined as what funding is required to provide the school program the
Commissioners envisaged.
The report of the Commission noted that because of the considerable variation in
assessment wealth, there is wide variation in what local school boards provide in terms of
program. The Commission described four key reasons for inequitable funding:
B
the way in which commercial/industrial revenues are determined and directed;
B
the fact that tax revenue from corporate head offices and seats of government, although
generated across the province, are directed only to the municipality in which these
headquarters reside;
B
limited access to the commercial and industrial tax base by separate school boards;
\
Metropolitan Separate School Board Comments to Greater Toronto Area Task Force Page 2
B
the default provision, which automatically directs undesignated assessment revenue to the
English language public school system.
The report also noted that, although atone one the Ministry had a definition of what
constituted a good program of education and what it would cost, the connection between funding
and programs is no longer clear. The Commission recommended that, based on the vision of
quality education the Commission proposed, the Ministry must again redetermine the cost of
educating each student. That, plus adjustments for different student needs and varying community
characteristics, should determine what each board receives in education funding.
The recognition of the long-standing requests from assessment poor boards for major
changes to the education revenue distribution model of the province, was perhaps the most
revenue source, and adjusted only for high-cost programs and local circumstances, is necessary
to achieve equul opportunity for students, is of major importance to the Board if implemented.
At the time of the Royal Commission report, there was some concern raised that the
proposed funding changes may flow commercial, industrial and residential assessment revenue out
of Metro to be redistributed across the Province. However, the recommendations urged a clear
distribution of costs for program delivery, taking into account local weighing factors such as
income levels, number of immigrant and special needs pupils etc. Therefore if as generally
acknowledged the demographics show for example a higher level of immigrants in Metro Toronto
then it is likely the Metro Separate and its coterminous public boards would have high weighing
factors as a result of their student demographics, and the level of revenue necessary to
accommodate special needs would be maintained.
The bottom line for Metropolitan Separate School Board was that the recommendations fully
support the principles of equity and sharing that all assessment poor boards have sought, and on
that basis were supported.
In its brief to the Fair Tax Commission Metropolitan Separate School Board endorsed a
number of principles and specific solutions to create a fairer method of assessment and grant
revenue sharing for education purposes. The principles supported were that:
1) The objective of the education grants system should be to equalize the household
income impact of residential taxes to support spending for provincially mandated
services.
2) The equalization system should be designed to produce the same rate of taxation
on commercial and industrial property across Ontario for provincially mandated
standards of service in education.
3) Ontario's funding model for education should recognize a level of spending
sufficient to meet the equity objectives of the system and to enable school boards
to provide for provincially mandated standards of service.
Metropolitan Separate School Board Comments to Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Page 3
4) The funding for education be a shared responsibility between the provincial
government and local school boards.
The specific solutions supported by MSSB were that:
1)
2)
3)
4)
The Province set a common mill rate for all commercial and industrial
assessment for education purposes to ensure all commercial and industrial
ratepayers exercise the same tax effort in providing their share of education
costs.
All commercial and industrial tax revenue be pooled on a province-wide basis.
The pooledfunds, together with provincialgrants to school boards, be distributed
so as to make up the difference between residential tax revenues and a
realistically established grant ceiling or recognized level of expenditure.
AU residential ratepayers be obliged to choose which school boards they wish to
support depending on their constitutional entitlement. In those instances where
taxpayers refuse or neglect to do so, their assessment should be pooled and
divided among the coterminous school boards on the basis of pupil enrollment.
This would enable Boards such as MSSB to reduce its activities retied to
approaching ratepayers to direct their support to the Board and resulting in
further cost savings.
.
It is generally acknowledged that the current residential assessment system does not treat
ratepayers in various municipalities within the GTA in a fair and equitable way. MSSB believes
the system should be revised and updated to ensure fairness and that properties reflect current
values in an equitable way.
As the task force is aware the effect of assessment appeals, both residential and
commercial/industrial is devastating the tax base of Metropolitan Toronto. In order to address
this serious situation in the short term the GTA Task Force should consider recommending
that these appeals be suspended pending implementation of an appropriate longer-term
solution.
As evidenced in the background comments above, the Metropolitan Separate School Board,
as a Catholic board and a member of the Ontario Separate School Trustees Association , has
always supported the principle of fairness inherent in provincial pooling. Nevertheless, if
provincial pooling is determined to be too great a shift in approach the Metropolitan Separate
School Board continues to believe that a minimum, all local commercial and industrial
assessment should be pooled locally and shared amongst coterminous boards on a per-pupil
basis.
Local pooling of all commercial and industrial taxes for education purposes coupled with
a revised provincial education grant system which recognizes appropriate core grant levels and
adjustments reflecting student/community characteristics would go far toward the end goal of
establishment of a new education funding model that provides every school board in Ontario with
equal per-pupil revenue, regardless of revenue source, adjusted only for high cost programs and
local circumstances. In the context of the Task Force review the term Local Pooling could be
defined as the Greater Toronto Area rather than Metropolitan Toronto.
Pooling of all commercial and industrial assessment for education purposes which was
derived from a single provincial rate tax system; and distribution to individual public and separate
school boards on a per-pupil basis has also been supported by business organizations such as the
Board of Trade which has studied the issue extensively from the viewpoint of business in
Metropolitan Toronto and the negative effect of business taxes which exceed those in the adjoining
Greater Toronto regions.
D
A number of arguments which support the single rate taxation of commercial and industrial
property and pooling of commercial and industrial taxes for education purposes, have been
identified by the board of Trade, Metropolitan Separate School Board, the Ontario Separate
School Trustee Association and assessment poor school boards, including the following:
B
A single-rate tax on all Commercial and Industrial property in Ontario would be fairer for
businesses, since all businesses benefit equally from a well-educated society, and Ontario
employers tend to draw their workforce from a broader pool of labour than is encompassed
by the school board jurisdiction to which the employer is paying property and business
occupancy taxes. Typically in todays commuter society these employees come from the
Region in which the business is located rather than the municipality and commute from
home to business. In the case of Metropolitan Separate School Board residents from GTA
municipalities continue to apply to allow their children to attend Metropolitan Separate
School Board schools.
B
Province-wide pooling of all commercial and industrial taxes for education purposes would
enable the province to restructure education funding to provide greater equity in education
funding by allocating these taxes on a per pupil basis.
B
Regional pooling could reduce the harmful distortion to business location decisions
induced by large property tax differentials between municipalities in a given region. In
the GTA, where businesses are increasingly relocating from the Metropolitan Toronto core
to the edge cities due to lower C&I tax rates, regional pooling would effectively
eliminate the differential, and would reduce the erosion of Metros property assessment
base by making it less attractive, from a tax standpoint for business to relocate elsewhere
in the GTA. This would also serve to stabilize the declining C&I revenue being
experienced by the large school boards in Metropolitan Toronto.
B
Regional pooling of cornmercial and industrial taxes for education would put all school
boards within a large similar geographical and economic area on a sirnilar fiscal footing
while still having the right of access to their individual, constitutionally protected,
separate or public support municipal residential property tax base for any incremental
funding needs.
B
Since the revenue loss occasioned by any declining commercial and industrial assessments
would be dispersed across the whole C&I tax base of any given region, (in this case the
Greater Toronto Area), the effects of assessment losses on individual school boards
(public or separate) would be mitigated. This would eliminate the need for school boards
in municipalities with a declining C&I tax base to appeal C&I property taxes upward, and
would have the added benefit of allowing school boards to significantly downsize the staff
they retain solely for the purpose of seeking additional C&I education tax support.
B
Regional pooling would enable school boards in municipalities with declining C&I
assessment to be cushioned from the full impact of the decline, and in turn enable them
to recapture a share of increasing C&I assessment wealth elsewhere. It would also deter
boards in municipalities with expanding C&I wealth from increasing spending
unnecessarily.
B
With variations, a uniform and/or provincially collected property tax on residential and/or
non-residential property is the method by which public education is financed in seven of
ten Canadian provinces. Only Ontario remains heavily dependent on municipally assessed
and collected property taxes for education.
In summary Metropolitan Separate School Board proposes:
ALTERNATIVE 1: THE PROVINCE-WIDE APPROACH
1) The Province set a common mill rate for all commercial and industrial
assessment for education purposes to ensure all commercial and industrial
ratepayers exercise the same tax effort in providing their share of education
costs.
2) All commercial and industrial tax revenue be pooled on a province-wide basis.
3) The pooled funds, together with provincial grants to school boards, be distributed
by the MOET so as to make up the difference between residential tax revenues
and a realistically established grant ceiling or recognized level of expenditure.
ALTERNATIVE: THE REGIONAL APPROACH.
If the Task Force and/or Province deems the province-wide pooling to be inappropriate or too
radical a shift, the Metropolitan Separate School Board therefore recommends that the Greater
Toronto Area Task Force propose to the Province a revised system of Commercial/Industrial
assessment taxtion for education purposes which incorporates an appropriate uniform
province-wide assessment methodology, but pools all the resulting education tax revenue on a
regional basis for distribution to school boards within the region on a per-pupil basis according
to criteria set by the Ministry of Education and Training.
If a Greater Toronto Area government body were formed to oversee the infrastructure
needs of the region, it could be provided with the authority to collect for the GTA Region on
behalf of the province, the provincially set uniform single province wide commercial and
industrial tax rate; which could then be deposited in a Provincially regulated pool fund and
distributed to each school board in the region on a per-pupil basis according to criteria set and
monitored by the Provincial Ministry of Education and Training. Residential property taxes for
education purposes would continue to be collected via local levy by individual municipalities in
order to meet local education needs for transfer to each school board(s) in the municipality.
Although the Task Force is not specifically mandated to review education governance in
the region; Metropolitan Separate School Board nevertheless recognizes that the GTA is in fact
the key economic machine of the Province, and a major component of that machine is a healthy,
well organized and high quality education system.
Furthermore school boards cooperate and coordinate with all manner of services within
the wider community of which they are part. Transportation, recreation, health, library, and
social services all relate to the operation of schools, and boards deal with a wide variety of public
and private service providers from their immediate and adjoining municipalities.
Even if a new level of government to coordinate the GTA-wide infrastructure were formed
to replace Metro Toronto and other component regional governments; Metropolitan Separate
School Board does not see its jurisdiction expanding.
It is important that any system must recognize and agree that separate school boards in
the Greater Toronto Area region must continue to function as the education governance
structures to service their Catholic communities; to provide consistency within boards
geographical areas such as in Metro Toronto, or in surrounding regions; to equalize available
resources and maximize opportunities within Board boundaries which are in conformity with
municipal or regional boundaries; and to ensure the legal, constitutional and educational rights
for the ratepayers and pupils these Boards represent.
As pointed out to the School Board Reduction Task Force, Metropolitan Separate School
Board believes that any mergers of Separate Boards should be based upon a mutual agreement
of two or more boards to amalgamate and result ineffective savings, accountability and delivery
of service. When such agreement exists the government should allocate funds for the boards to
carefully study the issues involved related to cost savings which may result such as: impact on
taxpayers and tax revenues, impact on trustee representation, and impact on students - will it
improve the educational benefit and opportunities for students and maintain needed specialized
services to students.
With approximately 104,000 students, which is expected to remain stable through 1999,
the Metropolitan Separate School Board remains the largest single school board in Ontario and
Canada, even if the 1500 French-first language pupils are removed from the total.
By virtue of its size the Metropolitan Separate School Board believes it would be
dysfunctional to amalgamate with any adjoining Greater Toronto Area separate school board. The
Royal Commission on Learning in its Report included research conducted by OISE which
suggested that large school boards have to be vigilant in terms of maintaining links to their
communities, and in this regard the Metropolitan Separate School Board has actively fostered a
strong network of school associations.
On the other hand Metropolitan Separate School Board was aware that the School Board
Reduction Task Force was also considering caps of the number of pupils a school board should
serve (the numbers of 80,000-90,000 have been suggested). The Metropolitan Separate School
Board believes that to divide it into two separate school boards because it is in excess of the
enrolment cap, would also be inappropriate since the resulting duplication of school boards,
potentially with more trustees than currently allocated to serve the same population, and
duplication of administrative staff and offices, would inevitably result in increased costs to the
separate school ratepayers of Metro Toronto and to the Ontario government through their grant
plan.
To carve up the Metropolitan Separate School Board into even smaller units along any
revised municipal boundary lines; even if the number of cities within Metropolitan Toronto were
eventually reduced as a result of GTA Task Force recommendations, for example from six to
four; would also have a similar effect as noted in the previous paragraph again with
corresponding escalated costs.
Metropolitan Separate School Board believes its size should be used as the upper limit in
the range of school boards within the GTA. Metropolitan Separate School Board has consistently
proven that a very large school board can operate an efficient administration relative to its
coterminous public board. The latest Ministry of Education per pupil expenditure statistics
(1993), indicate Metropolitan Separate School Boards expenditure for all administrative
categories (business administration, general administration and computer services) is only 56%
of Metropolitan Toronto School Boards expenditure. In addition, Metropolitan Separate School
Board figures show that 91% of its Budget is already school-based expenditure-monies spent at
the school level for staff located there or for local school budgets.
In summary Metropolitan Separate School Board believes that it can effectively manage
a system of 104,000 full time pupils; 70,000 part-time and continuing education pupils; in 36
secondary and 190 elementary schools, with nearly 10,000 employees.
Metropolitan Separate School Board believes that while its system works well, that it is
not broken and does not require repair in terms of its size, or governance it still suffers greatly
from the inequity in funding compared with its coterminous public boards; a situation which
frustrates its ability to adequately meet the needs of its students, and improve programs.
Nevertheless, Metropolitan Separate School Board remains committed to making the Board even
more efficient through its own ongoing activities to restructure for greater opportunities and
effectiveness for students.
The GTA Task Force may also be aware that the Province has invited the French-
language Sections of existing school boards to streamline and form a maximum of 15 French-
language school boards; Catholic Separate and Public. Metropolitan Separate School Boards
own French-language section has agreed along with the Sections of Simcoe County Roman
Catholic Separate School Board, Durham Roman Catholic Separate School Board and York
Region Roman Catholic Separate School Board that amalgamation of their Sections into a new
Regional Roman Catholic Separate School Board encompassing not only their current jurisdictions
(which fall within the Greater Toronto Area, but also the of Muskoka, Haliburton, Hastings,
Prince Edward, Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Newcastle, and a section of the
district of West Parry Sound; is feasible. The Interim Report of the Ontario School Board
Reduction Task Force has endorsed an expanded amalgamation of French-language sections which
include those mentioned here.
Such a School Board if legislated by the Province will be an anomaly in comparison to
other GTA School Boards and require unique funding arrangements, which presumably will be
facilitated by the Province in a way which will not impact negatively on the financial resources
of its coterminous boards.
As the GTA Task Force maybe aware, Metropolitan Separate School Board believes the
optimum system is where education and government services spending is focused where it has the
most impact on the service user - in the case of education it is the student; in the case of local or
regional government the user is also clearly and unequivocally defined. A major focus of any
organization which coordinates GTA planning and development, should be the facilitation of
effective and efficient service through inter-government and agency cooperation, and whose
leadership in this regard is respected and sought after by all partners. Metropolitan Separate
School Board has cooperated in the studies and work undertaken by the Metro Toronto School
Boards Task Force on Cost Savings through Cooperative Savings. The studies of the Task Force
included purchasing and warehousing, information and technology services, library technical
services, strategy transportation, and consolidated banking.
Metropolitan Separate School Board Comments to Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Page 9
While study results in some areas should prove beneficial and result in greater cost
efficiencies for all parties, other indicate that Metropolitan Separate School Board is already
running operations efficiently and there would not be significant cost benefit since Metropolitan
Separate School Board would only realize marginal cost savings or even increased costs through
cooperative services with its coterminous public boards and in fact may not be able to offer
services equivalent to those of the public boards if forced to join in all aspects of the Cooperative.
The final report of the Metro Task Force on Cost Savings is now complete and evaluations
of its recommendations are underway, and determination of the degree of success possible remains
to be seen. Metropolitan Separate School Board staff and trustees have nevertheless gained useful
insight into which cooperative services are feasible and which are likely to be less productive.
In the context of the Greater Toronto Area it is feasible in the future that expanded consortiums
and co-ops may be utilized where cost-efficient, to enhance administrative effectiveness in
services common to the school boards in the GTA.
For the purpose of facilitating cooperation and collaboration between all adjoining public
and separate school boards, a GTA Council of School Boards Directors of Education and Chairs
could be established to help plan the needs of students in the 21st Century. The Council could
be mandated to jointly map out and establish agreements and procedures aimed at ensuring cost
efficiency and excellence in relation to services and activities in which all parties can benefit from
the sharing of human, physical, developmental and planning resources.
One specific area where such agreements could assist in planning would be to provide that
pupils residing in adjoining GTA school boards could attend (subject to availability of facilities)
schools in Metro and vice versa, where families living and working in different municipalities
require such an arrangement. This recognizes the need for flexibility of choice for parents and
students living in Greater Toronto Area communities, where parents may work in Metro Toronto
but live outside its boundary.
Agreements for reciprocal payment by Boards of tuition fees or for some form of
education tax transfers would be one way of addressing this issue, as would an amendment to the
Education Act setting out appropriate parameters for inter-board student enrollments within regions
such as the GTA. As of February 1995 Metropolitan Separate School Board was still educating
over 1,000 pupils from adjoining Roman Catholic Separate School Boards, and while receiving
tuition fees directly from parents, the cost to Metropolitan Separate School Board of educating
these students was significant.
FACTSHEET
The Metropolitan Separate School Board (MSSB)
A county combined separate school board exercising its powers and duties throughout the whole
of the geographical area of Metropolitan Toronto.
Christian spirit and moral training complemented by religious studies and family life education,
permeate the entire life of our Catholic schools so it becomes a life experience for students.
A Catholic education is provided to approximately 104,000 full time elementary and secondary
students. Also over 70,000 are enrolled as part-time continuing education students; including over
19,000 in E.S.L., citizenship and literacy studies; 10,000 in summer school courses; 10,000 in
night school courses and 32,000 in the extended day and after hours international languages
program. Approximately 19,000 of the full-time pupils receive the benefit of special programs.
The Metropolitan Separate School Board family is a network of school, church and community.
Aside from our major English and French official-language communities, close relations are
maintained with the large Italian, Spanish, Asian, Filipino, Lebanese, Polish and Portuguese
communities, and indeed with all ethno-cultural groups served by the Board. Thousands of
immigrant children from 37 non-English speaking countries have been enrolled since January
1985.
School facilities often become the centre of community activities for residents of all ages, and the
Board has encouraged childcare initiatives and breakfast programs. Such activities are in line with
the concepts suggested in the governments Children First report and demonstrate this Board
goes beyond what is required, in order to meet needs of the disadvantaged.
The Board operates 226 schools: 190 elementary and 36 secondary, including 7 French First-
Language schools. The French schools are the cultural hub of the Catholic French community.
The Board employs approximately 6,400 teachers making it the single largest employer of
Catholic teachers in the country and including support staff, the Board is one of the 10 largest
employers in Metropolitan Toronto, proud of our equal opportunity record in policies and hiring
practices.
The approved budget for 1995 is 704.3 million. The latest Ministry of Education per pupil
expenditure statistics (1993), indicate MSSBs expenditure for all administrative categories
(business administration, general administration and computer services) is only 56% of
Metropolitan Toronto School Boards expenditure. In addition, MSSB figures prove that 91% of
its Budget is already school-based expenditure monies spent at the school level for staff located
there or for local school budgets.
There are approximately over 621,000 individual separate school board ratepayers within
Metropolitan Toronto, or 28 percent of all Metro ratepayers.
The Metropolitan Separate School Board is the largest single school board in Ontario and in
Canada, and with that must meet unique requirements and responsibilities not experienced by
other boards.
The Municipality of
55 John Street
Stn. 1060, 6th Fir., Metro Hall
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
Fax: (416) 392-3751
Telephone: (416) 39 2-8683
May 15, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Suite 2001
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
Dear Anne:
The complexity of fiscal reform in the GTA was made very clear at the GTA Task Force
Finance Committee meeting on May 8, 1995. It is very evident that to help get the task forces
workplan beyond the discussion phase, it is necessary to commence modelling some specific
fiscal reform ideas and options and to examine their impacts. No one including me knows for
sure the exact impact of all the ideas discussed regarding assessment and taxation.
Although I cannot speak for others, I have no fixed positions on possible solutions. Also, I fully
appreciate that inevitably trade-offs will be necessary if progress is to be achieved. Until there is
a common understanding of the implications, positions regarding possible solutions cannot be
developed on an informed basis. Once the impacts are examined, options can be considered by
the task force which may address the many issues that are likely to arise.
As a follow-up to the meeting, you have requested specific ideas and options from the finance
workgroup members that could be modeled and reviewed by the task force. Although I have
given some consideration to a number of options, as referenced in the discussion paper Metro
Toronto Matters: An Agenda for Fiscal Reform in Metro Toronto, the precise impact in most
cases is unknown. I would respectfully submit the options, briefly outlined below, for us and the
task force to analyze in detail.
Business Specific Issues: The weighting of residential assessment and the-five categories of tax
rates used to calculate business occupancy taxes represent components of a finance system
roofed decades ago and need to be revisited especially in todays competitive climate. The
removal of weighted residential assessment from the mill rate setting process, although it impacts
The residential property taxpaya, could be phased-in over a short period of time to provide
equal treatment to both residential and non-residential properties.
Refinement of the existing business occupancy tax can be considered including rolling all five
rates into one to generate the same amount of business tax revenue. Although there will
generally be a shift from larger firms towards small businesses, this shift in taxation may be
offset by some other measure of reform.
Rationalize the property tax: It has been argued that school boards spending and general
welfare assistance (GWA) payments should be removed from the property tax base and be
funded through other revenue sources that reflect a greater ability to pay. Much debate
regarding the funding of education has ensued following the Report of the Fair Tax
Commission. Should the Fair Tax Commissions recommendations concerning education
finance not be accepted then alternatives need to be examined. To this effect the impact of
pooling non-residential assessment can be reviewed as a means of sharing property taxes for
education purposes.
Should the removal of GWA payments from the property tax as recommended in several studies
not be achievable, then the sharing of the municipal GWA contribution among GTA
municipalities should be examined.
A cost-sharing formula, possibly based on a combination
of factors including welfare caseload, population, assessment, income, etc., would be required
and the redistributive effects analyzed.
Equity of Provincial Grants: The differences in the amount of some provincial grants received
in Metro Toronto compared to the surrounding municipalities appears to be related to how
ability to pay is measured by the formulas. The impact of moving away from assessment or
population-based formulas (e.g. transit operating grants) needs to be reviewed.
The options available to resolve the discrepancies in provincial grants received by Metro
Toronto may include bringing Metro Toronto Up to the same level as other municipalities (at a
cost to the province) or bringing the other municipalities down to Metro Torontos funding
level (at a cost to other municipalities) or for the province to establish a new provincial standard
somewhere in between.
In addition, the basis for provincial education funding formula: could be reviewed in order to
determine how the special needs of pupils may be more appropriately measured. Variables such
as levels of poverty, parental educational attainment, household income and immigration levels
may be more indicative of local needs. Furthermore, certain school board expenditures that are
perceived to support elements that are more typical of social services (e.g. meal plans) should be
reviewed as to their legitimacy on the property tax base.
Assessment reform: The inability to proceed on the Fair Tax Commissions recommendations
has stalled the debate on assessment reform, much of which has focussed on the basis for the
assessment system and differing tax burdens by property class. A market value study based on
the most recent data (or alternatively 1994 equalization factors applied to the 199S tax file
would provide an understanding of current class tax burdens as an initial starting point for
developing options regarding any possible shifts in taxation between property classes.
The development of variable class mill rates may provide the flexibility required locally to
implement any changes to current class tax burdens. Provincial guidelines regarding variation
in mill rates between property classes would likely be needed to prevent distortions in average
mill rate between municipalities.
Many of the above options have been studied extensively, often without resolution, Needless to
say, confronting any one of these is a tall order. However, Metro Torontos economic vibrancy
and the health of the GTA are very much at stake. The status quo is simply unacceptable.
Review of the requested financing options will hopefully lay the ground work for developing
possible solutions for the task force and others to consider.
I would be pleased to discuss these requests with you in greater detail. And while I have you
may I compliment you on your efforts to date. You not only run timely and challenging
meetings, you make them fun too.
Sincerely,
Robert A. Richards
cc. Metro Councillors
Alan Tonks
Metropolitan Chairman
September 18, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Dear Dr. Golden:
RECEIVED
Re: Metro Councils Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
I am pleased to enclose the final version of Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal For
Change. This report and the enclosed compilation of six background papers are Metro
Councils written submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force. The report
reflects the positions on reform of the financial, legislative and structural frameworks for
government in the GTA that were adopted by Metro Council on August 16, 1995. We
shall be presenting our proposals to the task force on September 27, 1995.
Metro Council has been reviewing the role of the metropolitan level of government in
the contexts of Metro Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area since 1991. The creation
of the GTA Task Force provided us with an opportunity to crystallise our understanding
of the issues into the plan to lead the Toronto region into the twenty-first century that
is described in the pages of the enclosed report.
Thus, Metro Council has arrived at the conclusions outlined in Theres No Turning Back:
A Proposal For Change after much research and lengthy debate. In keeping with the
openness of democratic municipal government, our entire process has been conducted in
public. We have chosen, in our proposals for GTA reform, to consider the needs of the
region and its residents over the next generation. Our plan goes beyond the immediate
challenges of today and avoids the seduction of protecting the turf and jobs of the current
Metro Council.
Metro Council is acutely aware of the challenges facing our region in the years ahead.
Global free trade and the information age are steadily erasing the significance of national
boundaries. Increasingly, city regions must vie with each other for investment and
economic development. I believe that all municipal politicians in the GTA understand
and agree that Toronto, the city region, must compete head-to-head with places like
Atlanta, Frankfurt, Rotterdam, Hong Kong and Singapore. Our infrastructure, cost of
living and quality of life will all play a part in determining how successfully we compete.
We can no longer rely on generous and open-ended federal and provincial transfer
payments to cushion us against the real costs of urban development and stewardship.
It is against this background that we undertook our analysis of the state of municipal
government in the Toronto region. Our proposals are premised on a firmly held
conviction that this region can and will continue to maintain its competitive position and
enviable quality of life so long as its municipal government has the tools to do its job.
These tools are:
.
legislative authority and autonomy to serve municipal taxpayers flexibly and
effectively within broad provincial policies and guidelines;
B
financial empowerment to enable municipal government to carry out its
responsibilities and provide equal services over the entire urban area; and
.
the capacity to plan and coordinate key infrastructure and services across the
Toronto region.
The proposals outlined in Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal For Change have been
conceived as no more and no less than means to ensure that municipal government in
Toronto has these essential tools at its disposal.
The enclosed report contains a number of quite specific proposals some of which other
municipal politicians agree with and some of which they question. I urge you to delve
deeper than the proposals themselves and consider the principles on which they are based
and the objectives towards which they are oriented. Having read many of the ideas
emerging from other municipalities submissions to the GTA Task Force, I believe that
most of us share a commitment to these principles and objectives. We all seem to agree
with the need for a regional capacity and with the wisdom of government that is directly
accountable to taxpayers.
I welcome the opportunity to present Metros submission to the GTA Task Force on
September 27, 1995. At that time we shall be able to discuss our proposals more fully.
I have enclosed 10 copies of Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal For Change. Please
let me know if you require additional copies. I have also enclosed Metros 1995
compendium of Key Facts which describes the socio-economic characteristics of the
Metro Toronto area and some of Metros functions and responsibilities.
If I or Metro staff can answer any questions or be of any assistance to you as you enter
the home stretch of your gruelling work schedule, please do not hesitate to call on us.
Enclosure
THERES NO TURNING BACK:
A PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
Submission to the Greater Toronto
by Metropolitan Toronto Council
Area Task Force
August, 1995
MET RO
CHI EF ADMI NI STRATORS OFFI CE
Corporate Planning Division
THERES NO TURNING BACK:
A FRAMEWORK FOR CHANGE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.
PART 1: THE BASIS FOR CHANGE
1.1 Introduction
1
1.2 Why We Need Change
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1
1.3 A Framework for Reform
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4
1.4 our Vision - Where We Want to GO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1. 5 Real i zi ng the Vi si on
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5
PART 2: A PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
2. 1
2 . 2
2 . 3
2 . 4
2. 5
2 . 6
A Revitalised Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
Boundaries
10
Form of Regional Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Regional Government Responsibilities
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
A New Legislative Framework
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
20
A New Financial Framework
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 1
PART 3: CONCLUSIONS
3.1 The Benefits of Our Proposal
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 4
3.2 There Must Be Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 6
LIST OF MAPS
Following Page No.
Map 1: The Present Approach to Regional
Government in Greater Toronto
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Map 2: Proposed Greater Toronto Region
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Map 3: The Greater Toronto Bioregion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Map 4: Proposed Area Municipal Boundaries
within a Greater Toronto Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
This report is about Toronto.
Why is the Metro Toronto government writing a report about Toronto as input to
reform of the Greater Toronto Area?
Toronto is one city, one metropolis. It always has been, always will be. It has been,
and continues to be, a rapidly growing city, both in terms of its total population and
its physical extent.
We figured out back in the 1950s that Toronto is larger than the governmental unit
called the City of Toronto, so Metropolitan Toronto was created. Toronto is now
larger than the governmental unit called Metropolitan Toronto.
As is common with all other large, expanding cities, it is difficult to define Torontos
boundaries precisely, but not impossible to approximate them.
Toronto has many communities and neighbourhoods, some with interesting
historical origins, but they are all part of one metropolis.
People who live elsewhere dont have any difficulty understanding the reality of a
Toronto metropolis.
People who live here may distinguish themselves from one another by identifying
with the specific community in which they reside: Z live in the Beach (or
Willowdale, or Thornhill, or Clarkson).
But when abroad, we all explain that we are from Toronto so that people will
understand, will get the right geographic fix.
Recognizing the existence of this large city, all of which is really Toronto, is critical if
we are to be serious about how best to govern it.
PART 1: THE BASIS FOR CHANGE
1. 1 INTRODUCTION
In the international arena Toronto is an
emerging large city. It competes increasingly for
prominence and economic development with
many other emergent and established large
urban regions around the world. Numerous
factors will determine how successful Toronto is
at gaining recognition and attracting investment.
Torontos fate in the universe of barrier-free
trade and global competition, a universe of
decreasingly significant national governments,
will be influenced by how the city is governed. It
is essential for Torontos long-term economic
viability that the approach taken to its
government includes a metropolitan-wide
perspective on urban growth and management.
In fact, finding ways to encourage metropolitan
thinking and action is one of the critical
challenges confronting the provincial
government and the GTA Task Force as they
investigate options for the reform of municipal
govermment
This report
government
challenge.
The report:
B d e f i n e s
in Toronto.
offers our ideas as the provincial
and the Task Force respond to their
key probl ems that impede the
effectiveness and efficiency of the region
and, therefore, its competitiveness;
B
outlines our vision for the future of Toronto;
B
sets out a framework of assumptions and
goals to guide the choice of solutions to the
problems; and
B
identifies specific proposals for the reform of
municipal government in Toronto.
We realize that what the GTA Task Force
recommends and, subsequently, what the
province does about Torontos government will
involve negotiations and compromises. In this
report, we make no attempt to anticipate the
eventual outcome of that process. Rather, we
present our view of the ideal solution in an effort
to focus the debate on what is best for Toronto
and, therefore, for all of us who live, work and
enjoy life in this great metropolis.
1.2 WHY WE NEED CHANGE
There has been a lot of talk about problems with
government in Toronto. We have heard that
there is too much municipal government and
that government is too expensive. Every
newspaper and commentator seems to have
raised the spectre of Metro becoming a hole in
the GTA doughnut.
These problems are often stated as such
sweeping generalizations that, while they raise
the level of anxiety, they are not particularly
informative. However, they are clear signals that
people want change. We all have a responsibility
to get at the root causes of the protest.
What are the Real Problems?
In 1953, the province created Metro Toronto for
sound, logical reasons that recognized the need
for a coherent metropolitan voice. Everything
about the establishment of Metro was deliberate.
The province acknowledged Toronto was a large
city that needed to be managed as a large city,
and that it could not be managed well by a
fragmented group of local municipalities. The
province recognized the necessity to balance the
needs of the entire city with the unique demands
of specific communities within it. It also
recognized in 1988 that the metropolitan-wide
government had to be directly accountable to
the citizens of the entire city, not to a
fragmented group of local councils, whose
members di d not depend on meet i ng
metropolitan needs for their political success.
A Proposal for Change 1
Fragmentation
The fundamental problem today is that Toronto
has outgrown the statutory boundaries of the
metropolitan Council that was established to
plan and manage its growth. Government of
Toronto is politically fragmented even with the
exi s t ence of t he Met r o Counci l . Met r o
boundaries considerably under-estimate the
actual physical and economic size of Toronto.
Metro is underbounded.
We have clearly outgrown our structure. Map 1
describes the resultant fragmentation of
responsibility for regional level government in
Toronto.
Today, responsibility for metropolitan-wide
government in Toronto is fragmented among
Metro Council, four regional councils, numerous
provincial government ministries, and myriad
special purpose bodies. This fragmentation
makes the government of Tor ont o
uncoordinated, internally competitive, slow and
expensive.
If Torontos government is fragmented now, just
imagine how much worse it would be if Metro,
along with the existing regional governments,
were dismantled and 30 local municipalities were
relied upon to coordinate and share
responsibility for metropolitan government.
Let us take a closer look at the problems caused
by fragmentation.
Luck of Accountability
In the present system, too many people are
involved in municipal decision making. Because
there are no clear lines of authority or
responsibility, accountability suffers. In addition,
Toronto has reached a point where individual
regional governments lack capacity to meet
metropolitan-wide needs. This contributes to the
lack of accountability. How is a government
held accountable when it cant deliver?
Inefficiency
Fragmented government is inefficient. The lack
of a coordinated approach to the planning and
development of infrastructure has resulted in
inefficient investment in expensive
infrastructure, much of the cost of which has
been borne by the provincial government.
Uncoordinated planning has encouraged sprawl,
which has resulted in heavy investment in new
roads, bridges and piped services, while existing
infrastructure is, in some instances, under-used.
In 1994, there were 1,346 hectares (3,326 acres)
of fully serviced vacant industrial land in Metro.
Our current fragmented approach to regional
government permits these sites, with road, water,
sewer and hydro connections already paid for
and in place, to sit vacant while taxpayers have to
pay for new road, water, sewer and hydro
connections to industrial development on the
rural fringes of the Toronto region.
Such expensive duplication is unsustainable.
Luck of Fairness
Fragmentation at the metropolitan level has
reintroduced the problem of spillovers which the
creation of Metro dealt with effectively in the
1950s. Specifically, there is now, as there was in
the 1950s, an inefficient allocation of resources
within the region because some people benefit
from services but do not contribute to the costs.
As a result, some municipalities, primarily Metro
Toronto, bear an inequitable and increasingly
unsustainable burden of costs that should be
shared more broadly, across the whole of
Toronto.
For example, Metro ambulances respond to
13,000 calls outside Metro Toronto. About
1,000 of these calls are to Pearson International
airport alone. Some 40 per cent. of people
attending Metro-funded cultural facilities live
outside Metro Toronto.
Provincial Barriers
As a major funder of infrastructure development
and human services in Toronto, the province has
a keen and legitimate interest in the government
of the metropolitan area. To ensure that its
investments are efficient and sustainable, the
province must address the problems of
fragmentation and provincial-municipal
entanglement.
The current entangled nature of provincial
involvement in Torontos government has
created a problem. The effectiveness and
efficiency of municipal government are
impeded by legislative barriers and over-
regulation of functions.
2 Metropolitan Toronto Council
The province reviews and approves too many
municipal decisions. One hundred and fifty
pi eces of pr ovi nci al l egi s l at i on gover n
municipalities with a complex set of rules. This
adds to the cost of doing business for both the
province and the municipalities. Furthermore it
stifles innovation and the search for service
efficiencies.
For example, Metro cannot modify its special
purpose bodies by reducing their size, altering
their mandates, dissolving them, or delivering
t hei r funct i ons t hrough Met ro depart ment s
unless the provincial government agrees to
amend the Metro Act. This limitation even
appl i es t o agenci es such as t he Board of
Governors of Exhibition Place and the Board of
Management of the Guild.
A clearer distinction has to be drawn between the
role of the province and that of Torontos
metropolitan level of government. The province
must focus on broader policy and legislative
issues and on the social and economic health of
Ont ari o, whi l e provi di ng t he met ropol i t an
government with the means to implement its
service responsibilities in a flexible, responsive
and accountable manner.
The gover nment of Tor ont o i s f ur t her
fragmented by the existence of too many special
pur pose bodi es. Thes e ar e agenci es of
government, normally set up to administer a
si ngl e funct i on at arms l engt h from t he
ongoing administration of the government.
Traditionally, these arms length organisations
have been established for the following reasons:
B They pr ovi de an avenue f or ci t i zens ,
businesses and special interest groups to
participate in decision-making.
B They provide operational flexibility.
B They permit regulatory or appeal bodies to
make decisions independent of political
involvement.
They are administratively convenient. The
provide the corporate form necessary t
lease property, borrow money, hire staff, su
and be sued without the direct involvemen
of the elected government.
They provide convenient ways of avoidin
restrictions on access to certain externa
funding sources.
They can deliver a service whose jurisdictio
i s necessari l y broader t han muni ci pa
boundaries.
They distance governments from unpopul
or risky decisions.
However, special purpose bodies can be th
worst of all evils and both municipal an
provincial governments have been criticized f
their overuse of this form of organization
Special purpose bodies are accountable neith
to the bottom line, as businesses are, nor to th
electorate, as governments are. Their existenc
also makes it difficult for municipal councils
choose among competing priorities.
Metropolitan government is not a busines
however expedient it may be to pretend that it i
The Toronto metropolis cannot be governed b
business or by an unaccountable committee
special purpose body.
Li ke a l l muni c i pa l gove r nme nt s , t h
metropolitan level government in Toronto h
two functions: a service delivery function and
political function.
As Richard Tindal wrote in a recent edition
Municipal World:
The service delivery role is (or at least should
be) subservient to the political role. ...No matter
how many or what services are provided by
municipalities, their primary importance is as an
expression of local choice. There would be no
point, other than administrative convenience, in
local governments providing services in which
there was no significant local choice.
This principle is just as valid for metropolitan
level government as for local area municipal
government.
Met ropol i t an government must be by
representatives who depend for their political
success exclusively on meeting metropolitan-
wide needs.
High Property Taxes
Municipal government in Toronto could be less
expensive. Property taxes are too high for many
businesses, and the cost of providing municipal
services is outstripping the capacity of individual
municipal councils to pay for them. There are
three distinct yet interrelated reasons why this is
happening:
The property tax does not always support
the right services. For example, the property
tax supports General Welfare Assistance,
which is an income redistribution program
and which is beyond municipal control.
The property assessment system is
antiquated, unfair and incomprehensible.
Inconsistent tax burdens between property
classes benefit business competitiveness in
some municipalities while harming it in
others.
Municipal government does not have access
to an adequate range of revenue sources to
ensure that needed services can be provided.
The property tax is the only municipal
source of taxation and property tax increases
hinder the competitiveness of our businesses.
1.3 A FRAMEWORK FOR
REFORM
We need changes now to deal with these
problems. Metropolitan Toronto symbolizes
change. A look at the past forty years shows us
clearly that metropolitan government in Toronto
is a work in progress. It has been evolving and
adapting continuously and there is no reason
why it should not continue to do so. Any
consideration of future change has to be
understood in the context of this continuum.
Some of the facts of the history of metropolitan
government in Toronto have been forgotten or,
worse, have been wilfully distorted and ignored
in pursuit of very narrow parochial interests.
Those who are advocating the abolition of
regional government or the replacement of
democratically elected governments by
unaccountable special purpose boards or
commissions are ignoring both history and some
fundamental truths about the nature of Toronto.
They need to be reminded.
Some Basic Truths
B
B
B
B
Even though their boundaries are seldom
precise, urban regions and metropolitan
areas are not products of abstract
speculation; they actually do exist. Toronto
exists.
City core and suburb cannot be understood
or managed in isolation. The various parts of
the metropolis (city core, suburb, fringe),
operate as a single entity - as single labour
and housing markets, and spaces of social
interaction. This social and economic
integration is increasing, even as labour and
housing markets become larger, more
geographically dispersed and more inter-
dependent.
The economic vitality and external
competitiveness of all parts of Toronto
depend on combining the strengths of the
whole metropolis. Markham, Brampton and
Mississauga are equally part of the larger
Toronto; like other edge cities they would
not exist in their present form without it.
A politically fragmented metropolitan area,
with weak or non-existent metropolitan
governance, can contribute to higher levels
of social inequality and to a depressed inner
city as investors, employers and residents
seek out artificially low-cost locations.
In the long run a severely depressed inner
city impacts on social stability and the
quality of life throughout the metropolitan
area.
B The most successful urban areas, in social
and economic terms, tend to be those that
have achieved some form of metropolitan
coordination and city core-suburban
cooperation, and specifically those with
some form of revenue-sharing; those where
local governments have pooled their assets
for economic renewal and collectively
addressed their joint problems; and those
who have managed to limit differences
among municipalities in the quality of local
services and living environments.
1.4 OUR VISION WHERE
WE WANT TO GO
The vision that was outlined in Metros strategic
plan in May 1991 continues to be valid today
and will continue to be into the future. This
vision embodies the image of a diverse urban
community that is socially, economically and
environmentally healthy; in which individual
rights are balanced with community interests as a
whole; where all sectors and citizens are able and
willing to participate as partners in the growth
and sust enance of t he communi t y. A
fundamental purpose of municipal government
is to build and sustain the envisioned
community.
For four decades, Metropolitan Toronto has
been lauded as the city that works. Delegations
from other countries continue to marvel at our
successful city. They look to Metro as the model
of large city development, management and
government; a safe and secure city; a city in
which it is easy to move about from one place to
another; a city with a vital, active, inhabited and,
above all, recognizable centre; a city of parks
and trees and thriving neighbourhoods. In short,
it is an eminently liveable city. People want to
live here and still come here from all around the
globe.
Our vision sees these attributes preserved and
protected as we move into the next phase of
Torontos evolution. We have a history of solid
achievements to build upon and there can be no
more solid foundation than that.
There are a number of components that make
up this vision of the future Toronto, and while
many of them sound almost motherhood, in
their totality they are really quite unique from
an international perspective. We believe that the
future of the Toronto metropolis must embody
the following characteristics:
Toronto remains pre-eminent as a strong
and dynamic Canadian centre of business,
finance, higher education, research and
health services.
Toronto is highly competitive with other
urban regions in the global economy.
There is a balanced economy with sufficient
and diverse job opportunities.
All residents have equal access to the
diversity, wealth of opportunities, and
benefits of Toronto.
Toronto celebrates and thrives on the
diversity of its people. All individuals and
social groups feel a sense of ownership of
Torontos political, economic and cultural
life and have an investment in the future.
There are common goals for Toronto.
Strong communities and neighbourhoods
provide their members with identity, a sense
of belonging, and support.
A vibrant city core remains the clear focal
point for Toronto and is a source of identity
and pride for all residents.
1.5 REALIZING THE VISION
That, then, is where we want to go. The
challenge, of course, is to realize our vision. We
propose that this can be done by pursuing
specific goals in relation to:
B Toronto government functions;
B Toronto government finance; and
B Toronto government structure.
Toronto Government Functions
Assumptions
B
The role of municipal government is
service delivery and advocacy on
urban issues, including speaking out
on provincial and federal policies
that affect the urban environment.
B It i s necessary t o i nt egrat e some
services across Toronto to ensure
effective and eficient government.
B
The two-tier system of municipal
government in a large urban region
provides a balance between meeting
people local needs and region-
wide planning requirements.
B A new relationship with the province
must be established.
Goals for Toronto Government Functions
whole urban region in order to meet the
needs of Toronto as a whole as well as those
of its component parts. Some form of
metropolitan-wide perspective, direction and
policy coordination is essential.
B There shoul d be cl ear assi gnment of
responsibilities for urban services. They
must make sense and be unambiguous.
B The lowest level of government that can
provide a service efficiently should have the
.responsibility, as long as this does not result
in inequities in levels of service to
communities in different parts of Toronto.
B Efficiency and equity must be defined over
all of the Toronto metropolis, not over some
small arbitrary part of it.
B
B
B
Services where the per unit cost declines as
the quantity of the service increases, such as
sewer and water services, should be provided
by metropolitan-wide government to exploit
the economies of scale.
The social costs and responsibilities of
growth and change in the entire Toronto
region, particularly with respect to the most
disadvantaged in society, must be shared.
The fact that the poor may be
disproportionately concentrated in a few
jurisdictions does not absolve other
jurisdictions in Toronto from sharing the
social burden. These poor belong to the
entire urban region.
Cultural and leisure facilities, and the quality
of urban life generally, are now prime
determinants of urban economic growth.
Such facilities are almost all metropolitan
rather than local in their clientele. Their
impacts and the costs of supporting them
should be borne across the entire metropolis.
Toronto Government Finance
Assumptions
B The appropriate use of the property
tax to fund municipal services
enhances municipal governments
accountability to the taxpayer and
promotes the publics understanding
of how services are funded.
B There i s never an i deal t i me t o
implement reassessment and delay
makes the task more difficult over
time. Reductions in the amount of
the tax bill through other reforms
such as welfare and education
funding, will assist the
implementation of as s es s ment
reforms.
B Services with large spillovers, such as Goals for Toronto Government Finance
transit, transportation and emergency
services, shoul d be provi ded at a
metropolitan-wide level. for the services for which it is responsible.
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Local autonomy: To respond to local
demands, municipal governments should
have access to locally generated revenues
such as property taxes and user fees.
Municipal government should have a stable
source of revenue in order to maintain stable
levels of service.
Provincial grants must be equitable and
predictable across the metropolis.
Taxes should be efficient. An efficient tax is
one that minimizes the negative impact of
the tax on economic decisions made by
individuals and businesses.
Taxes should be accountable. Taxes should
be designed in ways that allow taxpayers to
understand what they are getting for their
money. In this way, policy makers are held
accountable by taxpayers for the cost of
government.
Taxes should be fair. Wherever possible,
people should pay for services according to
the benefits they receive. People receiving
similar services should pay similar taxes or
charges.
Taxes should be administered fairly. A fair
tax that is badly administered can become an
unfair tax. People in similar housing should
pay similar taxes.
Tax reform must ensure that the core of
Toronto remains healthy.
Toronto Government Structure
Assumptions
B The two-tier system of municipal
government is a proven success.
B
There is a need for both local
delivery of some services as well as
metropolitan-wide delivery of other
services.
B Direct election to the metropolitan
level is important to the two-tier
system.
B There are no benefits to be derived
from going back in time.
B The metropolitan government cannot
be any smaller territorially than it is
now.
B Abolition of the existing Metro and
regional councils, without replacing
them with an accountable, directly
elected body, would further fragment
an already unacceptably fragmented
system of metropolitan governance.
B Changes cannot be made t o t he
Metro government alone without
also looking at the surrounding
regional governments.
B Special purpose bodies are part of
the problem, not part of the solution.
r educi ng t he t ot al number of
councillors and councils.
Goals for Toronto Government Structure
Municipalities should have access to
.
additional sources of revenue, including user
fees, in order to fund increasing service
B All municipal government functions should
be understandable and accountable. They
responsibilities without further burdening
the property tax.
should be delivered by units of government
that are directly accountable to the
electorate. Citizens should know who is in
charge and should be able to influence
directly through the ballot box the people
who are responsible.
B The Toronto metropolis, as both market area
and social space, should be managed as a
single entity to facilitate economic growth,
efficiency and competitiveness, the
coordination of public service provision and
the sharing of the social costs and benefits
that flow from urban development.
B The geographic size of the management area
should conform to the dominant market
areas (e.g., labour markets, real estate areas).
B Metropolitan level services should appear to
be seamless - boundaries should be
invisible to the public. For example, roads,
water and emergency services must be
consistent from one part of the metropolis to
another.
B Most special purpose bodies that exist
should be eliminated and no more should be
created.
PART 2: A PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
2.1 A REVITALISED REGION
Some have pointed out the remarkable similarity
bet ween t he si t uat i on i n t he Toront o
metropolitan area in the early 1950s and the one
confronting us today. In 1953, the City of
Toronto was the inner city and Metro was the
urban region. Today it is Metro that is the
central city and the urbanised portions of greater
Toronto are the urban region.
In the early 1950s there was a pressing need to
plan for and manage the tremendous growth that
was occurring in the urban region. That need is
present again now in 1995.
In 1953, the provincial government took a bold
and highly successful step forward with the
creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan
Toronto and effective two-tier municipal
government in the Toronto urban region.
We are proposing an equally bold step today:
the dismantling of the existing five upper tier
governments in the Toronto region and the
creation instead of a coherent, effective Greater
Toronto level of government for the whole urban
region.
Only by revitalizing the two-tier system in this
way will we be able to meet the challenges that
face us today and into the next millennium.
Challenges Facing the Toronto Region
Approaching the 21st century, the Toronto
region now faces a whole new set of challenges.
Rapid economic and social change is a fact. The
population of the Toronto region is growing and
changing. In 1971 there were 2.9 million people
resident here; in 1991, the combined population
of the five Greater Toronto Area regions had
reached 4.2 million - a 45 per cent. increase.
The region continues to grow by 100,000
people each year, and its population is expected
to reach 6 million by the year 2011. The
regions growth has spilled across the boundaries
of five regional municipalities. This scale of
growth is on a par with the fastest growing cities
in North America, including Los Angeles and
Atlanta. Our society is ageing, households are
changing and the way we work is changing. New
kinds of businesses and new ways of doing
business are continuously emerging.
The communities of the Toronto region are
highly interdependent. The region is a single
economic market. When someone looks for a
job, wants to buy a house, or decides where to
have a picnic, municipal boundaries are not the
first consideration. Wherever businesses are
located, they draw their labour force from
throughout the region. Natural ecosystems, such
as the watersheds of our rivers, extend from
Lake Ontario to the Oak Ridges Moraine. Those
facilities that give Toronto status as an
international city, like the airport, the waterfront,
the Metro Zoo, performing arts theatres and the
PEEL
DURHAM
August 1995 Map 1
The Present Approach to Regional Government in Greater Toronto
Skydome, could not survive unless they could
draw upon people from throughout the Toronto
region.
It is widely acknowledged that the long-term
economic health of the whole Toronto region
requires a heal t hy downtown core.
Internationally, Torontos downtown core is an
emblem of the regions economic and cultural
vitality. Even as other parts of the region
develop their own city centres, businesses and
residents in these centres draw on higher order
services - banking services, tax advice and
international financial services - that are located
in the downtown core. Most of the centres of
learning, specialized health services and research
facilities are located here. Maintaining a strong
and vibrant downtown core will require region-
wide support and resources.
idea that city and suburb are or can be self-
sufficient. Their study of fifty-nine metropolitan
areas in the United States found strong statistical
evidence that central cities and their surrounding
regions are highly interdependent and that
suburbs benefit when their central cities are
densely populated; suburbs stagnate when they
surround cities that are poor and losing
population.
The research revealed that 61 per cent. of
suburban income can be attributed to the density
and income of the central city. For every $1,000
difference in per capita income in the central
city the suburbs stand to gain or lose more than
$600.
Professor Savitch concluded, in an article in
Economic Development Quarterly, that:
The challenge now is to do more with fewer
resources. We have to come up with new and
innovative ways to accommodate rapid growth
and change at a lower cost. The task of building
a metropolis that maintains a high quality of life
for its residents is more important then ever,
since this is one of the Toronto regions most
significant competitive advantages in North
America.
Deciding where to invest scarce dollars is crucial.
There are so many important needs - education,
environmental protection, water supply, sewage
treatment, transportation - all competing for
limited resources. Decision making on the
allocation of funds is fragmented between
different bodies, making it difficult to rationalize
investment for the maximum benefit to the
community as a whole. Fragmented planning
and decision making ignore the collective
interest of the whole region, resulting in people
and organizations working at cross-purposes.
The mayor of Louisville, Kentucky has been
quoted as observing succinctly that:
you cant be a suburb of nowhere.
This interdependence of city and suburb is
borne out by research by Professor H. V.
Savitch and colleagues at the University of
Louisvilles College of Business and Public
Administration that also exposes as a myth the
Suburbs that surround healthy cities tend to be
healthier than those that surround sick cities.
Suburbanites may feel they can shield themselves
from urban decline, but like a hole wearing at
the center of a rubber raft, everybody is likely to
ride a little lower in the water. Those at the
center may be at the lowest incline, but hanging
onto the periphery may not be the wisest
alternative. Self-sufficiency at the periphery is
not a sufficient defense. The challenge of repair
is as much for those outside the center as for
those in it.
The statistical evidence also supported the
proposition that urban areas with a greater
capacity to share their common resources and
unite their populations do better than more
highly fragmented areas.
The people of the Toronto region are now faced
with an important choice. They can take a step
backwards to a time when the conflicting
agendas of local municipalities were a major
barrier to the economic health of the whole
region. Alternatively, they can update a system
that has been successful in the past so that it will
be able to manage the challenges of the future.
We believe that the course that makes most sense
is to modernise the metropolitan level of
government so it once again takes in the true
extent of the Toronto regions urban, economic
and environmental boundaries.
This approach makes so much sense. It is the
obvious next step in the evolution of the
government of the Toronto metropolitan area.
2.2 BOUNDARI ES
We believe that the area commonly referred to as
t he GTA - t he combi ned t erri t ory of
Metropolitan Toronto and the regions of Halton,
Peel, York and Durham - is not a suitable area of
jurisdiction for Torontos regional level of
government.
We propose more appropriate boundaries which
include all or part of 21 existing area
municipalities, 45 per cent. of the total GTA
land area and more than 90 per cent. of the
GTA population.
These boundaries are shown in red on Map 2.
They will support the key responsibilities of a
Greater Toronto government to plan and service
the regions economic and urban growth while
protecting
its natural environment. The
boundaries reflect the economic, urban and
environmental boundaries that identify the true
s c ope of interdependencies between
communities in the region.
Criteria
We applied three important criteria in
determining boundaries for the Toronto region.
1. As far as possible, the boundaries include
those areas which form the regions housing and
labour markets.
The Toronto region housing and labour markets
clearly extend into Halton, Peel, York and
Durham Regions. Growing numbers of Toronto-
region residents live in one community and
commute to work in another part of the Toronto
region. Residents in these communities benefit
most directly from access to region-wide
facilities and resources, Pearson Airport, the
Metro Zoo, the Skydome, performing arts
theatres, the waterfront and the international
profile of the downtown core.
2. Existing and planned major urban areas are
included to ensure that the region can be
planned and serviced in an efficient and
effective manner.
The shaded area on Map 2 clearly shows how
urban growth in the Toronto region has now
spilled over regional boundaries, forming a
nearly continuous urban area along Lake
Ontario west into Burlington, east into Oshawa,
northwest into Brampton and Vaughan, and
north into Richmond Hill and Markham.
Over 90 per cent. of the GTA population lives in
this continuous urban area and the vast majority
of the urban growth planned for the GTA over
the next 20 to 30 years will take place here.
This area shares major urban service systems,
including road and transit networks and piped
water and sewage treatment systems based on
Lake Ontario. Urban growth decisions made on
the suburban edges of this area will have the
greatest effects on demands for urban services
and on the long term health of the urban core.
3. The boundar y
r es pect s t he nat ur al
boundaries of the Greater Toronto bioregion
and its watersheds.
Map 3 illustrates how the Toronto region is
framed by three significant natural systems: the
Lake Ontario waterfront to the south, the
Niagara Escarpment to the west, and the Oak
Ridges Moraine to the north.
All three have been identified for special
protection by the provincial government. The
Crombie Royal Commission on the Future of the
Toronto Waterfront referred to the area bounded
by these three environmental resources as the
Greater Toronto Bioregion.
Within the bioregion, the watersheds of several
river systems drain south to Lake Ontario,
ignoring numerous municipal boundaries.
Urban growth and servicing decisions made in
one part of the Greater Toronto Bioregion affect
the environment for all residents of the
bioregion.
Existing GTA Boundary
Boundary of Proposed Greater Toronto Region
Niagara Escarpment
Oak Ridges Moraine
August 1995 Map 3
The Greater Toronto Bioregion
Urban Area (existing and planned)
Existing GTA Boundary
boundary of Proposed Greater Toronto Region
Proposed Area Municipal Boundaries
Map 4
Proposed Area Municipal Boundaries within a Greater Toronto Region
August 1995
We have identified the Niagara Escarpment and
the Oak Ridges Moraine as the western and
northern boundaries of the Toronto region.
There is a high level of consistency among our
three criteria as they apply to the southern,
western and northern boundaries of the Toronto
region. Lake Ontario, the Niagara Escarpment
and the Oak Ridges Moraine are significant
region-wide resources requiring protection from
advancing urban growth.
Within the area framed by these environmental
resources are major urban areas either existing
or planned for development, functioning as part
of the Toronto economic market, and sharing
watersheds within the Greater Toronto
Bioregion.
Proposed Boundaries
We are proposing that the legislatively defined
boundary of the Niagara Escarpment planning
area and a similar planning boundary for the
Oak Ridges Moraine be used t o excl ude
these natural environments completely from
the Toronto region, thus stating clearly that they
are to be protected permanently.
As a result, our proposed boundaries do not
include the smaller urban areas located near the
edge of the Niagara Escarpment and Oak Ridges
Moraine: Nobleton, King City and Stouffville.
Nor do they include the northern urban areas
along Yonge Street: Oak Ridges, Aurora and
Newmarket. Substantial portions of Oak Ridges
and Aurora are located on the Oak Ridges
Moraine, while Newmarket is located largely to
the north of the moraine.
To the east there is less consistency among the
three criteria. Lake Ontario and the Oak Ridges
Moraine provide clear boundaries to the south
and north of this area, but there is no similar
defining feature indicating an eastern boundary.
We are proposing that the eastern boundary of
the Toronto region be located to the east of the
Oshawa/Whitby urban area, including the
adjacent Courtice urban area.
The Oshawa/Whitby urban area has a population
of about 200,000 people. Economically, Oshawa
is relatively more independent than most
communities in the GTA, being home to a
sizeable automotive industry. Nevertheless, the
Oshawa/Whitby urban area as a whole is clearly
part of the Toronto region housing and labour
force markets.
Whitby, Oshawa and the Courtice urban area,
located immediately adjacent to Oshawas eastern
boundary in Clarington, share water supply and
sewage treatment systems and have a history of
sharing water supplies with the Pickering/Ajax
area. A relatively narrow strip of rural land
separates Oshawa/Whitby from Ajax/Pickering.
Our proposed eastern boundary excludes the
Bowmanville urban area in Clarington.
Bowmanville is on the outer edge of the Toronto
economic market area. It is separated from the
major urban areas of Oshawa and Whitby by an
extensive rural area, within which is located the
Darlington nuclear generating station. Located
near to Lake Ontario, the Bowmanville urban
area has developed on separate water and sewage
treatment facilities.
The application of economic, urban and
environmental criteria points to a Toronto
region that has only 45 per cent of the GTAs
land area, but over 90 per cent of the GTAs
population, totalling approximately 4 million
people.
These boundaries include all major sectors of
the Toronto region economic market, the GTAs
existing and planned major urban areas, and the
region-wide transportation, water and sewage
systems that service those areas. The boundaries
also coincide with the environmental boundaries
of the Greater Toronto Bioregion and its
watersheds.
Our proposed boundaries will enable a Greater
Toronto government to plan and service the
regions economic and urban growth while
protecting its natural environment.
Municipal Consolidation
All or part of 21 existing area municipalities are
included within the proposed Greater Toronto
Region. We propose that they be consolidated
into 15 municipalities with the following
populations.
Municipality
Burlington
Oakville
Halton Hills/Milton
Mississauga
Brampton
Vaughan
Markham
Etobicoke
North York
York
East York
City of Toronto
Scarborough
Ajax/Pickering
Oshawa/Whitby
Total Region
1991 Census
Population
125,912
114,670
49,978
463,388
252,566
134,030
199,153
309,993
562,564
140,525
102,696
635,395
524,598
125,981
204,850
3,946,299
Consolidating area municipalities in this way
involves merging those parts of Halton Hills and
Milton that are included within the new region;
merging Ajax and Pickering; merging Oshawa,
Whitby and the small portion of Clarington that
is included within the new region; and absorbing
the part of Richmond Hill, that is included in the
region, into Vaughan and Markham.
The proposed area municipal boundaries within
a Greater Toronto Region are shown on Map 4.
2.3 FORM OF REGIONAL
GOVERNMENT
Effective Regional Government
Among the many stakeholders providing input
to the GTA Task Force, a consensus is forming
about the need for a mechanism to manage
growth, coordinate infrastructure development
and provide certain services across the Toronto
region as a whole.
We propose that regional level functions be
carried out by a multipurpose Greater Toronto
regional government.
We have already outlined the problems created
when region-wide responsibilities are
f r agment ed among var i ous di f f er ent
governments and agencies. Only a multipurpose
regional government will be able to evaluate and
balance the many regional priorities that
increasingly compete for scarce resources.
A multipurpose government can coordinate the
planning and management of growth of the
urban area. For example, population and
employment forecasting, the development of
infrastructure like water and sewer pipes and
main roads, and the provision of basic regional
services such as transit all affect each other and
should be coordinated by one multipurpose
government to ensure effective and efficient
investment of taxpayers dollars.
Some have proposed that the regional level of
government be reduced to little more than a
coordinating committee with no authority to
levy a charge for regional services and no
executive authority to carry out its decisions or
ensure that regional services are in fact provided.
Such an arrangement is unacceptable. It violates
fundamental principles of responsibility,
accountability and effectiveness.
The regional level of government, like all
governments, must have the capacity to deal
with matters within its jurisdiction. This means it
must have both revenues and the power to make
and act upon decisions.
Without executive authority, the regional
government will effectively be powerless to act.
In other words there would be no regional level
of government. If that is truly what those
advocating a powerless Greater Toronto
coordinating committee or mayors committee
want, their proposals betray a parochialism and
disregard for the competitiveness and quality of
the Toronto region as a whole. This attitude
actually underscores the need for an effective
and active regional government.
Urban Area (existing and planned)
Existing GTA Bounndary
Existing Boundaries of the Area Municipalities
Boundary of Proposed Greater Toronto Region
August 1995
Map 4
Proposed Greater Toronto Region
Accountable Regional Government
All municipal government functions should be
delivered by units of government that are
directly accountable to the electorate. We believe
strongly that any changes to the structure of
municipal government in the Toronto region
should respect the basic democratic principle
that those who make decisions in the delivery of
services be held accountable for those decisions
through direct election.
We are proposing that the governing body of the
Toronto region be a Greater Toronto Council
made up of representatives elected directly and
exclusively to that body.
Former Ontario premier John Robarts noted the
need for direct election to the metropolitan level
of government in his 1977 Royal Commission
report. There has been direct election to Metro
Council since 1988.
Direct election of Metro councillors has enabled
them to devote their full attention to issues of
regional growth management and infrastructure
provision. These are important issues with huge
implications for investments of taxpayers
money and the overall economic
competitiveness of the region.
We learned well before 1988 that these matters
cannot be tackled on a part-time basis by
appointed delegates from other municipal
councils who depend for their political success
on how they perform at other councils.
It is interesting to note that it took a directly
elected council to develop Metros first strategic
plan. It is unlikely that an indirectly elected
council would have been able to put regional
interests first and resist the previous provincial
governments pressure to invest immediately in
four subway lines. In fact, Metro Council was
able to weigh in the balance the benefits of the
subway lines, competing capital investment
needs, and the property tax increases that would
have been required to afford all four lines.
Some have argued that many residents still do
not know or care enough about the regional
level of government. They say that there are too
many acclamations to Metro Council despite
direct elections. It is important to put these
claims into perspective.
Directly elected councillors have had just six
years to raise the profile of a level of municipal
government that was conveniently buried by the
local area municipal councils that controlled it
for the previous three and a half decades. Seen
against these odds, direct election to Metro
Council has been remarkably successful, in a
relatively short period of time, at raising
taxpayers awareness of regional issues and
choices. We should never forget that it is
difficult to hold accountable an invisible
government.
We do not think that, because people are
sometimes slow to exercise their democratic
rights to vote or run for political office, they
should be stripped of those rights. Should all
elections to municipal councils be eliminated
because of low voter turnout? We do not think
so. Democracy is not served by taking the vote
away from people.
Streamlined Regional Government
Representation by population must be one of the
fundamental principles of the model developed
for the new Greater Toronto Council.
It is possible to adhere to this principle and to
reduce the number of people currently sitting on
regional level councils by eighty per cent.
At present a total of 134 people sit on Metro,
Halton, Peel, York and Durham councils. This
number includes five regional chairmen and
thirty Mayors. Clearly there are a lot of chefs in
the regional kitchen - and as a consequence a
great many recipes all needing many of the
same ingredients. Only the 28 Metro councillors
are elected exclusively to the regional level and
depend for their political success on how they
deal with regional level issues. Yet all 134
politicians are paid for sitting on regional
councils.
We are proposing that the Greater Toronto
Council have about 26 members elected at large
in four electoral districts.
A regional council of this size, or possibly even
smaller, is workable. There would be
approximately one regional councillor for every
150,000 people. The region can be divided into
four electoral districts of roughly equal
population. For example, the proposed area
municipalities described on Map 4 could be
grouped into four districts as shown in the
following table.
Possible Electoral Districts
Electoral 1991
District Pop.
WEST: 1,006,514
Burlington
Oakville
Halton Hills/Milton
Brampton
Mississauga
NORTH: 895,747
Vaughan
Markham
North York
CENTRAL: 1,188,609
Etobicoke
York
East York
Toronto
EAST: 855,429
Scarborough
Ajax/Pickering
Oshawa/Whitby
# o f
Reps.
7
6
8
6
All voters in an electoral district would choose
six to eight councillors (depending on the exact
population of the district) to represent their
district on the Greater Toronto Council. In this
example, a total of 27 representatives would be
elected to the regional council. Clearly the size
of the Council is affected slightly by the way in
which the electoral districts are defined. We have
suggested four electoral districts by way of
illustration. If there were more electoral districts,
fewer councillors would be elected at large to
represent each district.
There are major advantages to selecting regional
councillors at large in electoral districts rather
than individually, ward by ward. This approach
eliminates the tension and confusion caused by
matching regional and area municipal wards. It
retains a geographic balance of perspectives on
the regional Council without having area
municipal and regional councillors irritate each
other on ward business.
Should the province decide to retain the existing
five regional governments, we propose that
Metro Council be reformed along the lines just
described. The principle of one councillor per
150,000 population would result in a council of
fifteen members, down from the present thirty-
four. If the six mayors continued to sit on Metro
Council, the council would still have almost forty
per cent. fewer members than at present.
2. 4 REGIONAL
GOVERNMENT
RESPONSIBILITIES
We have maintained throughout this report that
it is not the two tier system that is in need of
repair. The problem is the splitting of
responsibility for region-wide services among
five separate regional level governments. That is
why we have proposed the creation of a single
Greater Toronto Council to replace the existing
Metro, Halton, Peel, York and Durham Councils.
It is important to remember that the division of
responsibilities between the two tiers of
municipal government in the Toronto area did
not come about by accident. The original two
tier model of government in Metro was not an
arbitrary creation. Its formation was bound by a
set of principles.
We agree with the principle that direct service to
residents should be the responsibility of the local
area municipalities wherever it makes sense. We
also think that, on the whole, the original
rationale for the allocation of upper and lower
tier responsibilities is still sound.
Regional responsibility for service provision
makes sense in the following situations:
When it is necessary to coordinate a service or
function over the whole region to ensure that the
service is provided effectively in all parts of the
region.
When there are cost savings and when quality is
improved by having large scale operations; in
other words, when there are economies of scale.
When it is important to share the cost of the
service across the area rather than having each
area municipality pay for its own service.
When i t i s i mport ant t hat al l resi dent s
throughout the region have access to a common
standard of service.
Regional Planning
The need for the capacity to plan for balanced
growth and infrastructure of the Toronto region
is one of the fundamental reasons why reform of
municipal government is required. It stands to
reason, therefore, that regional planning must be
a key function of the proposed regional
government.
Let us be clear about what we mean by regional
planning. The regional government should be
responsible for the preparation of a regional
structure plan that sets out the broad distribution
of population and employment and the location
of the major infrastructure investments needed
to support forecast population and urban
growth.
The specific land use policies in area municipal
official plans would have to be consistent with
the broad policies and goals of the regional plan,
much as at present.
If the regional plan sets out regional policies and
interests clearly, and if the regional government
has the authority to approve area municipal
official plans, there is probably little reason to
retain any regional responsibility for
development control. Thus, current regional
development control functions could be
devolved to the area municipalities. This would
produce a more rational and cleaner division of
planning responsibilities between the regional
and area municipal governments. It would also
remove a major cause of friction between the
two levels of municipal government.
The regional role would focus on strategic
planning supported by a strong research
capacity.
Currently, all regional level governments in
Greater Toronto, except Metro, have the
authority to approve area municipal official
plans.
Some have suggested that the regional
government shoul d have no planning
responsibility at all or, at most, should be limited
to providing unenforceable strategic guidance.
There has been considerable research into the
at t empt s t o coordinate strategic and
i nf r ast r uct ur e pl anni ng i n Engl and s
metropolitan areas since the abolition of
metropolitan governments in that country in
1986. The research has pointed to the weakness
of an approach based on voluntary cooperation.
It appears that local area municipalities are fairly
easily able to agree on the analysis of problems.
There is much less success when it comes to
policy formulation and action. At that point, it
appears that parochial self-interest kicks in and
common regional interests are kicked out.
One study, by Steve Leach of the University of
Birmingham, concludes that:
Strategic guidance is no substitute for effective
structure planning...ln relation to the strategic
aspects of... planning (including economic
development), evidence from the...post-abolition
research... indicates the need for an integrated
planning/executive capacity for wider territorial
areas, if... planning [is] to be carried out
effectively.
Economic development activities should be
coordinated across the Toronto region as a
whole. The region must be marketed with one
voice if it is to compete successfully with other
urban regions internationally.
Currently, the various regional and area
municipal governments within the Toronto
region employ some sixty to seventy economic
development officials among them. Many of
these are skilled staff who provide a range of
valuable functions. However, none focuses on
the entire region.
As a result, their efforts are diffused and lack
depth. Taxpayers dollars are being wasted by
the tug-of-war as one municipality within the
Toronto region tries to lure economic
development away from another. We do not
believe that the regional economy can be well
served by so many economic development
offices working for separate jurisdictions.
A consolidated regional economic development
function will play a valuable role in providing
research and coordinating a regional economic
development strategy.
Water Purification
At present, the regional level purifies water and
distributes it on a wholesale basis through trunk
watermains to the area municipalities. The area
municipalities provide the water on a retail basis
to businesses and residents within their
boundaries. This approach works and should
continue.
Regional purification takes advantage of
economies of scale - water for the whole of
Metro and southern York region is purified at
just four filtration plants. The location of the
treatment plants is based on geography and
proximity to Lake Ontario and not on area
municipal boundaries.
There are already existing and planned trunk
main linkages for water supply between Metro
and the Regions of Peel and York. Therefore,
the system lends itself to consolidation under a
new regional government.
Water Pollution Control
Responsibility for the treatment of wastewater
and sewage should certainly remain with the
regional level of government. There are clear
economies of scale in this area. For example, all
of Metros wastewater and sewage is treated at
just four treatment plants.
This system takes advantage of the north to
south flow of water along the natural watersheds
wi t hi n t he regi on. Clearly this is a
geographically sensitive service that is based on
gravity flow rather than area municipal
boundaries. Fragmentation of the system would
make no sense at all. Consolidation at the
regional level makes plenty of sense.
Currently, because of the fragmented approach
to regional government in Greater Toronto,
there are two separate pollution control systems
within the same watershed. This means that the
natural north to south flow is interrupted at
Metros northern boundary. Sewage from
Vaughan and Markham is pumped to the Duffin
Creek Treatment Plant in Durham, rather than
following its natural flow pattern down the
Humber and Don River watersheds.
A region wide management model will enable us
to realize the technical advantages of true
watershed based planning for wastewater
treatment.
At present, sewage and wastewater are collected
by area municipalities through a network of
drainage pipes and sewers and then delivered to
trunk sewers for treatment at the regional
treatment plants. This division of responsibilities
works and there is no compelling reason why it
could not continue.
Waste Management
Waste disposal is another service that clearly
benefits from economies of scale. Furthermore,
the waste disposal function is already largely
geared to the entire urban region. The Metro
system has provided 95 per cent. of the disposal
capacity for the Regions of Durham and York
since 1976 and 1983 respectively.
There have been suggestions that garbage
collection shoul d become a regional
responsibility. We think that it makes sense for
waste collection to remain an area municipal
responsibility. It is a clear service to property
and efficiencies are being realised through
contracting out the service and other service
delivery options. We are not convinced that there
are advantages to be gained by regionalising
collection over the entire urban area.
Regional Road System
Public Transit
The two tier road system continues to make
sense. The Greater Toronto Council should have
responsibility for the network of expressways
and regional arterial roads. These roads cross
area municipal boundaries and carry the
majority of traffic, transit and goods. They must
be coordinated across the region. Area
municipalities should be responsible for local
roads that provide access to property and serve
local community needs.
We must continue to seek ways to streamline and
rationalise many of the functions associated with
t he management of our r oads. Many
maintenance functions are already contracted
out to the private sector. There probably are
further savings to be found by coordinating
regional and area municipal maintenance
contracts. We should investigate whether savings
can be achieved by devolving common road
maintenance functions to the area municipalities.
We must also take a fresh look at what are
essentially regional roads within the newly
defined region. Many roads under regional
control, especially in the central area, may no
longer be performing an arterial function. If that
is the case, there may be no reason for the
regional government to be responsible for these
roads.
Traffic Control
A regionally controlled and coordinated traffic
signal system is necessary to provide for the safe
and efficient movement of people and goods
throughout the region. In addition to public
safety, the efficient, coordinated management of
traffic flow assists in congestion management
and air quality management and in giving
priority to transit vehicles.
Traffic light control is currently computerised
within each of the five existing regions in
Greater Toronto. It should not be too much of a
challenge to consolidate these systems.
Breaking up responsibility for traffic signals
among fifteen or more separate municipalities in
Greater Toronto, as some have suggested doing,
would cause major traffic problems.
Transit in the urban area should be a seamless,
regionally run service. We appear to be moving
in that direction already. There has been
concern expressed by some mayors outside
Metro that a single region-wide transit service
will suddenly introduce downtown Toronto
levels of transit service into their communities.
That will not happen. Rather, rational region-
wide transit planning and coordination will take
place. Service levels would improve in suburban
communi t i es as war r ant ed by ur ban
development and demographic change.
The TTC is the most efficient transit operation in
Greater Toronto requiring a subsidy of just 60
cents per trip. Subsidies to the other transit
systems range from 90 cents per ride in
Brampton to more than two dollars in Pickering
and over three dollars in Richmond Hill.
We believe that the transit service can be more
financially accountable to taxpayers if it is
supervised by a committee of the regional
council rather than by a special purpose body.
Greenspace Conservation and Protection
Valley lands, ravines, the Lake Ontario waterfront
and other natural greenspace systems are part of
the defining structure of the Greater Toronto
urban region. These systems are based on
watersheds and river courses and do not stop at
area municipal boundaries. It is essential that
conservation and protection of these major
greenspace systems be coordinated across the
entire region.
The boundaries of the proposed Greater
Toronto region are consistent with the
watersheds of the Greater Toronto Bioregion.
We propose that the watershed management and
conservation functions now provided through
separate conservation authorities become the
responsibility of the regional government.
It is important to emphasize that the functions
we are discussing here relate to river valleys and
natural areas, not parks. We are proposing that
parks management and purely recreational
functions should be within the jurisdiction of
area municipalities and not the regional
government unless it can be demonstrated that a
specific park, such as the Metro Toronto Zoo, is
a unique regional asset that should be
maintained on behalf of the whole region.
Regional Cultural Assets
In addition to the zoo, a number of other major
regional cultural assets are in public ownership.
These include Exhibition Place, the OKeefe
Centre, the Guild Inn and the Metropolitan
Toronto Reference Library.
All of these are specialized resources within the
region. Their users are not confined to the
municipality in which these institutions are
located.
Where public ownership is necessary, it makes
sense for the regional government to be the
steward of these regional assets.
In some cases, such as the OKeefe Centre,
al t ernat i ves t o government ownershi p and
management a r e be i ng e xpl or e d. The
relationship of the management structure of
Exhibition Place to that of the provincially
owned Ontario Place is also being examined. If
there are more efficient, effective and sensible
approaches to the management and ownership
of these assets, we must be open to investigating
them.
Community Social Services
Responsibility for community social services
should continue to be at the regional level.
These services are an essential part of the social
infrastructure and add to the overall quality of
life across the region. Remember, quality of life
and the absence of extremes of social distress
and poverty represent one of this regions key
competitive advantages.
Residents across the region should be entitled to
expect the same standard of service regardless of
which part of the urban area they happen to live
in. In addition, all residents of the region benefit
from the prosperity of the region. All should
share in its costs too.
Some have suggested that responsibility for
community services be devolved to the area
municipalities. We do not agree. This would
i mpos e t oo ha r s h a bur de n on t hos e
communities, particularly the inner city, that are
home to a disproportionately high percentage of
t he regi ons vul nerabl e and di sadvant aged
population.
John Robarts noted, in the final report of h
1977 Royal Commission on Metro Toronto, t
these communities have no control over th
economic and social factors affecting deman
for social services. Nor do they control th
reasons for people in need being concentrated
particular municipalities. It stands to reason th
they should not bear sole responsibility for t
costs.
The f r agment at i on of r esponsi bi l i t y f o
community services would also inevitably lead
huge variations in the basic standards of servi
to people simply because of the part of th
urban area in which they happen to live.
In Metro, the trend has been to decentralise th
act ual del i very of communi t y servi ces t
communi t y- based agenci es. Regi onal
responsibility for community services gives
both sensitive, responsive neighbourhood serv
delivery and common standards across th
region.
Metros community services have been a maj
reason why Metro Toronto has a vibrant cor
Lets ensure that the Greater Toronto of the ne
century has the sense to stay that way.
Police Services
Police services need to be coordinated across th
whole region.All residents of the Toronto
region should be able to expect a commo
standard of police service.
The creation of a Greater Toronto region
government has implications for the future
the five police services boards which no
oversee policing in the urban region. The
consolidation into a Greater Toronto Poli
Services Board makes sense for the urba
region. We are aware however that the Halto
York, Peel and Durham police departmen
provide services to the rural areas of thos
regions which will not be included in th
proposed Great er Toront o regi on. Cl earl
alternative policing arrangements will have to
developed for communities in these areas.
We think that police services should be mo
accountable financially to the regional counc
This would happen if the police services boa
became a committee of the regional counci
Another way to achieve this accountability is
permit the regional government to make a
appointments to the Police Services Board,
although we believe that the current balance
between citizen and political members of the
Board should be maintained. The advantages
and drawbacks of both options should be
examined.
Some have suggested that police services should
be broken up and responsibility devolved to the
area municipalities. In other words, there would
be at least fifteen separate police departments
reporting to fifteen separate police services
boards in the Toronto area. The potential for
duplication in operations and planning would be
enormous and costly. Some municipalities may
not have the resources to sustain effective
approaches to policing. In addition, police issues
affecting the urban region as a whole may slip
through the cracks because of the differing
views or priorities of each police services board.
The Metro Police Service has cautioned that
breaking up police departments could prove to
be an expensive venture for taxpayers. It would
also make it more difficult for the police to
prevent and investigate crime and apprehend
offenders because of the number of
jurisdictional boundaries in the built-up area.
By keeping responsibility for policing at the
regional level, we will have the advantages of
coordination and resource sharing across the
entire region and community based service
delivery through decentralised police divisions.
Ambulance Services
We believe that a single ambulance authority
with responsibility over the entire Toronto urban
region will improve the level of service, maintain
consistent standards within the region and prove
extremely efficient and cost effective. Currently,
only Metro has a municipal ambulance service
with the remainder of the Greater Toronto
region relying on provincial, private or volunteer
services.
The consolidation of ambulance services within
the Greater Toronto region is a natural extension
of the similar consolidation which took place
within Metro Toronto in the 1970s. Ambulance
service delivery within Metro has been very
successful. Metro enjoys consistently higher
levels of prehospital care and faster response
times than in the surrounding municipalities.
The infrastructure for a regional ambulance
service is essentially in place. Metro already has
the most advanced ambulance communication
centre and system in Ontario, a system that can
easily be expanded to encompass the remainder
of the region. In this way, the Metro
communication centre and a number of
provincially operated communication centres
could be consolidated, thereby reducing some
duplication.
Some have suggested that responsibility for
ambulance services be devolved to the area
municipalities. This would fracture the quality
and consistency of prehospital health care
throughout the region and the resulting
duplication would not be efficient. The public
would be the loser amid a fallout of decreased
service levels and increased costs.
Within Metro, six or more separate ambulance
services do not make sense. In a Greater Toronto
region, fifteen or more separate ambulance
services make even less sense. Taxpayers would
experience wide ranges in service quality
depending on where they live. There would be
many cross boundary trips requiring complex
fee for service or mutual aid agreements.
Emergency coverage would only be maintained
by hiring more staff and purchasing more
ambulances.
There has been some suggestion that control
over ambulance services be assumed by area
municipal fire departments. The argument goes
that ambulance response times will automatically
improve because fire vehicles have faster
response times than ambulances. This is a
misleading rationale that leaves out some very
important information.
Of course fire trucks respond to emergencies
more quickly than ambulances. In Metro
Toronto, there are more than twice as many
active fire stations and vehicles than there are
ambulance resources. There are more than four
times as many fire department staff. The
combined budget for Metro Toronto fire
departments is three times as large as Metros
ambulance services budget. In contrast, Metro
ambulance services respond to approximately
one and a half times as many calls as do the
Metro fire departments.
If it is important for all emergency response
services to be under the same jurisdiction, surely
it could be argued that it would make far more
sense to consolidate fire departments at the
regional level.
While efficiencies probably would be realized by
having one region wide fire service as suggested
in a recent consultants study of the fire
department in the City of York, we believe that
fire departments essentially provide a service to
property and so there is no compelling reason
why they should not remain an area municipal
responsibility as long as area municipalities can
afford to pay for them.
Municipal Borrowing
The management and administration of
municipal borrowing requirements should
continue to be a regional responsibility. For all
practical economic purposes, the entire urban
region is a single entity, for which one credit
rating and one debt obligation would make
sense to those who rate, sell or buy our bonds.
With its high credit rating (remember that Metro
has always been able to maintain a AAA credit
rating, higher than both the federal and
provincial governments), the region will be able
to access the domestic and Euro-Canadian
markets, as well as U.S. and private issues to
obtain the lowest available cost of funds to
finance regional and area municipal capital
investments.
A single Greater Toronto Council to replace the
existing five councils, responsible for regional
government in the Toronto urban area, will
provide further benefits. Following the
consolidation of debt records, one rather than
five Sinking Fund Committees will administer
investments related to retirement of the debt.
Since the new, consolidated region will be
viewed as a stronger economic entity, the
increased size of new issues would open doors to
all available transactions in domestic or foreign
currencies, and develop further alternatives to
public issues such as more frequent private
placements and access to medium term notes,
with the potential to further decrease borrowing
costs.
Licensing
The provincial and municipal governments
should review the current array of licensing
requirements for businesses. In many cases, a
single business must obtain several different
licenses, some from the area municipality, some
from the regional municipality and yet more
from provincial agencies. We believe that the
system could be made simpler and probably
much cheaper to administer.
We are not convinced that the regional
municipality should have a licensing function.
Licenses currently issued by the Metro
Licensing Commission, for example, could
easily be issued by area municipal governments.
This approach may be difficult to apply in the
case of taxi licenses, however, given the nature of
the taxi industry. Nevertheless, it is worth
exploring if the issuance of taxi licenses can be
administered at the area municipal level, while
maintaining common standards and the ability
of taxis to pick up fares anywhere in the region.
2.5 A NEW LEGISLATIVE
FRAMEWORK
We have proposed municipal government
reforms that we believe will meet the specific
needs of the Toronto region. The model we are
suggesting will be even more effective at
positioning the Toronto region as a competitive
force if the municipal level of government has
the tools and flexibility to carry out its
responsibilities and to respond to new situations
in a rapidly changing environment.
We are therefore joining with the Association of
Municipalities of Ontario and others in calling
for reforms to the legislation that establishes the
rel at i onshi p bet ween t he provi nci al and
Provincial and municipal roles must be
distinguished more clearly in legislation. The
province should focus on the bigger picture
issues like broad policy and legislative matters
and on the social and economic health of the
province. Municipalities should focus on service
delivery.
2 0 Metropolitan Toronto Council
Municipalities should have the authority to plan
and manage the services they provide and the
resources to implement them properly.
Municipalities need to be accountable for the
manner in which they discharge their service
responsibilities. They also need the flexibility to
adapt to new opportunities, demands and
contingencies.
Municipal services should be delivered within a
framework of provincial interests. This means
provincial expectations and requirements need
to be clarified and defined through goals,
objectives and policy statements. In this way
municipalities will be able to deliver services in a
flexible and responsive manner. There is no
need for the province to micro-manage
municipalities by routinely reviewing and
approving decisions about municipal services.
Municipal legislation should be sufficiently
permissive to allow municipalities to take any
action necessary to carry out the purposes of the
municipality.
In order to meet the needs of their inhabitants
and sustain their communities, municipalities
should be given general authority to act on any
matter not exclusively assigned to any other
government or specifically excluded from
municipal jurisdiction. This would eliminate the
need to prescribe in legislation the specific
things municipalities may or must do and how
they should do them, which stifles flexibility and
innovation.
Municipalities need the statutory tools to
implement innovative methods of service
delivery, including joint ventures, public-private
sector partnerships and inter-municipal service
agreements.
Municipalities should have the flexibility to
reorganise their own administrative structures
when it makes sense to do so. For example, a
municipality should have the flexibility, in most
situations, to dismantle a special purpose body
and incorporate its functions into the
administrative structure of the municipal
corporation. In cases where citizen involvement
in operational decisions makes sense, the use of
public advisory committees would eliminate the
rationale for special purpose bodies and their
separate organizations, bureaucracies and costs.
Consideration should be given to allowing
municipalities to change the number of wards
and councillors, alter ward boundaries and
change ward names, subject to provincial
requirements concerning minimum council size,
basic principles like representation by
population and direct election, and public
consultation.
Our proposals are intended to simplify the
relationship between the provincial and
municipal levels of government. We want
government in the Toronto region to be easy for
taxpayers to understand so that they know
whether they are getting a good deal.
In fact, we would welcome the opportunity to
work with the provincial government to identify
ways of making government at all levels less
intrusive in people lives.
2.6 A NEW FINANCIAL
FRAMEWORK
The creation of a single regional level of
government for the Toronto area will help to
achieve many of our municipal finance goals.
A single government with taxing authority for
all region-wide services will enable taxing
arrangements and provincial grants and funding
to be consistent and equitable across the Toronto
region. Costs and benefits of region-wide
services will be shared more fairly and
appropriately. Current spillover problems will be
resolved.
However, if the Toronto regional economy is to
remain competitive, the municipal finance
system needs to be reformed. Some components
of the existing approach to municipal finance
are relics of a system that is decades old. They
no longer make any sense at all.
Changes are needed in the way in which
municipal responsibilities are financed in
general in Ontario. A new financial framework is
necessary to ensure that municipal government
in the Toronto region has the financial tools to
provide goods and services to its taxpayers in a
sustainable and accountable fashion.
We are proposing that the municipal financial
framework be reformed:
B To ensure that services that should not be
funded from the property tax are funded
from other revenue sources.
B To permit municipalities access to alternative
revenue sources to take pressure off the
property tax.
B To ensure that the assessment base upon
which property taxes are set is fair.
Use of the Property Tax
The provinces economic statement in July,
1995 provides a good illustration of how
vulnerable municipalities are to provincial
funding decisions.
The province and the municipal sector should
return to the negotiating table to complete a
disentanglement agreement.
This agreement must establish which services are
best f unded f r om t he propert y tax.
Municipalities should assume a greater financial
responsibility for these services. Services that
should more appropriately be funded by the
province should be removed from the property
tax.
For example, programs that redistribute income
to individuals or that are designed to stabilize the
economy fall within the jurisdiction of the
provincial and federal governments. It is
inappropriate for programs such as General
Welfare Assistance to be funded from a property
tax. Many studies have reached the same
conclusion.
Following the disentanglement of provincial and
municipal financial responsibilities, it should still
be possible to have municipal delivery of a
provincially funded service like General Welfare
Assistance, where this makes sense. In such cases
a fee for service agreement can be established.
In other words, the province would contract out
the service to the municipality.
Provincial funding in several areas, for example,
transit and roads could be reduced and the
municipal level be allowed much greater control
over these services.
Disentanglement of provincial and municipal
funding responsibilities could be phased in
gradually during the provincial governments
current term of office. This will enable
municipalities to adjust to changes in the scope
of their financial responsibilities.
We propose that the exchange begin with the
transfer of full financial responsibility for
General Welfare Assistance to the provincial
government.
The disentanglement of provincial and
municipal funding responsibilities will make it
easier for municipal governments to be
accountable to their taxpayers. It will also make
municipalities less vulnerable to the effects of
changes in provincial funding.
Municipal Revenue Sources
We are proposing that gasoline, hotel and
telecommunication taxes and lotteries be
considered as potential alternative revenue
sources for municipal government in the Toronto
region.
We also support the Fair Tax Commissions
recommendation that more effort be made to
charge consumers directly for their consumption
of specific municipal services. The application of
user fees to waste collection and waste disposal
services should be explored further.
Access to alternative revenue sources will allow
municipalities to assume greater financial
responsibility for selected services, so reducing
their dependence on the provincial government,
without placing too much pressure on the
property tax, the only source of municipal
taxation.
Additional revenue sources will assist
municipalities to fund adequate levels of service
and provide greater flexibility to cope with
changes in provincial funding.
There are many examples of diversification of
municipal revenue sources in cities in the United
States and in other parts of Canada. In British
Columbia and Manitoba municipalities have
access to a share of provincial income, sales and
gasoline taxes.
We support a review of the business occupancy
tax.
Many, including the Fair Tax Commission, have
called for the abolition of the business
occupancy tax in its current form. However, the
business occupancy tax represents a large
revenue source that cannot easily be replaced by
any other single source of municipal funding.
Several alternatives to the business occupancy
tax have been proposed. These include payroll
taxes, rolling all five separate business
occupancy rates into one, and merging the
business occupancy tax into the realty tax with
the property owner assuming responsibility for
its collection
The advantages and disadvantages of all of these
alternatives, including their impact on business
competitiveness, should be reviewed.
Property Assessment
The single most important component of the
municipal finance framework is the property
assessment system.
A fair assessment base and consistent assessment
and taxation practices are critical to ensuring
that tax burdens are set fairly among properties,
bet ween pr oper t y cl asses and among
municipalities across the region.
Currently the assessed values of properties in
and around Metro Toronto resemble a
patchwork with no consistent valuation year and
inconsistent tax burdens between property
classes. Assessment reform is clearly necessary.
We are well aware of the lack of agreement on
the most appropriate basis for assessing
property. Two principal methods of property
assessment have been proposed. These are
market value and unit value assessment.
Regardless of the method used, there will always
be winners and losers.
The removal of General Welfare Assistance from
the property tax base and access to alternative
revenues would reduce demand for revenue
from the property tax. This would help to lessen
the impact of assessment reforms on individual
property owners. Assessment reform could,
therefore, be relatively more manageable and
tolerable.
We encourage the GTA Task Force to review
both the market value and unit value methods of
property assessment, keeping the following
comments in mind.
Considering market value:
In order to address the tax burdens hidden
within current assessed values or to level the
assessment playing field, the assessment system
should produce fair and consistent market
values.
Municipalities could implement full market or
unit value assessments, but be provided with the
flexibility to apply different or variable mill
rates to different classes of property, as opposed
to the existing two mill rates for residential and
non-residential classes. This flexibility would
enable municipalities to address their own
particular taxation equity problems, while
making any variation in property class tax
burdens visible to taxpayers and making
councils accountable for this variation.
This flexibility, combined with phase-in
mechanisms to limit any tax increase to a
specified amount in any given year, would
cushion the impact on taxpayers. Provision for a
long phase-in period is essential.
Provincial guidelines regarding variations in mill
rates between property classes may be needed to
prevent unwarranted distortions in average mill
rates between municipalities.
Phasing and averaging techniques could help to
counteract the apparent volatility in market
values, which are primarily driven by the land
value component of the property. These
techniques are used in British Columbia and
include annual assessment updates to smooth out
fluctuations in estimated market values.
In addition, the basis for assessing some rights-
of-way properties for utilities and railways needs
to be modified to reflect the limited use of some
of these lands.
Considering unit value:
Unit value assessment establishes assessments
based on size of land and building. The Fair Tax
Commission proposed a version of unit value
that introduced locational factors, making it
similar to market value. The City of Toronto
A Proposal for Change 2 3
proposed that values be based on a propertys
physical dimensions alone with limitations on
tax increases.
There is currently little application of unit value
assessment for property taxation purposes.
Therefore, it is difficult for us to determine the
viability of this system as a basis for property
assessment.
The administrative details of unit value need to
be developed and detailed analysis of the
methods impacts is required.
We support the study that the GTA Task Force is
undertaking to determine the feasibility of a unit
value system in the GTA.
PART 3: CONCLUSIONS
3.1 THE BENEFITS OF OUR
PROPOSAL
The concept of a strong, coherent, integrated,
purposeful and viable metropolitan government
is not an anachronism as some would have us
believe. The concept is alive and well. Urban
regi ons fort unat e enough t o have t he
opportunity to make it a reality will be well
served in a competitive world of barrier-free
trade. The benefits of region-wide government
are still well recognised.
Research from the University of Birminghams
Institute of Local Government Studies in
England shows what a folly the abolition of
metropolitan government was in England in
1986. There i s every expect at i on t hat
metropolitan level government will be restored
following the next British General Election.
In the Netherlands, a two tier municipal
government structure has been developed for the
Rotterdam urban region. Dutch officials
anticipate that the new directly elected
Metropolitan Rotterdam Council will be in place
by 1997. The driving force behind the creation
of a regional government in Rotterdam is the
need to compete with other regions in Europe.
The Toronto region cannot sit back idly while
others prepare for economic battle. We cannot
afford to take a narrow view and simply respond
to problems that are obvious today.
We must seize the opportunity to set in place a
structure that should last another generation at
least. The approach we have outlined in this
report will equip the Toronto region to meet the
challenges of the coming decades.
We will be challenged by intense international
competition for jobs and investment at a time
when all levels of government will have less
money. The federal government will most likely
have devolved a great deal of responsibility to
the provinces. The provinces, in turn, will
devolve a lot more financial responsibility to
local governments. The latter sit at the bottom of
the public finance pyramid and cannot pass on
their costs to anyone but the taxpayer.
A Prosperous, More Competitive Region
We have the evidence in our own back yard that
region-wide government can and does create a
stronger, prosperous and more competitive
region. It lets us set budget priorities in times of
fiscal restraint and it enables us to provide public
services more cost effectively.
Since the creation of the Metro government in
1953, the residents and businesses of the
Toronto region have reaped the rewards of a
heritage of long-term, region-wide planning,
infrastructure development and service
provision.
Region-wide government gave us:
B An efficient transit and road system that
provides fast and easy access for people
to jobs and for products to markets.
B A network of greenspaces that protect
t he nat ur al e nv i r onme nt of t he
waterfront and river valleys and provide
people with places to play and enjoy
nature.
B Cost- effective water and sewer systems
that ensure access to clean water and
protect our natural environment.
B A full range of housing opportunities to
accommodate the growing numbers of
people attracted to our region.
B A thriving downtown core, the envy of
North America, offering a diverse range
of arts and cultural facilities and a
variety of residential neighbourhoods,
while emerging as the finance and
business hub for Canada and the Great
Lakes region of North America.
All these regional assets have afforded residents
of the Toronto region a high quality of life and
Provided a firm foundation for attracting
investment and jobs.
The success of the Metro Toronto model of
regional governance has received worldwide
attention and acclaim. The Toronto region
consistently ranks among the top ten cities in the
world for its quality of living and business
environment.
This has been achieved through planning and
management that has built on the diversity and
strength of the whole region. Our success was
achieved by pooling our resources in the
common interest of the region as a whole.
A Stronger Central City
The benefits of sharing resources across the
region cannot be underestimated. Earlier in this
report, we referred to research in the United
States that establishes statistical proof of how
important a healthy urban core is to the rest of a
metropolitan area. The creation of a Greater
Toronto regional government with revenue
raising powers will re-establish a truly regional
tax pool in the Toronto region. This is of critical
importance to the long term health of the core.
The tax pool is especially important for
education, policing and community services. It
will be the key to preventing the downward
spiral of the more socio-economically depressed
parts of the Toronto region.
Looking ahead thirty or forty years, nobody
knows exactly which parts of the region will
need the tax pool most. It could be the City of
Toronto, North York or Brampton. The fact is,
the tax pool will benefit the whole region
because it will counter the tendency for poor
municipalities to get poorer and become no-go
zones.
Most inner cities in the United States can only
fantasize about a regional tax pool. They will
probably never get one because they are so
blighted that their suburbs would never enter a
financial sharing arrangement with them.
It is disturbing that Toronto City Council has
suggested pulling out of the Metro tax pool.
There may be a short term benefit to them now,
but they have to think about what could happen
to the core in the years ahead. If the City of
Toronto found itself in financial difficulties, it
would be left like almost every inner city in the
United States, spiraling downwards and wishing
it could pool resources regionally.
History will judge harshly near-sighted
politicians who, for short term gain, destroy
something that can probably never be replaced.
Once the tax pool has been eliminated and
municipalities have been f i nanci al l y
unbundled from one another, it will be
almost impossible to put them back together
again.
The Toronto region would inevitably become a
more politically fractious place. Tragically, it
would also become a more socially divided
place, split by socio-economic segregation.
Our proposed Toronto regional government will
benefit the core - and therefore the entire region
- in other ways, too, apart from the tax pool.
Tying municipalities together financially will
help to ensure that decisions about infrastructure
investments and major facilities or cultural
attractions are made on the basis of where they
should go. Under a system with no upper tier or
with a stripped down upper tier run by a
mayors committee, these decisions would
almost certainly be made on a purely parochial
basis.
A Greater Toronto regional government would
have the infrastructure planning power to curb
urban sprawl and encourage a better urban form
that is less likely to suck the vitality out of the
core. The control of sprawl will also save
taxpayers and developers millions of dollars in
duplicate infrastructure investments.
Fewer Councils, Politicians and Bureaucrats
Not only will a Greater Toronto regional
government save money by facilitating more
coordi nat ed and ef f i ci ent i nf rast ruct ure
planning and development, it will also make
regional government cheaper by having fewer
c ounc i l s , f e we r pol i t i c i ans and f e we r
bureaucrats.
One regional government will replace five.
There will be fewer than thirty regional
councillors instead of more than one hundred
and thirty.
Many duplicate administrative functions
performed in five regional government
bureaucracies will be consolidated into one
streamlined operation.
3.2 THERE MUST BE
CHANGE
The work in progress must continue. It is time to
catch up with the reality of our expanded urban
community and ensure that principles of
simplicity, autonomy, accountability and fairness
enable us to meet the needs of all residents of
this large metropolis, this large Toronto.
Others want unelected special purpose bodies to
make our problems go away. Some want a uni-
city. Some want a separate province. Some want
no province.
We want what has naturally evolved. In the
1950s, some 90 per cent. of the urban envelope
was managed by Metropolitan Toronto in
concert with what were then 13 local
municipalities. And the urban area boomed.
Problems were solved. Coordination occurred.
Infrastructure use was optimized. People were
moved around the metropolis efficiently. The
urban core was vibrant.
It is time to realign the economic and social
boundaries with the political boundaries of the
metropolis. It is time to replace five existing
regional governments with one new regional
government, directly elected, to manage the
municipal needs for region-wide services.
It is also time for the province to enable
municipalities to manage. We need major
financial reform. How many more times can it
be said that our assessment and financial systems
do not work?
Of all the choices we looked at, the need for a
new region-wide government, a Greater Toronto
Council, came through as being the best choice
for our community.
B It will make best use of our existing roads,
sewer and water systems, and ambulance
services.
B It will provide common standards and
seamless services for people regardless of
where they happen to live in the region.
B It will contain and control urban sprawl.
So far in the debate, we have heard many ideas
from those involved who know the problems, but
B It will look after our poor.
few are offering real solutions that do not
B It will give us one voice internationally.
critically violate what the public wants. The
Regional Chairs of Halton, York, Peel and
Durham dont go far enough. Our fragmented
B It will fix our financial mess.
municipalities want to stay fragmented but get
together every so often to solve all of the
problems that their fragmentation has created.
Our choice will give us back:
B Simple government that the public can
understand.
B Efficient government that the public can
afford.
B Effective government that the public expects.
There can be no turning back.
A Proposal for Change
2 7
August 9,
TO:
FROM:
METRO
CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS OFFICE
Robert A. Richards
Chef Administrative Office
The Municipality of
55 John Street
Stn. 1060, 6th fir., Metro Hall
Toronto, ON M5V 3C6
Fax: (41 6) 392-3751
Telephone: (416) 39
1995
Metropolitan Council
SUBJECT: METROS SUBMISSION TO THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
Purpose:
This report transmits for Council approval a proposed final Metro Council submission to the Greater
Toronto Area Task Force. This report also recommends specific strategies to promote Councils
proposals with members of the Ontario Legislature and to seek common goals with the Councils of
the GTA and other key stakeholders.
Funding Sources. Financial Implications and lmpact Statements:
Metropolitan Council has an opportunity to influence the thinking of the Greater Toronto Area Task
Force and the provincial government with respect to the future of the Greater Toronto metropolitan
region. The history and experience of the Metro Government provide a significant and unique
contribution to the debate on governance and fiscal reform.
Recommendations:
(1) Council adopt the attached report, entitled Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal For Change,
as Metro Councils submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force (GTA Task Force);
(2) the Metropolitan Chairman send the attached report, amended as necessary to incorporate any
revisions approved by Council, to the GTA Task Force, the Premier, the Minister of Municipal
Affairs and the Heads of Councils in the GTA;
(3) the Metropolitan Chairman and the Chair of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee meet with
the Minister of Municipal Affairs and the GTA Task Force to discuss Metro Councils proposals for
reform of government in the Greater Toronto region;
(4) the Metropolitan Chairman initiate discussions with the Heads of Councils in Greater Toronto to
put forward Metro Councils proposals, with the objective of identifying common ground
respecting the reform of governance in Greater Toronto;
(5) the Chair of the intergovernmental Affairs Committee invite all members of the provincial
legislature who represent ridings in the GTA to a special meeting of the Intergovernmental Affairs
Committee in early September for the purpose of explaining and discussing Metro Councils
proposals regarding reform of government in the Greater Toronto region:
- 2 -
(6) the Metropolitan Chairman work with the Metropolitan Toronto Board of Trade to raise awareness
and understanding of Metros proposals with like organizations in the Greater Toronto region;
(7) the Chief Administrative Officer be authorized to provide the means to inform the public and other
stakeholders about Metro Councils proposals and to engage them in a dialogue regarding reform
of government in the Greater Toronto region; and
(8) the appropriate Metropolitan Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to
give effect thereto.
Council Reference/Background/Histo~:
The GTA Task Force was created by the previous provincial government on February 16, 1995. It has
a broad mandate to make recommendations on the reform of municipal governance In the Greater
Toronto Area, including municipal finance, service responsibilities and government structures.
Following the provincial election in June, the new provincial government requested the Task Force to
speed up its work plan in order to present its recommendations to the government by the end of
November, 1995. The Minister of Municipal Affairs announced that September 30, 1995 was the
deadline for submissions to the Task Force.
On June 28, 1995, Metro Council held a special Council meeting to debate Metros input to the Task
Force. At that meeting, Council had before it a staff report entitled "Theres No Turning Back: A
Framework For Change. Council adopted the definition of problems, vision statement, goals and
options, that were outlined in the staff report, as the preliminary framework for reform of municipal
government in Greater Toronto.
Council also adopted the following resolutions which reinforced the direction outlined in the staff report:
that reform be implemented at the regional level in concert with Metropolitan Toronto, Durham,
York, Peel and Halton Regions;
that the urbanized portions of these regions be considered as one region;
that the provincial government consider eliminating or merging the special purpose bodies within
the newly defined regional government and incorporate those remaining as committees of the
regional or local governments;
that the positions in the new region be filled through direct election by the residents within the
region;
that the present division of responsibilities between the regional and local levels of government
be reviewed and, if necessary, be reallocated in order to end duplication and maximize their
effectiveness; and
that the provincial government provide the five regions with the opportunity to discuss with the
Province of Ontario the various options it wishes to consider.
A variety of other motions were referred to me to be distributed to Members of Council in the form of
a questionnaire. I was also instructed to build on the framework that Council approved at the June
meeting and report to Council by the end of August, 1995 on a recommended final submission to the
GTA Task Force.
- 3 -
Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:
The attached report entitled "Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal For Change" has been prepared
by staff further to the Council debate and resolutions on June 28, 1995. Staff recommend that this
report be adopted as Metro Councils submission to the GTA Task Force.
The first part of the report essentially comprises the framework that Council adopted at the special
meeting in June. In the second part of the report, we have proposed a rationale for the definition of
boundaries for a Greater Toronto region. We outline an approach to the election of members of a
Greater Toronto Council and we suggest the range of responsibilities that are appropriate to the
regional council based on a set of key criteria. We also propose specific ideas for reform of the
municipal finance system and of the legislation that establishes the provincial-municipal relationship.
All of the proposals for change described in the second part of the report are consistent with the
framework for reform that Council adopted in June.
In preparing the report, staff have taken into account the results of the questionnaire that was
completed by a majority of councillors. The questionnaire results were circulated to all Members of
Council on July 21, 1995. We have also considered the submissions to the Task Force by other
municipal and regional governments in the GTA and drawn on the experience and expertise of staff
throughout the Metro corporation.
The attached report does not provide all the answers. Nor does it provide the detailed analyses of
specific costs and benefits that many want to see. It will take much longer to do that sort of analysis
than the time we have until the September 30, 1995 deadline. Furthermore, where numbers and costs
have been produced, they vary from report to report depending on where emphasis is placed or how
data are interpreted. Different stakeholders question the validity of each others numbers.
Staff have concluded that to be credible to all reviewers, the analyses of costs and benefits of the
different proposals must be seen to be independent. It is appropriate, therefore, for the GTA Task
Force to cost out the specific proposals. The attached report provides concrete proposals that can
be subjected to further cost analysis.
At the June 28th meeting, Council directed staff to assist the Chairman and Members of Council to
communicate with their constituents about Metros proposals for reform. A number of initiatives have
occurred since then. Metro Councillors from Scarborough held a public meeting on July 26, 1995.
Staff produced a fact sheet summarizing Metro Councils initial ideas about reform. The fact sheet
includes a questionnaire for the public to fill out if they wish. A telephone hotline has been set up to
receive public opinions on Metros proposals for GTA reform. A video, in which the Metropolitan
Chairman and a number of Members of Council outline their views about the future of the GTA, has
been airing on cable television since August 8, 1995 and invites calls to the hotline. A Metro Booth in
the Better Living Centre during the CNE will provide another opportunity to promote the proposal.
conclusions:
The attached proposal calls for bold change which may be challenging in the short-term. The
long-term vision must, nonetheless, identify an ultimate destination. Staff believe that this vision will
provide the basis for municipal finance reform and will be the means to protecting our vibrant urban
core. The GTA Task Force has been challenged to provide a short-term solution to the finance
problems specific to Metro and staff continue to work with the Task Force to this end.
- 4 -
The reform process will not stop with the submission of briefs to the GTA Task Force. The Task Force
will receive many submissions from many different stakeholders and observers. Dr. Golden will have
to consolidate the common positions and reconcile differing points of view. She will have to weigh all
the submissions against the results of independent research and analysis undertaken by the Task Force
itself.
As we note in the attached report, there is likely to be a great deal of discussion, negotiation and
compromise between now and the provincial Cabinets eventual decisions regarding reform of
government in the Toronto area. Metro must be a key participant in that process. Metro can in fact
play a principal role in facilitating the debate.
The outcome of the dialogue with the province and our municipal government colleagues may not in
the end, look exactly like the proposals outlined in the attached report. However, it is important for
Council to enter into the dialogue with a clear idea of what it believes would be the best approach to
governance in Greater Toronto. It is important that Metros input help to focus the debate.
This is why l am recommending that Council adopt "Theres No Turning Back: A Proposal For Change"
as its submission to the GTA Task Force. The report sets out the key problems with the current
approach to municipal finance and the structure of government in the region. it offers means to
address the problems. The report provides a solid point of reference for the inevitable and necessary
dialogue with our government partners required to achieve the collective goals of all municipal
governments in the Greater Toronto region.
Summary
Chart:
This report conforms with the following (please indicate (x) or (n/a) not applicable):
Corporate Personnel and
Council Approved Three-year Plan (n/a) Administrative Policies (x)
Approved Capital Budget (n/a) Approved Current Budget (x)
Standing Committee Approved
Program Priority (n/a) Metro Official Plan (n/a)
Name and Telephone Number:
Rosanna Scotti
392-8637
Robert A Richards
Attachment
BACKGROUND REPORTS
THERES NO TURNING BACK: A PROPOSAL FOR CHANGE
by Metropolitan Toronto Council
August 16,1995
M E T RO
CHIEF ADMINISTRATORS OFFICE
LIST OF BACKGROUND REPORTS
1. Evolution of the Metropolitan Toronto Government
(Corporate Planning Division, Chief Administrators Office)
2. The Toronto Urban Region Past Successes and Future Challenges
(Clayton Research Associates Limited)
3. The Nature and Functioning of Urban Regions
(Professor L.S. Bourne, University of Toronto)
4. Review of Metro's Fiscal Reform Initiatives
(Corporate Planning Division, Chief Administrators Office)
5. Principles of a Municipal Finance System
(Enid Slack Consulting Inc.)
6. Cultural Service Provision in the Greater Toronto Area
(Metro Parks & Culture)
These reports were written in the course of developing Metropolitan Toronto
Councils submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
EVOLUTION OF THE METROPOLITAN
TORONTO GOVERNMENT
A background report prepared by: Corporate Planning Division
June 20, 1995
METRO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
RATIONALE FOR THE CREATION OF METROPOLITAN TORONTO . . . . . . . . 1
THE EVOLUTION OF METROS FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES . . . . . . 5
THE CURRENT METROPOLITAN TORONTO MANDATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
INTRODUCTION
This report is one of a set of background documents prepared to assist councillors develop
a framework for Metros submission to the GTA Task Force. The report is intended to
serve as a source of reference to key events in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto
government in the Toronto urban region. It has been compiled on the assumption that the
current debate about the need for GTA government reform will benefit if understood as
part of a continuum of history.
The report:
.
reviews the rationale for the creation of Metropolitan Toronto in 1953; and
B
provides a chronological summary of the evolution of the Metro Governments
functions and responsibilities.
RATIONALE FOR THE CREATION OF METROPOLITAN TORONTO
Many people know Metropolitan Toronto only as a mature, developed metropolis with a
comprehensive infrastructure and well regarded urban services available to 2.3 million
inhabitants and many others who live outside Metros boundaries. To fully appreciate the
rationale underlying the two tier structure of municipal governments that share responsibility
for servicing Metro, it is important to know something of the conditions in this region in the
period leading up to the creation of the Metropolitan Council.
Municipal Government Prior to Metropolitan Toronto
Toronto was incorporated as a city in 1834 with a population of just over 9,000.
Subsequently, the city annexed surrounding areas as they became urbanized, However, from
1912 onwards the city pursued a policy of no annexations to avoid the cost of servicing the
newly urbanizing communities. After 1912, twelve suburbs emerged in the area around
Page 1
Toronto.1 Each grew completely independently of the others, some attracting mainly
industrial development, some becoming primarily residential. No overall plan existed to
guide this development.
Immediately following the Second World War a rapid increase in the birthrate, major
growth in migration from rural to urban areas and massive immigration from the war
ravaged countries of Europe combined to create the beginning of a period of unprecedented
population growth in the Toronto area.
All of the growth occurred in the 12 suburban municipalities immediately surrounding the
City of Toronto, and particularly in the three large outer ring communities of Etobicoke,
North York and Scarborough. In the period 1945 to 1953, the populations of North York,
Etobicoke and Scarborough increased by 339 per cent, 230 per cent and 226 per cent
respectively. The population of the City of Toronto declined slightly
period.
The rapidly growing population demanded a wide range of public services
during the same
that the suburban
municipalities were expected to provide. However, being predominantly rural and
residential, several of these municipalities lacked the necessary revenue base to finance the
provision of essential services. Communities competed with each other to attract industry
in order to improve their financial situation.
The financial difficulties and jurisdictional fragmentation were exacerbated by the
geographical division of the suburban area into 12 municipalities of greatly varying sizes.
Six of the municipalities lacked direct physical access to Lake Ontario, the logical source of
water supply and the ultimate outlet for storm and sanitary sewage. Rapidly growing North
York relied on wells and septic tanks but these systems were unable to cope with the
demand so water shortages followed. The City of Toronto, with its relatively stable financial
base, had little room for housing while, in the suburbs, badly needed housing construction
1 Town of Leaside, Town of Mimico, Town of Weston, Village of Forest Hill, Village of Long Branch, Village of Swansea,
Township of East York, Township of Etobicoke, Township of North York, Township of Scarborough, Township of York, Town
of New Toronto.
Page 2
was held up by a lack of sewage treatment capacity.
By the beginning of the 1950s, some municipalities were having difficulty selling their bonds;
the situation was approaching crisis proportions.
As the Metropolitan area continued to grow, the interdependence of communities became
clearer as did the need for satisfactory intermunicipal arrangements for the provision of
services.
Several different solutions were suggested but none was acceptable to all 13 municipalities.
The City of Toronto proposed the amalgamation of the whole area into one municipality.
Other municipalities preferred the continuation of numerous single tier governments at the
local level, possibly coordinated through cooperative arrangements involving special purpose
bodies, but without a regional level of government. The Town of Mimico recommended a
version of two tier government via the establishment of an area for the joint administration
of certain services.
The Formation of Metropolitan Toronto, 1953
Beginning in 1950, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), under the Chairmanship of
Lorne Cumming, conducted an inquiry into the various proposals for dealing with the
problems of the Toronto area. On January 20, 1953 the OMB handed down a decision
(sometimes referred to as the Cumming Report) recommending the creation of a two tier
municipal federation with responsibilities divided between an upper tier Metropolitan
government covering the entire region and the 13 existing local governments.
2
The provincial government responded quickly and, on April 2, 1953, the legislature passed
Bill 80, to provide for the Federation of the Municipalities in the Toronto Metropolitan
Area for Certain Financial and Other Purposes (The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
Act). The Metropolitan system of government came into being on January 1, 1954.
2 Cumming, Lorne (1953): Decisions and Recommendations of the Board, January 20, 1953. Ontario Municipal Board.
Page 3
Characteristics of the Metropolitan Federation
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act created the Metropolitan Council whose
area of jurisdiction encompassed the combined territory of all 13 area municipalities. The
Act gave the Metropolitan Council the capacity to plan, finance, build and maintain the
infrastructure required for urban growth in the region. The 13 constituent area
municipalities retained responsibility for delivery of services to their local populations where
regional coordination or financing were considered unnecessary or, if desirable, were not
urgently required and could wait until people had grown used to the new Metropolitan
government.
A key component of the new two tier arrangement was the Metropolitan Councils ability
to levy the area municipalities for revenue to carry out regional functions. In addition the
Metropolitan level was given exclusive responsibility for:
the administration of justice;
borrowing and issuing debentures;
property assessment;
public transportation, except steam railways and taxis;
specific social services: provision of homes for the aged, hospitalization and
burial of indigents, and maintenance of neglected children; and
regional planning through the establishment of the Metropolitan Toronto
Planning Board which had jurisdiction over an area of about 720 square miles,
two thirds of which were outside Metros boundaries. Twenty-six
municipalities were included in this Metropolitan Toronto Planning Area.
The constituent area municipalities were given exclusive responsibility for:
fire protection;
garbage collection and disposal;
licensing and inspection;
local distribution of hydro electric power;
policing;
public health;
Page 4
general welfare assistance;
recreation and community services; and
collection of taxes.
The two tiers shared responsibility for the following areas although their respective functions
were clearly distinguished:
parks (Metro responsibility for creation of regional parks system, and area
municipal responsibility for local parks and recreation facilities);
planning (Metro responsibility for planning for the overall structural elements
of the metropolis and the broad distribution of population and employment,
and area municipal responsibility for local planning including zoning and
detailed development control);
roads and traffic control (Metro responsibility for Metropolitan arterial roads
system, and area municipal responsibility for local roads);
sewage disposal (Metro responsibility for sewer mains and the treatment and
discharge of sewage, and area municipal responsibility for sewage collection
and routing to Metro system); and
water supply (Metro responsibility for water purification and wholesale supply
via trunk mains to area municipalities, and area municipal responsibility for
retail distribution to local properties).
In a limited number of other service areas, such as housing and financial aid to hospitals the
upper and lower tiers shared similar powers.
The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act also established the parallel two tiered
system of Metropolitan and area school boards.
THE EVOLUTION OF METROS FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The creators of the Metropolitan Toronto model intended the responsibilities of the
Metropolitan Council to evolve over time in response to changing circumstances and as the
Page 5
general concept of Metropolitan government took hold in the Toronto area. Accordingly,
the provincial government legislated a series of changes to Metros mandate between 1953
and 1974.
1954:
.
1955:
B
.
1956:
.
.
1957:
B
B
.
.
Responsibility for traffic control systems and operations was given to Metro.
Metro assumed responsibility for civil defence and the development of an
organization to deal with military and civil disasters.
Metro assumed responsibility for the development of a system of Metro parks,
particularly in the Don and Humber Valleys.
Metro took over the regulation, control, and reduction of air pollution (a function
that went to the provincial government in the 1960s).
Metro also accepted responsibil rthe Toronto Islands.
The 13 area municipal police departments were amalgamated and responsibility for
policing was transferred to Metro (specifically to a police commission with
Metro-wide responsibilities, funded by Metro but controlled by the provincial
government).
Metro was given responsibility for development and management of a uniform system
of licensing for taxis, tradespeople, restaurants, cartage trucks, and other businesses.
As a result of the extensive flood damage caused by Hurricane Hazel in 1954, the
Metropolitan Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (MTRCA) was established
with major participation in and funding by Metro. The MTRCA was responsible for
conservation of the Metro watershed, floodplain protection, and development of the
recreational potential of valley lands.
Metro took over responsibility for the Riverdale Zoo which was recognized as a
regional amenity.
Page 6
1967:
.
Following provincial consideration of the recommendations of Carl Goldenbergs
Royal Commission Final Report in 1965,
3
the following responsibilities were
transferred to Metro:
waste disposal, including the ability to establish waste disposal facilities
outside of Metro;
social assistance, full responsibility for local social services was shifted to
Metropolitan Toronto including both mandatory and discretionary services
and administration under the Public Welfare Act;
provision of a public, Metropolitan-wide ambulance service; and
development of regional reference facilities and coordination of the activities
of local libraries, through the newly established Metropolitan Toronto Library
Board.
B
An important parallel change in 1967 was the granting to the Metropolitan School
Board of authority to share resources among the local boards of education.
1968:
.
Metro assumed ownership of the OKeefe Centre in 1968.
1970- 1974:
B
Responsibility for the assessment of buildings for property taxes was transferred from
Metropolitan Toronto to the provincial government as part of a move to provide
more uniform administration of the function in preparation for market-value
assessments - and before devolution of more authority for assessment to local
government.
.
Certain responsibilities respecting the administration of justice were also removed
from Metropolitan Toronto, including the administration of magistrates courts and
of juvenile and family courts.
3 Goldenberg, Carl (1965): Report of the Royal Commission on Metropolitan Toronto. Government of Ontario.
Page 7
.
Responsibility for land-use planning in the area around Metropolitan Toronto was
withdrawn from the Metropolitan Planning Board as the neighboring regional
governments of York (1970) and Durham and Peel (1974) were established. The
Board was abolished in 1975 and responsibility for planning within Metropolitan
Toronto was given directly to the Metropolitan Toronto Council.
There have been no significant changes in the formal, legislated authority and
responsibilities of Metropolitan Toronto since 1974. However, Metros activities have
undergone considerable changes in emphasis and direction as the metropolis has matured
and new issues have become more prominent.
1974:
B
An enhanced role for Metro in the provision of cultural services followed Council
adoption of the Silcox Report.
4
1977:
B
The Robarts Report in 1977 recommended that Metro develop overall human
services strategies and encourage coordination and rationalization among the various
social service programs and providers - often non-governmental agencies.
1980s:
B
In the late 1980s Metros focus on the environment shifted from the avoidance of
waste for disposal, and was broadened to embrace the need for transformation to a
conserver society.
1988:
.
The provincial government approved direct election for Metropolitan Toronto as
recommended by the Robarts Report which stressed the need for clear lines of
accountability.
4 Silcox, David (1974): Metropolitan Torontos Support for the Arts.
Page 8
1989:
.
Metro Council adopted an Economic Development Strategy. This coincided with a
move to more direct intervention in attracting and retaining employment, increasing
exports, increasing international awareness of Metropolitan Toronto, and increasing
the investment in local research and development.
1990s:
.
Direct election enabled Metro Council to review and consolidate its mission and
goals:
1991:
The Metropolitan Toronto Government Strategic Plan offered a vision of the
Metro government and outlined the qualities it must strive for and sustain to
ensure a healthy, vital community.
1992:
The Social Development Strategy, entitled New Realities, New Directions,
recognized a pivotal role for Metro in the planning and provision of
community services and as a leader in social planning.
1994:
The Culture Plan recognized Metros expanding cultural portfolio, the growing
importance of culture in the Metropolitan economy, and changing demand for
culture caused by the increasing diversity of the population.
A new Official Plan, The Liveable Metropolis, provided a long-term
planning strategy to improve the quality of life in Metro Toronto through an
integrated approach to land use planning, management of environmental,
economic and social change.
THE CURRENT METROPOLITAN TORONTO MANDATE
As the above review of the rationale for the creation of Metro has demonstrated, the
original two tier model of government and division of upper and lower tier responsibilities
responded to a particular set of conditions in the early 1950s. The way in which
Page 9
Metropolitan Councils responsibilities evolved also illustrates that Metropolitan Toronto
was not intended to be a temporary mechanism to resolve the crises of the day. The
respective upper and lower tier responsibilities were sorted out over a 20 year period
according to a fairly consistent, if implicit, set of criteria. The evolution of responsibilities
since then has been Council driven within the framework of a legislative mandate more or
less cast by the mid 1970s.
Division of Upper and Lower Tier Responsibilities
Today, the Metropolitan level has exclusive responsibility for:
borrowing and issuing debentures;
public transportation;
police services;
ambulance services;
social services; and
traffic control.
The constituent area municipalities now have exclusive responsibility for:
fire protection;
local distribution of hydro electric power;
public health;
recreation and community centres;
industrial land acquisition; and
collection of taxes.
The two tiers now share responsibility for:
parks and culture;
planning;
roads;
sewage disposal;
water supply;
solid waste management;
Page 10
libraries;
economic development; and
licensing and inspections.
(Education continues to be administered under a parallel two tiered system of Metropolitan
and area school boards)
CONCLUSION
When the current distribution of formal responsibilities is compared to that of 1953, it is
clear that the scope of Metropolitan responsibility increased as Metro assumed functions
from the area municipalities. Some Metropolitan functions were taken over by the province
or disappeared when the surrounding regional municipalities were created. There are now
more shared areas of responsibility than there were in 1953. However, as in the 1950s, the
respective functions of Metro and the area municipalities in areas of shared responsibility
are fairly well distinguished.
Page 11
THE TORONTO URBAN REGION PAST
SUCCESSES AND FUTURE CHALLENGES
A background report prepared by: Clayton Research Associates Limited
June 19, 1995
METRO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
PAGE NO.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
WHAT IS THE TORONTO URBAN REGION? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
IN WHAT WAYS CAN TORONTO BE CHARACTERIZED AS A SUCCESSFUL
URBAN REGION? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
WHAT HAS WORKED IN THE TORONTO URBAN REGION? WHY HAS IT
WORKED? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
WHAT PRESSURES IS THE TORONTO URBAN REGION LIKELY TO FACE IN
THE NEXT 10-20 YEARS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
WHAT PRINCIPLES SHOULD GUIDE PUBLIC INTERVENTION IN THE TORONTO
URBAN REGION IN THE NEXT 10-20 YEARS? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
INTRODUCTION
This is one of a series of papers being prepared as background for Metro Toronto
Councillors to help them make informed decisions as to the future role of Metro within the
context of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The result of the current process will be the
preparation of a report to the Task Force on the Future of the Greater Toronto Area
outlining Metro Torontos position on the functions, financing, and structure of government
in the GTA.
The following questions are addressed here:
B
In what ways can Toronto be characterized as a successful urban region?
.
What has worked in the Toronto urban region and why?
B
What pressures is the Toronto urban region likely to face over the next 10 to
20 years?
B
What principles should guide public intervention in the Toronto urban region
over the next 10 to 20 years?
The paper reflects the authors training and experience as a public finance economist with
nearly 30 years of specialization in the urban domain - the past 25 living in Toronto but
involved in consulting assignments across the country during this period. Its contents should
be regarded as a think piece based on the
research.
It is hoped that the thoughts expressed in
authors knowledge and experience not original
this paper will make a contribution to dealing
effectively with the current malaises of the GTA and helping to lead to a more vibrant and
pleasant place to live and work.
WHAT IS THE TORONTO URBAN REGION?
What has become known as the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is composed of Metro
Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, York, Peel and Halton.
Page 1
What is an Urban Region?
An urban region typically refers to a geographical territory with a population density much
higher than a region that is not regarded as urban. More specifically:
.
An urban region is an area with a relatively high population density that
contains closely-related activities such as places to live, work, shop, be
educated and be entertained.
Statistics Canada for the Census of Canada has created the concept of the Census
Metropolitan Area (CMA) which defines an urban region from an economic perspective:
.
GTA
A Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) encompasses an urbanized core having
at least 100,000 population and adjacent municipalities having strong linkages
in terms of labour market and population, (i.e., where people live and work)
with the urbanized core.
Not an Urban Region According to Statistics Canada
One of the key reasons the Toronto urban region was so successful in the years immediately
after Metro Toronto was formed appears to be due to the fact the political boundaries of
Metro coincided with the Toronto urban region boundaries as delimited by Statistics Canada
at the time.
The Toronto CMA boundaries (as defined by Statistics Canada for the 1991 Census) do not
coincide with the GTA (see attached map). The CMA (1991 boundaries) excludes four
important urban municipalities that form part of the GTA:
in the east, Whitby, Oshawa and Clarington are part of the
Oshawa Census Metropolitan Area; and
in the west, Burlington is part of the Hamilton Census
Metropolitan Area.
Page 2
The Toronto CMA also includes municipalities which are part of Simcoe County (New
Tecumseth and Bradford-West Gwillimbury) and one municipality in Dufferin County
(Orangeville) which are not part of GTA.
Delineating the Toronto Urban Region
Few would feel comfortable with restricting the boundaries of the Toronto urban region to
the current boundaries of the Toronto CMA, especially in an review of the local government
structure appropriate for the urban region over the next decade or two. Such a narrow
definition would exclude adjacent communities with strong and growing economic linkages
with the Toronto heartland,
The Toronto and Oshawa CMAs frequently are combined to approximate the Greater
Toronto Area. All major urban centres within the GTA with the exception of Burlington
are included. The combining of these two CMAs makes considerable sense since there are
close and growing economic linkages between municipalities in the Oshawa CMA, especially
Whitby, and the Toronto CMA.
If the Oshawa CMA to the east is to be included as part of the Toronto urban region,
should not the Hamilton CMA to the west, or, indeed, the St. Catharines CMA next to the
Hamilton CMA, also be added? These four adjacent CMAs in some respects represent a
super urban region.
There are growing economic linkages between Burlington, in particular, within the Hamilton
CMA and the Toronto CMA but they are not as strong as, for example, the linkages in
Whitby. Similarly, the linkages between the Toronto CMA and the Hamilton CMA are less
pronounced than between the Oshawa and Toronto CMAs, and the linkages between the
Toronto and St. Catharines CMAs are even smaller.
How large then should the Toronto urban region be? Should it include:
B
The Toronto CMA only?
.
The combined Toronto and Oshawa CMAs?
Page 3
.
The combined Toronto, Oshawa and Hamilton CMAs? Or
B
The combined Toronto, Oshawa, Hamilton, and St. Catharines CMAs?
The GTA as commonly defined (Metro Toronto plus Durham, York, Peel and Halton)
encompasses all the major urban centres in the combined Toronto and Oshawa CMAs
including the rural hinterland. Given the strong and growing linkages between the
municipalities in the GTA there is merit in regarding the GTA as the Toronto urban region.
Consideration might be given to expanding the GTA boundaries to include Orangeville, New
Tecumseth (formerly Tecumseth, Beeton and Tottenham) and Bradford-West Gwillimbury
which are now part of the Toronto CMA.
The economic linkages between the Toronto CMA and the Hamilton and St. Catharines
CMAs, with the exception of Burlington, are not nearly as large.
The Case for Coterminous Political and Economic Boundaries
*
There are advantages to having coterminous economic and political boundaries for an urban
region:
B
Provision of municipal services
With coterminous boundaries one governmental body can be
responsible for providing municipal services, especially for
services with scale efficiencies like infrastructure for getting
people to and from work and for servicing employment and
housing areas.
.
Financing of municipal services
With coterminous boundaries it does not matter from a
property tax perspective where within the region business
establishments and housing locate since the governmental body
providing region-wide services can obtain property and business
tax revenues from all properties in the region.
Page 4
This does not mean that there cannot be a multi-tier governance structure in the urban
region if municipal services can be separated between those of regional and more local
concern. Only that regional types of services such as sewer, water and transportation should
be provided at a regional level.
Metro Toronto Had Coterminous Economic and Political Boundaries in the Beginning
When Metro Toronto was created in 1954 its boundaries (taking in municipalities now know
as the cities of Toronto, Scarborough, North York, York and Etobicoke and the Borough
of East York) were the same as the boundaries of the Toronto CMA at the time.
But the Economic Boundaries Soon Outgrew the Metro Boundaries
However, this correspondence of boundaries did not last long. By the time of the 1961
Census, the Toronto CMA boundaries were expanded to take in parts of what are now
known as Ajax, Pickering, Markham, Vaughan, Richmond Hill, Whitchurch-Stouffville,
Mississauga, Oakville and Milton. The Oshawa CMA did not come into being until 1971.
Regional Government Reform in the Early 1970s - No Effort to Have Coterminous
Economic and Political Boundaries
By the year 1971, about the time the Province created the four regional municipalities
around Metro Toronto, the Toronto CMA boundaries had expanded to encompass most of
the urban population of York, Peel and Halton Regions (except for Burlington). With the
creation of the Oshawa CMA (in 1971) the combined Toronto and Oshawa CMAs
approximated reasonably well the urbanized portions of the area now known as the GTA.
Not Much Has Changed Since 1971
The political landscape of the GTA has remained essentially the same over the past 24
years. While the boundaries of the combined Toronto and Oshawa CMAs have expanded,
the added municipalities, in the main, were already part of the GTA.
Page 5
.
But instead of one regional government authority with a mandate to provide
region-wide services to the entire Toronto urban region, as was the case in 1954
when Metro Toronto was created, there were now five regional or upper tier
governments.
IN WHAT WAYS CAN TORONTO BE CHARACTERIZED AS A SUCCESSFUL
URBAN REGION?
The creation of two-tiered regional government in the Toronto urban region in 1954 was
a bold step in municipal government restructuring. Much has been written and said over
the past 40 years about the remarkable example that Toronto is of the workable city (urban
region). However, the extent and the intensity of the praise has lessened a lot in recent
years.
There were many successes in the Toronto urban
.
Provision and funding of infrastructure for
region, especially in the early years:
enormous greenfield growth
The early post-war growth pressures on the Toronto urban
region were unrelenting and the then rural townships (North
York, Etobicoke, and Scarborough) surrounding the core
municipalities did not have the financial resources to fund
infrastructure to provide serviced land for housing and industry.
The creation of Metro Toronto with responsibility for major
infrastructure such as water, sewers and transportation
overcame this problem. Planning and infrastructure
construction was done for the entire Toronto urban region (the
economic or CMA boundaries were the same as Metro
Torontos boundaries at the time). Infrastructure was financed
largely though region-wide property taxes with assistance from
both the Federal and Provincial Governments.
Page 6
.
A relatively balanced transportation system
The early construction of rapid transit lines has had widespread
effect on the development and commuting patterns in the
Toronto Urban Region. Even today a unique feature of
Toronto is the large proportion of commuters to jobs in the
heart of the region that use transit.
The regional road system, the subway, and the GO train have
made getting around Toronto relatively easy. The Province
made major contributions in the area of regional transportation
by constructing and funding expressways and transit.
B
High quality governmental services
The quality of urban services and the livability of the Toronto
urban region was exceptional given the rapid pace of growth in
the early years.
Not only did infrastructure get extended to the undeveloped
lands on the fringe, but major investments were made in the
subway (which helped densification) and regional services such
as parks. There was also concern about the environment at an
early stage with the requirement that sewage had to be treated.
Toronto became known as the city with safe and clean streets.
The amount of greenspace, especially along the rivers and
streams flowing to Lake Ontario, has long been an enduring
feature of the Toronto urban region.
.
A strong downtown core and the lack of widespread slums
The flight of business to the suburbs from the central city has
been a lot less pronounced in the Toronto urban region over
the past 40 years than in major U.S. urban centres.
Page 7
Consequently, despite recent problems, Torontos central area
remains relatively healthy. Toronto was able to avoid the
massive run-down areas that characterized larger U.S. urban
centres. While there were pockets of tarnished housing, this
was more the exception than the rule. Part of the reason for
this was the effort to disperse public housing throughout Metro
Toronto.
B
Strong employment growth and higher than average incomes
The Toronto economy until recently showed an uncanny ability
to create jobs, resulting in large inflows of migrants. It also has
provided its residents with jobs generating above average
incomes. This in part was needed to pay the higher housing
costs that have been a characteristic of the Toronto urban
region over the entire postwar period - though it worsened over
time.
Not all has been smooth sailing in the Toronto urban region. Many of the successes were
the result of the creation of Metro Toronto with the result that a regional tier government
had responsibility for and funded regional services through taxes on all properties within
Metro Toronto. Over time as development, especially housing, spilled beyond the
boundaries of Metro Toronto, the mismatch between economic and political boundaries has
reduced the efficiency of the urban region as a whole.
The current municipal government structure is a contributing factor to some of the malaises
of the Toronto urban region. Other important forces at work have included:
restructuring of the Ontario economy, notably in older
manufacturing branch plants, to counter a high cost structure
and to respond to increased productivity on a North American,
if not a world, scale;
high federal and provincial deficits and debt which are contributing to
excessively high real interest rates;
Page 8
.
provincial and federal taxes on the business sector and persons which are high
relative to competitive jurisdictions; and
-
the increasing tendency of the Provincial Government to impose its
requirements and to involve itself in the ongoing decision-making of
municipalities.
WHAT HAS WORKED IN THE TORONTO URBAN REGION? WHY HAS IT WORKED?
The Toronto urban region has benefited from a number of local and historical advantages
including:
being the largest urban centre in Canada located between Montreal on the
east and Vancouver on the west;
being in close proximity to major population centres in the U. S.; and
becoming Canadas premier head office, financial, high-technology and
administrative centre.
These factors contributed to the rapid growth of the region over the past 40 to 50 years.
Torontos role as Canadas economic heartland however is being challenged with the
increased north-south
and U.S. economies.
trade flows accompanying the increased integration of the Canadian
In addition, much of the success of the Toronto urban region over the past 40 years has to
be attributed to the bold move to create Metro Toronto. The creation of a regional body
having responsibility for the planning, implementation, and funding of region-wide
infrastructure and other regional services over the entire economic region was a very
important move. The political boundaries of Metro Toronto have not expanded along with
the Toronto urban region boundaries.
Page 9
WHAT PRESSURES IS THE TORONTO URBAN REGION LIKELY TO FACE IN THE
NEXT 10-20 YEARS?
Many of the future pressures facing the Toronto urban region have already emerged:
B
Enhancing economic competitiveness
Without a growing numbers of jobs, and especially jobs which
pay higher compensation commensurate with regions high
quality labour force, the Toronto urban region will continue to
have serious problems. Achieving this employment growth will
not be an easy task given that many competitive jurisdictions
are endeavoring to do the same.
There will be continued pressure for municipal governments to
enhance competitiveness by reducing the costs of doing business
in their jurisdiction (costs include property taxes, development
charges, fees, and red tape, e.g., processing time, regulations).
Municipal costs imposed through provincial fiat will also come
under increased scrutiny.
Priorities will also come into increasing conflict, particularly the
requirements of a competitive economy with the goals of
environmental protection.
B
Accommodating population growth and maintaining social harmony
Buoyant population growth is likely to continue in the region.
With the huge pool of past immigrants, Toronto is a natural
destination for many new immigrants. The challenge will be to
integrate immigrants into the labour force and wider community
quickly.
Page 10
B
Promoting the efficient use of land in both built-up and greenfield areas
Urban areas are like living organisms that evolve over time.
Expansion at the fringe and redevelopment and reuse of
existing properties in built up areas occur simultaneously.
Reuse and redevelopment in older parts of the region are
important trends to be encouraged as the Toronto urban region
continues to grow. Municipal infrastructure is often in place.
At present there are numerous obstacles to this happening to
the degree desired because of a lack of municipal commitment,
a lengthy and uncertain planning process, and environmental
remedial costs.
As well, it is inevitable that future growth will also occur in
greenfield locations in the suburbs. Ways need to be found to
reduce the government-imposed costs including red tape on
new development in suburban locations to increase affordability
for both household and business.
.
Removing tax-created land use distortions in urban land use patterns.
Reforms are needed to ensure a region-wide property tax
system which removes the location distortions and property
class differentials of the current tax systems, especially between
Metro Toronto and the other regions and the heavy taxation of
business properties over residential.
Property tax reform in Metro Toronto will not only involve
changes on the taxation side - there are pressures on the
expenditure side as well.
The streetscape in Metro Toronto is becoming increasingly
blighted and desolate as more firms close their doors and the
Page 11
properties remain vacant or are torn down to minimize taxes -
redevelopment of these sites are at risk because of
municipalities reluctance to accept a change in land use from
industrial, often because of property tax considerations, and the
high cost of decontaminating the sites.
.
Finding new ways of providing municipal services
The day of making all services available to every resident and
charging everybody for them even though they do not consume
the service is nearing an end. New ways of providing services
to the people demanding them are already being explored
including charging according to usage and privatizing. This is
important because the continued focus on cost minimization in
the business sector and household resistance to higher taxes will
make it difficult to increase taxes in the coming years.
WHAT PRINCIPLES SHOULD GUIDE PUBLIC INTERVENTION IN THE TORONTO
URBAN REGION IN THE NEXT 10-20 YEARS?
There are a number of principles which can be considered in reformulating the structure
and financing of municipal government in the Toronto urban region in the coming years.
These reflect a number of considerations including the experience gained over the past 40
years and the pressures expected to offer challenges to municipal government in the future:
B
The merits of synchronizing political and urban region boundaries
A regional political body that reflects the boundaries of the
urban region could have a number of merits including the
efficient provision and equitable financing of municipal services
and providing a more appropriate basis for planning for future
development.
Page 12
.
The efficient provision of public services demanded by residents and employers
The efficient provision of public services lies at the heart of
municipal government. The structure of municipal government
is also related to this issue.
There are three aspects to the efficient provision of services
demanded. These are discussed below.
B
Economies of scale
This refers to services where the per unit cost declines as the
quantity of the service provided increases. For these services,
such as sewer, water and transportation, it is more efficient for
a larger governmental body to exploit the scale economies.
B
Spillover effects
If the benefits of a particular service provided by a municipality
are enjoyed in large part by people living in other
municipalities, then an inefficient allocation of resources within
the region occurs, because some people benefit from the service
but do not contribute to the costs. Examples include the
subways and expressways provided by Metro Toronto for its
residents which are used by many living outside Metro.
Services with large spillovers should be provided at a regional
level.
.
Segmentation of demand
At one time, public finance theorists argued in favour of a
fragmented municipal structure so people could locate in the
municipality which provides the package of local services that
best suits their demands. Today, with prevailing technologies,
it is much easier to identify the individual demands for
municipal services and charge them accordingly. An example
Page 13
would be garbage collection, where in some jurisdictions
households are charged according the amount and type of
garbage they put out. For services where the beneficiaries can
be readily identified, there could be opportunities for
public-private partnerships or private sector provision.
.
Promote economic growth through enhanced competitiveness
Municipal governments can encourage economic growth
through understanding and responding positively to the needs
of the business community. Unfortunately many past and
current initiatives of municipal government, often at the
insistence of the Province, discourage rather than promote
economic competitiveness and, hence, growth. Governments
need to consider the implications of their actions, e.g., taxation,
infrastructure financing, land use and environmental controls
and regulations, and administrative procedures on the cost of
doing business with the goal of reducing costs to only those
which are essential for the achievement of other goals given
their priority relative to economic growth.
.
Create efficient land use patterns
The goal here is to remove institutional obstacles to the
efficient use of land within Metro Toronto and in the
greenfield suburban communities.
The current fragmentation of municipal governments combined
with different property tax bases in a cost minimization
environment promotes business locations outside Metro
Toronto. Similarly, environmental regulations increase the land
cost base for the reuse of obsolete industrial lands.
Page 14
CONCLUSIONS
This paper concludes that:
B
The choice of boundaries for the Toronto urban region is an important component
of local government reform in the GTA and that the GTA boundaries are a
reasonable approximation for the Toronto urban region both now and in the next
decade or two.
B
The Toronto urban region has had many successes over the past 40 years as a whole
but these have diminished over time.
B
One of the key reasons for the impressive reputation the Toronto urban region
obtained in the past was the creation of Metro Toronto which had political
boundaries that were coterminous with the Toronto regions economic boundaries.
.
The Toronto urban region is and will continue to face significant stresses and strains
including the challenges of economic competitiveness, meeting the needs of new
residents and maintaining social stability, achieving efficient land use patterns, and
providing services efficiently.
B
Guiding principles for public intervention in the Toronto urban region in the future
include the allocation of municipal service responsibilities based on efficiency,
economies of scale, spillover of benefits, and segmentation of demand.
Finally, in the authors mind, there is no question that the operation, financing and structure
of municipal government in the Toronto urban region are in need of major surgery. It is
hoped for the future of the residents of the region that government policy-makers will
recognize the scale of the problems and have the fortitude to carry out the corrective actions
that are so necessary.
Page 15
I
THE NATURE AND FUNCTIONING OF
URBAN REGIONS
A background report prepared by: L.S. Bourne, University of Toronto
June 20, 1995
METRO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION:
PAGE NO.
SETTING THE STAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
OBJECTIVES ... , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE CONTEMPORARY URBAN SCENE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS OF URBAN REGIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
FORMAL CENSUS DEFINITIONS . . . .
MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE:
A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION .
Basic Principles 1:
Basic Principles 2:
REFERENCES
ENDNOTES . .
Concept and Delimitation
Planning, Management and
INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE STAGE
This is the era of the large metropolis. In the U.S. almost 78 per cent of the nations
population now lives in metropolitan areas, and over 50 per cent in those areas with over
one million population. In Canada, where (census) metropolitan definitions are more
restrictive, the corresponding figures are 65 per cent and 32 per cent l. In both countries
governments are struggling with the complex challenges posed by uneven urban growth and
continued metropolitan concentration, by the rapid decentralization of growth within
metropolitan regions, and by the corresponding restructuring of urban economies and social
landscapes. Most of the current policy debates focus on how to address the social,
economic, political and environmental problems associated with this growth and on how to
manage, efficiently and equitably, such massive and rapidly decentralizing urban regions.
OBJECTIVES
The purpose of this brief report is two-fold: first, to provide background information - in
a concise and non-technical format - on the definition, changing nature and functioning of
contemporary urban regions; and second, to offer a set of guidelines with respect to the
conceptualization, delimitation and governance of those regions. Specifically, the report
reviews contemporary trends in urban development, outlines alternative concepts and
definitions of metropolitan areas, and summarizes the arguments for and against the
region-wide management of urban areas. The report concludes with two sets of basic
principles, first on the concept and delimitation of urban regions, and second on the
planning and governance of those regions.
The report does not provide a detailed review of recent trends in urban growth; this
information is available from other sources
z
. Nor does it evaluate alternative forms and
structures of metropolitan government in general, or the future status of Metropolitan
Toronto in particular. Instead, the focus is on the functioning of urban areas and the
rationale for regional delimitation, management and governance. The latter, in the language
of OECD, is defined as:
Page 1
t!
. . . all collective efforts focusing on the co-ordination of actors in order to
produce coherent policies addressing the major problems of urban areas
(OECD, Urban Affairs Division, 1995).
THE CONTEMPORARY URBAN SCENE
Throughout most of North America, and indeed western Europe, urban areas have become
more sharply divided between winners and losers in the competition for economic growth
and social progress. Urban decline, particularly of older industrial cities and resource-based
centres, co-exists with rapid growth. Over the 1980s several of the larger metropolitan areas
in the U.S. showed absolute population declines (e.g., Pittsburgh, Cleveland), while others
in the south and west grew by over 30 per cent (e.g., Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, San Diego).
A number of medium size urban areas grew by over 50 per cent (e.g., Austin, Orlando). As
national population growth rates decline the contrasts between winners and losers will
become more pronounced.
Canadian urban areas have grown at similar average rates over the last decade, but without
the extremes of either growth or decline
3
. The Greater Toronto Area (GTA), unlike its
immediate neighbors in the U.S. Northeast and Great Lakes regions, grew rapidly (by over
24 per cent) during the same period, primarily through the effects of immigration.
Interestingly, this was the highest rate of metropolitan growth in all of eastern North
America north of the sun-belt (Atlanta, Miami). Is this high growth rate sustainable?
In every case the physical spread or expansion of urban areas - primarily the result of
suburbanization - has exceeded the rate of population and economic growth, often
dramatically so. Rates of land consumption continue to rise and densities fall. Even
slower-growing (and declining) areas witnessed proportionally rapid expansion of their
urbanized areas. The Chicago metropolitan area, for example, recorded population growth
of less than 2 per cent during the last decade, but its geographic area expanded by over 20
per cent. Meanwhile, the Citys population declined by almost 8 per cent.
Page 2
The rate of central city population decline in comparable American metropolitan areas has
been staggering. While the City of Chicago has lost roughly 25 per cent of its population
since the 1950s, other cities such as St. Louis and Detroit have lost half their populations.
Thus, suburban spread, combined with inner city decline, continued to be the norm in the
U.S. In Canada, these trends have been considerably less pronounced to date, in part
because of the more prominent role of provincial and metropolitan governments, but the
overall directions are the same.
This complex mix of growth, decline and outward expansion, as in much of the western
world, is set in a context of increasingly fragmented structures of government, management
and service provision. In Chicago, for example, the metropolitan area now covers 3800 sq.
miles and houses just over 8 million people. It is also administered through a chaotic
mosaic of 265 local governments, six counties and nearly 1200 local taxing districts
.
There
are several regional authorities and boards operating in the greater Chicago area, but most
tend to be limited in function or they are primarily advisory.
Chicago may be an extreme example even in the U.S. And, Canadian metropolitan areas
on average are less politically divided, insular and internally competitive than their
American counterparts. Yet, the issues raised by fragmentation are much the same,
although they are influenced considerably by local circumstances. It is generally agreed that
intense political fragmentation accelerates suburbanization and inner city decline, inhibits
the efficient and equitable provision of regional infrastructure and public goods, encourages
duplication in services, reduces the overall competitiveness of the metropolitan economy
because it makes integrated economic development strategies more difficult, discourages
inter-municipal transit use, and encourages social segregation and polarization. There are,
of course, dissenters on each of these points; and reducing fragmentation will not in itself
necessarily solve any of these problems. Regional co-ordination and governance does,
however, facilitate the search for solutions. The point here is that the political separation
of city from suburb, and of one suburb from another, is a significant contributor to our
contemporary urban problems.
Page 3
CONCEPTS AND DEFINITIONS OF URBAN REGIONS
The concept of the urban region, although vague, has been with us for a very long time.
The urban historical literature is full of references to city and region. Formal applications
of the concept, however, particularly in terms of urban planning and management, are much
more recent. Among the earliest and best known uses was the New York Regional Plan of
1929. This classic study was perhaps the first to explicitly recognize the necessity of focusing
on the entire urban region, not just the central city, as the basis for effective long-term
planning and for managing the problems of an urban society.
A region is typically defined as a geographical area, more-or-less clearly bounded, that
shares certain attributes and that tends to function as a single, integrated entity or system.
Regions may be of two general types: 1) those that are homogeneous in character or
activity (e.g., wheat-growing regions), and 2) those that are nodal, in terms of their
organization and operation. Urban regions, by definition, are nodal regions. They are
centred on one or more urbanized cores, and extend outward as far as the linkages that bind
the system extend. The most commonly used measures of such linkages, in social and
economic terms, are the geographical extent of regional labour and housing markets, as
these are reflected in commuting to work and real estate market listings and transactions.
In the contemporary metropolis, unlike the compact historical city, these market areas are
large, diverse and increasingly dispersed. They also spread over vast geographic areas
irrespective of local political boundaries. For the most part, firms, investors, employers,
workers, shoppers and house-seekers do not know or care where these boundaries are.
The basic rationale for the delimitation of functional urban regions, and for the
co-ordinated management of such regions, is simply that local political boundaries typically
fail to encompass the real urban area that functions as an integrated social and economic
entity. In effect, there is a growing mis-match between the structure of political jurisdictions
within metropolitan areas and the socio-economic realities of contemporary urban life.
Page 4
One of the historical roots of fragmented government and management has been the
inability or unwillingness of city governments to annex new suburbs developing on their
outer fringes. From about 1910 on, and with the exception of some of the newer cities in
the U.S. south and western Canada, most city governments in North America ceased
annexations.
s
They did so either because they could no longer finance the infrastructure
and services required in the new suburbs or because the new suburbs were able to
incorporate and thus to resist annexation by the city. Had the older cities continued to
annex, as they had in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the political organization of
contemporary metropolitan regions would have been much more in line with the functional
urban area. The nature of our current urban problems might also have been much
different.
The result of this divergence between the urban polity and patterns of urban development
is evident in the changing ratio of city and suburban populations. In the U.S. the growth
in city populations began to diverge from suburban populations during the 1920s. In 1930
central cities contained 30.8 per cent of total U.S. population, the suburbs only 13.8 per
cent. By 1990 the cities contained 31.3 per cent of national population, while the suburbs
increased to 46.2 per cent. The latter figure represented 59.6 per cent of that countrys total
urban population. In Canada in 1991, 56.3 per cent of the urban population was defined
as suburban in that they resided outside of central cities. These shifting proportions are not
unexpected given the fact that most city boundaries have not changed significantly since the
1920s, They also produce misleading images of both city and suburb.
FORMAL CENSUS DEFINITIONS
The obvious fact that urban growth had spread far beyond city boundaries, and widespread
recognition that the separation of city and suburb in standard data sources was providing
distorted images of the nature, scale and problems of urban development, eventually
produced a response. The issue was formally addressed in the U.S. Census of 1940 through
the establishment and delimitation of two new reporting areas: urbanized areas and
metropolitan statistical areas (MSAS)
6
. The Census of Canada followed in 1951 with the
Page 5
definition of census metropolitan areas (CMA)
7
. The urbanized area, defined as the
continuously built-up urban area in which development exceeds a minimum average
population density
s
, is the more restrictive of the two and is difficult to apply. More useful
is the metropolitan area definition. The general concept underlying both the MSA and
CMA is the need to combine city and adjacent suburbs into a single functional region.
Specifically, a metropolitan area is defined as a large population nucleus together with
those adjacent communities which have a high degree of social and economic integration
with that nucleus9
.
The initial building blocks in the census definition of a metropolitan area include a central
city of at least 50,000, forming part of a larger urbanized core of a least 100,000. Outlying
suburban districts are then added to the metropolitan area if they meet certain criteria of
integration (e.g., a minimum proportion - often 50 per cent - of workers resident in that
suburb must commute to work in the urbanized core), and of metropolitan character (e.g.,
higher population density). The Canadian census uses roughly similar definitional criteria,
although it also defines extended urban areas, combining city and suburbs, for cities as
small as 10,000 population. There are no equivalent (and consistently defined) statistical
urban areas in Europe, however, region-wide authorities are common and functional urban
regions (called FURS) have been defined for larger urban areas in all western European
countries for purposes of comparative research and policy evaluation l0.
There are also numerous other ways to define an urban region. These include, for example,
the concept of the daily urban system (based on all types of daily travel), but which is
basically the same as the metropolitan area concept; the much larger region called the
urban field (based on weekly recreational and social travel), and the consolidated
metropolitan area (combining adjacent and integrated MSAs, such as Chicago, Gary and
Kenosha)ll. The equivalent criteria applied to the Toronto area would produce a
consolidated metropolitan region, combining the Toronto, Oshawa and Hamilton CMAs, of
over 4.8 million in 1991. For present purposes, however, we will use the terms metropolitan
area and urban region interchangeably, although in theory the region is typically somewhat
larger.
Page 6
There were three principal incentives for creating the initial metropolitan area designation.
One was obviously for information purposes: the need to provide basic data to governments
and the private sector, on a consistent basis, and covering areas larger than single
municipalities that together form a logical economic unit. The second incentive was for
marketing purposes, based on the recognition that the consumer market of say Toronto or
Chicago was much greater than the central city. Industries and businesses argued that they
needed the identity and visibility of an explicit metropolitan definition, in addition to
information, in order to take full advantage of (and to effectively market) the resources and
attractions of the larger urban region. The third purpose was to facilitate physical planning
and to assist in co-ordinating service provision and economic development strategies across
the entire urbanized area.
MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE: ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES
To re-iterate, the basic argument for considering city and suburb together - for information,
marketing and planning purposes - is that the two cannot logically be separated. They are,
as noted above, combined in the same labour and housing markets. They are part of the
same social space that residents use in their daily lives, and part of the same economic base
that firms utilize and that retailers depend on. Their economic fortunes and social futures
are intimately linked. The question here is whether the same taken-for-granted arguments
for region-wide economic co-ordination within the private sector also apply to government.
The private sector does not plan on the basis of out-dated local municipal boundaries, why
should the state?
The debate on the merits and demerits of metropolitan-wide planning, co-ordination and
government continues to be intense. Generally, there are four distinct forms of governance
for metropolitan regions: 1) the totally decentralized, or politically-fragmented model, with
numerous competitive local governments and few or no area-wide authorities; 2) the highly
centralized model, with widely varying forms of regional government and relatively weak
local governments; 3) uni-city forms, created through amalgamation or annexation; and 4)
special purpose regional boards and agencies designed to deliver particular public goods,
Page 7
and operating with or without an overall regional co-ordinating authority.
Almost all of the larger metropolitan areas in North America have some form of regional
agencies and area-wide authorities. Typically, these were established for the delivery of
hard services such as water, recreation, roads and sewerage. Those authorities may be
state-mandated, privately-run or based on local co-operation. Relatively few of these
authorities, at least in the U. S., have more than one function, very few address crucial social
and welfare services, and even fewer are constituted as regional governments. Canadian
urban areas, and particularly their provincial governments, have been much more aggressive
in establishing regional authorities of varying descriptions. New regional governments,
however, are now out of fashion almost everywhere. Instead, local governments in some
American metropolitan areas, and their respective state governments, are moving toward
establishing city-county co-operative agreements intended to co-ordinate regional service
provision, to harmonize local regulatory frameworks and to share the costs of public
resources.
The research literature is sharply divided on these issues. On one side of the debate are
those who argue that metropolitan-wide authorities or governments are essential for the
efficient provision of infrastructure and to maintain a moderately equitable distribution of
public goods and services. Examples of the negative consequences of not having region-wide
services are numerous. The relatively high quality of schools in older neighbourhoods of
Metropolitan Toronto, which does have revenue sharing, in contrast to the relatively low
quality of schools in the inner cities of comparable American metropolitan areas, which
usually do not have metropolitan school districts or revenue sharing, is a case in point.
Undoubtedly there are economies of scale in the provision of most types of urban
infrastructure, at least up to a point. One large transit or sewer system, on average, is more
efficient than ten smaller ones. It is also generally true that the presence of regional-wide
authorities, particularly those with taxing and expenditure powers, does allow for a sharing
of the costs and benefits resulting from urban development, and for the redistribution of
wealth through service provision (e.g., transit and school subsidies). As a result, differences
in the quality of living environments within the urban area can be minimized.
Page 8
On the other side of the debate are those who argue that larger administrative units are
increasingly inefficient; in other words that diseconomies of scale have set in, and the per
capita costs of services have begun to rise. The research evidence available here is
decidedly mixed 12. Larger urban centres, on average, do tend to have higher per capita
servicing costs, and for some functions diseconomies set in earlier than for others. The
difficulty in making such comparisons, however, is that the services required in larger centres
tend to be broader and are often more expensive than those required in smaller
communities.
The argument is also made, often on ideological grounds, that insisting on uniform
region-wide servicing standards restricts individual choice 13. It does so because people
within a single metropolitan service district do not usually have the choice of opting out of
certain services or of accepting a lower quality of services, in exchange for lower taxes.
From this perspective, the politically-fragmented metropolis is said to be the most
economically efficient model because it ensures that only those services actually demanded
by the public will be provided.
Critics of the latter school of thought, in contrast, argue that emphasizing individual choice
and localized service provision, especially within a context of decentralized government, is
self-defeating. It will, they suggest, invariably produce higher long-term costs. It may also
result in a more highly polarized and inequitable urban landscape with sharp differences in
the quality of services and living environments among local communities. Older
municipalities typically have higher direct servicing costs, not because they are more
inefficient, but largely because of their population structure, their older building stock and
infrastructure, and the diverse functions they perform in and for the entire metropolitan
region, and specifically those for lower income households. These groups will suffer the
most in this scenario.
In one sense both arguments are correct, but only partially so. Urban areas with
metropolitan governments or regional authorities, such as Toronto and Portland, or large
uni-city governments, such as Calgary and San Antonio, tend to have lower levels of social
inequalities among local communities. Those with fragmented government structures, on
Page 9
average, have higher levels of inequalities, but lower overall servicing costs, at least in the
short run. The challenge is to find an appropriate balance for any given metropolitan area:
what functions should be provided at what geographic scale, and by whom. There is no
single best solution. But what is clear is that the absence of any regional authority, and
without direct and extensive senior government (e.g., provincial government) involvement,
social inequalities will continue to increase across the metropolitan area.
A FRAMEWORK FOR EVALUATION
Drawing on the preceding review, what basic principles can be suggested as a guide for
assessing alternative definitions, development strategies and administrative structures for the
governance of large, diverse and increasingly complex urban regions? To conclude this
report, two sets of principles are proposed; one relating to the concepts and criteria of
metropolitan area (regional) delimitation, and the second to questions of regional
management, planning and governance.
Basic Principles 1: Concept and Delimitation
1. Urban regions and metropolitan areas are not products of abstract speculation; they
actually do exist.
2. There is no single definition or delimitation of an urban region that is appropriate
for all purposes; the most suitable definition depends on the purpose and the criteria
used. A commuting region (a labour market area), for example, is different from a
conservation or ecological region.
3. The most common definition of an urban region, and the closest approximation we
have to a functional urban region, is the census-defined metropolitan area (CMA).
In the Toronto case, the GTA, although defined using political boundaries, is very
similar in area and population to the combined CMAs of Toronto and Oshawa (and
Burlington)
14
.
Page 10
4. The rationale for defining such regions, for statistical, marketing and management
purposes, is that the various parts of the region (city, suburb, fringe), operate as a
single entity - as single labour and housing markets (albeit with numerous
submarkets), as well as functioning as ecological systems and spaces of social
interaction. City and suburb cannot be understood or managed in isolation.
5. The scale and degree of integration, both social and economic, among municipalities
within contemporary urban regions is increasing as labour and housing markets
become larger, more geographically-dispersed and more inter-dependent.
6. Some form of regional perspective and regional direction and policy co-ordination
is essential since most metropolitan areas are politically-fragmented. In almost all
cases local municipal boundaries are out-dated, and considerably under-estimate the
physical and economic size of the region. Toronto is a clear example of
under-bounding urban development, even with the existence of the Metropolitan
municipality l5.
7. The boundaries of metropolitan regions are seldom precise; urbanized landscapes
and economies blend into predominantly rural ones.
8. The margins of these regions extend outward from the urbanized core as far as the
influence of that core dominates local housing and labour markets, commercial
activities, life styles and land prices.
Basic Principles 2: Planning, Management and Governance
1. Urban regions, as both market areas and social spaces, should be managed as a
functional entity to facilitate economic growth, efficiency and competitiveness, the
co-ordination of public service provision and the sharing of the social costs and
benefits that flow from urban development.
2. The geographic size of the management area should, in theory and in practice,
conform to the dominant market areas (e.g., labour markets, real estate areas).
3. The most suitable framework for the management and governance of a metropolitan
region will vary from place to place, and in many instances will not necessarily
involve a formal metropolitan government structure.
Page 11
4. The services provided at different jurisdictional levels within the region should be
those that can be most efficiently provided at that level: some services will be
primarily local, some will be community-wide, others will be region-wide. The rule
of thumb is that the lowest level of government or authority that can provide the
service efficiently, while maintaining social equity, should have the responsibility.
Efficiency and equity, in turn, must be defined over the entire region not over some
small arbitrary part of it.
5. The economic vitality and external competitiveness of all parts of an urban region
depend on combining the strengths and market attributes of the whole region.
Silicon Valley, despite common perceptions, did not develop in isolation, but rather
as an integral part of a large metropolitan region (San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose
CMSA) with immense social and economic resources. In the local case, Markham,
Brampton and Mississauga are equally part of the larger Toronto region; like other
so-called edge cities they would not exist in their present form without the region.
6, The social vitality of an urban region depends on sharing the social costs and
responsibilities of growth and change in the region, particularly with respect to the
most disadvantaged in society. The fact that the poor may be disproportionally
concentrated in a few jurisdictions does not absolve other jurisdictions in the region
from sharing the social burden. These poor belong to the metropolitan area, if not
the entire province.
7. A politically-fragmented metropolitan area, with weak or non-existent regional
governance, can contribute to higher levels of social inequality and to a depressed
inner city as investors, employers and residents seek out artificially low-cost locations.
8. In the long run a severely depressed inner city impacts on social stability and the
quality of life throughout the metropolitan area.
9. The most successful urban areas, in social and economic terms, tend to be those that
have achieved some form of regional co-ordination and city-suburban co-operation,
and specifically those with some form of revenue-sharing; those where local
governments have pooled their assets (e.g., labour skills, financial institutions,
industrial innovation) for economic renewal and collectively addressed their joint
liabilities (e.g., pollution, congestion, poverty); and those who have managed to limit
differences among municipalities in the quality of local services and living
environments.
Page 12
10.
11.
12.
Cultural, social andi educational facilities, and the quality of urban life generally,
now prime determinants of urban economic growth.
Such facilities are almost all
regional rather than local in their clientele and their impacts.
One of the most difficult challenges is to encourage greater awareness an
appreciation of the importance, for long-term economic viability, of a region
perspective on urban development; that is, to encourage regional/metropolita
thinking and action.
The restructuring of local municipal government, even when set within a fragment
*
metropolis, is clearly not one of the major problems facing urban resident
Nevertheless, a fragmented structure of governance does contribute to creating
uneven playing field for the operation of land and building markets and for urb
development in general. It does so by encouraging development to concentrate o
those municipalities with the weakest regulatory environment and the lowest level
taxes. This unevenness is not only inequitable, it is also economically inefficien
Reducing fragmentation and encouraging effective regional policies and governan
will not in themselves solve urban problems, but they can contribute to levelling t
playing field on which development takes place.
As Henry Cisneros, former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urb
Development, and former Mayor of San Antonio, argues: urban regionalism, which
defines as metropolitan-wide co-operation, provides the new geography of opportunity
terms of encouraging economic growth 16.
13. Urban regions will be managed; the question is how and by whom. In the absen
of metropolitan authorities, agencies or formal governments, other forms of impl
governance will of necessity take their place. Usually these forms involve inform
public-private coalitions (sometimes called hidden governments), private corporati
and other market actors, institutions, as well as the effect on the pattern of urb
development of local differences in municipal regulations and taxes, and entrench
local self-interest. Is this the way to design a region?
Page 13
REFERENCES
Bourne, L.S. 1992. Self-Fulfilling Prophecies?: Decentralization, Inner City Decline and
Quality of Urban Life, Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 58, 4: 509-514.
Bourne, L.S. 1995. Urban Growth and Population Redistribution in North America: A
Diverse and Uneven Landscape. MR No. 32, Centre for Urban and Community Studies,
University of Toronto.
Bunting, T. and Filion, P. eds. 1991. Canadian Cities in Transition. Toronto: Oxford
University Press.
Cheshire, P. 1989. Urban Problems in Western Europe: An Economic Analysis. London:
Unwin.
Cisneros, H.G. 1995. Regionalism: The New Geographv of Opportunity. Washington DC:
Dept. of Housing and Urban Development.
Downs, A. 1994. New Visions for Metropolitan America. Washington DC: The Brookings
Institution.
Frank, J.E. 1989. The Costs of Alternative Development Patterns: A Review of the
Literature. Washington DC: The Urban Institute.
Frey, W. 1993. The New Urban Revival in the United States, Urban Studies, 30, 4/5:
741-774.
Frey, W. 1995. The New Geography of Population Shifts: Trends Towards Balkanization,
in R. Farley, ed. State of the Union: America in the 1990s. Vol II. New York: Russell Sage,
pp. 271-334
Frisken, F. ed. 1994. The Changing Canadian Metropolis. (2 vols.). Toronto: The Canadian
Urban Institute; and Berkeley: University of California press.
Garreau, J. 1991. Edge City: Life on the New Frontier. New York: Doubleday.
Hart, J. F. ed. 1991. Our Changing Cities. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Lemon, J. 1985. Toronto Since 1918. Toronto: Lorimer
Merrill, R. 1991. Myths of Metropolis, in J.F. Hart, ed. Our Changing Cities. Baltimore:
Johns Hopkins, pp. 1-11.
OECD, 1992. The Economic. Social and Environmental Problems of Cities. Paris:
OECD.
Page 14
OECD, 1995. Cities: Where the Global Meets the Local, Urban Affairs Newsletter,
N.5, March, Paris.
Pumain, D. et al. 1994. Le Concept Statistique de la Vine en Europe. Brussels: Statistical
Office of the European Communities.
Rust, D. 1993. Cities without Suburbs. Washington DC: Woodrow Wilson Center.
Sewell, J. 1994. The Shape of the City. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
ENDNOTES
1. The Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver metropolitan areas contained 31.6% of the
countrys population.
2. Recent overviews of urban development include Hart (1991), Downs (1994) and Frey
(1993 and 1995) for the U. S., and Frisken (1994), Sewell (1994) and Bourne (1995) for
Canada.
3. Among the larger centres, only Sydney -Glace Bay (NS) declined in absolute terms.
4. The Economist, Oct.15, 1994.
5. The historical experience with annexation and metropolitan government in Toronto is
reviewed in Lemon (1985).
6. The U.S. Bureau of Management and Budget defined 284 metropolitan statistical areas
(MSAs) in the 1990 Census, housing over 193 million people.
7. The Census of Canada in 1991 defined 25 census metropolitan areas with a total of 16
million people. In recognition of the fact that cities smaller than 100,000 population also
have suburbs, the Census defined another category called census agglomeration (CAs) for
all urban areas of over 10,000 (but under 100,000) population. These definitions are
reviewed in Bunting and Filion (1991).
8. Typically that minimum density is 1000 persons per square kilometre.
Page 15
9. Statistical Abstract of the U.S., 1991, p. 3.
10. A summary of the European experience with functional urban regions is provided in
Cheshire (1989) and Pumain (1994).
11. The U.S. Census in 1990 defined 12 consolidated metropolitan statistical areas (CMSAs)
in those situations in which single metropolitan areas (MSAs) are adjacent and their labour
markets overlapping (e.g. Dallas and Fort Worth; Washington and Baltimore; Chicago-
Gary).
12. A detailed review of the literature on the servicing costs of alternative forms of urban
development is provided in Frank (1989).
13. This school of thought is generally referred to as the public choice paradigm.
14. The major difference between the CMA (metropolitan area) definition and that of the
GTA, in addition to the inclusion of the Durham region (which is largely the Oshawa
CMA), is the inclusion of Burlington (part of Halton region) within the GTA. In the Census,
Burlington is part of the Hamilton CMA.
15. The City of Toronto, as the traditional central city of the region, now contains only 15%
of the metropolitan area population. Metro Toronto, which at its inception accommodated
nearly 90% of the regions population, now houses only one half of that population. Over
time Metro has become the central city of the region while the City has become its inner
city.
16. H.G. Cisneros, 1995. Regionalism: The New Geograhy of Opportunity. Washington
DC: Department of Housing and Urban Development, March.
Page 16
REVIEW OF METROS FISCAL REFORM
INITIATIVES
A background report prepared by: Corporate Planning Division
June 19, 1995
METRO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
METROS EFFORTS TO REFORM THE MUNICIPAL FINANCE SYSTEM . . . . . 2
Changing Municipal Role . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Themes in Fiscal Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
INTRODUCTION
Metro has played an important role in fiscal reform and has made significant contributions
to the municipal finance debate. Recent examples of Metros direct involvement in
advocating fiscal reform include adopting reassessment plans in 1989 and 1992; providing
direct input to the Fair Tax Commission, the disentanglement initiative (1992-93) and the
Provincial-Municipal Financial Relationship Committee (the Hopcroft Report, 1991); and
issuing discussion papers on Metros finances such as Metro Toronto Matters: An Agenda
for Fiscal Reform in Metro Toronto (1995) and The Crumbing Financial Partnership
(1989). The major recommendations and ideas on financing reform proposed in these
initiatives, and summarized in this report, represent the outcome of Councils substantial
investment in consultations with the public, business groups, public sector partners, the
province, and other stakeholders. Councils input to the Task Force on the Future of the
GTA represents another opportunity to continue Metros commitment to improving the
municipal finance system.
The Task Force on the Future of the GTA was established with an immediate mandate to
recommend reforms that address the municipal finance problems that affect the economic
competitiveness of Metro Toronto. The task force has commenced its review of the
municipal finance system and of recent studies which propose changes to the property tax
system. To date, the task force has not indicated which options it will be examining in
greater detail and which, in all likelihood, will constitute the basis for its proposed reforms.
Until such proposals are made and the impacts are known, the development of any Metro
position(s) at this time may be premature.
In preparation for a fiscal reform submission to the task force, it would be useful for
Council to review both its previous financial reform initiatives along with the principles that
underlay a sound municipal finance system. Council can evaluate its previous financial
reform efforts against these principles and determine which ones may be considered as part
of a fiscal reform strategy. In the interim, the Chief Administrative Officer has identified,
in a letter to Anne Golden (see appendix), a number of options recommended for study.
Page 1
The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the various Metro efforts to reform
the municipal finance system. The companion report prepared by Enid Slack, entitled
Principles of a Municipal Finance System,
discusses the principles that support a
reasonable and sustainable municipal finance system.
METROS EFFORTS TO REFORM THE MUNICIPAL FINANCE SYSTEM
Changing Municipal Role
The rationale supporting the current municipal finance system generally does not seem to
work well in Ontario. The municipal finance system has not reflected the changing role that
municipalities have undergone and is a dated outlook on municipal governments as primarily
providers of services to property (e.g., fire and roads). This static view may well have
characterized municipalities years ago, but over time, local responsibilities expanded and
municipal governments have come to play a larger role in both the local economy and
quality of life. Metro, for example, was assigned responsibility for a number of people
services - a clear variation from the traditional municipal role as a provider of services to
property. Included among these added responsibilities are welfare assistance, homes for the
aged, day care, hostels and ambulance services. Metros financial contribution towards these
services has been funded largely through the property tax. A number of studies have
questioned the appropriateness of the property tax as a source of funding for these human
services.
As the role of municipalities evolved along with new responsibilities, the local revenue base,
including the property tax, provincial grants and user fees, adjusted very slowly to fund these
additional services. However, the level of provincial grants, especially in recent years, has
been modified as a result of the deficit fighting problems of the province. This is perhaps
best illustrated by the significant reductions to the unconditional grants resulting from the
provinces social contract and the expenditure reduction program. Metros unconditional
grants alone have been cut $79 million under both these provincial initiatives. Although
provincial grants as a share of Metros total revenues have actually increased over the past
Page 2
few years, from 36 per cent in 1990 to 51 per cent in 1994, this has resulted mainly from
substantially increased welfare spending during the recession and masks the underlying
effect of grant modifications. The largest share of provincial grant shortfalls have been
offset through the property tax. Many municipalities have called for a new municipal act,
such as the recent legislation in Alberta, to redefine municipal responsibilities and financing.
Themes in Fiscal Reform
The development of strategies to combat increased dependency upon the property tax
represents a major component of Metros financial reform agenda. Metros efforts over the
past twenty-some years can be categorized into three distinct yet interrelated themes:
B
rationalizing municipal services
.
revenue diversification
B
property assessment reform
Rationalizing municipal services
Current spending responsibilities funded from property taxes need to be sorted out between
those that belong on the property tax base and those that should be funded from other
revenue sources. Metro has argued that municipal responsibility should be limited to those
services that have been traditionally delivered locally and financed from the property tax
base (e.g., police, fire and parks) and user fees (e.g., water and sewer), and whose conditions
governing the demand for these services remain largely under the control of municipalities.
A number of studies, such as the Hopcroft report and the Fair Tax Commission, have
indicated that services which provide benefits to the general public or which represent a
redistribution of income, such as general welfare assistance and education should be
removed from the property tax and funded from revenue sources that better reflect an
ability to pay. In addition, those services which demonstrate a direct relationship between
services consumed and clearly identifiable consumers should also be removed from the
property tax and funded through user fees.
Page 3
General welfare assistance: The disentanglement initiative generally represented the type of
rational ordering of services that Metro has argued would lead to improved accountability
to the public for program management, delivery and overall spending among governments.
The removal of GWA from the property tax - the key feature of disentanglement between
the province and the municipal sector, has continually been supported Metro. The extensive
role that Metro plays in the funding and delivering social services made it a pre-eminent
participant during the disentanglement initiative. Metro has argued that GWA constitutes
income redistribution and should be funded by the province, although
involved in the delivery of GWA services on a fee for service basis.
Metro could remain
Should GWA payments not be removed from the property tax base, then the sharing of the
municipal GWA contributions amongst GTA municipalities could be considered, as
discussed in Agenda for Fiscal Reform. The urbanized portions of the GTA have
increasingly become one economic region whose municipalities jointly benefit from
investments in infrastructure and economic spin-offs generated regionally. GWA payments
serve as economic stabilizers to these communities during difficult economic circumstances
and could be shared in order not to overly burden any one municipality with GWA
contributions. In addition, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between place
of employment and place of residency due to the large volume of cross commuting in the
GTA. A formula to establish the basis for sharing the municipal GWA portion would need
to be determined.
board portion of the property tax bill in most Ontario
than half of the total. It goes without saying that any
Education Finance: The school
municipalities amounts to more
progress towards addressing Metro Torontos school board dependency on the property tax
(all other things held constant) will improve Metro Torontos competitiveness. Many
municipalities across Ontario including Metro Toronto, supported the Fair Tax Commission
recommendation to remove education from the residential property tax. However, it is
evident that such a measure would require adjusting either income or sales taxes or both
to absorb $3.5 billion in residential property taxes. This tax shift would result in increased
tax rates to a degree that negatively impacts Ontarios competitiveness.
Page 4
Close examination of the Metro Toronto School Boards (MTSB) higher spending relative
to the other GTA school boards is largely a function of the high volume of special needs
concentrated within Metro Toronto (e.g., language training). Little or no provincial grant
funding is provided for such programs to the MTSB because existing provincial education
funding formulas indicate that Metro Torontos relatively higher value assessment base can
sufficiently fund approved expenditures. Although the MTSB is eligible for program specific
grants such as language grants, this funding is not received because the MTSB experiences
an overall negative grant which cancels out any eligible grant funding.
Agenda for Fiscal Reform states that provincial education grant funding formulas need to
be adjusted to recognize the sizeable special needs experienced by the Metro Toronto school
boards and others. Grant calculations should include variables that measure broad
socio-economic characteristics such as local levels of poverty, level of parental education
attainment and income background and local immigration levels, which may indicate special
or above average pupil needs. In addition, certain school board expenditures which support
elements that are more typical of the general social safety net (e.g., family counseling)
should be entirely funded by the province, The removal of such social benefits from the
property tax base is consistent with the position that GWA should not be funded from the
property tax.
Agenda for
property tax
establishing
Fiscal Reform also stated that should education expenditures
base, then the option of sharing non-residential assessment for
remain on the
the purpose of
a provincial education property tax could be considered as an alternative.
However, given current provincial deficit pressures and future reduction in federal grants,
safeguards to ensure that the province allocates property tax resources to fund education,
for which the province is responsible, and not other provincial commitments, are vital. The
pooling of non-residential assessment for education purposes has been practiced by other
provinces in Canada for sometime. The Metro Chief Administrative Officer indicated to
the task force that detailed impacts are required in order to evaluate this option.
Page 5
Revenue diversification
Metro has argued that if municipalities continue to assume expenditure responsibility for
additional services, municipal governments should be given access to alternative revenue
sources in order to adequately fund these services. In other words, the Province cannot
expect municipalities to take on additional responsibilities without providing them with the
financial means to deliver the services, This would only exacerbate over reliance on the
property tax. It is anticipated that the property tax will continue to experience increased
pressure over the next few years as the province introduces further changes in grant funding
levels in order to cope with reduced federal transfers as announced in the federal
governments 1995 budget.
Some have argued that municipalities should be given access to other revenues sources to
fund existing expenditures so that there is greater revenue diversification as is the case in
U.S. cities. Many other provinces have instituted revenue sharing agreements with their
municipalities. In British Columbia, for example, municipalities have access to a share of
provincial income, sales and gasoline taxes.
A number of new revenue sources including gasoline, hotel and telecommunication taxes
and lotteries have been identified as potential alternative revenues for Metro. In addition,
existing user fees, as argued by the Fair Tax Commission, can be expanded or new ones
imposed to charge specific consumers for municipal services directly consumed (e.g., waste
collection and disposal).
Business occupancy tax: There are five rates of business occupancy taxes applied as a
percentage of a propertys realty assessment: 75 per cent for distillers, financial institutions
and warehousing; 60 per cent for manufacturers; 50 per cent for retail and professional
services; 30 per cent for gas and service stations and any unassigned uses; and 25 per cent
for parking lots. Many, including the Fair Tax Commission, have called for the abolition
of the business occupancy tax. However, the business occupancy tax represents a large
revenue source which cannot easily be replaced by any single source.
Page 6
Many alternatives to the business occupancy tax have been proposed, including payroll taxes,
rolling the five rates into one, and merging it into the realty tax and made the responsibility
of the landlord to collect. These alternatives have advantages and disadvantages which need
to be reviewed including their impact on business competitiveness. In its response to the
Fair Tax Commission, Metro supported the review of alternatives to the business occupancy
tax.
From the Metro perspective, fiscal reform over the short-term could address those
responsibilities that should be removed from the property tax base (e.g., general welfare
assistance), the discrepancies in provincial grants between Metro Toronto and the
surrounding GTA municipalities, particularly as they relate to the education system, and the
need to provide municipalities with access to alternative revenue sources. Progress with
these measures over the short-term would aid assessment reform by reducing the amount
of taxes required.
Property assessment reform
In recognition of the importance of the property tax as the only tax source exclusively
available to municipalities in Ontario and because the property tax constitutes the largest
source of revenue to local governments in Metro Toronto, Metro has continually stated that
the property assessment based upon which property taxes are applied must be fair and
consistent. Metro has been actively involved in assessment reform over the past fifteen
years, primarily through its efforts to implement a combination of provincial reassessment
programs with Metro defined phase-in measures of tax relief.
Perhaps no other issue has galvanized public scrutiny of the property taxation system as
assessment reform. Furthermore, it is argued that assessment reform could be achieved with
relatively less controversy if the total amount of the property tax bill were reduced through
other measures of reform, such as the removal of GWA.
Market value assessment: Metro reviewed alternative assessment and taxation systems
(including market value, unit value, site value, reassessment at time of sale, poll taxation,
and income taxation) in 1989 and concluded that market value was the most appropriate
Page 7
method on which to base an assessment system. Council subsequently approved a
reassessment plan based on 1984 market values. This plan was revised (at the request of
the province) to use 1988 market values and included phase-in measures. The plan, as
adopted by Council in 1992, was rejected by the province. Council subsequently approved
a plan in 1993 using equalized assessment to apportion the Metro levy in a manner
consistent with other regions which have not implemented reassessment. This plan was also
rejected by the province.
The Council approved reassessment plan was introduced as a means of updating property
assessments, some of which date back to 1940 values, and correcting inequities within the
classes of property. Although the plan would not have corrected the current tax burden
discrepancy between property classes (i.e., residential and non-residential classes), the
reassessment plan was considered as the first step before further reforms regarding
assessment and taxation issues could be addressed. Both the disentanglement initiative and
the report of the Fair Tax Commission represented opportunities to initiate significant
municipal finance reforms. However, these proposed reforms have not proceeded.
The Fair Tax Commission stated that the state of the assessment system in Ontario is in
disarray. As part of its input to the Fair Tax Commission, Metro indicated that rather than
abandoning market value as the basis for the assessment system, as recommended by the
commission, efforts to improve the existing system should be
inconsistencies in assessment practices and the distortions that
In order to address the inherent flaws or to level the assessment
undertaken to address the
have developed over time.
playing field, it was argued
that the assessment system should produce fair and consistent market values. Municipalities
should implement full market value assessments, but be provided with the flexibility to apply
different or variable mill rates for different classes of property (compared to the existing two
mill rates for residential and non-residential classes). This flexibility would enable
municipalities to address their own particular taxation equity problems, while making any
variation in property class tax burden visible to the public and making councils accountable
for this variation. Current tax burdens are hidden within the existing assessment system
which is partly why the current system is poorly understood by the public. The province
Page 8
would likely need to establish some rules to limit the amount by which
from some provincial average in order to prevent municipalities
preferential tax treatment to attract business.
mill rates can vary
from engaging in
Metros support for a market value assessment is consistent with other jurisdictions in
Canada, the United States and elsewhere that are also dependent upon the property tax as
a major source of tax revenue. Metro has acknowledged that assessment reform, regardless
of method used, will remain contentious because there will always be winners and losers.
Nevertheless, a fair and consistent basis for property assessment in Metro Toronto is vital
if the municipality as a whole is to remain competitive. No one wins if businesses cannot
operate within Metro Toronto.
CONCLUSIONS
Metro has been directly involved in many reform initiatives that encompass most segments
of the municipal finance system. A review of Metros financial reform initiatives provides
key messages for the GTA Task Force to consider when evaluating the feasibility of options.
.
Those services that represent income redistribution should not be funded from the
property tax.
B
The appropriate use of the property tax to fund municipal services enhances
municipal governments accountability to the taxpayer and ideally promotes the
publics understanding of how services are funded. This plays an important role in
anticipation of other reforms, particularly reassessment because some taxpayers will
object to paying more taxes as a result of a reassessment and will likely demand that
property taxes are justified as the basis for funding services.
B
Metro has argued the need for municipalities to access additional sources of revenue
and expand user fees in order to fund increasing service responsibilities without
further burdening the property tax. A sound financial system encourages diversity
Page 9
in the revenue mix which provides municipalities with added flexibility in funding
expenditures.
B
The guidelines for assessment reform must be outlined by the GTA Task Force in
order that the province and municipalities fully understand the timeframe and
commitment necessary to undertake any proposed reforms. Metros experience with
assessment reform indicates that there is never an ideal time to implement
reassessment and delay makes the task more difficult over time. It bears repeating
that reductions in the amount of the tax bill through any of the reforms required
(e.g., welfare, education), will assist the implementation of assessment reforms.
The common principles that underlie a strong municipal financial system, as identified in
the companion report, provide a yardstick against which to measure Metros actions for
fiscal reform. This evaluation can assist Council in developing a position for submission to
the task force.
Page 10
PRINCIPLES OF A MUNICIPAL
FINANCE SYSTEM
A background report prepared by: Enid Slack Consulting Inc.
June 19, 1995
METRO
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
THE ROLE OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT ., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PAYING FOR MUNICIPAL SERVICES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PRINCIPLES FOR EVALUATING REVENUE SOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
APPLYING THE PRINCIPLES TO THE ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this report is to develop a set of principles that support a strong municipal
finance system and to show how these principles can be used to evaluate different options
for financial reform in Metro Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The options
evaluated are those that are presented in the accompanying CAOS report: matching
services to governments (rationalizing municipal services), revenue diversification and
property assessment reform.
THE ROLE OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
The role of municipal government needs to be considered in the context of the role of
government in the economy in general. The three major functions of government are: to
provide goods and services, to redistribute income and to stabilize the economy (to maintain
stable employment, prices and economic growth). It is not appropriate for local
governments to carry out monetary and fiscal policies for stabilization purposes nor is it
appropriate for them to focus on redistributing income. These functions are performed
better by federal and provincial governments.
The main role for municipal government is to provide goods and services within a specific
geographic area. Indeed, to provide goods and services efficiently, a significant municipal
government role is required. Ideally, the government jurisdiction that provides these goods
and services should include all of those people who demand the same public goods and the
benefits should be enjoyed by residents of those jurisdictions. Where the benefits of the
service spillover beyond local boundaries, there may be a role for the province to ensure
that the optimal level of service is provided.
PAYING FOR MUNICIPAL SERVICES
To provide goods and services efficiently, municipal governments should charge directly
wherever possible. In this way, the user of the service knows how much it costs to provide
Page 1
it and can make an efficient, informed choice on how much to consume. When consumers
are not charged directly for their use of a service, they are likely to consume too much or
too little. A user fee is similar to the price charged in the marketplace for privately
produced goods and services. User fees can be used to finance services such as water,
sewers, transit, waste management, and recreation.
Direct charging is not always possible, however. Direct charging cannot be used where
income distribution is an important consideration, for example in the provision of welfare
services. Direct charging is also difficult to use where the benefits of a service spillover to
residents in other jurisdictions. For example, the benefits of education are enjoyed not only
by people in the jurisdiction in which the education expenditures are made but also by
people in other jurisdictions. To finance these services, it may be necessary to use
broad-based taxes such as income or sales taxes.
Direct charging is also not appropriate where it is difficult to identify beneficiaries or where
it is costly to exclude those who do not pay. These services provide a general benefit to the
community but the individual beneficiaries cannot be easily identified. These services
include, for example, parks, roads, police, snow removal and planning. To finance these
types of services, municipal governments should levy taxes that are borne by local residents.
The property tax is appropriate for financing services that are of general benefit to the
people in the community.
PRINCIPLES FOR EVALUATING REVENUE SOURCES
A number of principles can be used to evaluate the property tax and other revenue sources:
Fairness: The two principles of fairness are benefits-received and ability-to-pay. Under the
benefits-received principle, people pay for services according to the benefits they receive,
Fairness means that people receiving similar services should pay similar taxes or charges.
Taxpayers are more likely to support taxes which are directly related to services. For
example, if people believe that the revenues from a local fuel tax are being used to finance
local road improvements, they are more likely to perceive that the tax is fair.
Page 2
Under the ability-to-pay principle, people pay for services according to their
ability to pay taxes. Fairness means that people in similar circumstances pay
similar taxes; people in different circumstances pay different taxes. In the
case of the property tax, for example, people tend to compare their taxes with
those of their neighbors. They perceive the tax to be fair if people in
comparable houses are paying comparable taxes.
Efficiency: Taxes represent a cost to the taxpayer for the government services that they
consume. In response to taxes, taxpayers will alter their economic decisions to minimize
their tax liability. Individuals may change where they live and work, the improvements they
make to their houses and other economic decisions. Businesses may alter where they locate
their businesses, how many people they employ and other business decisions. An efficient
tax is one that minimizes the negative impact of the tax on economic decisions made by
individuals and businesses.
Accountability: To the extent that citizens finance the activities of municipal governments,
accountability means that taxes should be designed in ways that are clear to taxpayers so
that policymakers are held accountable by taxpayers for the cost of government. To the
extent that local public services are financed by provincial transfers, municipal governments
need to be accountable to the provincial government. Accountability in the public sector
is like the bottom line in the private sector.
Accountability to taxpayers is most easily achieved when expenditures are
linked to taxes or fees. People know what they are getting for the tax paid
and are better able to judge whether the expenditure level is appropriate. For
municipal governments to be accountable to taxpayers, the tax system needs
to be simple and understandable. If taxpayers do not understand how their
taxes have been calculated, they are less able to understand if the amount
levied is fair and appropriate.
Local Autonomy: Since the main role of municipal government is to provide the services
that people in their jurisdiction want, the municipal government needs to have the autonomy
to provide those services. If residents of a community want more (or less) of a service, for
Page 3
example, the municipal government should be able to respond to those demands. To
respond to local demands, municipal governments require access to locally generated
revenues such as property taxes and user fees.
Without local taxing authority, the
community will have little control over the quantity and quality of services it receives.
Administrative Fairness: Administrative fairness refers to how a tax is implemented. A fair
tax that is badly administered can become an unfair tax. The determination of the tax base,
for example, has to be systematic and understandable to the taxpayer. If the property is
based on market value but the values are out of date, then a potentially fair tax will be
inequitable, People in similar housing will not be assessed at a similar proportion of market
value and will not be paying similar taxes.
Revenue Stability: For municipal governments, it is desirable to have a stable source of
revenue. Volatile revenue sources can mean possible increases in tax rates or cutbacks in
services. Stable revenue sources mean municipal governments will be able to maintain
stable levels of service.
APPLYING THE PRINCIPLES TO THE ISSUES
Metros initiatives to reform the municipal finance system have focused on three themes:
.
matching services to governments (rationalizing municipal services)
B
revenue diversification
.
property assessment reform
Matching services to governments
The role of municipal government, as noted above, is to provide goods and services within
a particular geographic area. Where there are income distribution considerations in the
provision of a service, it is appropriate for the province to fund the service. Where the
benefits of a service spillover beyond local boundaries, there is also a role for the provincial
government to fund some portion of that service. Based on these principles, local
responsibility for welfare and education have been questioned.
Page 4
Welfare
Welfare assistance is a form of income redistribution. For this reason, it is more
appropriate for welfare to be funded by the provincial government. Further, the income tax
(which is a provincial revenue source) is a more appropriate tool for redistributing income
than is the property tax (which is a municipal revenue source) because the income tax better
reflects the ability-to-pay of taxpayers.
There is general agreement that welfare should be removed from the property tax at the
local level and be funded by the province. Provincial funding of welfare has been
recommended by Metro, the Hopcroft Report and Fair Tax Commission. Welfare is
provincially funded in six Canadian provinces (Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New
Brunswick, Quebec, Saskatchewan and Alberta).
Education
There is less general agreement over which level of government should fund education.
Education is a service that is characterized by spillovers. It is also a service for which
equality of opportunity is important: everyone should be entitled to at least a basic level
of education, regardless of the wealth of the community in which they live. For these
reasons, it has been argued that education expenditures should be funded by the province
from general provincial revenues (as is done in Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, New
Brunswick, Alberta and British Columbia)
On the other hand, it has been argued that some local funding is required to permit local
autonomy and accountability. If one community wants to provide a different level of service
than permitted by the amount of funds received from the province, local funding would
provide the opportunity to do so (some local funding is used in the five remaining
provinces). The question of responsibility for funding education boils down to a tradeoff
between equity (fairness) on one side and autonomy and accountability on the other.
In those provinces where there is complete provincial funding of education, the provincial
government generally levies a property tax on non-residential property (in some provinces
there is also a provincial levy on residential property taxes). A number of bodies have
Page 5
recommended a provincial uniform property tax on non-residential property to be used for
education in Ontario (for example, the Board of Trade, and the Fair Tax Commission).
This is known as provincial pooling. The rationale for provincial pooling is based on
equity and efficiency. On equity grounds, it is argued that the benefits received by
businesses from a well educated and highly skilled labour force are linked to the education
system in the province as a whole and not necessarily the expenditures made in a particular
jurisdiction. On efficiency grounds, it is argued that a uniform province-wide tax will reduce
the incentive for businesses to re-locate in response to property taxes.
The advantage of a provincial property tax on non-residential property for Metro Toronto
is that the non-residential property tax would fall (because the average rate of tax across the
province is lower than the rate in Metro Toronto).
There are two potential disadvantages from provincial pooling. First, there is no guarantee
that the property taxes collected would be used for education. In those provinces that levy
a provincial property tax, the tax goes into the general revenues of the province and is not
earmarked for education.
Second, it is not clear how the funds
the school boards in the province.
collected by the province would be distributed among
Currently, the Metropolitan Toronto School Board
receives virtually no provincial grants and it funds education almost entirely out of property
tax revenues. Also, its expenditures per pupil are higher than the provincial average. If
property taxes were pooled province-wide and distributed to each school board on the basis
of average expenditures per pupil in the province, the Metro School Board would have less
funds to spend than it does under the current system. The overall impact of provincial
funding for education will depend on the formula used to distribute provincial funds.
Within Metro Toronto, a uniform rate of property taxis levied Metro-wide for virtually all
education services. The revenues are pooled and used for all of the students in Metro
Toronto (this is Metro-wide pooling). The City of Toronto, in its brief to the GTA Task
Force, has recommended de-pooling for education in Metro Toronto. This recommendation
violates the principle of fairness. There is a strong argument for Metro-wide pooling (and
Page 6
perhaps even pooling across the GTA or Ontario) because the benefits of education are
enjoyed beyond the Citys boundaries (to Metro Toronto, the GTA, arid maybe even the
province) and because equality of opportunity is an important aspect of education.
Revenue diversification
Greater use of user fees will provide some relief to the property tax but, more importantly,
user fees result in the efficient provision of services. When people know how much it costs
to use the amount of water they use, for example, they will make an informed decision on
how much water to consume. When services such as water are funded by the property tax,
there is no incentive to use water efficiently. Further, it has been argued that non-residents
enjoy Metro services without paying for them. Properly based user fees should be able to
recoup the costs of providing services to residents and non-residents. To achieve efficiency,
user fees are an important source of revenue to municipal governments.
Other revenue sources have been suggested for use in Metro Toronto, for example a fuel
tax to finance transportation infrastructure (as is used in the Greater Vancouver Regional
District). A fuel tax, if linked to transportation expenditures, can be justified on fairness
grounds (based on the benefits-received principle): those who benefit from roads and transit
are paying the tax.
The Report of the Task Force on Greater Montreal (the Pichette Commission)
recommended that Montreal (and other core cities where benefits spillover to non-residents)
should receive a proportion of provincial sales tax revenues. The recommendation was
based on the recognition that non-residents contribute to the economic activity of the city
but they also create costs for the city. Since the sales tax is directly linked to
economic activity, it is an appropriate source of funding to address spillovers.
the level of
The more revenue sources that are made available to municipal governments, the more
flexibility they will have to finance expenditures and the less reliance they will have to place
on the property tax. There will be additional costs, however, associated with the
administration of different taxes.
Page 7
Property assessment reform
Given that there is a significant role for property taxes in financing municipal services, the
characteristics of the tax (such as the assessment system) need to be determined. Not only
is assessment used to determine the amount of property tax to be levied but it is also used
to compare the relative ability of municipalities to levy taxes. For example, a measure of
assessment is used in some provincial grant formulas and in determining how the costs of
Metro will be apportioned among the area municipalities.
The current assessment system in Metro Toronto is supposed to be based on market value
but it is 50 years out of date and in need of reform. As a result, it does not rate highly on
the principles established above.
In terms of fairness, there are three categories of inequities in the assessment system:
.
within classes of property: for example, similar houses are not assessed at the same
percentage of market value.
B
between classes of property: for example, apartments and commercial properties are
over-assessed compared to single-family homes.
.
across municipalities: for example, commercial properties
Metro Toronto compared to all other regions in the GTA.
These inequities have consequences for other principles as well.
are over-assessed in
With
efficiency principle, the assessment system does not provide a level playing
GTA. Business groups have argued that the resulting higher taxation
respect to the
field across the
of commercial
properties in Metro Toronto relative to the rest of the GTA provides an incentive for
businesses to leave Metro Toronto. The tax is not accountable because taxpayers do not
understand the basis for their assessments and inequities are hidden in the assessment
system.
Two broad types of reforms to the assessment system have been proposed: market value
and unit value.
Page 8
Market value assessment
Market value is defined as the price that would be struck between a willing buyer and a
willing seller in an arms length transaction. Market value assessment, if properly
implemented GTA-wide, would remove all three classes of inequities above. If implemented
on a Metro-wide basis, the inequities within Metro would be removed but the inequities
between Metro Toronto and the rest of the GTA would remain. A variation on market
value assessment that has been proposed is a Metro-wide market value assessment within
classes of property. This would remove inequities
Toronto but not between classes of property and not
of the GTA.
within classes of property in Metro
between Metro Toronto and the rest
$
With respect to the principle of administrative fairness, the assessment base would need to
be determined in an objective, systematic way so that taxpayers understand how the value
of their property is determined. An assessment system that is understood by taxpayers is
also more accountable. One aspect of market value assessment that would have to be
addressed is the volatility in market values which are primarily driven by the land value
component of the property. The B.C. Assessment Authority has introduced a number of
useful phasing and averaging techniques including annual assessment updates as a way to
smooth out fluctuations in estimated market values,
There will be gainers and losers from any change in the assessment system. The losses
could be cushioned in two ways: first, municipalities could be given the power to levy
different mill rates for different classes of property (variable mill rates) as is done in B.C.
This means that a shift in taxes onto single-family homes, for example, could be cushioned
by levying a lower tax rate on these properties. Second, phase-in mechanisms could be used
so that the tax burden does not increase by more than a certain percentage in any given
year. A long phase-in period may be required.
Unit value assessment
Unit value assessment (variations of which have been proposed by the City of Toronto and
by the Fair Tax Commission)
area and building area rather
attempts to assess residential property on the basis of land
than market value. The unit assessment is calculated as an
Page 9
assessment rate per square foot of lot size times lot size plus the assessment rate per square
foot of building times building area. To determine the assessment rate per square foot, the
Fair Tax Commission recommended that the rate vary by location (as reflected in rents).
An assessment based on property characteristics and location is very similar to market value.
In terms of the benefits-received principle of fairness, it has been argued that unit value
more closely reflects the benefits of local government because the use of water and sewers
and other such services is more closely related to the dimensions of the property than to
market value. Since user fees are the best way to charge for these types of services,
however, it is not clear that the property tax needs to reflect these benefits. Further, many
services funded from property tax revenues are people-related services (such as parks,
police, and emergency services) rather than property-related services. In terms of the
ability-to-pay principle of fairness, the Fair Tax Commission concluded that there was no
significant difference between unit value and market value.
In terms of administrative fairness, it has been argued that property dimensions are a more
objective measure than market value. When the location factor has to be determined,
however, the system is like market value. In terms of efficiency, it has been argued that unit
value does not distort decisions to improve ones property if the improvement does not
increase the building size. With a pure market value assessment, property improvements
that go beyond simple maintenance would increase the market value.
Finally, the move from the current system to a unit value system will result in shifts among
taxpayers. As with a move to market value, there will be some who gain and some who lose
from a change in the assessment system. Phase-in mechanisms will be required, whichever
assessment system is chosen.
SUMMARY
This report has highlighted the principles that support a strong municipal finance system and
has shown how these principles can be used to evaluate the current finance system and
Page 10
proposals to reform it. The property tax is the largest source of revenue to municipal
governments and remains the cornerstone of the municipal finance system. It is important
to determine which services should be financed by the property tax and which are more
appropriately financed by user fees, income and sales taxes, and other revenue sources. It
is also important to design the assessment base of the property tax to reflect the principles
of fairness, efficiency, accountability and administrative fairness.
Page 11
CULTURAL SERVICE PROVISION
IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
A background report prepared by Metro Parks & Culture
August, 1995
METRO
CULTURAL SERVICE PROVISION IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE NO.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE CULTURAL
SECTOR IN THE TORONTO REGION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
CULTURAL SERVICES IN THE GTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
CONCLUSION THE CASE FOR
INTRODUCTION
This report is one of a set of background papers prepared to assist in the development of Metro
Torontos submission to the GTA Task Force. The role of cultural services and cultural policy in
the life and governance of an urban region is often overlooked. This is a significant oversight
given the substantial contribution that cultural activities and enterprises make to the economy and
overall quality of life in a metropolitan area such as Toronto.
The purpose of this report is to set out information that will fill the void. The report:
B
outlines the importance of the cultural sector in the Toronto region;
B
provides an overview of support for the arts provided by the various levels of government
in the GTA;
B
assesses Metros current role in cultural services in the GTA; and
B
considers the implications of GTA municipal government reform for the regions cultural
sector.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE CULTURAL
SECTOR IN THE TORONTO REGION
Anchored by a concentration of cultural resources in the City of Toronto, the Toronto region is an
important continental and international cultural centre. It is:
B
the second largest theatre centre in North America, and third largest in the English-speaking
world after London and New York;
B
the third largest film and video production centre in North America after Los Angeles and
New York; and
B
ranked fourth of 343 metropolitan areas for its cultural amenities and services by Places
Rated Almanac.
Cultural activities are enormously important to the local economy. Statistics Canada has calculated
the 1993 direct and indirect impact of the sector in Metro Toronto alone in terms of employment,
and consumer spending as follows:
B
direct employment in the cultural sector in Metro Toronto exceeded 76,800 jobs or 6.4
per cent of all jobs in Metropolitan Toronto;
Page 1
B
direct and indirect employment generated by the sector exceeded 114,800 jobs or 9.6
per cent of all jobs in Metropolitan Toronto;
B
total direct and indirect employment in the cultural sector in Metropolitan Toronto accounted
for 19 percent of all cultural jobs in Canada;
B
the direct impact of the cultural sector in Metropolitan Toronto, measured by the
contribution to the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is estimated at $4.2 billion;
B
the direct and indirect impact of the sector in Metropolitan Toronto, in terms of GDP, is
estimated at $6.3 billion;
B
the total direct and indirect impact of the sector in Metropolitan Toronto accounted for 28
per cent of the nations cultural sector contribution to GDP; and
B
annual personal expenditure on cultural goods and services by Metropolitan Toronto
residents exceeded $1.89 billion in 1992, an increase of $34 million over 1990.
CULTURAL SERVICES IN THE GTA
While the Greater Torontos cultural amenities are concentrated in downtown Toronto, the sector is
actually a system of creators, producers and distributors spread throughout the region. The
cultural sector comprises four key policy areas:
B
the arts;
B
heritage;
B
libraries; and
B
cultural industries.
The Arts
Outside Metro, arts. policies and programs across the GTA are commonly delivered solely by the
area municipalities. These programs include grants to recreational and professional arts
organizations, arts programming offered through recreation and community centres, public art
policies, and the operation of municipal performing or visual arts facilities.
Many municipalities outside Metro do not make grants for arts activities. Those that do are
exclusively at the local level. The largest grants programs are in Mississauga and Oakville.
Page 2
Some of the major municipally operated arts facilities in the surrounding regions include:
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Markham Theatre, (Town of Markham)
Oakville Centre for the Performing Arts, (Town of Oakville)
Oakville Galleries, (Town of Oakville)
Burlington Arts Centre, (City of Burlington)
Lester B. Pearson and Heritage Theatres, (City of Brampton)
John Elliott Theatre, (Town of Halton Hills)
The Robert McLauglin Gallery, (City of Oshawa)
Art Gallery of Mississauga, (City of Mississauga)
Art Gallery of Peel, (Region of Peel)
In addition, the City of Mississauga is constructing the Mississauga Living Arts Centre, scheduled
to open in 1997.
Within Metro, arts policy is shared by both Metro and the area municipalities. Metros principal
instruments of arts policy are:
B
the Cultural Grants Program;
B
the OKeefe Centre for the Performing Arts;
B
the Public Art Policy, including the Public Art Policy Advisog Committee;
B
smaller arts facilities such as Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre and The Guild; and
B
the Cultural Advisory Committee.
Among Metros six area municipal governments, the City of Toronto stands far and above the
other five in its arts policy. Its principal instruments of arts policy include:
B
grants made through the Toronto Arts Council;
B
public art policies implemented through the Public Art Commission and the Planning and
Development Department;
B
the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts;
B
the Market Gallery;
B
nominal lease arrangements with arts organizations in city-owned properties such as Young
Peoples Theatre.
Page 3
Of the remaining five area municipalities:
B
all make arts grants, ranging from approximately $8,000 in East York to $206,000 in
North York;
B
all provide arts programming and classes through their Parks and Recreation departments;
B
all have public art policies in effect, or under development;
B
the City of North York owns and operates the Ford Centre for the Performing Arts;
B
two have established Municipal Arts Commissions to advise Council; and
B
all but York operate or make available recreational arts facilities to local groups.
Heritage
Built and natural heritage conservation activities in Metro, the GTA, and indeed across Ontario
have traditionally been the mandate of area municipalities. This emphasis is explicit in the Ontario
Heritage Act (1975), which charges local councils, working with their appointed Local
Architectural Conservation Advisory Committees (LACAC), with identifying and regulating
heritage properties. Each area municipality in Metro has a LACAC, heritage policies in their
Official Plan, and a heritage program which includes operating at least one museum. This holds
true for most area municipalities elsewhere in the GTA.
From a regulatory perspective, upper-tier governments like Metro and the regional municipalities of
York, Durham, Peel, and Halton derive their heritage-related powers from the revised Planning Act
and Comprehensive Policy Statements (1995). In exercising their responsibilities under this Act,
all municipalities are to have regard for the conservation of features of significant architectural,
cultural, historical, or archaeological or scientific interest. Policies and decisions regarding
development and infrastructure should conserve significant cultural landscapes and built heritage
resources.
Development and infrastructure may be permitted on sites containing significant archaeological
resources and on sites with medium to high potential if the site is studied and the archaeological
resources are removed, cataloged and analyzed prior to development or construction. Where
significant archaeological resources must be preserved on site to ensure their heritage integrity,
only development and infrastructure which maintain the heritage integrity of the site will be
permitted. This implies that regional governments will have to develop an inventory system which
includes cultural landscapes, built heritage resources, and archaeological sites.
Page 4
In its Culture Plan ( 1994), Metro identified land use planning and corporate resources management
as its two spheres of heritage-related action. The land use planning function, constrained both by
legislation and by custom, entails reviewing applications affecting heritage properties in light of the
Planning Act and Comprehensive Policy Statements. A broader and more positive role for Metro
lies in the management of its own substantial portfolio of cultural heritage resources:
B
identifying heritage resources by finding, selecting and documenting significant attributes
and features;
B
protecting heritage resources from destruction and loss by a variety of means;
B
interpreting heritage resources by revealing and communicating their meaning and value;
and
B
using heritage resources in responsible ways.
With respect to documentary and artifact heritage in Metro, only Metro and the City of Toronto
maintain professionally staffed public archives. North York is in the process of establishing an
archives facility. Both within Metro and across the GTA, museum and archives are unevenly
distributed between the two tiers of municipal government and their collection mandates are
uncoordinated with respect to private sector donations. In addition, lack of a common automated
system and shared authority records for archives impedes the research process.
Libraries
With the exception of services provided by the Metro Toronto Reference Library, library service is
provided exclusively by all local municipalities in the Greater Toronto Area. The total amount
budgeted for all public library services in Metro Toronto is $135.0 million, of which $121.0
million is funded through the property tax. In the other regions of the GTA, a further $65.0
million is spent to support public libraries, of which $56.5 million is funded by the property tax.
Per capita expenditures for library services range from $17.36 to $56.25 across the region.
In addition, there are extensive library holdings in universities, community colleges, and schools,
all of which are publicly funded and represent a major cultural asset which contributes to the
development of an information economy.
The Metro Toronto Reference Library provides reference and research services to the public
beyond those met by local public, school or special libraries, and supplements services to Metros
six area library systems. In addition, the Public Libraries Act designates the reference library a
Page 5
special library service board with a requirement to provide support services across the Province,
when cost effective and compatible with its own mandate.
The Metro Toronto Reference Library maintains several special collections of regional, national and
international significance, such as the Bain Collection of rare Canadiana. Other provincial and
regional services provided by the Metro Reference Library include Province-wide data bases and
inter-library loan networks, delivery truck services, audio visual materials and purchasing,
cataloging and distributing of multi-language materials.
The Metro Reference Library differs from other libraries in the GTA in the following ways:
B
Its focus and recognized strength is as an information-provider based on the in-depth
expertise of its subject specialists. The library does not support recreational reading,
childrens and other community programs.
B
It has extensive and comprehensive collections, many of which are unique (consumer
health, urban studies, business) and some of which support scholarly research (history,
humanities). No other public library has developed, or can afford to develop collections of
this depth and scope.
B
It has a varied customer base of professionals, business people, researchers, artists,
performers and post-secondary students. The Librarys central location in the heart of the
metropolitan area, close to universities, the business and the arts communities, positions it
uniquely to serve these diverse needs equitably.
B
It supports Metro Torontos multi-ethnic population through the acquisition of thousands of
items in languages other than English and French every year.
Cultural Industries
The term cultural industries refers to those aspects of culture which lend themselves to industrial
patterns of organization. The cultural industries in Metro include film and video production, book
and magazine publishing, sound recording, radio and television broadcasting, architecture and
design. Related to these industries is the tourism sector.
To date the area municipalities, with the exception of the City of Toronto, have not dedicated any
resources to the support and encouragement of the development of the cultural industries. The City
of Toronto, through its Film and Television Office, provides assistance to film and television
companies. The Office provides free location permits and arranges for police assistance, municipal
equipment and property. It also aggressively markets Toronto as a desirable location for film and
Page 6
television production. The industry has appealed for a multi-jurisdictional service which would
undertake to issue location filming permits for all municipalities within Metro Toronto. To date, no
such function has been developed.
Many of the issues faced by the cultural industries fall under current regional jurisdiction. These
include planning, permitting, policing and economic development.
METROS ROLE IN CULTURAL SERVICE PROVISION
Metros current role in cultural services in the GTA can be described as follows:
Funding of Regional Cultural Organizations Through the cultural Grants program
Metros Cultural Grants program has been an effective, efficient method of redistributing funds
levied from the broader region that benefits from Metros cultural sector. While there is a large
concentration of cultural services in the central area of the City of Toronto, it is clear that these
activities draw upon the entire GTA for its audience and participant base. Table 1 shows the
attendance patterns of the largest regional cultural organizations funded by Metro.
Table 1 - Place of Residence of Audience for Major Regional Cultural
Harbourfront Centre
Art Gallery of Ontario
YPT School Visits
Canadian Opera
Company
National Ballet of
Canada
Toronto Symphony
Orchestra
Tarragon Theatre
Canadian Stage
Company
Institutions
O Non-Metro
I
B Metro
I
1 I
1
I
100%
Page 7
Metro provides more than $6.6 million in funding to regional not-for-profit corporations that
present more than 8,800 publicly accessible cultural events annually. More than 7.0 million people
attend these events, with a significant proportion of these attenders residing outside Metropolitan
Toronto. Metro funding accounts for approximately 5 per cent of the revenues of Metro-based
cultural organizations, compared with 3 per cent. from local governments, 21 per cent from
provincial sources, and 12 per cent from federal sources.
Operation of a regional peforming arts centre
The OKeefe Centre, presents attractions and provides a home for two regionally-significant
cultural organizations (Ballet and Opera). Sixty per cent of the time at the OKeefe Centre is
allocated for use by the two principal tenants, the National Ballet of Canada and the Canadian
Opera Company. The attendance patterns for these companies are listed in Table 1. Considered
together with attendance patterns for OKeefe Centre-presented events is clear that the Centre
serves as a regional resource.
Provision of regional library services
It is more difficult to track the place of origin of users of Metro reference library services.
However, given its special collections, the breadth of its holdings, its role in the inter-library loan
network, and its designation as a provincial resource, it is clear that the Metro Reference Library
serves population across Metro and the GTA.
IMPLICATIONS OF MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE REFORM IN THE GTA
While many municipal government cultural programs and services are local in nature, it is clear that
others, such as the funding of the not-for-profit cultural sector, and the operation of major cultural
attractions, require some form of regional government and taxation to ensure that those who benefit
from the services contribute appropriately.
Should Metro be eliminated or restructured, there would still be a need for continuing regional
coordination in the following areas:
B
funding ;
B
regional library service; and
B
records and archives function,
Page 8
Furthermore, new financing arrangements and ownership, public or private, would need to be
sought for facilities that include:
B
the OKeefe Centre;
B
The Guild;
B
Barry Zukerman Amphitheatre; and
B
Exhibition Place.
Of particular concern to the cultural sector would be the elimination of the $6.6 million that Metro
contributes to the funding system. Without a mechanism to levy taxes across the larger region:
B
the cultural sector would be destabilized by the loss of an important funding partner; and
B
taxpayers in the City of Toronto, where much of the cultural activity is located, would bear
the sole municipal cost of supporting activities which clearly benefit residents across the
GTA.
CONCLUSION THE CASE FOR
REGIONAL DELIVERY OF CULTURAL SERVICES
To date, regional government in Metro Toronto has provided an efficient and effective mechanism
to tax those who benefit from the concentration of cultural services and amenities at the hub of the
region. As the populated area of the region has grown beyond the Metro boundaries however, the
property taxpayers
these services.
Local government
of Metro Toronto have borne a greater share of the municipal contribution to
reform must recognize the regional aspect of cultural services. If regional
government is eliminated entirely, taxpayers in the City of Toronto will be required to shoulder the
majority of that municipal responsibility. If some form of regional authority is introduced, then
responsibility for existing regional cultural programs must be assigned to that authority.
To consumers of cultural services, political boundaries be they national, provincial/state or local are
largely irrelevant. Rather, they are attracted to a destination, an event, an experience or an
information resource with little regard to who built it, who maintains it and who operates it. In fact
millions of visitors travel thousands of miles to enjoy what is offered within Metro and the GTA.
This precludes narrowly defining the relationship of government to the consumer as shaped only
Page 9
October 2, 1995
Dear Dr. Golden:
(i) Moved by: COUNCILLOR CAVALIER
Seconded by: MAYOR HOLYDAY
METROPOLITAN
TORONTO DISTRICT
H EALTH COUN CI L \
Chair: Dhun F. Noria, M.D., F.R.C.P.(C)
Executive Director: Lorne Zon
September 19,1995
Ms. Ann Golden
GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ann:
In August 1993, the Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council released, Planning for Health:
Strategic Directions to the Year 2000. This report represented the first strategic plan for a local
health system ever completed in Ontario. Council felt that although the strategic plan was indeed
a milestone in health planning, it was of limited significance if action was not taken to realize the
directions set forth. Since the release of the report Council has undertaken a number of targeted
activities to move the health system forward. For example, we have completed a project in the area
of needs based planning and are close to operationalizing practical tools for everyday use. A
collaborative health promotion strategy will be in place by year end. Our hospital restructuring plan
will be released at the end of this month.
The planning undertaken can contribute significantly to developing an accessible, cost- effective
health system in Metro. However, without better linkages between system planning, funding and
management, the potential for implementation of will be compromised. The attached report
describes Councils current thinking on how these linkages can be achieved. Over the next few
months, we will be testing these ideas with others to gauge support, refine ideas, and fill in areas that
need more elaboration.
Your very onerous task has considerable interest for our Council. We believe that our thinking in
this area is developed to the point where you find it of interest to review. If we can provide any
clarification of the ideas for you, we would be most pleased to do so.
Executive Director
Planning for Health
Developing Management Tools and Levers
Action Plan # 7
Planning, Funding and Managing Metropolitan Torontos
Health System: Options for the Future
Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council
September 1995
Planning, Funding and Managing Metropolitan Torontos Health System
INTRODUCUTION:
In August 1993, the Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council (MTDHC) released its
strategic plan for Metros health system, Planning for Health: Strategic Directions to the
Year 2000. In the report, Council expressed its intent to plan for the implementation of
a consumer focused, needs based, system of health services.
A series of action plans and reform initiatives have been launched to realize the approved
strategies. Council has initiated planning projects looking at long term care, mental health,
health promotion, hospital restructuring, needs/ impact based planning, and is beginning
to develop a project looking at the community health services sector and primary care.
The Planning for Health Report raised, but did not answer, the question of what constitutes effective
structures for planning, managing and funding a system of health services as large and complex as
that which exists in Metro. This action plan puts forward prefferred directions and processes for
finding effective answers,
In completing this report, Council has relied on the work the Premiers Council, other
MTDHC studies, and analysis by APM Consulting who were hired to assist the Council
in its research.
BACKGROUND:
Health care services across Canada and around the world are being revamped,
restructured or reengineered in an effort to contain costs, and to meet growing needs and
demands, while adjusting to changing delivery modalities, societal values and public
expectations. In most Canadian jurisdictions recent changes have included a evolution
of authority. From a provincial perspective, devolution means moving decision making
closer to the people directly affected. From an individual providers perspective this is
often viewed as a loss of autonomy or a centralizing of decision-making. In Ontario, there
has been considerable debate about possible models of devolution but relatively little action in
changing the way the system is planned, managed or funded.
The results of this action plan will lead to specific advice and recommendations by the
MTDHC to the Minister of Health for the effective planning,
funding and management
of Metros health system.
Options for the Future
2
STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF THE CURRENT SITUATION:
Our research brought together a
weaknesses of the current situation.
variety of perspectives about the strengths and
Frequently heard strengths included:
the range of options and services available - comprehensive and diversegood
accessibility and universality
ability of community health centres to work with local communities on a range of
health determinants
the quality of our academic institutions
clinical expertise; and
quality of care.
However, a number of weaknesses were also frequently mentioned:
poor integration & coordination of services
lack of information on how to access needed services
need to enhance primary care and support programs, eg. translation, day care
overcapacity in the system - need to rationalize/ decrease duplication
need to move to population based planning and greater consumer participation
lack of sensitivity to cultural differences, street youth, and homeless people.
There was strong agreement that, at present, there is no system but rather a set of health
services. However, not everyone agreed that this in itself was a problem. Some felt that
informal linkages worked quite well in most cases.
There was also strong agreement that you cant build a system or change the service mix by
planning alone. Change management requires the ability to provide appropriate incentives and
disincentives. Of all the change levers, funding is rated as the strongest.
3
SUMMARY OF HEALTH REFORMS IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS
Reformin g health care system planning, funding and management has been occurring
across Canada and around the world. In looking at the various approaches used
elsewhere, it is critical to look beyond the organizational characteristics to cultures,
history, issues and answers that are being pursued. The various approaches we studied
can be characterized in four ways:
1. Devolution/ Creation of Regional Authorities (Canada, U.K., Europe, etc.)
2. Establishment of Purchaser/ Provider Splits (U.K., Europe, etc)
3. Supply-side Interventions (Canada)
4. Demand-side Interventions (United States)
Observations:
Several general observations can be drawn from these experiences that are important to
Ontario and Metros situation.
B
Canadian jurisdictions have moved rapidly, when under severe financial pressures,
to regionalize functions, including management, planning and funding allocation;
B
Ontario is the least regionalized of any of the jurisdictions studied;
Most Scandinavian and Commonwealth countries have moved beyond
regionalization to introduce some form of competition into their health systems.
B
Reform of a health system cannot be effectively accomplished without including
primary care
l
services. Without addressing primary care, a fragmented, often
uncoordinated system will result.
Lessons:
Analysis of the history and success of the jurisdictions studied was extremely useful in
providing some important lessons:
To successfully implement reforms, you need to have a clear vision, a series of
priorities, and the political will and authority to take action.
Primary care is seen as having six essential components; essential care; promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative
and supportive. It is based on practical, scientifically sound and socially acceptable methods and technology which the
community can afford. It is provided as the first level of a continuing process. It is universally accessible in place
where service needs can most appropriately be met. It is a service which makes health a priority in the overall
development process and it is a service which ensures the full participation of individuals and groups fostering a spirit
of self reliance and self determina tion. (Based on WHO Definition)
Options for the Future 4
Planning, Funding and Managing Metropolitan Toronto Health System
Amalgamation of provider boards into a regional structure is the first step usually
taken by fiscally-challenged Canadian governments, seeking to remove unnecessary
capacity.
Leadership must be demonstrated in one of two ways: dramatic top down action
with strong fiscal imperative, or the investment of significant leadership time to
explain reform plans and build support (more bottom up).
AU forms of decentralization require the central authority (Province) to set system
legislation, policy and standards and to take a strong role in monitoring and
evaluating system performance.
Primary care is the most essential element of reform in building a more effective
system.
When adopting new organizational structures, you must consciously break down
old institutional loyalties, and build new ones; all skills in the new organization
dont need to come from the outside.
Anticipation and skillful management of human resource issues are critical to
success.
The major difference between Canadian and other system reforms is the absence of
a purchaser/ provider split. Canada continues to place government authorities in
the role of provider/ purchaser.
Competition is not linked to privatization. You can have a public competition
model (Sweden).
The most important lesson, although perhaps the most disappointing is there is no
simple answer. Most jurisdictions continue to evolve and change models in order to
respond to changing situations.
DEFINING THE PLANNING AREA
The MTDHC is responsible for health planning within Metro Toronto. Consumers of
health services, however, seek their care from providers irrespective of municipal
boundaries. In developing this report much debate occurred whether the models
developed should apply to Metro, the GTA, or other defined boundaries. The continuous
urban development and population flows that characterize much of the GTA brings into
5
question the sole use of geopolitical boundaries for health system pl anning. Also, the
current review of the GTA by a provincial task force (Golden Task Force) means any
changes that might arise from this study would need to be factored into the ensuing
debate.
MODEL DEVELOPMENT
In an attempt to better understand the pros and cons of different approaches, a series of
generic models were developed and then evaluated. Nine models were constructed to
highlight the key features of models used in other jurisdictions in a Metro context.
The features of the models vary from a base case to a totally regionalized system. The
base case represents the status quo with some attempt to quicken the changes that are
evolving. It does not impose any real changes to the way in which services are planned,
funded or delivered. The evolutionary models impose some changes through integrated
information systems, new primary care delivery options and/ or centrally imposed
consolidation of the delivery agencies. The regional governance and
purchaser/ provider options call for more fundamental changes in the organization and
delivery of health services in Metro. These models look to the directions in place in other
jurisdictions and overlay them on the Metro situation. In each of these cases, there is a
degree of devolution to new authorities. The final model, expanded private sector was
included to complete the range of options but received very little support from anyone
involved in the discussions.
The models can be characterized as follows:
Base Case 1. Continued evolution with increased pace
Evolutionary 2. Virtual System Option; continued evolution
coupled with major investments in information
systems and primary care
3. Aggressive Evolution; imposing fiscal
constraints and capacity consolidation
Regional Governance 4. Metro Regional Governance; one health system
for Metro
5. Multiple Regional Governance; four to six health
systems
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Purchaser/ Provider Split 6. Metro Purchasing Agency; a health system
which purchases care from providers
7. Multiple Regional Purchasing Authorities;
purchase care for defined populations (with
porous borders)
8. Competing Health Systems; non-geographic
based systems which must take any subscriber
Expanded Private Sector 9. Active Private Tier; Basic public system with
private discretionary second tier
The models were useful in developing consensus on features that support effective ways
to link system planning, funding and management. None of the models were expected,
because of their general nature, to stand up as detailed options that could be recommended
for implementation.
The models were tested in two ways. A cross section of stakeholders (34) were
interviewed to determine their responses to the models on several dimensions. For
example, they were asked to rank the nine models based on their ability to achieve a
coordinated, consumer focused, health delivery system. Only four of the options;
aggressive evolution, multiple regional governance, multiple purchasing authorities, and
competing health systems were felt by those interviewed to have any real positive
potential.
When asked about do-ability in the short term, the stakeholders felt that only aggressive
evolution would be achievable (5070). On another important dimension, the interviewees
were asked whether different health sectors could be organize
din different ways, 88%
agreed that this was possible. It should also be noted that the interviewees felt that flexible
or porous boundaries must be maintained to foster consumer choice.
The consultants also developed an evaluation framework which looked at issues of
funding, planning and management. By applying the criteria, it was evident that no single
model (as presented) could completely meet our objectives.
ISSUES WHICH APPLY TO ALL MODELS:
Review of the various options revealed a number of important issues which cut across all
7
of the models. In developing effective avenues for proceeding, these issues will need to
be considered and addressed.
The issues have been categorized in three groups. Each issue, in effect, is multi-faceted
and could be expressed in different ways in each of the categories.
Issues which effect Integration/ Comprehensiveness. In building a system, there is a
need to look at the building blocks of health delivery and the policy, funding and
legislative frameworks that drive them.
Physician payment
Funding of community health services, health promotion, and public health
Funding of primary care, long term care
Funding of drug benefits and other services
Human services
Evaluation of outcomes and new technologies
Structural Issues. Universality, consumer choice, travel patterns and the uninterrupted
development that makes up the GTA requires that several structural issues be examined
in every scenario.
Boundary definition; eg. geographic, population based, referral patterns, etc.
Permeability of boundaries
Governance
Issues of transition. In any change process involving health services it is essential that
the following matters be dealt within a well planned, clearly articulated and understood
way.
Human resource transition/ service continuity
The role of religious/ ethnic owned/ run services
Teaching and research
Community participation/ roles
Do Certain Functions Make More Sense at Different Levels:
In coming to grips with various models that could be developed, Council considered a
functional mapping of plannin
g, funding mananagement. The results are shown in the
following table. The information in the cells do not represent all types of health services,
but rather provide an indication of the kind of distinctions that could be made.
Options for the Future 8
Table 1: Possible Functional Distinctions by Level of Population
Metro Regi onal community
Description 2.3 million resident, 4 4-6 boards within Metro, 15-20 primary care areas
million referral, $6 billion approx. 500 thousand within Metro, 100-150,000
annual budget per region per area
system Planning health promotion, needs
Primary, secondary and
local health needs, eg.
based planning, low tertiary services, health primary care services,
volume specialized promotion & disease home health/support
services, eg. cancer, prevention services services, commutity
cardiology health for special groups
System Funding academic funding, regional envelopes, community support
physician funds, special services services, primary care
reallocation, standards,
some tertiary and
quaternary services
System Management Integration of services, coordination and coordination and/or
population health integration of service delivery of ambulatory
promotion, standards, delivery through vertical and in home community
performance monitoring, and horizontal delivery long term care services,
life support programs, agents, monitoring
quaternary and low
Primary care, community
system performance health
volume tertiary
Tools/Levers planning, grant/ contract purchasing and funding focussed on direct service
guidelines, purchase of within envelope,
specialized services, some
delivery, purchasing and
integration of delivery funding, rostering,
direct service delivery, systems, linkages to other envelope funding
population and needs sectors
based envelopes,
standards & benchmarks
2
Fuller consideration of the range of public health services needs to be included in the consultations on this
report.
9
ELEMENTS OF THE PREFERRED SCENARIO
Figure 1
750,000 people (if Metro

Models for Discussion
As noted above, none of the generic models were deemed worth pursuing for Metro. The
analysis did show that any preferred scenarios would need to bring together a number of
essential components. These components are highlighted in Figure #1 and discussed
below.
d Scenario
Funding - Balancing Population Health and Performance: Effectiveness in the allocation
of stable or declining resources means we must be more strategic. This can be
achieved by blending criteria which tie funding to improved health status of the
population and cost-effective performance by the delivery agency.
Needs Basal Planning: Although still very much in its developmental phase, needs
based or needs/ impact based planning (as being pursued by the MTDHC) is
recognized nationally and internationally as the desired direction. For many years
pl anning has been far more influenced by historical utilization.
Regionalized Delivery Systems: There was consensus by those interviewed that for
delivery purposes, Metro or the GTA represented a very large and possibly
unmanageable single entity. From other jurisdictions 500-750,000 appears to be
considered maximum. Where a purchasing role only is being pursued, larger
populations maybe possible (eg. London, England). There was also a recognition
that Metro or the GTA may be a reasonable size for doing population
epidemiological/ health status studies, needs based planning, broad based health
promotion strategies and the planning and funding of highly specialized and low
volume services.
Consumer Choice and Competition: There was considerable agreement that consumers
must retain the right to choose practitioners and/ or delivery agencies. It was felt
that competition by public lagenaes based on access, quality and range of services
would be beneficial.
Primary Care Organization: There was strong consensus by all participants in the
development of this action plan that an organized primary care system that plays
a gatekeeper role is critical to building a more cost effective health system.
Options for t he Future
11
HEALTH SYSTEM PARTICIPANTS & ROLES
Figure 2
PROVINCIAL
MOH AREA
OFFICE
REGIONAL FUNDING
& PLANNING BOARDS
>
Government Ministries (MOH, COMSOC, MET) role: Legislation, finding, regulation, policy, standard setting.
Receives & integrates funding envelopes. Allocates to area wide services and regional funding and planning
bodies on population need bases.
Serving population of about 500,000 determines needs, based on population demographics and distinct
requirements identified by community planning, regional & area wide planning. Contracts with providers for
specific services allocates funding to primary/community care ergs., and for health promotion.
COMMUNITY HEALTH SYSTEM
CORPORATIONS
PRIMARY/ COMMUNITY
ORGANIZATION
CARE
Serving population of about 100,000, agency determines needs and
Vertically integrated health care agencies/networks that
monitors local servs. coordinates one or more primary service
provide acute care, ambulatory care, chronic long-term
providers located in community.
care, residential care, etc.
ACADEMIC HEALTH SYSTEM
CORPORATION
Vertically integrated health system provides tertiary and
quaternary services to sub regional pop and where designated
to region. May also provide primary & secondary services to
defined population, coordinates academic activities and
research as funded and designated.
SPECIALTY
HEALTH SYSTEM
PRIMARY CARE
Provider of primary care and home/support services. In
optional model could act as purchaser of secondary and
elective services from health system corps.
REGIONAL SHARED
SERVICES CORPORATION
Horizontally integrated provider of defined specialty services e.g.
Role: Provide central services by contract e.g. labs, dietary,
rehabilitation may provide services beyond sub-region.
materials management joint ventures by health systems corps.
Integration of Community Services: Most jurisdictions are looking at ways to better
integrate services vertically (across the spectrum of services, ie. acute, rehab, etc.)
and horizontally (across the same type of care, ie. a rehab network) to achieve
greater access and less confusion for persons seeking assistance. Our community
services are very fragmented both within health and across the health / social
service continuum.
Information Technology Investment: Health agencies have invested considerable
amounts in information technology. However, many systems are not compatible
across agencies or sectors. The tremendous evolution in information technology
offers considerable opportunity for better health information as well as
administrative efficiencies.
Horizontal and vertical integration: Across Canada and in the HMO experience, the
data shows that economies and, in fact, greater consumer choice in services can be
gained through effective integration, both vertically and horizontally. Many
options are available for achieving such integration from mergers to networks.
Towards A Preferred Scenario
Building on the preferred scenario, a potential model for the system has been developed
that includes the following participants (as shown on Figure 2). A number of sub-options
are also described.
In understanding the model, it is important to better define several concepts. The first is
that level of care, ie. primary, secondary, etc. is related to intensity of care not location.
Secondly, care delivery is not defined by a particular structure or type of facility. For
example, hospitals services would be in all three sites. For the purposes of this model,
there are three types of delivery sites; the persons home, an ambulatory setting and
inpatient/ in-facility.
Health promotion and disease (and injury) prevention must be considered separately. For
these services, we need to include the concept of whole populations. The following tables
provides some sample illustrations of this approach.
13
Table 2: Type of Care by Delivery Site
In-Home Ambulatory Inpatient/In-Facility
Home nursing, physical
therapy, Quick response
teams
office based physician
services, non-urgent E.R.
visits, community mental
health clinics, day
programs and day
hospitals
low risk obstetrics,
personal care services
Respiratory therapy,
geriatric assessment, post
surgical care
addiction services,
diagnostic services, day
surgery
general surgery,
moderate risk obstetrics,
special rehabilitation,
general medicine
Secondary Care
Chemotherapy, home
ventilator, home dialysis
Chemo and radiation
therapy, dialysis services,
day surgery
dialysis, acute
psychiatric,
neurosurgery, surgical
oncology
Tertiary Care
Quaternary Care Smart homes MRI scanning severe trauma,
transplantation services,
surgical sarcoma
Table 3: Distribution of Health Promotion/ Disease Prevention Services
Whole Population In-Home Ambulatory Inpatient/In-
Facility
Health Promotion Mass media
campaigns, local
community
education, policy
advocacy, lifestyle
modification
healthy baby visits,
counseling services
diet counseling,
smoke cessation
initial diabetic
Counseling
Disease and Injury
Prevention
immunization
programs,
communicable
disease control,
out break/
emergency
response, public
health inspection
and enforcement
i n-home
assessments,
breast screening
immunization
programs, STD
clinics, travel clinics
genetic screening,
isolation units
Opt ions for t he Fut ure
14
Planning, Funding and Managing Metropolitan Torontos Health Syst em
In presenting the model(s) below, it is important to reiterate that this action plan looks at
the preferred situation for Metro Toronto in a reformed health system. Although some
recommendations are made with respect to the need for the Ministry to reorganize
management and funding mechanisms, it is realized that such matters are beyond the
mandate of the Council.
1. OVincial Level
At the Provincial level the appropriate government Ministries (including Health,
Community and Social Services, Education and Trainin
g) provide the legislative,
regulatory, funding, and policy frameworks within which the health system
funders/ purchasers, providers, planners and managers must operate.
Also at the Provincial level, provine-wide agencies such as the Provincial Cardiac
Care Network, and other entities at the provincial level (eg. Heart and Stroke) will
have a role in advising government on policies and in the allocation of some
resources.
2.
There was significant opposition, among those interviewed, to a single special
p u r p ose healt h au t hor it y wit h fu nd ing/ p u r chasing and management
responsibilities for all of Metro (or the GTA). However, there was recognition of
the need to somehow coordinate/ integrate funding, planning and system
management at the Metro level in order to determine policy, planning and funding
priorities. These priorities would be shaped by developing broad population health
measures, indicators, and outcome targets (health needs, health status, effectiveness
of delivery methods) for the system.
Ministry Organization:
This model suggests that it maybe possible to reduce bureaucracy and potential
duplication by creating Ministry of Health (MOH) Area Offices across the Province.
Establishing such offices could have the benefit of refocusing the MOH structures
and its policies, programs and funding around total population needs and away
from its current divisional silos.
This approach facilitates the possibility of
integrating programs with other Ministries at an area level.
15
The Ministry area office would directly fund certain specialized, low volume
services such as radiation oncology services, transplantation, dialysis, etc. The
majority of the funds would be passed through to newly established Regional
Boards. Funding levels would be based on priorities and population needs.
Opt ional Approach:
lf the Ministry was unwilling to physically move staff and create new area offices, similar
results could be achieved through the strengthening and integration of the regional focus
that is already emerging within the Ministry of Health. Changes to funding and policies to
allow the establishment of regional funding envelopes as outlined above would be necessary.
TheMinistry would also need to play a greater role in funding of regional programs based
on the advice and research of the regional boards. The creation of area offices is less of an
issue in Metro since the Ministry is already located here.
3. R egi o n a l Lev el
Based on the literature, it is proposed that regional boards would be set up to serve
populations of approximately 500,000. Thus, 4-6 for Metro or 8-10 would be
required within the GTA. The Boards would be funded from the MOH Area Office
based on equity priorities and a population based funding methodology. The
regional boards would contract with vertically and possibly horizontally integrated
delivery agencies/ networks for services. These networks/ agencies would be
allocated funding for health promotion, disease prevention, primary, secondary,
tertiary, chronic, long term and in-home services on the basis of population need.
Based on the planning undertaken, a variety of incentives and disincentives would
need to be built into funding systems to ensure all populations were equitably
served and that over or under utilization was discouraged.
Regional boards are significantly different from a decentralized government office.
Regional boards are composed of community members that reflect the interests of
their local communities and seek ongoing and meaningful dialogue with their
communities. Regional offices are composed of employees of the Ministry located
in various places in the Province.
It has been stated above that funding, planning and system management needs to
be coordinated/ integrated at the area level. Rather than creating a separate agency
at the area level, it is proposed that part of the planning function for all the regional
Opt ions for t he Fut ure
16
boards in the area be shared and centralized. This would reduce bureaucracy,
ensure common information systems and improve strategic plannin
g and
interregional planning. The kinds of planning that would be undertaken at the
area-wide level include: health intelligence, health status information, indicator
development and monitoring, specialized services planning, etc. The shared
planning unit could also undertake consultations, etc. to ensure citizen participation
on area-wide issues for informing the Ministry area offices and the regional boards.
Not e: The regional boards could vary in size from about 400-700,000, depending on
Logistics of the communities and natural boundaries that need to reconsidered. The
size, composition and method of election or appointment needs further development
and consultation.
4. Pri mary /Communi t y Care Organi z at i ons
These bodies at the local level would provide for local input and reflect and
recognize the specific needs of individual communities (eg., social-economic,
demographic, cultural, and equity issues). The bodies would also coordinate the
in-home professional and support services and primary care services provided at
this level and facilitate integration with other social services. These bodies would
potentially fund and coordinate a range of in-home and ambulatory services. The
organizations would have an accountability to the Regional Boards through the
financial and planning frameworks established. They would also act as advocates
for the health needs of their citizens.
Note: These organizations could be expanded or narrowed to either focus exclusively on
primary care or to encompass the full range of community health services. They
could also directly deliver or fund other providers to deliver services.
5. Primary Care Providers
It is recognized that we urgently need more structured and integrated primary care
delivery systems. The planning and coordination of a more integrated primary
care system would be shared by the Primary/ Community Care Organizations and
the Regional Boards. Delivery of service would be undertaken by primary care
providers including physicians, nurse practitioners and others that would come
together in various arrangements to offer a full range of services. H.S.O.s and
C.H.C.s could be models for such organizations,
17
These primary care provider groups/ agencies would receive funding from the
Primary/ Community Care Organization based on the size of their rostered
populations and their needs profile.
6.
There are three types of system corporations proposed, two of which are vertically
integrated. The first of these would provide for its community needs for acute care
(primary, secondary and some tertiary), chronic, (facility based) long term care,
and some residential services. The second type of vertical system would include
an academic/ research focus and would extend the range of services provided into
the tertiary and quaternary services. Thirdly, there maybe the need for Specialty
Health Corporations which would be more horizontally integrated, e.g.,
rehabilitation or mental health services. There should be between two and four of
these system corporations per region. Not all types would necessarily be found in
each region or area.
Consumers could choose among these system corporations. Each Health System
Corporation would need to compete for consumers and funding based on quality,
range of services, and accessibility.
The Health System Corporations would receive their funding (excluding academic
and research) from the Regional Boards. Funding formulae would based on such
factors as the health profile of the rostered population, accessibility, service
volumes, outcomes, quality of care, contribution to achievement of the regional
health plan, etc. The academic and research funding would be negotiated
separately from the Ministry and other sources.
There still is considerable flexibility in determining the range of services to be
included in a vertically integrated delivery agent. In this model, the community
care and institutional based care have been separated. This has been proposed for
two reasons. Firstly, it allows for dedicated resources and attention to be placed on
the community and primary care services which have been identified as needing
enhancing. Secondly, it allows time for determining whether a primary care
fundholding approach is desirable. The separation could be seen as time limited.
7. Regional Services Corporation
.
The Regional Shared Services Corporation may be established as joint ventures of
the Health System Corporations and the Primary / Community Care Organizations
Opt ions for t he Future
18
to manage and provide shared services such as laboratories, laundry, materials
management, food services, information systems and technology, human resources,
security, etc.
Opt ional Approach:
The model could be reconfigured to eliminate the development of Specialty Health
Corporations (ie. horizontally integrated delivery systems) and Primary/Community Care
Organizations. Vertically integrated Health System Corporations could be developed to
provide the full range of primary, secondary, chronic, long term care, mental health
rehabilitation, in-home and residential services. Some tertiary and quaternary services
would remain within the academic health system corporations,
This model was not put forward as an initial position because of the need to focus on and
develop our primary care system. It could be viewed as a longer term goal. As well, if a
primary care fund holder approach was considered viable, there would remain a need to
keep some form of separation of these delivery systems.
In both options, consumers continue to choose which organization they wish to join.
Health System Planning
Figure 3 deals with health system planning. Local needs and health status and priorities
would be identified through the Community Care Organimations. Regional Boards would
assemble population needs and health status information as a basis for determining
funding priorities and monitoring effectiveness in terms of health status changes in the
population, cost effectiveness, etc. Their plan would be the basis for negotiation with the
MOH Area Office and their funding arrangements with provider organizations.
Health System Funding
There are two examples that could be considered based on funding envelopes passed from
the province to the MOH Area Office. The Area Office may directly fund certain
specialized regional services but would integrate funding and allocate most to the Regional
Boards. These Boards in turn would contract with the specific delivery corporations and
would provide funding directly to the Primary/ Community Care Organizations.
Opt ions for the Fut ure 19
PLANNING RELATIONSHIPS
I
Province
I
B legislation
B standards
B pol i cy
B financial
B human resource
B monitoring/evaluation
Figure 3
A longer term approach could see the development of strong Primary Care Provider
Organiza tions which could take on the fundholding role for other services required for
their enrolles. Hence, the Regional Board would pass not only the money for the services
animations, but it also would provide them with the funding provided directly by those org
to purchase other secondary and elective services from the Health Systems Corporations.
In this way, the interests of the client and consumer would be represented by the Primary
Care Organization in ensuring the most effective and timely services to meet the specific
needs of the individual.
Health System Governance
In the above model(s), the provincial government maintains a very clear leadership role
for the overall legislative, policy, funding and monitoring of Ontarios health system. At
the regional and local levels, the model calls for a devolution of authority, particularly in
the areas of planning and funding. The model leaves open for debate the make-up of the
regional and community boards in terms of composition and whether elected, appointed,
or mixed.
The model does not propose the elimination or centralizing of delivery agency boards
but continues to promote voluntary governance. With respect to the delivery agencies,
it leaves open the options for merger, network, or other mechanisms for bringing
together services in a vertically or horizontally integrated way. (See Figures 4/ 4a)
Health Promotion and Public Health Services
Health promotion services would be provided at each level of the system. Broad based
population health services would be offered at the regional or area level while more
community focused or individualized services would be offered at the Primary Care or
Health System Corporation level.
The appropriate mechanisms for the provision of the full range of public health services
requires further study and debate.
21
Teaching & Research
B 0 B B
Area Wide Services
Needs/Impact Based funding
FUNDING RELATIONSHIPS
Figure 4
FUNDING RELATIONSHIPS
(with Primary Care Fundholders)
B
B
B
B
B
B
MOH
Area Office
Regional
Board
Figure 4a
Planning, Funding and Managing Met ropolit an Toronto Health System
Equity
The MTDHC stated in our Action Plan on Promoting Equity in Health Services Planning
that meeting the health needs of the large and very diverse population of Metropolitan
Toronto involves the recognition, identification and removal of barriers or inequities
within the health system.
Any new model must build in specific strategies for addressing equity at each level. The
training of health professionals and policy related to the organization and delivery of
primary care will affect our ability to achieve equity. Similarly, at the services
purchasing/ funding level, an understanding of equity must be translated into service
delivery goals and outcome assessments.
Timeframe for Implementation
Implementation of this model could vary from 18 months to 5 years. The actual time taken
would be a function of the governments approach (top down vs. bottom up) and political
will to move forward.
It is recommended that a three year timeframe be pursued.
Conclusions:
The model(s) described above provide a reasonably detailed picture of a preferred scenario
for health system planning, funding and management in the Metropolitan Toronto or
potentially the Greater Toronto Area. It obviously does not address many implementation
details which require government and community input and direction.
The MTDHC will need to develop communications and consultation strategies to seek
consensus on the directions contained in this Action Plan and to fill in the gaps that still
exist.
The MTDHC believes these directions to be in the best interest of meeting the health needs
of our population and will advocate for its timely implementation.
Options for t he Future 24
Recommendations:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10..
11.
12.
The Ontario Ministry of Health should establish an Area Office which has the
authority to integrate planning and funding for the GTA.
The Ministry of Health should establish regional planning and funding agencies
based on a population size of on average 500,000 (range of 400-700,000).
Primary/ community services organiza
tions should be developed at the appropriate
level based on populations of equal to/ or greater than 100,000 (ie. 4-6 per region).
A strong primary care system, which is coordinated and integrated within the
whole health system, should be constructed to form the pivotal piece of health care
system restructuring.
Foster informed consumer choice and a model of competition that recognizes
access, high quality, and efficient care providers.
Any implementation of this model must build in strategies for addressing equity
at each level.
Support the development of vertical integration of delivery systems, building upon
high performance organizations.
Funding systems, which influence behaviors throughout the system, should
reward efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of services.
In any change process, such as those recommended in this report, it is essential that
a human resources strategy is developed, as a key building block, for a population
needs based system.
Harness the benefits of information and technology to provide virtual systems
where appropriate, and to identify effectiveness measures.
Evaluation must bean integral part of the role of regional boards with regards to
such matters as health status, changing health needs, etc.
The above recommendations should be implemented within a three year time span.
Options for t he Future 25
13. The Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council should undertake a key role in
the implementation of these recommendations, recognizing that it would be
superseded in the new models.
Next Steps:
The general and specific directions set out in this Action Plan will significantly alter the
planning, funding and management of Metros health services. As well, the changes will
have impacts on the rest of the Greater Toronto Area and the Province. Although the
MTDHC is accepting this Action Plan indicates a belief that the directions are sensible and
in the best interests of the health of our citizens, changes of such magnitude need the
support of consumers, providers, and most of all the Provincial Government.
IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT THE MTDHC, THROUGH ITS SYSTEM PLANNING
COMMITTEE, DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A CONSULTATION PROCESS TO
DETERMINE ACCEPTANCE OF THE DIRECTIONS SET FORTH IN THIS ACTION
PLAN.
THE RESULTS OF THE CONSULTATION SHOULD BE COMPILED AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE AT WHICH TIME THE MTDHC WILL PROVIDE ITS FINAL ADVICE ON
THIS MATTER TO THE MINISTER OF HEALTH.
Options for t he Future
26
October 24, 1995
Mrs. Anne Golden
Library Board
Chair - GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Mrs. Golden:
As Chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library, I would like to draw
to your attention the following position of the Board for inclusion in your
deliberations concerning special purpose boards and commissions.
The Board feels very strongly that public library boards are an effective, efficient,
fiscally responsible and accountable way of ensuring the highest quality of library
service to a diverse, multi-cultural general public. By now, you will have heard
arguments that the Board is provincially legislated and established by the local
municipal/council which exercises full fiscal control over its actions. All aspects of
the budget -- including the timing and the form of such a budget as well as approval
of annual operating and capital budgets -- are audited annually. Further, the monthly
proceedings of the Board as well as its annual financial report is a matter of public
record. In addition, the Board, in concert with the Librarys administration, sets
policy which reflects the specific needs of the community that is served by the
institution.
In this current climate of financial crisis, may I point out that library governance by
a board includes
only the interests of the institution since these are the sole reason for the
board being constituted
Mrs. Anne Golden
October 24, 1995
Page Two
B
policy making on behalf of the ownership i.e., the general public, the
taxpayers who support the institution
fiscal responsibility and accountability for the operation of the institution
lobbying for the budget allocation
fundraising (where this is part of the boards mandate)
advocating on behalf of the library.
In short, a board acts as the liaison between the general public and the funding body.
Finally, we are committed to our Mission Statement which upholds the principles of
intellectual freedom and universal access to information.
Given the diverse skills that members bring to the Board, the Library is able to gain
access to many resources through them. Also, Board participation is perceived to be
one way in which public volunteers can participate in local affairs without being
elected; that is, without being subject to the pressures which a political constituency
brings.
Now that the information highway is with us, and we are trying to assess the impact
of technology on public information, the need for ensuring access to unbiased, free
information is even more pressing. We feel that library boards can play a unique
role while at the same time providing the community with responsible, accountable
and efficient service.
Thank you for the opportunity to present our position,
Sincerely,
Maureen Rudzik
Chairman
/nrm
August 4, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
393 University Ave.
20th Floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Re: GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
At its meeting on July 20, 1995, the Metropolitan Toronto
Police Services Board was in receipt of the following report
dated July 19, 1995 from David J. Boothby, Chief of Police:
SUBJECT: GTA Task Force
RECOMMENDATION: That the Board receive the
following report.
BACKGROUND:
I am providing the following information to the Board in
response to correspondence dated 95 July 11 from Mr. R.
A. Richards, Chief Administrative Officer, Metro
Toronto, regarding police operational issues that may
arise from future changes to the governance of the
The impending recommendations of the Greater Toronto
Area (GTA) Task Force will likely impact on policing
within Metropolitan Toronto. The provision of future
police services in Metropolitan Toronto may be
considered in relation to the following four potential
governance models:
Status Quo
Formalized inter-municipal cooperative
Creation of a GTA government by amalgamation
of municipalities
Area municipalities assume the
responsibilities of a dismantled Metro
government
Each scenario creates different operational and
administrative issues for the Service and the governance
models have been listed in a descending order in terms
of greatest operational impact.
In my view, it is important that each of the governance
scenarios continue to uphold the concepts of civilian
accountability and community based policing as
fundamental policing principles. Two other issues which
will have a direct bearing on the success of these
possible governmental approaches are funding and labour
relations.
The following issues regarding the impacts of a change
in governance in the GTA to policing are rudimentary.
Further study and analysis is required to assess the
full complex nature of such changes and to formulate
resolutions that would minimize the impact they would
create to personnel, operational matters, and the
financial aspects of our Service.
Status Quo
The Service has embarked on a restructuring process
which has streamlined the organization and created a
more decentralized approach to policing with the
intention of implementing community based policing.
This approach will better meet the needs of the
communities and municipalities within Metropolitan
Toronto and they will become more involved in police
operational issues.
Funding
Police funding is derived from taxes generated
within Metropolitan Toronto and provided by one
governing council;
The annual police budget is approved by Metro
Council and remains under the control of the Police
Services Board;
Civilian AccountabilityIssues
Communities become directly involved in the
policing issues within their neighbourhoods through
community based policing;
The complex and urgent policing issues are handled
expediently by a Police Services Board;
Labour Relations
Job related issues are confined to one
police
agency, one Board and two Associations
The community based policing approach may require
changes to personnel deployment and hours of duty;
Formal InterMunicipal Cooperative
If the Service were required to enter into a more
formalized intermunicipal cooperative approach to
policing, there is the potential for the pooling and
sharing of some operational resources and adopting
common standards in the following areas:
Police training including the sharing of training
facilities and training personnel;
GTA-wide emergency planning and training in
conjunction with common standards and procedures;
The acquisition of compatible computer and
communication equipment across the GTA to enhance
database information sharing and mobile
communication;
The potential for (large volume) joint-purchasing
strategies of standardized police equipment to
reduce purchasing costs across the GTA;
The potential for creating centralized
investigative squads and/or enhancing liaison
between the various
specialized units within the
GTA to solve major crime;
Civilian Accountability Issues
How would the various Boards deal with the
increased flow of information between each Board
and police agency, and provide the necessary
decision making processes in an
efficient and
timely manner;
Some formal mechanism(s) would be
needed (eg.
Memorandum of Understanding) to achieve some kind
of cooperative approach between the Police Service
Boards;
The views, policies,
standards and policing needs
of the various Boards (and their constituents) may
differ across the GTA;
Funding
A formula
for generating and apportioning the
necessary funding between the different
municipalities would have to be developed and
agreed upon;
The Service may lose some of its financial autonomy
or be required to expend funds which do not fully
address the policing needs of Metro Toronto;
The impact created by changing to this governance model
would probably have the least operational impact for the
Service. It is presumed that the cooperative measures
would be implemented over a reasonable period with
minimal interruption to crucial police services.
GTA Municipality
If a decision were made to create a GTA Metropolis by
amalgamating the existing municipalities,
there would be
a greater impact on the Service, especially in the area
of labour relations and operations.
Funding
What are the costs for police amalgamation and who
would pay;
Would the costs for community based policing be
dispensed from a pool or charged back on a
geographic (neighbourhood) basis;
Civilian Accountability
Is one or more Police Services Boards required to
provide the civilian control of the police in one
large (GTA) municipality effectively in a timely
manner;
Do all constituents within the GTA want one large
police organization or some local police identity;
Is community based policing supported by
constituents across the GTA;
Labour Relations
Negotiations would be necessary
to mitigate the
problems arising out of the different collective
agreements and work schedules across the GTA;
The consolidation and/or elimination of senior
ranking officer positions across the GTA would have
to be addressed;
A standard set of rules,
directives and procedures
would have to be devised and implemented in the
short term;
The issue of different police salaries would have
to be addressed;
Amalgamation would also create major
operational and
administrative problems
in the short term due to the
incompatibility of computer and communication technology
across the GTA. This could create interruptions to
crucial police services in some instances and possibly
place the safety of police personnel and members of the
public in jeopardy.
Emphasis
replace
products
would be placed on obtaining major funding to
incompatible equipment with standardized
as soon as possible.
Independent Area Municipalities
A dismantling of the metropolitan level of government
and the passing of the responsibilities and services to
each municipality would have the greatest operational
impact to the Service. The Service itself would cease
to exist as an entity and the immense task of divesting
its assets would have to be addressed.
Funding
Each municipality would have to decide whether to
fund its own police agency, share policing costs or
contract with the OPP;
Each municipality would have to consider the costs
for acquiring equipment necessary to create its own
police operational infrastructure;
Some municipalities may not be able to generate
sufficient revenue to support a viable police
service;
How would the physical resources of the Service be
apportioned between the municipalities;
Civilian Accountability
Six new police service boards may be created to
address the policing needs within each municipality
with potential for duplication in operations and
planning;
Some municipalities may not have the police
resources to sustain a community based policing
approach;
Police issues which affect the metropolitan area
may not be addressed because of the divergent views
or the local needs of each police services board;
Labour Relations
Protracted negotiations between each municipality
for the redeployment of Service personnel would be
necessary;
There is the potential that some members of the
Service would lose employment;
Each municipality would have to enter into separate
collective agreements;
The greatest challenge would be to provide adequate
police service to the constituents in each municipality
while the transformation occurs. It is not unreasonable
to assume that this type of governance model would
require the greatest amount of time to achieve and it
would create the most vulnerable environment for
criminal activity.
It may also prove to be the most expensive policing
option, on an aggregate basis, for the taxpayers in
Metropolitan Toronto. In addition, it would effectively
impede the ability of the police to prevent and
investigate crime and apprehend offenders due to the
increased jurisdictional boundaries that would arise in
a high population density area.
Current Service Operational Relationships
The following is an outline of the legal, formal and
informal relationships currently in place between the
Metropolitan Toronto Police Service and other government
agencies:
Legislated
The Emergency Plans Act, RSO, 1990 places an
obligation for the Service (and other government
agencies) to enter into inter-jurisdictional
arrangements for the purpose of planning and
providing services in the event of an emergency.
The Metropolitan Toronto Emergency Plan (By-law 52-
84) assigned obligations and responsibilities to
the Service and contains procedures for joint
agency inter-action with other agencies within
Metro Toronto, i.e. fire; ambulance; TTC; Hydro;
etc.
Under the Metro Nuclear Plan, the Service shares
obligations and responsibilities with other Metro
agencies, the O.P.P. and Durham Region Police.
The Coroners Act of Ontario, RSO, 1990 places
obligations on police personnel in Ontario and a
Memorandum of Understanding between the Coroner and
the Federal Transportation Safety Board of Canada
requires the Service to provide assistance at
relevant incidents, i.e., plane/train disasters.
Formal Agreements
The Service has entered into a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with the RCMP and the OPP
pursuant to the Security Offences Act to deal with
threats to the security of Canada and/or
internationally protected persons.
The Service has MOU agreements with the Peel Region
Police and York Regional Police Services to provide
mutual emergency support when deemed necessary.
The Service has many MOU agreements arising out of
Joint Force Operation (JFO) activities with the
RCMP, OPP and numerous other police services in the
GTA and southern Ontario.
Some of the Joint Force Operations deal with
investigations into organized crime; illicit
narcotic and drug distribution; smuggling of
illegal aliens and weapons; credit card and
consumer frauds; hate literature;
terrorist/bombing activities; pornography and child
exploitation.
Informal Agreements
The Service is involved in numerous informal
relationships with other police agencies, provincial and
federal government agencies, and international police
agencies. These take the form of daily contact for the
sharing and dissemination of criminal/investigative
information, and include regular committee involvement
for joint planning and training purposes.
Staff Sergeant Gene Pankewich, a member of the Corporate
Planning Unit, attended the meeting and discussed this report
with the Board.
The Board received the foregoing report for information and
approved the following Motion:
" THAT t he fol l owi ng persons be provi ded wi t h a copy of
t h e f o r e g o i n g r e p o r t n o t i n g t h a t i t i s t h e Bo a r d ' s
prel i mi nary response on t hi s i ssue:
t he Met r opol i t an Tor ont o and Ar ea Muni ci pal i t y
C l e r k s f o r t h e i n f o r ma t i o n o f t h e i r c o u n c i l
members
Dr. Anne Golden, Chai r, Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea
Task Force
m
The foregoing is provided to you for information at this time.
If you would like further information on this report, please
contact Staff Sergeant Gene Pankewich, Corporate Planning Unit
at telephone number 324-6285.
Yours truly,
Deirdre Williams
Board Secretary
THIS IS AN EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF
THE METROPOLITAN TORONTO POLICE SERVICES BOARD HELD
ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1995
#401. INTER-J URISDICTIONAL CO-ORIGINATION OF
EMERGENCY SERVICES
The Boar d was in r eceipt of t he following r epor t AUGUST 28, 1995 fr om David
J . Boot hby, Chief of Police:
SUBJ ECT:
STATUS OF THE ME TROP OLI TAN
TORONTO POLICE SERVICE INTER-
J URISDICTIONAL CO-ORDINATION OF
EMERGENCY SERVICES AND
RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE
GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK
FORCE.
RECOMMENDATION :
THAT t h e boa r d a p p r ove t h e fol l owi n g
r ecommendat ions and for war d t his r epor t t o
t he GTA Task For ce for consider at ion.
Recommendat ions
1.
2
-
3.
That t he GTA Task For ce suppor t t he cr eat ion of a GTA Emer gency Plan
which would incor por at e t he var ious municipal and police emer gency
plans in t he GTA in t he same manner as t he cur r ent Met r opolit an Tor ont o
Emer gency Plan.
That t he GTA Task For ce det er mine t he oper at ional benefit s, pot ent ial
cost saviings, and ult imat e financial r esponsibilit y of a cent r alized GTA
Emer gency Oper a t ions Cent r e a n d a cen t r a lized GTA Emer gen cy
Tr aining Cent r e.
Tha t t he GTA Ta sk For ce r ecommend t ha t common GTA emer gency
pr ocedur es and pr ot ocols r e l e va n t t o emer gency pr epar at ion,
communica t ion, t r a ining a nd r esponse be developed t o mit iga t e a ny
exist ing discr epancies in r elevant t er minology used by police agencies in
t he GTA.
4.
5.
6.
That t he GTA Task For ce det er mine t he feasibilit y of oper at ional benefit s,
pot ent ial cost s, and ult imat e financial r esponsibilit y of a common police
voice and common police dat a communicat ion channel t hr oughout t he
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea t o over come exist ing police communicat ion bar r ier s.
That t he GTA Task For ce det er min e t he feasibilit y, associat ed cost fact or s,
and ult imat e financial r esponsibilit y for t he development of a common
compu t er i zed i n t er fa ce t o a l l ow GTA pol i ce a gen ci es t o s h a r e
comput er ized infor mat ion in spit e of incompat ible equipment .
Tha t t he GTA Ta sk For ce suppor t t he development of a GTA police
pur chasing st r at egy designed t o r educe pur chase cost s and impr ove t he
fut ur e int er -agency compat ibilit y of t echnology and equipment of GTA
police ser vices.
BACKGROUND:
At it s meet ing on Apr il 27, 1995, (Boar d Minut e No. 180/ 95 r efer s), t he Boar d
r equest ed a r epor t on t he st at us of t he int er -jur isdict ional co-or dinat ion of
emer gency ser vices; and a r ecommendat ion which t he Boar d can send as it s
posit ion on t his mat t er t o t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea (GTA) Task For ce.
CURRENT SERVICE INTER-J URISDICTIONIAL CO-ORDINATION OF
EMERGENCY SERVICES
The Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police Ser vice is act ively involved in planning for
sit uat ions r equir ing an emer gency r esponse and is pr epar ed t o act in t he event
of a declar ed emer gence}, as evidenced by t he r ecent TTC t r agedy. Par t of our
emer gency r esponse capabilit y involves joint planning and t r aining wit h
feder al, pr ovincial and municipal gover nment s and. t heir r espect ive emer gency
and police agencies.
Ser vice involvement in int er -jur isdict ional co-or dinat ion of emer gency ser vices
is gover n ed pr edomin a t ely by legisla t ion ; h owever , t h e Ser vice is a lso
commit t ed t o suppor t ing int er -jur isdict iona l emer gencies t hr ough for ma l
agr eement s, int er -agency commit t ee involvement , and by a t r adit ional infor mal
mut ual suppor t philosophy.
Legisla t ive Obl i ga t i on s
The Emer gencv Plans Act of Ont ar io
The r equir ement s and obligat ions cont ained in The Emer gencv Plans Act ,
Revised St at ut es of Ont ar io, 1990, Chapt er E.9, est ablish a legal basis in
Ont ar io for gover nment agencies, including t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police
Ser vice, t o ent er int o int er -jur isdict iona l r ela t ionships for t he pur pose of
planning and pr oviding ser vices dur ing an emer gency.
This Act defines emer gency as a situation caused by the forces of nature, an
accident, an intentional act or otherwise that constitutes a danger of major
proport ions t o life or propert y; Under Sect ion 3(I), a municipalit y is
aut hor ized t o pass a by-law which allows for t he cr eat ion of a municipal
emer gency plan designed t o meet t he needs of a municipalit y dur ing and
following an emer gency.
The Met r o Tor ont o Emer gency Plan
On Oct ober 7, 1980, Met r opolit an Tor ont o Council enact ed By-law 154-80
which confir med t he est ablishment of t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Emer gency
Planning Advisor y Commit t ee. The commit t ee was given a mandat e t o pr ovide
for t he planning and co-or dinat ion of a r esponse in t he event of an emer gency
affect ing t he Met r opolit an Ar ea. This By-law was subsequent ly r eplaced by
By-law 52-84, The Met r opolit an Tor ont o Emer gency Plan, on May 8, 1984.
Under Met r o By-law 52-84, Met r o Council assigned t he r esponsibilit y for co-
or dinat ing emer gency measur es t o t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police Ser vice.
The Chief of Police is expect ed t o lead in t he management of an emer gency
sit uat ion using t he Emer gency Oper at ions Cent r e wit h per sonnel deployed at
an Emer gency Sit e. The r esponsibilit y for co-or dinat ing emer gency ser vices
h a s been delega t ed wit h in t h e Ser vice t o t h e Du t y Oper a t ion s Cen t r e,
Emer gency Measur es Unit whose Unit Commander is designat ed as t he Co-
or dinat or , Emer gency Measur es Planning.
Ther e ar e pr ovisions in t he Met r o Emer gency Plan for a co-or dinat ed r esponse
fr om numer ous municipal agencies wit hin Met r opolit an Tor ont o. In addit ion t o
t he police, t her e is involvement by: elect ed officials; fir e depar t ment s;
a mbula nce ser vices; wor ks depa r t ment s; healt h and commu n i t y s er vi ce
agencies; and t r anspor t at ion depar t ment s. The funct ions and r esponsibilit ies
of each agency, including t hose of t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police Ser vice, ar e
fully delineat ed in t his plan.
Revised Met r o Tor ont o Emer cencv Plan
A r evised ver sion of t he Emer gency Plan has been dr aft ed and is expect ed t o be
sent t o Met r o Council for r at ificat ion in t he lat t er par t of 1995. Under Sect ion 5
of t he Pr ovincial Emer gencv
Plans Act , ar ea municipalit ies engaged in
emer gency planning act ivit ies must confor m t o t he Met r o Emer gency Plan.
Th e Emer gen cy Pla n is design ed t o dea l wit h t h e followin g t ypes of
emer gencies:
B Ai r cr a ft cr a s h
. Bl i zza r d
B Building / st r uct ur al collapse
B Elect r ical power black-out
B E x p l os i on
B F l o o d
B Hazar dous Mat er ial Incident
B T o r n a d o
. Tr anspor t at ion Accident
B Tr a i n der a i l men t
B Uncont r olla ble fir e
The r ole of t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police Ser vice in t he r evised Emer gency
Plan is significant . The Chair man of Met r o Council has designat ed t he Chief of
Police and t he Chief Administ r at ive Officer of t he Met r opolit an Cor por at ion t o
be t he Chief Oper at ions Officer s of t he Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup. They shar e
t he r esponsibilit y for t he municipalit ys r esponse t o an emer gency by act ing as
t he over all oper at ional and administ r at ive heads.
The Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup
The r evised By-1aw calls for t he cr eat ion of a Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup and a
Municipal Suppor t Gr oup and assigns r esponsibilit ies t o member s of each
gr oup. The Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup is compr ised of t he key agency heads who
have t he aut hor it y, dur ing an emer gency, t o make decisions and implement
act ions on behalf of t heir r espect ive municipal agencies.
In an emer gency, t he Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup will meet at t he Emer gency
Oper at ions Cent r e (EOC) locat ed at 703 Don Mills Road. This is also t he
locat ion of t he Ser vices Comput er Aided Dispat ch (CAD) Communicat ions
Syst em. Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police Headquar t er s has been designat ed as an
alt er nat e EOC sit e in t he plan.
The Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup and ot her r elevant agencies ar e not ified by t he
Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police when a decision has been made t o implement t he
Emer gency Plan. The Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup is composed of t he following
member s of t he Met r o Tor ont o Emer gency Planning Commit t ee:
B Met r opolit a n Cha ir ma n
. Chief Administ r at ive Officer
. Chief of Police
B Commissioner of Ambulance Ser vices
B Commissioner of Wor ks
B Commissioner of Communit y Ser vices
B Commissioner of Tr a nspor t a t ion
B
Medical Officer of Healt h, Cit y of Tor ont o
B Member s of t he Municipal Suppor t Gr oup, as r equir ed
Member s of t he commit t ee may designat e per sons t o act on t heir behalf fr om
t ime t o t ime. These designat ed r epr esent at ives each have t he full aut hor it y t o
make decisions on all mat t er s wit hin t heir jur isdict ion affect ing t heir agency's
par t icipat ion in t he emer gency.
The Municipal Cont r ol Gr oup can designat e a member of t he Met r opolit an
Tor ont o Police t o funct ion as t he Emer gencv Sit e Manager (ESM). This per son
becomes r esponsible for or ganizing and managing an emer gency sit e, and co-
or dinat ing all act ivit ies and r esour ces of r esponding agencies.
The Emer gency Sit e Manager , funct ioning fr om a mobile command post near
t he emer gency sit e, can dr aw upon t he per sonnel and equipment r esour ces of
all emer gency r esponse agencies t hr ough each agencys Sit e Co-or dinat or .
Police and fir e officials have t he legal aut hor it y t o or der evacuat ions and t he
Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police Ser vice would implement t he evacuat ion wit h
assist ance fr om ot her agencies. Under t he Emer gency Plan, assist ance can be
r equest ed fr om neighbor ing municipalit ies, t he Pr ovince of Ont ar io, t he
Feder al Gover nment , including milit ar y aid, and t he pr ivat e sect or , as
r equir ed.
Upon t he t er min at ion and conclusion of an emer gency, all involved agencies
conduct post incident r eviews, and an aft er -act ion r epor t is pr epar ed by t he
Co-or dinat or of Emer gency Measur es Planning for submission t o Met r o Council
and t he Pr ovince as r equir ed. Recommendat ions ar ising fr om cr it ical incident
debr iefing may also be included in t he r epor t .
Met r o Nuclear Plan
By-l a w 52-84 a l s o con t a i n s , a s a n Adden du m, t h e P i ck er i n g
Nuclear
Cont ingency which is also known as t he Met r o Nuclear Plan. The Met r o
Nuclear Plan defines t he r esponsibilit ies of t he MunicipaIit y of Met r opolit an
Tor ont o in t he event of a nuclea r emer gency, in keeping wit h pr ovincia l
emer gency pr ocedur es. Once t he Pr ovince a ssumes cont r ol in a nuclea r
emer gency, t he Met r o Cent r al Emer gency Oper at ions Cent r e would implement
all per t inent dir ect ives r eceived fr om t he Pr ovincial Oper at ions Cent r e.
J oint Tr affic Cont r ol Plan
Pur suant t o t he Pr ovincial Nuclear Emer gency Plan and t he Met r o Nuclear
Plan, a J oint Tr affic Cont r ol Plan has been pr epar ed and appr oved by t he
following agencies having jur isdict ion r elevant t o t he nuclear facilit y:
B
Ont ar io Pr ovincial Police
B
Dur ham Regional Police
B Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police
B
Yor k Regional Police
Ser vice
B
Ont ar io Minist r y of Tr anspor t at ion
I n t h e even t of a n u clea r off-sit e emer gen cy a t t h e Picker in g Nu clea r
Gener at ing St at ion, t he t r affic plan is designed t o evacuat e por t ions of t he
populat ion living and wor king wit hin a 10 km r adius of t he nuclear facilit y.
The J oint Tr affic Cont r ol Plan would be implement ed at a J oint Tr affic Cont r ol
Cent r e in a co-or dinat ed manner by r epr esent at ives of t he involved agencies.
The Tr affic Cont r ol Plan is aut omat ically act ivat ed upon implement at ion of t he
Pr ovincial Nuclear Emer gency Plan following a Picker ing Nuclear Gener at ing
St at ion off-sit e emer gency. The Unit Commander of Tr affic Ser vices is t he
designat ed member of t he Ser vice who r epor t s t o t he Tr affic Cont r ol Cent r e.
Emer gency Tr aining
On an annual basis, joint agency emer gency exer cises ar e conduct ed t o t est
t he validit y of t he Emer gency Plan and t he pr epar at ion, r esponse and
effect iveness of each agencys involvement . A r ecent t r aining exer cise involving
t he Picker ing Nuclear Sit e occur r ed in Apr il 1995.
Per sonnel fr om municipal and pr ovincial agencies acr oss Ont ar io can also
at t end t he Canadian Emer gency Pr epar edness College locat ed in Ar npr ior ,
Ont ar io. This facilit y pr ovides emer gency t r aining using nat ional st andar ds
and t he cost of t r aining is funded by t he Feder al Gover nment .
Canadian Tr anspor t at ion Accident Invest igat ion and Safet v Boar d
The Tr anspor t at ion Safet y Boar d of Canada (TSBC) is r esponsible for t he
invest igat ion of all incident s involving air cr aft , r ailways, mar ine shipping and
pipelines.
They have discr et ionar y power s under t he Canadian Tr anspor t at ion Accident
Invest igat ion and Safet y Boar d Act , R. S. C., 1989, t o at t end, invest igat e and
make r ecommendat ions for t hese t ypes of incident s, whet her or not deat h or
injur y may have occur r ed, and wher e r ecommendat ions r egar ding safet y may
have a bear ing on fut ur e incident s.
The TSBC has ent er ed int o a Memor andum of Under st anding Wit h t he Solicit or
Gener al of Ont ar io and t he Chief Cor oner which addr esses t he issues of sit e
cust ody, r esponsibilit ies and suppor t at TSBC r elevant incident s. Under t he
Cor oner s Act , R. S. O., 1990, police agencies ar e r equir ed t o make available t o
t he cor oner t he assist ance of such police officer s as ar e necessar y for t he
pur pose of car r ying out t he cor oner s dut ies.
In Met r opolit a n Tor ont o, t h e Ser vice wou ld pr ovide a ssist a n ce a t sit es
invest igat ed by t he Tr anspor t at ion Safet y Boar d of Canada (TSBC) pur suant t o
t he Cor oner s Act and t he afor ement ioned Memor andum of Under st anding.
The Ser vice would be a cr ucial link in t he invest igat ion and pr ovide suppor t , in
t he for m of sit e secur it y, cont r ol, invest igat ive and for ensic assist ance t o t he
TSBC, and t o any ot her agency t hat would be given st anding dur ing t he
invest igat ion.
For ma l Emer gen cy Agr eemen t s
Secur it y Offences Act
On Sept ember 9, 1988, t he Ser vice ent er ed int o a joint Memor a ndum of
Under st anding (MOU) wit h t he Royal Canadian Mount ed Police (RCMP) and
t he Ont ar io Pr ovincial Police (OPP) t o handle emer gencies pur suant t o t he
Secur it y Offences Act . Under t his agr eement , t he Ser vice would r espond t o
possible t hr eat s t o t he secur it y of Canada and/or an int er nat ionally pr ot ect ed
per son, as defined in Sect ion 57, in conjunct ion wit h t he RCMP and OPP in an
or der ly and co-oper at ive manner .
Offences in Sect ion 57 include:
B
espionage or sabot age t hat is against Canada or det r iment al t o t he
int er est of Canada; and,
kidnapping/for cible confinement ;
mur der against an int er nat ionally pr ot ect ed per son.
In an emer gency, t he Chief of Police would immediat ely appoint a Senior
Officer t o for m a management t eam wit h t he RCMP while t he command of t he
emer gency r emained wit h t he Ser vice.
The agr eement allows for t he lead r esponsibilit y r ole t o be t r ansfer r ed, dur ing
an emer gency, fr om one police agency t o anot her by mut ual agr eement . The
fir st police agency on t he scene of t his t ype of emer gency nor mally assumes t he
lead r esponsibilit y r ole and has command of t he emer gency.
In a sit uat ion wher e infor mat ion is r eceived t hat a r elevant (Sect ion 57)
emer gency offence is being planned, t he Chief of Police would immediat ely
appoint a Senior Officer t o for m a management t eam wit h t he RCMP and
member s of t his t eam would br ief each ot her on t he cir cumst ances and decide
how. each police agency would act . Per sonnel fr om t he Ser vices Emer gency
Ta sk For ce would become involved in a ny emer gency wher e a t a ct ica l
r esponse was deemed necessar y.
Emer gencv Agr eement s - Peel and Yor k Region Police Ser vices
The Ser vice has also ent er ed int o separ at e Memor andum of Under st anding
(MOU) agr eement s wit h t he Peel Regional Police Ser vice and t he Yor k Regional
Police Ser vice.
The MOU document s out line t he t er ms and condit ions of mut ual emer gency
suppor t . Under Sect ion 2. (1) of t he agr eement s, Each party agrees that in the
event of an emergency situation, each other party shun furnish such personnel
j
equipment, facilities or service as is, in the sole opinion of the assisting party,
available.
An emer gency sit uat ion is defined under t hese agr eement s as: an actual or
potential condition within the jurisdiction of one of the parties that poses an
immediate threat to life or property, and which exceeds the resources and
capability of the jurisdiction to successfully bring the situation under control.
The agr eement s allow each par t y t he r ight t o r efuse t o r ender assist ance or
r ecall any or all assist ance r ender ed if t he assist ing par t y believes t hat such
act ion is necessar y t o t he cont inued pr ot ect ion of it s own jur isdict ion.
J oint Oper at ing Pr ocedur e For Incident s Involving Hazar dous Mat er ials
The Ser vices Emer gency Measur es Unit in t he Dut y Oper at ions Cent r e is
cur r ent ly involved in developing a document which is int ended t o for m t he
basis for a J oint Oper at ing Pr ocedur e For Incident s Involving Hazar dous
Mat er ials. This document will cont ain infor mat ion and st andar d oper at ional
pr ocedur es t o ensur e t hat a joint agency emer gency r esponse t o an accident al
r elea se of h a za r dou s ma t er ia ls wit h in Met r opolit a n Tor on t o wou ld be
r esponded t o in a t imely, efficient and safe manner .
The int ent of t his joint oper at ing pr ocedur e is t o ensur e t hat Met r o Tor ont o
Ambulance Ser vices, t he six ar ea fir e depar t ment s, and t he Ser vice funct ion in
a co-oper at ive and st andar dized manner when dealing wit h t his t ype of
emer gency. This will r educe t he r isk t o t he per sonal healt h and safet y of
involved per sonnel and member s of t he public, and r educe t he pot ent ial for
envir onment al damage.
I n for ma l Emer gen cy Agr eemen t s
Air por t Disast er Cont ingence\ Planning Commit t ee
The Ser vice is r epr esent ed by per sonnel fr om Emer gency Measur es on t he
Air por t Disa st er Con t in gen cy Pla n n in g Commit t ee. Th is commit t ee a lso
includes r epr esent at ives fr om t he following agencies:
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Lest er B. Pear son Oper at ional Unit
Emer gency Planning Canada
Air por t Fir e Unit & Air Tr affic Cont r ol Unit
Ont ar io Pr ovincial Ambulance Depar t ment
Met r o Tor ont o, Peel Region & Yor k Region Ambulance
Depar t ment s
Mississauga Fir e Depar t ment
Ont ar io Pr ovincial Police
Major Canadian air lines
This commit t ee has developed a for mal document ent it led Lest er B. Pear son
Air por t Disast er Plans and Emer gency Pr ocedur es which gover ns emer gency
r esponse t o air plane cr ashes by r elevant agencies.
Gr eat er Tor ont o Int er -Police Communicat ions Commit t ee
The Ser vice is a member of t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Int er -Police Communicat ions
Commit t ee. This commit t ee is compr ised of heads of t he communicat ion cent r es
of t he following police agencies:
B Dur ham Regional Police
B Halt on Regional Police
B
Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police
B Ont ar io Pr ovincial Police
. Peel Regional Police
B
Royal Canadian Mount ed Police
B Yor k Regional Police
This commit t ee has developed, and it s member s have adopt ed, specific int er -
a gen cy oper a t ion a l pr ocedu r es gover n in g commu n ica t ion s du r in g police
pur suit s. These pr ocedur es det er mine how per sonnel fr om each police agency
wi l l fu n ct i on i n cr oss-jur isdict ional pur suit s, a n d h ow ea ch pol i ce
communicat ion cent r e will handle t he event .
The pr ocedur es ar e t est ed and r eviewed by st aging mock pur suit s t hr ough t he
jur isdict ions of each member agency on a r egular basis. This commit t ee has
also developed ot her emer gency r elat ed communicat ion st r at egies which have
been adopt ed by ot her police agencies in Ont ar io.
Met r opolit an Tor ont o E911 Syst em
The Ser vice co-or dinat es t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o E911 Syst em t hr ough it s
Communicat ion Cent r e on Don Mills Road. This vit al ser vice involves t he
r out ing of emer gency calls fr om t he public bet ween t he ar ea Fir e Depar t ment s,
t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Ambulance Ser vice and t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o
Police. This mandat e was given t o t he Met r opolit an Tor ont o Police by t he 911
Avisor y Commit t ee, which was cr eat ed by Met r o Council. This commit t ee has
also devised a 911 Emer gency Response pr ocedur al manual which is used by
t he par t icipat ing agencies. The Ser vice is also r epr esent ed on t he pr ovincial
E911 Commit t ee.
For ensic Ident ificat ion Ser ices Disast er Response Manual
The For ensic Invest igat ive Unit s of many police agencies wit hin t he Golden
Hor seshoe Ar ea have agr eed t o adopt and follow t he guidelines and pr ocedur es
cont ained wit hin t h e Met r opolit a n Tor on t o P ol i ce Ser vi ce F or en s i c
Ident ificat ion Ser vices Disast er Response Manual. Th is docu men t wa s
pr epar ed by per sonnel wit hin t he Ser vices For ensic Ident ificat ion Ser vices
Unit and was disseminat ed t o police agencies in Sout her n Ont ar io in t he ear ly
par t of 1995.
This Disast er Response Manua1 deals wit h mass-disast er scenes fr om t he
per spect ive of for ensic in}-est imat ion, and pr ovides a pr ocedur al fr amewor k for
police per sonnel assigned t o mass-disast er scenes.
The adopt ion of t his manual by police agencies wit hin t he Golden Hor seshoe
Ar ea ensur es t hat for ensic per sonnel loaned t o anot her agency dur ing an
emer gency will be able t o funct ion immediat ely upon ar r ival, wit hout t he need
for agency specific or ient at ion and t r aining.
Emer gencies on Wat er
The Canadian Coast Guar d is r esponsible for sear ch and r escue ser vices on
int er nal wat er ways. The Ser vice is
for m of equipment a nd per sonnel
necessar y. The Canadian Coast
oft en involved and r eceives suppor t in t he
fr om t he Canadian Coast Guar d when
Guar d also pr ovides r escue t r aining t o
member s of t he Ser vices Mar ine Unit . If necessar y, t he Ser vice can call upon
t he Ont ar io Pr ovincial Police t o pr ovide t he use of a helicopt er and pilot if t his
t ype of suppor t wer e deemed appr opr iat e.
SUGGESTED RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GTA TASK FORCE
The mandat e of t he GTA Task For ce focuses on pr ot ect ing t he economic and
social well-being of t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea and. it is also r equir ed t o make
br oader r ecommendat ions dealing wit h t he gover nance of t he GTA as a whole,
including t he pot ent ial for r est r uct ur ing of t he r esponsibilit ies and pr act ices of
municipal and pr ovincial gover nment s.
The Task For ce is now expect ed t o complet e it s wor k by Oct ober 1995, at which
t ime, it will make r ecommendat ions t o addr ess t he appr opr iat e funct ional
r esponsibilit ies of t he municipal and pr ovincial levels of gover nment , and which
of Met r opolit an Tor ont os financial obligat ions may be t he r esponsibilit y of a
wider r egion.
Such r ecommendat ions have implicat ions for t he exist ing int er -jur isdict ional
co-or dinat ion of emer gency ser vices since t he Ser vice cur r ent ly shar es t his
r esponsibilit y Wit h ot her municipal and pr ovincial agencies. Due t o t he
pr oximit y of t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea municipalit ies and Met r opolit an
Tor ont o, and t he cont inuous int er act ion bet ween it s gover ning bodies, and it s
const it uent s t o a ddr ess pr iva t e, commer cia l a nd r ecr ea t iona l needs, t he
following emer gency r elat ed GTA issues ar e wor t h consider ing:
GTA Police Emer gency Issues
B
B
B
B
B
Each police ser vice wit hin t he GTA has it s own emer gency plan;
Each municipalit y wit hin Met r o Tor ont o and t he GTA has t heir own
emer gency plan;
Each police agency in t he GTA dedicat es r esour ces t o t r ain and pr epar e for
t he same legislat ed emer gency r esponse capabilit y;
Cont inuous joint int er -agency emer gency t r aining is cr ucial for an opt imum
emer gency r esponse (cit ed as a key fact or in t he Oklahoma Cit y bombing);
Commu n ica t ion t er min ology u sed by police a n d emer gen cy r espon se
agencies is not all t he same in t he GTA; t he meaning of some common r adio
codes differ s acr oss t he GTA;
B
B
B
B
B
4
Each police agency uses differ ent communicat ions and comput er assist ed
dispat ch (CAD) equipment ;
Each fir e depar t ment t hr oughout t he GTA has it s own communicat ions
syst em (can dir ect ly communicat e via Ont ar io Fir e Mar shals (OMF)
channel);
Police officer s cannot dir ect ly communicat e car -t o-car wit h police officer s
in ot her GTA police jur isdict ions;
Dur ing an emer gency (e.g., high-speed pur suit ) a police car must be r elayed
fr om r adio r oom t o r adio r oom as t he car passes t hr ough each jur isdict ion
and it loses communicat ion wit h it s own r adio r oom in t he pr ocess;
The r adio t r ansmission signal used by t he Ser vice diminishes significant ly
for Ser vice per sonnel out side Met r os jur isdict ional boundar ies;
Police agencies wit hin t he GTA oft en pur chase t he same t ype of oper at ional
equipment fr om t he same vendor s and negot iat e pr ices independent ly of one
anot her .
The Pr ovince of Ont ar io has encour aged t he GTA Task For ce t o gener at e
r ecommendat ions for act ion t hr oughout it s mandat e. I believe t hat public
safet y and emer gency planning issues belong in t he for efr ont of t he Ser vices
oper a t iona l concer ns.
Th er efor e, I bel i eve i t i s i mpor t a n t t h a t t h e
r ecommendat ions cont ained in t his r epor t be for war ded t o t he at t ent ion of t he
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea Task For ce at t he ear liest oppor t unit y.
Recommendat ions
1. That t he GTA Task For ce suppor t t he cr eat ion of a GTA Emer gency Plan
which would incor por at e t he var ious municipal and police emer gency
plans in t he GTA in t he same manner as t he cur r ent Met r opolit an Tor ont o
Emer gency Plan.
2. That t he GTA Task For ce det er mine t he oper at ional benefit s, pot ent ial
cost savings, and ult imat e financial r esponsibilit y of a cent r alized GTA
Emer gency Oper a t ions Cent r e a n d a cen t r a lized GTA Emer gen cy
Tr aining Cent r e.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Tha t t he GTA Ta sk For ce r ecommend t ha t common GTA emer gency
pr ocedur es and pr ot ocols r elevant t o emer gency pr epar at ion,
communica t ion, t r a ining a nd r esponse be developed t o mit iga t e a ny
exist ing discr epancies in r elevant t er minology used by police agencies in
t he GTA.
That t he GTA Task For ce det er mine t he feasibilit y of oper at ional benefit s,
pot ent ial cost s, and ult imat e financial r esponsibilit y of a common police
voice and common police dat a communicat ion channel t hr oughout t he
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea t o over come exist ing police communicat ion bar r ier s.
That t he GTA Task For ce det er mine t he feasibilit y, associat ed cost fact or s,
and ult imat e financiaI r esponsibilit y y for t he development of a common
compu t er i zed i n t er fa ce t o a l l ow GTA pol i ce a gen ci es t o s h a r e
comput er ized infor mat ion in spit e of incompat ible equipment .
That t he GTA Task For ce suppor t t he development of a GTA police
pur chasing st r at egy designed t o r educe pur chase cost s and impr ove t he
fut ur e int er -agency compat ibilit y of t echnology and equipment of GTA
police ser vices.
St aff Inspect or Dan Hut t of Emer gency Measur es and St aff Ser geant Gene
Pankewich of Cor por at e Planning will be in at t endance t o r espond t o quest ions
fr om t he Boar d.
Th e Boa r d a p p r ove d t h e for e goi n g a n d r e qu e s t e d t h a t t h e Boa r d
Secr et a r y pr ovi de a c op y of t h is r epor t t o Met r opolit a n Cou n cil for
info infor mat ion.
June 30, 1995
Ms. Anne Golden, Chair
The Metropolitan Toronto School Boar
45 York Mills Road
North York, Ontario M2P 1B6
Tel.: (416) 397-2500
Fax: (416) 397-2640
GTA Task Force
Donald J. McVicar
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
Dear Anne:
GTA TASK FORCE
I am taking this opportunity to share with you some technical options that have been
developed to address, in the short term, the relatively high level of property taxation on
commercial properties in Metropolitan Toronto.
There are various factors which have been identified as possible causes for the high
rates of taxation on commercial properties in Metropolitan Toronto. These include:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
The fact that the assessment system in Metropolitan Toronto assesses
commercial properties at a much higher portion of market value than residential
properties of 1 to 6 units when compared to the balance of the GTA. This
means that any levy of funds in Metro falls more heavily on commercial
properties than it does on residential properties.
Metropolitan Toronto has many unique needs that have to be funded from the
property tax base. This leads to generally higher levels of taxation. These
services include social services and welfare at the municipal level, English as a
Second Language, and compensatory education for the school boards. It is
often recommended that these human services should be funded by the
province and not by local government.
The grants paid by the province for services such as transportation are at a
lower rate than the subsidy for the same services for other local governments.
This forces additional taxes on the ratepayers of Metro.
Local government in Metro provides services that benefit the entire GTA but are
subsidized only by the ratepayers of Metro. These services would include the
Metro Zoo.
Local governments in Metro provide higher levels of service than is provided in
the balance of the GTA.
DD5633LT.SAM
- 2 -
Items (a) through (d) require a great deal of research and consideration before any
conclusion can be made as to the extent to which each element contributes to the
problem. Further consideration will be needed to determine the most appropriate
options for addressing the problem. The assessment problem, which has proved to be
difficult to deal with in the Metro context, will become even more difficult in the GTA
context unless there are appropriate offsets and phase-in provisions.
While these complex and interrelated problems will take some considerable time to
address, there is an immediate need to begin to address the problem. With no action in
1996, the erosion of the tax base in Metro will continue as businesses seek to relocate
to jurisdictions with lower tax rates. The immediate issue is to determine what short
term measures are available to mitigate the problem and to signal the governments
intention to find a successful conclusion.
It is quite possible that the relatively high level of commercial taxes in Metro compared
to the balance of the GTA will be the focus of the interim recommendations to be
released by the Task Force at the end of September 1995. The short time line and the
complexity and controversy of some of the issues mean that there will be limited
acceptable means of proceeding. It is not possible to reform the assessment system in
a short time and, moreover, one of the critical issues to be addressed in the final report
will be the exact nature of any new assessment system (market value, rental value, site
value, unit value). Any interim measure will therefore have to focus on providing
immediate tax relief to commercial properties in Metro with no other changes. The
following options are presented to achieve that objective.
Opt ion 1 Change the Mill Rate Weighting Factor
The residential mill rate is currently 15 per cent lower than the commercial mill rate.
This is known as the weighting factor and it is consistent across the province. If the
weighting factor was changed to a smaller per cent, a relatively smaller portion of the
taxes raised in Metro would come from commercial properties. A decrease in the
weighting factor to 10 per cent would decrease commercial taxes (municipal and
education) by about $50 million or 2.5 per cent. There would be a similar increase in
residential taxes.
Implications
Given the lack of provincial funds, this option would be the most
realistic means of achieving a quick reduction in commercial taxes in
Metro.
This would not have an impact beyond Metro.
The residential tax increase would include apartment buildings which
are generally regarded as being more over assessed than commercial
properties.
. Allowing residential property taxes to rise in Metro suggests that it is
accepted that they are currently lower than the rest of the GTA. This
- 3 -
is true if market value is used as the standard of measure but may not
be true if some other measure is used.
Option 2 Change the
Mill Rate Weighting Factor and Increase Operating Grants
This option reduces the weighting of the residential mill rate in the same manner as
option 1. The resulting increase in residential taxes is than offset by an increase in
operating grants. For education purposes this could be done by a measure such as
increasing the recognition for compensatory education costs. The fact that the
residential and commercial mill rates are linked means that any grant money used to
reduce residential taxes back to their former level will provide for a further reduction for
commercial taxes. A change in the weighting factor to 10 per cent with sufficient grant
money to reduce residential taxes for both municipal and school board purposes to
their former level would cost the province $100 million and reduce commercial taxes by
$100 million or about 5 per cent.
School grants might get lost in negative grant calculation in which case
the education mill rate would have to increase to make up the
difference.
B Grant increase would be recaptured by province in future years
leading to a decrease in overall funding to education and higher
education and municipal taxes across the province.
. The grant increase would be hidden in the education funding increase
and therefore be an unlikely basis for putting a freeze on commercial
assessment appeals.
Option 3
Provide Direct Subsidy to Lower Commercial Mill Rates
This option would provide a direct subsidy to Metro municipalities and school boards to
compensate for a loss of revenue due to a lowering of the taxes for commercial
properties. The mill rate for municipal and school board purposes would be calculated
in the usual way. The mill rate attributable to commercial properties would be lowered
with the province paying a direct subsidy to school boards and municipalities for the
revenue lost by the lower commercial mill rate. A reduction in commercial taxes of 5
per cent would cost the province $100 million.
Indications
. The subsidy on the mill rate would not be netted against negative
grant.
. The subsidy would be very visible.
DD5633LT.SAM
- 4 -
. The visibility of the subsidy could be used as a basis for placing a
freeze on commercial assessment appeals in Metro pending the
implementation of a new assessment system for Metro.
We will be available to assist in any further consideration of these options or to provide
any other assistance that you might require.
Yours very truly,
Director & Secretary-Treasurer
To: Dr. Anne Golden Chair, GTA Task Force
BOARD:
ADDRESS:
I I
327-1515
DATE: September 21, 1995 TIME: 3:22 PM
Pages (including this one) 4
Thank you very much for your presentation to the Education Finance Reform Task
Force -- it was received very well by everyone. Many people commented to me that
they were relieved that this complex issue was in such competent hands! I concur.
VOICE: (416) 397-2572 FAX: (416) 397-2569
September 21, 1995
North York, Ontario M2P 1B6
Tel.: (416) 397-2572
Fax: (416) 397-2569
Chair
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
Toronto, ON M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I am pleased to submit Principles on Governance and Funding of Education developed
by The Metropolitan Toronto School Board and approved by the Chairs and Directors of
all of the public school boards in Metropolitan Toronto.
While we appreciate the need for changes in governance and restructuring of municipal
councils and school boards, we firmly believe these principles must be respected if any
satisfactory solution is to be found. They are rooted in the philosophy that has guided
public education in this province for well over a century and they are fundamental to the
future of a system that has served millions of people so well.
We are submitting a set of guiding principles, rather than specific models for
educational governance, because we believe that these must be at the heart of any
debate over governance. While they allow considerable flexibility in the development of
various models, we fundamentally believe that these principles must form the
foundation of any future system of educational governance.
The public school boards in Metro would be pleased to participate in further discussions
with you regarding the developing of a governance framework that incorporates this set
of guiding principles.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours very truly,
Ann Vanstone
Chair
September 19, 1995
Principles on Governance and Funding of Education
Public Educations Contribution to Society
1.
2.
3.
Public education provides the foundation for the intellectual growth of individuals as
well as the long-term social, cultural and economic well-being of a community as a
whole. The public school system enables learners to acquire a breadth of
knowledge, skills and attitudes that prepares them to participate fully in a
democratic society.
As a public good, access to a high quality public education system must be
universal and equitable.
A well and appropriately educated citizenry is essential to the economic vitality of a
large, complex, urban society.
Provincial Responsibility
4. The provincial governments responsibility is to provide leadership in public
education by defining the objectives, core policy and standards, and ensure that
resources are available to deliver diverse education programs in order for all
students to have equality of educational opportunity. Equality of opportunity does
not mean equal funding.
New Funding ModeI
5. Public education must be funded in a way that can meet the diverse educational
needs of students. This requires the development of a new funding model that is
based on realistic per pupil costs of services that meet the educational needs of
students in the province.
Local Autonomy - Governance
6. It is imperative that public education, being of such vital social importance to the
community, be governed by representatives dedicated exclusively to its delivery
and who are accountable to the ratepayers and electors.
Page 1 of 3
7.
8.
9.
The right of Roman Catholic ratepayers in Ontario to designate their property taxes
to the separate school system is constitutionally guaranteed. The purpose of this
provision was to bring the law respecting separate schools more in harmony with
the law respecting [public] schools. The right of public school trustees to access
local assessment, subject only to the specific minority exception, was a
constitutional given. The constitutional framework is founded upon this dual system
of locally elected trustees having access to their respective parts of the local tax
base. This constitutional framework cannot be subverted by a purported transfer of
responsibility to municipal authority.
While the province is responsible for ,determining the general goals, objectives, and
standards for public education and recognizes a common level of funding for all
school boards, public education is most effectively delivered in a local environment
where there is a community of interest with a commitment to common goals and
values.
In order to maintain the integrity of the democratic process, trustee representation
should be determined by the size of the population being represented rather than
the number of students being sewed.
Local Autonomy - Access to the Property Tax Base
10. In Ontario, access to the property tax has been the historic right of school boards to
meet their local educational needs. It is essential that school boards retain access
to the Iocal property tax base in order to ensure that communities are able to
provide the appropriate levels of service to meet the needs of their students, as well
as, to address deficiencies in funding from the province. Any provincial
encroachment on this base undermines the ability of school boards to meet local
educational needs. In order to retain their integrity and to ensure accountability,
property taxes must remain under the control of representatives who are locally
elected for that purpose.
Public Education Governance in a Large Urban Setting
ll..
12.
In a large complex urban area, a balance must be struck so that decision-making is
both sensitive and responsive at the local level while meeting the common goals of
the whole urban area.
Democratically elected trustees should have the ultimate responsibility for ensuring
that every student has the opportunity to achieve provincial education standards.
Within a large urban area, school boards representing defined communities of
interest should have the statutory authority and financial flexibility to ensure that the
delivery of public education within adequate physical facilities, meets the
educational needs of the students and community they serve.
Page 2 of 3
Streamlining of Services
13. The administration and governance of public education should be structured so that
the maximum amount of available resources can be channeled to the direct
provision of services for learners.
14. The governance structure of public education should be flexible enough to enable
all publicly funded systems to reduce costs by working co-operatively.
15. The roles and responsibilities of the Ministry and the school boards should be re-
examined and streamlined to ensure that there is no duplication of services.
Page 3 of 3
Metropolitan Torontos Electric Utilities Submission to the GTA Task Force
East York Hydro Etobicoke Hydro North York Hydro Scarborough PUC Toronto Hydro York Hydro
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair - GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Submission bv Metros Electric Utilities
On August 29 the Commissioners and the Senior Managers of the municipal utilities in Metropolitan
Toronto met to discuss the future of the electric utilities. Ontario Hydros Chair Maurice Strongs
presentation to the Canadian Electrical Association, the release of associated internal reports from
Ontario Hydro, the Municipal Electric Associations (MEA) study into institutional options, and the
Joint Ontario Hydro/MEA study looking at the Retail Distribution in Ontario prompted the meeting.
The potential changes in the electric utility industry include: rationalization, deregulation, re-
regulation, privatization, unbundling, wheeling, etc.
As Commissions, we stand ready to cooperate and
facilitate whatever changes are directed in the public interest. We agree that there must be changes to
the electrical delivery system, including municipal utilities, in Ontario.
Proposed solutions must be in the best interests of our customers and always ensure that they receive a
reliable and safe supply of electricity and at the lowest possible cost.
Some form of restructuring of the electric utility industry in the Province, as a whole, will likely occur
within the next few years. Decisions with respect to this restructuring will consider the broader
industry issues and will be made in consultation with industry experts among others. We strongly
believe that any change within our industry should be dealt with separately and not occur as a by-
product of a rationalization within the GTA.
When structural changes are being studied the issue of ownership must be
the industry should restructure prior to considering the privatization issue.
of the utilities remain in public hands.
Thank you for your consideration on this matter.
Yours truly
considered. We believe that
It is essential that the assets
R. D. Dyer, Chair
North York Hydro
D. A. Beatty, Chair/ Catherine Sherrard, Chair M. S. Anshan, Chair
Scarborough PUC Toronto Hydro York Hydro
C.A. (GORD) KRANTZ
Mayor
July 11, 1995
G.T.A. Task Force
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G IE6
This is in response to your correspondence of April 21, 1995 regarding your request for
the Town of Miltons paper to the GTA Task Force Vision Project.
I am pleased to enclose our paper entitled Miltons Vision for the GTA, which represents
a consensus position of Milton Council.
Sincerely yours
G.A. Krantz
Mayor
GAK/dd
enclosure
MILTON THE STEAM CAPITAL OF ONTARI O HOME OF ST EAM. ERA
MILTONS VISION FOR THE G.T.A.
Mayor G. Krantz,
Members of Council
Town of Milton
July 10, 1995
Miltons Vision for the G.T.A.
Introduction
The purpose of this discussion paper is to put forward a Town of Milton Vision on the
Future of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This paper includes a Vision for the GTA, a
Statement of Values, and Miltons position in the areas of Governance and Urban Form,
and, Finance and Taxation.
The request from the GTA Task Force comes at an opportune time for Milton in that Milton
has just completed an eighteen month planning process which has seen Milton develop
a Strategic Plan and four specific action plans in the following areas:
B Economic Development and Tourism
B Environment and Land Use (a new official Plan)
. Leisure and Library Services
B Management Information Systems
Milton believes that the vision developed as part of its Strategic Plan can be extrapolated
to the GTA as we believe the Vision and Statement of Values that we have adopted are
fundamental to the well being and success of not only Milton, but the GTA area as a whole.
Forces for Change in the GTA
As the diagram on the opposite page, shows many factors are currently at work to impose
change on the GTA Municipalities.
Economic Development initiatives have been carried out on a GTA wide co-operative
basis as municipalities have recognized that attracting investors to the GTA is the top
priority. Every municipality in the GTA will benefit to some extent, regardless of where
an industry locates.
Metro Toronto has financing and taxation problems and there are some who propose that
these problems should be shared by all Municipalities in the GTA.
The Provincial/Municipal Relationship is under increased scrutiny. With the failure of
the disentanglement exercise there is an increased initial need to address the tangled
web that is the Provincial/Municipal Relationship.
Major Population Growth is forecasted for the four regions surrounding Metro, while
Metro itself will remain static in terms of its population. Over the next fifteen years almost
two million people (another Metro), will be added to Peel, York, Durham and Halton
Regions. Most of these will be from other countries and people leaving Metro itself.
Page 3
The GTA Mayors Committee was initially formed to focus on Economic Development
issues but has lately broadened its mandate to include other major issues such as
governance, finance and taxation, infrastructure, etc. and has become a major voice in
advocating the local municipal position in the GTA.
With the outcome of the recent Provincial Election changes will be made to legislation
affecting municipalities (ie: employment equity, Iabour, etc. )
There is no doubt about the need for new and the replacement of deteriorating
infrastructure across the GTA. With the fiscal constraints that exist at all levels of
Government, unique and different funding approaches are evolving.
The trickle down theory of public finance will surely see municipal transfer payments
continue to dwindle, if not totally disappear. Municipalities are at the bottom of the fiscal
pyramid. As the feds and the province in turn have turned off the tap. Municipalities will
have to continue to assume increased funding responsibilities or cancel programs and
services.
The property tax system in Ontario continues to be in chaos. Assessment bases are not
consistent among regions and individual municipalities within regions. Metropolitan
Torontos base has not been updated in over 40 years and the situation continues to
deteriorate. Continuing inequity and appeals are eroding the Metro system to the point
where Metro is losing assessment at the rate of 3- 4% per year. The system has been
under review since the early 1970s but little has changed. The property tax system has
contributed to Ontarios increasingly uncompetitive situation when it comes to attracting
industry and jobs.
Governance of public services is becoming the issue of the 90s. The Provincial Tories
were brought to power with duplication, blurred roles and responsibilities and over-
govenment, as one of their major campaign issues. Municipalities will have to revise the
way services are delivered or it will be forced upon us.
The GTA Task Force has been struck to deal with many of the issues highlighted above.
They must be dealt with in an expedient and decisive way and the newly elected
government is strongly urged to continue the work of the GTA Task Force.
Miltons Vision Statement for the GTA
In July
j
1994 Milton Town Council adopted a Strategic Plan for the Town. Community wide
consultation played a major role in the development of the vision, goals and strategies of
the plan. In all, over 1500 community contacts were made. These were accomplished
through surveys, briefs, workshops, interviews and focus groups were made.
Page 4
We believe that the Vision adopted for the Town of Milton should be extrapolated for the
GTA and as such we have prepared the Statement that follows as our Vision and
Statement of Values for the GTA.
We do not wish to impose our view of the world on others but we believe in our community
and we believe that the community has articulated a well thought out and balanced view,
one that is often heard throughout the GTA.
The Vision Statement describes the Vision and Values as follows:
The Vision: To be the Best of City, Town and Country in North America
The Statement
of Values: For Living: A Well-Planned Area with a High Quality of Life,
which
B encourages healthy lifestyles
B blends urban and rural living
B SUppOrtS the family as the foundation of t he community
B nurtures community spirit, participation and a sense of belonging
B USaS historical preservation and neighbourhood scale planning to encourage
unique identities and qualities in downtown, urban and rural areas
For Business: A Dynamic and Prosperous Economy,
which
B fosters ent r epr eneur i al /spi r i t and encourages technological innovation
B c api t al i zes on l oc at i on and accessibility to attract diverse industries
B appreciates the GTAs natural heritage and community character
economic assets
B offers residents through growth and devel opment , a l i f et i me of i oc al
opportunities to live, work and play
B provides fiscally responsible local government
as
For Leisure: Natural Amenities and Lifestyle Choices,
which
B protect the air, water and l and as a natural inheritance for future
generations
protect natural areas and green belts
B provide a wide range of leisure, learning and heal t hy l i f est yl e opportunities
B pr ovi de per sonal devel opment oppor t uni t i es f or al l ages
Page 5
The Major Issues
Milton would like to also share our views on two issues that are extremely critical and in
our opinion inextricably linked. These are Municipal Finance and Taxation, and,
Governance and Urban Form. As the ability to fund public services becomes strained to
the breaking point, the focus turns to the structures that exist to deliver these services, and
how they can be streamlined. It would appear impossible to address finance and taxation
without having an impact on governance and urban form and we therefore choose to
address both.
Municipal Finance and Taxation
B At the present time there are approximately 1,000 municipal programs that receive
transfers from the Province. In the future there should be more financial autonomy at the
local level to fund the services it delivers. Financial accountability and program
responsibility should go hand-in-hand. The financial purse strings will be cut and
Provincial subsidies will disappear. Local Government should be totally accountable and
fiscally responsible for its actions. Disentanglement should become a reality. To this end,
legislation should be changed to provide access by local government to additional revenue
sources.
. Education (benefits all) and General Welfare Assistance (Income Redistribution) should
be removed from the property tax base and be funded appropriately from the income tax.
B FuII market Value should be used as the basis for assessment recognizing that it is the
measure that best approximates the relative worth of municipal services.
. Assessment should become a Iocal government responsibility so as to restore accuracy,
confidence, accountability and control to the function. Provincial and Regional
Assessment Boards may be established to set guidelines and standards but these should
be controlled by local representatives.
B A province-wide or GTA-wide financing authority should be in place to act as the debt
issuing body for all Municipalities.
B Financial creativity will be essential. Municipal managers will need to know the true
costs of services and be able to show how these costs compete in the market place
against other alternatives. User fees for a host of services should become increasingly
popular but competitive pricing will be key in the future.
Page 6
B private/public Partnerships will abound with many different types of arrangements.
Municipalities should invest in good data collection and management information systems
so as to adequately assess proposals and show how the current municipal service may be
able to compete favorably as an option for future delivery. Where the private sector
builds and/or operates public services, policies should be developed to ensure that local
community values and public rights are protected in such partnerships. Healthy and
controlled competition for services will be the key. The private sectors will not be allowed
to monopolize any public service and returns should be regulated.
B Major infrastructure needs should increasingly be funded on a fee for service basis.
Governance and Urban Form
B Municipal Government should no longer be creatures of the Province but be made an
equal and legitimate partner with the other two levels of Government.
. The local municipalities that make-up the GTA should continue to be separate and
distinct units. The diversity and uniqueness thereby maintained and enhanced, will foster
the continuance of the GTA as a great metropolitan area.
B There should be more focus on Iocal government units as citizens will intensify their
level of interest on how property tax dollars are spent for the services they receive.
. There should be mergers of some local municipalities dictated by economies of scale.
Municipal boundaries should be scrutinized and the size of Councils reviewed. At the very
least, partnerships between municipalities should emerge to deliver programs. Where
boundaries do not make any difference to the resident, services should be co-ordinated
between municipalities and resources shared.
B Nodal growth in the GTA should continue to be promoted with urban centres connected
by transit and transportation networks and infrastructure, such as water and sewer, built
and maintained on economics rather than municipal boundaries.
. A GTA level of government should not be created. Rather, GTA wide bodies should be
created to be responsible for infrastructure such as public transit, roads, water and sewer
and waste management, Current municipal boundaries defining the geographical delivery
of these services will disappear.
B Municipal Welfare should be totally integrated with the Provincial program, and be
delivered by the Province and funded from the Income Tax base.
Page 7
B p l a nni ng a d mi ni st ra t i on a nd a p p rova l should devolve to the local level. Official Plan
amendments, Zoning By-law Amendments, Site Plans, Severances, Subdivision approvals,
Niagara Escarpment approvals, etc. should all become the responsibility of the local level.
B A GTA planning Board should be created to set GTA-wide guidelines and monitor and
control local municipality conformance to these guidelines.
. The Healthy Community philosophy should prevail at the local level in which
communities will seek to balance economic, environmental and community health.
Municipal Services should increasingly include such areas as child care, geriatric care,
etc., provided municipalities are given the legislative authority to deliver these services.
B Health Care should remain a Provincial program, but Municipalities should be given a
more active role in the co-ordination and delivery of these services but not the
responsibility for its funding.
B The number of Local Boards and Commissions should be reduced and these special
purpose bodies should report directly to local Councils where overall program
responsibility and funding exists.
B The province of Ontario should amalgamate all Public and Separate School Board
Administrations, and place them under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education in the
form of Regional Districts.
. Municipalities should form Education Advisory Committees of Council in place of
Trustees and Boards of Education to deal with local educational matters.
. planning responsibility for the Niagara Escarpment should be assumed by municipal
governments and the Ministry of Natural Resources and/or the Ministry of Environment
should continue with the legal and administrative responsibilities.
September 27, 1995
Mrs. Anne Golden
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
G.A. (GORD) KRANTZ
Dear Chair Golden:
Town of Milton 2nd Submission to the GTA Task Force
In response to the highly publicized submissions outlining the views of some of the
larger municipalities in the GTA, Milton believes it is necessary at this time to submit a
second paper which reflects the view of a smaller municipality.
In this regard, please find enclosed the Town of Miltons second submission to the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force entitled Bigger is Net Better - Smaller is Smarter.
This submission is subsequent to Milton Councils first submission dated July 10, 1995
which outlined both a vision for the GTA and Milton Councils position on Governance
and Urban Form, Finance and Taxation; and was endorsed by the General Committee
of Milton Town Council on September 25, 1995.
Our second submission refutes the underlining theme that Bigger is Better, found in
submissions of the larger municipalities, and is based on data found in the Preliminary
Report of the Net Revenue Requirement Sub-Committee of the Greater Toronto Co-
ordinating Committee, that Bigger is Nof Better- Smaller is Smarter.
Sincerely yours
Mayor
GAK/dd
Town of Milton
Second Submission
to the GTA Task Force
September, 1995
INTRODUCTION
This paper is the Town of Miltons second submission to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area)
Task Force. The first submission, dated July 10, 1995 outlined both a vision for the GTA
and Milton Councils position on Governance and Urban Form, and Finance and Taxation.
Given the highly publicized submissions outlining the views of some of the larger
municipalities in the GTA, Milton believes it is necessary at this time to submit a second
paper which reflects the view of a smaller municipality.
The underlying theme of the submissions referred to above, suggests that Bigger is
Better; that the number of municipalities be reduced from the present 30 to somewhere
between 10-15 through municipal boundary adjustments which result in the average
population of municipalities increasing substantially (ie. 400,000 to 800,000).
The thesis is that by increasing the size of municipalities in the GTA, citizens would
experience better government including lower taxes, direct accountability, enhanced
customer service, value for every dollar paid, increased responsiveness, etc.
This submission refutes this theory -- Bigger is Not Better. Milton believes that smaller
municipal governments can be less costly to the taxpayer, closer and more responsive to
its citizens, and develop a much clearer sense of community identity; something that is too
often not achieved by larger municipalities. In short -- Smaller is Smarter.
The conclusions arrived at in this submission are in part based on data contained in the
Preliminary Report of the Net Revenue Requirement Sub-Committee of the Greater
Toronto Co-ordinating (GTCC) Finance Committee, released in August, 1995.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Submissions have been made which recommend that municipal boundaries change so as
to reduce the number of municipalities in the GTA, increase the average municipal
population, and thereby result in more efficient and effective government.
Bigger Is Not Better - Smaller is Smarter
Page 2
One submission recommends the elimination of the five regional municipalities, the
creation of a super regional government that spans but does not include all of the existing
GTA municipalities. This proposal also recommends the combination of several of the
smaller municipalities (eg: Halton Hills and Milton, Ajax and Pickering, Oshawa and
Whitby), the exclusion of others (eg: (Nobleton, King City, Stouffville, Aurora, Newmarket)
and the absorption of others into more expanded centres (eg: Richmond Hill into Vaughan
and Markham) such that the current 30 municipalities that presently exist in the GTA are
reduced to 15, The contention is that this restructuring would yield a more effective,
accountable and streamlined Regional Government.
B
Effective Government?
The recently released report of the GTCC Finance Committee shows that in Metropolitan
Toronto, the net revenue requirement (ie: the amount required to be levied through
property taxes), for regional/municipal services is $1,122 per household (six year
average). Compare this to the same statistic for the four surrounding regions as shown
in the table below:
TOTAL MUNICIPAL NET REVENUE REQUIREMENTS
($ per household -6 year average, 1988- 1993)
Metro $1122
Durham 569
Halton 540
Peel 639
York 519
The table shows the cost of regional services for Metropolitan Toronto is approximately
twice that of the surrounding regions. The argument is made that Metros level of service
is greater than the surrounding regions. This may be true but the question remains - how
is expanding the size of a regional government going to produce more effective and
efficient government when clearly Metro is already double the cost of providing its services
than for the four surrounding regions? At best, if the five regions were to be consolidated
into one, the high cost of providing the services in the Metro core, will be shared amongst
the areas in the surrounding Regions resulting in increased costs. At worst, the standard
of service would rise to the highest common denominator (ie: Metros) and the surrounding
regions would see costs dramatically increasing to Metros levels. It is unclear how this
responds to the needs for more efficient and cost-effective government.
Bigger is Not Better - Smaller is Smarter
B
Accountable Government?
The proposal calls for the creation of a Super Region with 26 members elected at large
to serve approximately 4 million citizens. This results in approximately one super regional
councillor for every 150,000 people. How does this produce more accountable political
representation? Would this representation result in a government closer to its citizens?
Compare this to representation at the Provincial level. The current distribution of Provincial
ridings in Ontario results in one MPP for approximately every 80,000 Ontario citizens on
average. It is unclear how a Super Regional Government Structure that results in double
the number of citizens represented per politician, becomes more accountable and
responsive to its citizens.
And consider the Head of the Super Region. This individual would represent some 4
million people. It is questionable how a political leader with this sort of mandate,
particularly if directly elected, would provide an effective form of leadership and
responsiveness to the citizens across the Super Region.
B
Streamlined Government?
There is no doubt that a super regional government would reduce the number of political
representatives (from the current 134 to 26) resulting in some savings in politicians
salaries and administrative support. But this cost is minuscule (a fraction of a percent),
when compared to the overall billions of dollars in providing the municipal services in the
GTA. The total cost of providing regional government services in the GTA is currently $8
billion.
Miltons view is that the effort should be focused on co-ordinating and streamlining region-
wide services where real efficiencies and savings can be achieved. Lets stop worrying
about adjusting municipal boundaries and devote the energies to where the potential for
real savings exist. Economics and not municipal boundaries should dictate the
rationalization for services such as public transit, parks, roads, water and sewer, and
waste management. This was the position put forward in our first submission, and is
reiterated in this paper,
Another submission recommends that the regional level of government be abolished (all
regions including Metro) and replaced with a Greater Toronto Area Services Commission
to co-ordinate and deliver cross-municipal, utility type services (ie: transit, waste disposal,
water and sewer, etc). The report also recommends that the 30 municipalities in the GTA
be reduced to 15 with populations ranging in size from 400,000 to 800,000. The assertion
is that these 15 mega municipalities would achieve better government characterized by
lower taxes, less government, direct accountability, enhanced customer service, increased
value for every dollar paid and more responsiveness. No evidence is put forward in this
submission to substantiate this claim.
For analysis purposes, we have split the data contained in the report of the GTCC Finance
Committee into two groups (Table 3- Section 11.2.3). The average cost per household of
those municipalities with households of 20,000 (population of approximately 50,000) or
less is compared to the average cost per household of those with households above
20,000.
TOTAL MUNICIPAL NET REVENUE REQUIREMENTS
($ per household -6 year average, 1988- 1993)
The above shows that for the 14 municipalities in the GTA with households of 20,000 or
less, the average total net revenue requirement is $667 per household. The comparable
figure for 16 municipalities with households over 20,000 is $842 per household.
Given this distinction, it is hard to understand the assertion that municipalities with
populations ranging in size from 400,000 to 800,000 would experience lower taxes.
Indeed if one were to rely on the data alone, one concludes that, smaller municipalities are
in general, more cost efficient.
The argument is made that larger municipalities have a higher level and quality of service
which accounts for the higher costs. It is difficult to determine this, without a detailed
service level analysis. The point remains that smaller municipalities, for the most part, are
delivering a basic level of municipal services that is less costly to their taxpayers. Are
citizens of those larger municipalities experiencing higher taxes, receiving a higher level
and quality of service that is worth the extra cost?
An example serves to illustrate. Many of the smaller municipalities in the GTA rely on
composite departments to provide fire protection to their citizens. This involves the use
of a core of full-time permanent firefighters augmented by citizen volunteers. Fire
protection in the larger municipalities is usually provided by a cadre of full time permanent
firefighters on a 24 hour, seven days a week basis, An inspection of the table on Page 19
of the report of the GTCC Finance Sub-Committee indicates that fire protection is provided
at a much reduced cost per household for small municipalities than for larger municipalities
where full-time firefighting personnel are employed.
Bigger is Not Better - Smaller is Smarter Page 5
We are not concluding that the larger municipalities are necessarily inefficient in delivering
their services. However, where is the evidence to suggest that mergers and/or
consolidations of municipalities would yield lower taxes? Indeed, given the evidence, it
is more likely that mergers and/or consolidations would result in service levels that result
in higher taxes per household. One reason for this may be that where a combination takes
place, those citizens experiencing higher service levels would not be satisfied with
anything less. And wouldnt those citizens in the municipality with inferior service levels
demand equivalent service as their new neighbors? The result is that service levels
would rise to the highest common denominator.
Given the foregoing, it is difficult to conclude that adjusting boundaries to create
municipalities with populations ranging from 400,000 to 800,000 will result in lower taxes
per household. There may very well be fewer politicians resulting in reductions in salary
and administrative support expenses, but, these savings would be insignificant compared
to the increase in taxes that would result in these larger municipalities. It is difficult to
conclude there will be more accountability and enhanced customer service with fewer
politicians to respond to citizen concerns.
Conclusion
Miltons view is that those submissions to the GTA Task Force that focus on boundary
adjustments, resulting in fewer municipalities with larger populations miss the point. The
data just released by the GTCC Finance Committee does not support the claims made in
these submissions. A review of the data indicates that the smaller municipalities in the
GTA may very well be more cost effective. Wheres the rationale, therefore, in creating
fewer, but larger municipalities? The argument of economies of scale does not appear to
be operative here. Smaller municipalities have been successful in providing satisfactory
services to their citizens at a cost that is often far less on a per household basis than their
larger neighbors. This is not to conclude that all larger municipalities in the GTA are not
providing services in an effective and efficient way. Many may very well be doing so, but
lets not a priori accept the position that Bigger is Better and implement major boundary
adjustments in the GTA on this somewhat misguided notion. When one considers the
advantages characteristic of smaller municipalities, such as a Council closer to their
citizens resulting in increased responsiveness and improved customer service, it is indeed
hard to conclude that Bigger is Better. Milton believes and wishes to assert to the Task
Force its counter view - Bigger is Not Better - Smaller is Smarter.
One undisputable result of our community consultation process conducted during the
formation of our recently completed Strategic Community Economic Development Plan,
was the Milton residents overwhelming desire, that Milton retain its small town
atmosphere and sense of community.
Miltons view is that reform is needed, should be principle based, and that the outstanding
problems have their roots in economics, finance and taxation. Those who call for
boundary adjustments are jumping at highly visible and dramatic solutions. But these
proposals miss the real purpose of the vision exercise. The problems have been with us
for decades. So have the solutions. What is needed is decisions and actions.
Milton believes that our proposals for change submitted earlier, address the root of the
problems facing the GTA, and we therefore would like to reiterate and highlight these for
consideration by the GTA Task Force.
. Program responsibility and financial accountability should go hand-in-hand.
Local Government should be totally accountable and fiscally responsible for its
actions achieved through disentanglement. There should be more financial
autonomy at the local level to fund services. Legislation should be changed to
provide access by local government to additional revenue sources.
B Education (benefits all) and General Welfare Assistance (Income Redistribution)
should be removed from the property tax base and be funded from the income tax.
B FuII market value should be used as the basis for assessment recognizing that it
is the measure that best approximates the relative worth of municipal services.
B Assessment should become a local government responsibility so as to restore
accuracy, confidence, accountability and control to the function.
B policies and controls should be established to foster and regulate private/public
partnerships.
. Major infrastructure needs should be funded on a fee for service basis.
. Municipal Government should be made an equal and legitimate partner with the
other two levels of Government through legislative reform.
B There should be more focus on the local level of government. The local
municipalities that makeup the GTA should continue to be separate and distinct
units such, that their diversity and uniqueness continues to foster the continuance
of the GTA as a great metropolitan area.
B Economics and effectiveness should be the overriding factor in determining
mergers and partnerships for delivery of services. These initiatives should be
carried out at the municipal level.
B Nodal growth in the GTA should continue to be promoted with urban centres
connected by transit and transportation networks and infrastructure, such as water
and sewer, built and maintained on economics rather than municipal boundaries.
B A GTA level of g o v e r n m e n t s h o u l d n o t b e c r e a t e d . Ra t h e r , GT A w i d e u t i l i t i e s
should be created to be responsible for infrastructure such as public transit, roads,
water and sewer and waste management. Current municipal boundaries defining
the geographical delivery of these services will disappear.
. Planning administration and approval should devolve to the local level. Official
Plan amendments, Zoning By-law Amendments, Site Plans, Severances, Subdivision
approvals, Niagara Escarpment approvals, etc. should all become the responsibility
of the local level.
. A GTA Planning Board should be created to set GTA-wide guidelines and monitor
and control local municipality conformance to these guidelines.
. The devel opment of Healthy Communities should become the responsibility of
the municipalities by which communities will seek to balance economic,
environmental and community health and be provided with the financial capability
to do SO.
B Heal t h Car e shoul d continue to be funded by the Province,
should be given a more active role in the co-ordination and
services.
but Municipalities
delivery of these
. The number of Local Boards and Commissions should be reduced and these
special purpose bodies should report directly to local Councils where overall
program responsibility and funding exists.
. The Province of Ontario should amalgamate all Public and Separate School Board
Administrations.
B Muni c i pal i t i es shoul d form Education Advisory Committees of Council in place of
Trustees and Boards of Education to deal with local educational matters.
Town of Milton
Second Submission
to the GTA Task Force,
September 25, 1995
Mrs. Anne Golden, Chair
GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
September 28, 1995
Dear Chair Golden,
The Milton Public Library Board is pleased to submit the following position for your consideration
in preparing your report.
It is our understanding that the GTA Task Force in its examination of provincial/ regional/municipal
relationships is reviewing the effectiveness and efficiency of special purpose boards and commissions.
This review is based on the assumption that often such boards and commissions are not directly
accountable to their main finding body.
We believe strongly that this is not the case with public library boards. Public library legislation
clearly defines the public library/municipal council relationship. The library board is appointed by
council and has council representatives as members of the board (in our case two members). The
municipal council establishes the timing and the form of the budget, approves the annual operating
and capital budgets and receives an audited financial statement annually. Therefore, municipal
council clearly has fiscal control over library service. We also believe that the board/council
relationship goes beyond financial accountability. The library board has a clear commitment to plan
and develop library services in relation to municipal opportunities and abilities. In our particular
situation, the library board and staffplayed an integral role in the municipal strategic planning process
- Destiny Milton.
Finally, public library service benefits from a policy-making body dedicated to the interests of the
library and that is representative of the community. Public library boards are committed to upholding
the principles of intellectual freedom and universal access to information which is the cornerstone of
a democratic society. The board achieves these principles through a governance model which is free
from undue political pressure.
We urge you to consider these facts when reviewing special purpose boards and commissions.
Library boards are responsible and clearly accountable to their municipal council. They provide
effective, efficient service and they play a unique role in ensuring access to biased free information
to members of their community.
We appreciate the opportunity to put forward our position and wish you the best in preparing your
report.
Sincerely,
Paul Vickery
Chair, Milton Public Library Board
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
August 18, 1995
Our File: S 07
20th Floor -2001
TORONTO ON M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I am pleased to enclose the City of Mississaugas reports and recommendations on reform
in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). As indicated in these reports, Council and staff have given
consideration to all aspects of reform including governance and legislative changes, urban form
and infrastructure, service delivery and financing, as well as property and business tax reform.
On August 16, 1995, Council adopted General Committee Recommendation 562-95, as amended,
copy of which is attached.
The amendment to the original recommendation was the inclusion of the following
statement as item 2 of the Recommendation:
2. That part of the GTA Reform to strengthen local government
must encompass the issue of planning at the local level; and
decisions regarding local planning should rest finally with the
local municipality without intercession by another governing body,
such as in Ontarios case, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
Our recommendations are based on a business approach to the management and delivery
of government services across the GTA. As one of Canadas fastest growing cities, we have
operated the City of Mississauga like a business. As a result, Mississauga has continuously
provided high quality services in an efficient and cost-effective manner, notwithstanding, financial
restraints applied from both provincial and federal levels, and economic recessions.
THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF MISSISSAUGA
300 CITY CENTRE DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO L5B 3C1
TEL: (905) 896-5555 FAX: (905) 896-5879
- 2 -
Due to the deadline imposed for submission to the GTA Task Force, our traditional public
consultation process was not possible. This has been replaced with a public communication
strategy outlined in the corporate report. The feedback from both within the City and outside of
the City to date has been most positive.
If you have any questions or require further information, please do not hesitate to call me.
HAZEL McCALLION
MAYOR
Cc. Premier Mike Harris
Minister of Municipal Affairs, Al Leach
Peel Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs)
All Mayors in the Greater Toronto Area
All Regional Chairs in the Greater Toronto Area
AMO
Mississauga Board of Trade
Peel Board of Education
Dufferin-Peel Roman Catholic Separate School Board
Mississauga Ratepayer Associations
(Enclosures - All Recipients)
GENERAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION 562-95
adopted by the Council of
The Corporation of the City of Mississauga
at its meeting on August 16, 1995
1,
2.
3.
4.
That the report dated August 2, 1995 from the Acting City Manager titled
Running the GTA Like a Business - 1) Mississaugas Recommendations
for GTA Reform, 2) Background Papers on: Governance & Legislative
Reform; Urban Form & Infrastructure, and Service Delivery& Financing,
be endorsed,
That part of the GTA Reform to strengthen local government must
encompass the issue of planning at the local level; and decisions
regarding local planning should rest finally with the local municipality
without intercession by another governing body, such as in Ontarios
case, the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).
That the subject report with attachments be forwarded to the Greater
Toronto Area Task Force as the City of Mississaugas submission on GTA
reform.
That the subject report and attachments be forwarded to Premier Harris,
Mississaugas MPPs, the Mississauga Board of Trade, Mississauga
ratepayer organizations, Peel School Boards, and all municipalities in the
GTA, for information.
THE CORPORATI ON OF
THE CI TY OF MI SSI SSAUGA
RUNNI NG
THE GTA
LI KE A
BUSI NESS
MI SSI SSAUGAS
RECOMMENDATI ONS
FOR GTA REFORM
OUTLI NE
Page
EXECUTI VE SUMMARY 2
THE GTA TODAY 4
CHALLENGES FACI NG THE GTA 7
OUR VI SI ON FOR THE GTA 9
THE MI SSI SSAUGA 10
EXPERI ENCE
PRI NCI PLES FOR REFORM 11
THE BENEFI TS OF RUNNI NG 12
THE GTA LI KE A BUSI NESS
MI SSI SSAUGAS 13
RECOMMENDATI ONS FOR
GTA REFORM
EXECUTI VE
SUMMARY
There is an urgent need to change
the way government services
throughout the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA) are managed. The present
government system is overly bur-
eaucratic and costly and will no
longer be tolerated by taxpayers.
If the GTA is to build upon its
strengths and maintain and enhance
its competitiveness, both nationally
and internationally, action needs to
b e t a k e n n o w.
The City of Mississauga has for
many years been recognized as a
leader in management and financial
practices at the municipal level.
Now, the City is taking a key role
in the GTA reform process by
demonstrating how the present
system of government in the GTA
can be dramatically improved.
2
Many citizens and members of
the business community believe
that the quality, of life in the GTA
is declining and that the GTA is
no longer economically competitive
in todays global environment.
To meet the many challenges
in achieving better government
for our citizens and business comm-
unity, there must be a commitment
to a business approach to managing,
services. This approach has been a
key to Mississaugas success and
can be used to restore much needed
confidence and cost savings in the
GTA.
While the prospect of such change
is seen as a threat to some, we can
no longer sit back. and wait for it
to happen The provincial govern-
ment has. demonstrated its commit-
ment to change in the. GTA by
affirming the GTA Task Force and
fast~tracking its work program. The
City of Mississauga has developed
a series of reports and recommend-
ations that clearly show how the
GTA can be changed for the benefit
of the entire community.
These reports include:
B Governance and Legislative Reform
B Service Delivery and Financing
B Property and Business Tax Reform
This report outlines the recommend-
ations that must be implemented, .
using a business approach; to result
in less government, better services
and save the taxpayers more than
$ l b i l l i o n .
Mi s s i s s a u g a s Re c o m m e n d a t i o n s FOR GT A REFORM
-
GOV ERNA NCE A ND URBAN FORM AND
LEGI SLATI VE REFORM. I N F R A S T R U C T U R E
l. Stronger local government.
1. The Greater Toronto Area Services Commission
(GTASC) would be responsible for developing
2. By December 1996, the boundaries for 10
.
an overall GTA strategy to co-ordinate urban
to 15 cities he determined to consolidate
and rural growth management and
the current 30 municipalities in the GTA.
infrastructure.
3. Legislation to abolish the five regional
governments, establish 10 to 15 cities
should manage GTA-wide infrastructure.
and create the Greater Toronto Area
Services Commission (GTASC) by 3. Cities should be responsible for all roads and
December 1, 1997. sidewalks, including winter maintenance, local
4. A new Municipal Act by December 1, 1997.
storm sewers, water distribution, hydro and
waste collection.
5. Revitalization of the provincial government
to provide better government as an integral
should develop a public sector telecommunica-
part of GTA reform.
tions plan to provide better information acces-
sibility about government services to the public.
SERVI CE DELl VERY AND PROPERTY AND BUSI NESS
FI NANCI NG TAX REFORM
1. Take a business approach to the delivery 1. The GTA municipalities should move towards
of services and funding sources across full market value assessment and a common
the GTA. valuation year in two steps:
- within five years, marketvalue by property
2. Maximize public/private partnerships.
class (section 58 of the Assessment Act).
3. Eliminate special purpose bodies.
- within ten years, full market value
(section 63 of the Assessment Act).
4.-Reform, within one year, the education system
2., The Province must provide resources to
in relation to the property tax.
fast track reassessment. .
3. Tax impacts to be phased in over five years.
4. Tax policy must be visible.
5. Provincial legislation must allow municip-
alities to set variable mill rates.
6. Combine the business and non-residential
property taxes.
7. Express the tax rate as dollars per thousand
of as s es s ment .
. .
THE GTA TODAY
The GTA today consists of 30 local
municipalities, five regional munic-
ipal councils consisting of Metro
Toronto, Durham, Halton, Peel and
York. The population is more than
4.5 million. In the early 1950s, the
provincial government initiated a
major model for government reform,
and established Metro to. facilitate
the amalgamation of the City of
Toronto and the 12 surrounding
municipalities. The 13 municip-
alities were to be responsible for
a variety of activities including
the provision of affordable local
services. In 1967, the number of
municipalities was reduced to six,
and further responsibilities were
transferred to Metro including
community services, general
welfare, policing, and waste dis-
posal. When established, Metro
was considered to be a leading
edge model, appropriate for its
time. Building upon this. model,
the four regional governments
were established by the Province
in the early 1970s. Since that time,
there has been no change in the
structure of government in the GTA.
1995 MUNI CI PALI TI ES
4
Metro is now fully developed and
the challenges it is facing have
changed dramatically. Growth
pressures have been occurring for
some time in the municipalities
outside of Metro and the present
structure is no longer able to provide
the right services at the right cost to
its customers, the taxpayers.
The high cost of government in the
GTA is another factor that must be
considered in making the area more
competitive. As shown by the list
below, there is a wide range of
important services provided to.
our customers in the GTA.
The five existing regional govern-
ments lack a coherent strategy and
a business approach and, in part,
this has caused problems in terms of
rivalry for limited provincial dollars
and competitiveness.
SERVI CES DELI VERED I N THE GTA
Ambulance Parks and Recreation
Building Planning
Cemeteries Police
Conservation Authorities Property Assessment
Cultural Activities Provincial Highways
Day Care Public Health
Economic Development Roads & Snow Maintenance
Economic Development (GTA) Social Housing
Education St r eet Li ght i ng
Fire Telecommunications
General Welfare T o u r i s m
Heritage preservation,
Tr a ns i t
Homes for Aged
Waste Collection
Hospitals Wast e Di sposal
Hydro Water Purification & Supply
Libraries Water Distribution
Parking and By-law Enforcement Water Pollution Control
These services are provided by
either the provincial, regional or
local government, school boards
or special purpose bodies such as
Hydro Commissions and Library
Boards. Accountability for these
services is often, unclear. Many of
these services are duplicated by
two or more of these levels caus-
ing inefficiencies and waste. For
example, road snow clearing crews
are hired separately by each of three
levels of government. A local
snow clearing crew is likely to travel
on a regional or Metro arterial
road to get to the local streets it
is responsible for but must not clear .
the arterial road. In some municip-
alities a Metro and local parks crew
work side by side maintaining dif-
ferent sections of the same park.
As can be seen below, it is esti-
mated that the cost of running these
services in the GTA amounts to
almost $30 billion.
As customers, our taxpayers are
clearly telling all levels of gov-
ernment that the high cost of
government services cannot be
sustained any longer. The increasing
debt loads of government seriously
hinders the GTAs future well-being.
COST OF GOVERNMENT I N THE GTA
Level of GTA Government Budgets (1993)
Local municipalities $2.7 billion*.
Regional municipalities $5.5 billion*
School boards
$ 4.7, billion*
Ontario government
$16.7 billion
Total: $29.6 billion
*(net of provincial grants)
source: Ministry of Municipal Affairs, .1993 and
GTCC Provincial-Local Finances in the Greater Toronto Area
6
CHALLENGES
FACI NG THE GTA
The GTA is still known internation-
ally as Canadas business centre,
enjoying an abundance of cultural
and recreational opportunities and
providing a high quality of life for
the people who live and work here.
However, we cannot rest on these
laurels. We must immediately
address some of the challenges
facing the area.
G T A C H A L L E N G E S
B
Healthy core + B Healthy GTA
B
Capture economic opportunities
B
A fair property tax system
.
Substantial population growth projected
.
Restore consumer and investor
confidence
.
An enviable quality of life
The City of Toronto is clearly the
centre and heart of the GTA. The
success of the GTA is linked closely
to the success of this centre. It will
be a challenge to ensure that over
time, the GTA does not decline
similar to the extent of some of the
major urban. regions in the United
States and other parts of the world.
Also, a weakening of the communi-
ties around the GTA could also
weaken the centre.
The GTA Mayors Committee was
formed by Mayor Hazel McCallion
in 1992 with the purpose of reviving
the economy throughout the GTA.
This recognition has led to a
momentum for GTA co-operation
that must be maintained and enhanc-
ed in the future. However, the
property tax imbalance across the
GTA cannot be ignored any longer.
The current system for collecting
property taxes is archaic and subject
to distortion and inequity between
both taxpayers and municipalities.
In addition, the current system is, in
part, responsible for the substantial
inequities in the residential and
business property tax rate across
the GTA.
In addition, there are important
economic opportunities that the
GTA has lost in the past. For
example, the 1996 Olympics was
lost by a very small margin to
Atlanta and the 1998 Worlds Fair
was also lost by a small margin
to Hannover, Germany. These
opportunities would have provided
significant economic stimulation in
the GTA. While these events cannot
be regained, working together as the
GTA, we maybe
on similar events
in the future.
able to capitalize
or opportunities
The ultimate challenge is to meet
the needs of our customers, the tax-
payers, both today and in the future;
Unlike the Greater Montreal Area
which is projecting minimal growth
in the next 20-30 years, the GTA
is projected to grow significantly
to almost 7 million people by 2021.
A critical element of this is position-
ing the GTA to attract Significant
investment opportunities. This.
would be the equivalent of adding
the population of the Greater
Vancouver Area in the next 25 years.
CUSTOMERS I N THE GTA
Population Employment
1994 4.5 million 1991 2.3 million
2021 6.6 million 2 0 2 1 3.8 million
(46% increase)
(63% increase)
There is only one taxpayer that
contributes to all levels of govern-
ment. Shifting of costs between
levels of government may help
to clarify accountability, but real
change must result in savings to
that taxpayer.
To insure the prosperity of the GTA,
we must retain and attract businesses
that will create job opportunities
today and in the future. To do so, we
must provide the services that the,
businesses (our investors) will need.
8
OUR VI SI ON FOR
THE GTA
The Greater Toronto Area is a major
geographic, social and economic
entity within the North American
context. Activities that people
engage in, in terms of work,
shopping, and leisure, reflect the
interdependence between various
communities. The GTA consists of
many rural and urban communities
with a range of densities and various
forms of both rural and urban
development. What future does
Mississauga want to see for the
GTA?
THE GTA WI LL BE:
B a national and international
centre of excellence in the
provision of services to
its citizens
B a cosmopolitan centre of
international prominence
B built of strong, vibrant local
communities
OBJ ECTI VES:
1. To be a healthy, safe and vibrant
community for a population of
almost 7 million people.
2. To ensure that major directions
3
4.
pertaining to economic, and rural
and urban development are
planned through co-ordinated
growt h management at t he
GTA level. This will help to
ensure that there are a. variety
of opportunities in housing,
employment, recreation, culture
and social amenities.
To continue to enhance and
build upon the social, economic,
cultural assets and strengths of
the GTA in order to be Canadas
pre-eminent centre in the 21st
Century.
To encourage the leaders of the
GTA community to be active in
the main economic, financial,
scientific, educational, cultural,
tourism, and diplomatic networks,
to enhance and promote the GTA
as a place for higher learning, an
information hub, and an important
international financial centre.
5. To ensure that governments
serving the GTA will co-ordinate
their efforts based on business
pr i nci pl es t o be f i s cal l y s ound,
offer better services at lower
costs, and be responsive and
accountable to. the needs, of their
citizens.
THE MI SSI SSAUGA
EXPERI ENCE
In Mississauga, the Mayor and
Council have worked with staff
and the community to ensure that
Mississauga is run like business.
Not just any business, but an
innovative leader in the highly
competitive service sector. Years of
running Mississauga like a business,
plus a sustained drive for efficiency
and overall excellence in
administration are reflected in
Mississaugas low tax levels and
high quality municipal. services.
Mississauga is a model that other
municipalities seek to emulate. It is
a proven model that works, and one
that could be used as a new
framework for reform in the GTA.
Mississauga Council acts similar
to a corporate Board of Directors,
and is committed to this business
approach., With a population of.
500,000 there are only nine city
councillors and one mayor for
the entire City.
THE MI SSI SSAUGA
APPROACH
. To operate the City like a
b u s i n e s s
B St r a t e gi c Pl a nni ng.
10-20- 30+ years
. Use of business management
tools e.g. continuous improvem-
ent, business re-engineering,
outsourcing
. Pay-as-you-go philosophy
The result is that the City is debt
free and has had no tax increase in
five years. It, has accumulated
substantial reserves for specific
growth needs, and is proud of its
high service levels. This GTA
Reform proposal will ensure that
Mississauga maintains its secure
financial position.
10
PRI NCI PLES FOR
REFORM
GTA reform should be based on
a common set of principles that
are essential to the delivery of
provincial and municipal services
in the GTA :
Business Principles - It is critical
that the GTA respond to the needs
of its Customers, both businesses
and residents, while continuously
striving to improve the delivery of
services to provide them in a cost,
efficient and effective. manner.
Clearly Defined Roles - Local
municipal and provincial roles
must be enhanced to incorporate
a GTA partnership that fosters
public-private relationships. .
Accountability - It is essential to
define clearly who is responsible
for each service, and to commun-
icate this information (roles and
responsibilities and performance)
to the taxpayer. There should be
no overlaps or duplication.
Effectiveness and Efficiency -
Services should be produced or
delivered at the level that can do
so most effectively and efficiently.
Some services may be more
effectively delivered by the private
sect or.
Pay for Say - The government,body
that sets policy/service management
levels should provide the necessary
funding for the service notwith-
standing who delivers the service.
This would be undertaken within
the overall legislative frameworks
established by the provincial
government. The notion of pay
for say involves responsibility,
ownership, accountability and
jurisdiction. Responsibility and
accountability should be tied
together.
Economy of Scale - Services
should be provided by the level
of government that can do so most
e c onomi c a l l y.
Community - Healthy, safe and
vibrant communities must be
fostered, and services provided at
a level that enhances and promotes
t h e l o c a l c o m m u n i t y .
Economic Enrichment - The
economic competitiveness of the
GTA must be fostered nationally
and internationally.
THE BENEFI TS OF
RUNNI NG THE GTA
LI KE A BUSI NESS
It is important for our future that
governments serving the GTA
co-ordinate their efforts based on
a business approach to be fiscally
sound, to offer better services at
lower costs, and be responsive
and accountable to the taxpayer.
I n meet i ng t he needs and
expectations of our customers,
a business approach is necessary.
Running the GTA like a business
will result in the following benefits:
12
GTA REFORM BENEFI TS
Provide better government
Streamline service delivery
to customers
Improve accountability
Reduce layers of government
Lead to responsive government
Promote privatization and
public/private patnerships
Promote job opportunities
Restore consumer and investor
confidence
Save the taxpayer more than
$1 billion while maintaining
high service levels
The benefits of reform can be linked
back to, customer expectations
serving to eliminate duplication and
providing a high level of customer
service. By clarifying the roles of
the provincial and local municipal.
levels of government, rationalizing
the number and size of local
municipalities and eliminating the
regional level, our customers/
taxpayers will not only get better
government but less government:
M I S S I S S A U GA S
RECOMMENDATI ONS
FOR GTA REFORM
To forward a position on GTA
reform which demonstrates the need,
for a business approach to running
,government in the GTA, the City
of Mississauga has prepared four
background papers:
B Governance and Legislative
Re f or m
. Urban Form and Infrastructure
. Service Delivery and Financing
B Property and, Business Tax
R e f o r m
The following summarizes the
key recommendations from each
of these papers.
GOVERNANCE AND
LEGI SLATI VE REFORM
RECOMMENDATI ONS
1. St r onger l oc al
-
gover nment .
To offer better customer service,
more accountability and more
responsiveness to the needs of
citizens, the role of local govern-
ment must be strengthened and
an equal partnership must be
devel oped wi t h t he Pr ovi nce. .
Municipalities must be recognized
as essential players in the inter-
governmental workings of the
country.
2. By Dec ember 1996, t he
boundar i es f or 10 t o 15
c i t i es be det er mi ned t o
c onsol i dat e t he c ur r ent 30
muni c i pal i t i es i n t he GTA.
Cities with a population in the range
of 400,000 to 800,000 can be
responsive to the needs of the
residential and business community
and still achieve excellent municipal
management in a business-like
manner.. The delivery of cross-
municipal utility-type services can
be handled more efficiently and
maximize the potential for public-
Private partnerships.,
3. Legi sl at i on t o abol i sh t he
f i ve r egi onal gover nment s,
est abl i sh 10 t o 15 c i t i es
and c r eat e t he Gr eat er
Tor ont o Ar ea Ser vi c es
Commi ssi on (GTASC) by
Dec ember 1, 1997.
The next municipal elections are in
November 1997 and should reflect
the new model of governance as a
result of GTA reform.
4.A new Muni c i pal Ac t by
Dec ember 1, 1997.
The new Municipal Act will provide
the framework for strengthened local
government and a new and equal
relationship with the Province. It is
imperative that the Act be ready
to coincide with the municipal
elections? the consolidation of cities
and creation of GTASC.
5. Revi t al i zat i on of t he
pr ovi nc i al gover nment t o
pr ovi de bet t er gover nment
as an i nt egr al par t of
GTA r ef or m.
Concurrent with GTA reform
discussions, the Province must
review its operations to eliminate
duplication, and inefficiencies. In
addition, a delineation of the roles
of the cities and the Province should
result in the Province focusing its
energies on services related to
income redistribution, provincial
infrastructure and that serve a
common need or function
provincially.
URBAN FORM AND
I NFRASTRUCTURE
RECOMMENDATI ONS
1.The Gr eat er Tor ont o
Ser vi c es Commi ssi on
Ar ea
w oul d be r esponsi bl e
f or devel opi ng an over -
al l GTA st r at egy t o
c o-or di nat e ur ban and
r ur al gr ow t h management
and i nf r ast r uc t ur e.
The strategy would be based on:
B
B
B
B
integration of land use and
transportation planning with
infrastructure including
telecommunications;
existing communities and
supported by cost-effective
and efficient infrastructure;
a strong central core in
downtown Toronto, supported
by cities which allow an
appropriate distribution of
population and employment
across the GTA; and,
sustainable development,
environmental responsibility
and vibrant communities.
Z. The Gr eat er Tor ont o
Ar ea Ser vi c es Commi ssi on
shoul d manage GTA-w i de
i nf r est r uc t ur e.
The GTAs ability to provide
essential services in the future
will require a business approach
to managing infrastructure with
14
an emphasis on contracting out,
public-private sector partnerships,
tendering of purchased services and
strategic alliances. Cross municipal
GTA-wide services would include
transit, waste disposal, and water
and sewer facilities.
3 . Ci t i e s s h o u l d b e
r esponsi bl e f or al l r oads
and si dew al k s, i nc l udi ng
w i nt er mai nt enanc e, l oc al
st or m sew er s, w at er
di st r i but i on, hydr o and
w as t e c ol l ec t i on.
Services to the public should be
provided at the local level so that
rates, service levels, and priorities
can be established by the account-
able municipality. The public should
also be able to easily determine
who is accountable for local service
d e l i v e r y .
4. The Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea
shoul d devel op a publ i c
sec t or t el ec ommuni c at i ons.
pl an t o pr ovi de bet t er
i nf or mat i on ac c essi bi l i t y
about gover nment ser vi c es
t o t he publ i c .
Ideally, information about all GTA -
and municipal services should be
integrated regardless of geographic
location so that the public could
access a wide range of services
electronically without needing to
know which level of government
was responsible.
FI NANCI NG
.
RECOMMENDATI ONS
1.Tak e a busi ness appr oac h
t o t he del i ver y of . ser vi c es
and f undi ng sour c es ac r oss
t he GTA.
Building on Mississaugas success,
a business approach should be used
in the GTA, so that all governments
are run like a business. This
means responding to the needs
of customers, both business and
residents, while continuously
striving to improve the delivery of
services to provide them in a cost-
efficient and effective manner. .
2. Max i mi ze. publ i c /pr i vat e
par t ner s hi ps .
To help ensure that services are
delivered in a business-like. manner,
each level of government must be
given the legislative authority to
implement appropriate partnerships
with the private or. non-profit
sectors. This will enable government
to have greater flexibility to contract
out for services that may be more
15
cost-effectively delivered or
managed by others, while retaining
public accountability and control
for the services.
3. El i mi nat e spec i al pur pose
bodi es.
Special purpose bodies should be :
eliminated and their functions
transferred to the respective level
of government that is responsible
for funding.
4. Ref or m, w i t hi n one year ,
t he educ at i on syst em i n
r el at i on t o t he pr oper t y
t ax .
Given that education is currently
60 per cent or more of the property
tax, the educational system should
be an integral part of GTA reform.
A detailed review of education
financing cannot be done in
isolation of GTA reform and must
be undertaken by December 1, 1996.
16
PROPERTY AND BUSI NESS
TAX REFORM
RECOMMENDATI ONS
1.The GTA muni c i pal i t i es
shoul d move t ow ar ds f ul l
mar k et val ue assessment .
and a c ommon val uat i on
year i n t w o st eps:,
B within five years, market value
by property class (section 58
of the Assessment Act).
B within ten years, full market
value (section 63 of the
As s e s s me n t Ac t ) .
The basis of property taxation in the
Province of Ontario has always been
market value and all studies have
concurred with this valuation
methodology. Market value is the
amount which a property might be
expected to realize if sold in the
open market by a willing seller to a
willing buyer. However, an alternate
method, unit value, has recently
been the focus of some discussion.
Unit value is based upon a
combination of building and land
measurements.
Market value assessment best
reflects location and service levels
within the property value and
is verifiable with market data.
Unit value assessment. does not do
this without modification and is
based upon subjective criteria.
Section 58 of the Assessment Act
allows for adjustment to, current
market values and a common
assessment year, while retaining
the existing tax burden relationships
between property classes. Use of
Section 58 as a stepping stone to
full market value assessment would
eliminate the inequities between
taxpayers with common types of
properties within municipalities. Full
market value assessment established
next, would eliminate the remaining
inequities between property types.
Z. The Pr ovi nc e must
pr ovi de r esour c es t o f ast
t r ac k r eassessment .
Additional resources will be
required to achieve reassessment
within the five and ten year time
frame. The Province must commit
to sufficient funding to deal with the
pressing need for reassessment.
Reassessment should begin with the
oldest base year municipalities first.
3. Tax i mpac t s t o be phased
i n over f i ve year s.
A transition period is necessary to
smooth the impact of tax changes.
Other municipalities have
recommended complicated
transitional procedures in the past,
including caps on increases, only
recognizing increases upon sale of
a property; .clawback of decreases
to certain property classes and cross
subsidies. We believe that these .
approaches were destined for failure
due in part to complexity and lack
of fairness.
A simple transition would require
upward changes. in property values
to occur at the same rate as down-
ward changes. This would treat all
taxpayers in the same fair and
equitable manner. It would also
ensure st abi l i t y i n muni ci pal t ax-
ation revenues and would minimize
admi ni s t r at i on cos t s .
4. Tax Pol i c y must be
vi si bl e.
This recommendation achieves the
distribution of tax burden to
different types of property owners
visibly and through the mill rate
rather than through the assessed
value of the property.
Section 375(4) of the Municipal Act
specifies that residential taxpayers
be taxed at 85 per cent of the rate of
non-residential taxpayers. In
practice, the tax rate is achieved
within the assessment system
through the establishment of
property classes, which create
relationships between the classes .
other than the intended 15 per cent
differential. In the City of Toronto
for example, the commercial class
pays tax at a rate 3.7 times the
residential class. This illustrates how
the differential is hidden in the
property assessment. Amendments
to legislation will be required to
transfer the tax relationships to the
mill rate from the assessment
v a l u a t i o n .
5. Pr ovi nc i al l egi sl at i on
must al l ow muni c i pal i t i es
t o set var i abl e mi l l r at es.
It. is the responsibility of the
Province, in consultation with
municipalities, to develop a property
taxation policy to establish how the
property tax burden should be
allocated. For example, should
business pay more or less tax
relative to residents?
The Province must take the
responsibility in this area to ensure
a consistent tax policy across the
GTA. Municipalities should have
more flexibility to set mill rates
which reflect community needs,
services provided and levels of
service. Municipalities should be
able to establish tax rates within a
floor and ceiling level, and between
types of taxpayers. These will be
determined by the Province through
legislative changes made in
consultation with the municipalities.
6. Combi ne t he busi ness
and non-r esi dent i al
pr oper t y t ax es.
This recommendation eliminates
a separate business tax. This tax,
while a large revenue source to
municipalities, is costly to
administer. This tax requires its
own billing and assessment and
subjects a municipality to large
write-offs due to the unsecured
status of this levy.
The same tax revenues could be
obtained by combining this tax with
the non-residential property tax.
7. Ex pr ess t he t ax r at e
as dol l ar s per t housand
dol l ar s of assessment .
This would be easier for the
taxpayer to understand than the
existing mill rate which is
confusing.
18
The Cor por at i on of t he
Ci t y of Mi ssi ssauga
THE CORPORATI ON OF
GOVERNANCE
AND
LEGI SLATI VE
REFORM
BACKGROUND
PAPER 1
OUTLI NE
Page
EXECUTI VE SUMMARY
1
I NTRODUCTI ON 2
GOV E R N A N C E 4
LEGI SLATI VE REFORM 5
REVI TALI ZI NG PROVI NCI AL
GOVERNMENT 6
STRONGER LOCAL
GOVERNMENT 7
MUNI CI PAL STRUCTURE 8
SERVI CES COMMI SSI ON 9
GTASC Strategic Co-ordination
GTASC Business Units 9
Funding 10
GTASC Structure 10
CONCLUSI ON 11
RECOMMENDATI ONS 12
EXECUTI VE
SUMMARY
The current legislation that defines municipal
government has its roots in the 1800s and clearly,
requires reform to reflect the environment of the
1990s and the beginning of a new century which
is only half a decade away.
The purpose of this background paper is to look
at the history, evolution and necessity for change
in the way the province legislates the role of the
municipalities, the relationship between the two
levels of government and recommendations for
change.
Mississaugas approach to running the city like a
business is a model for others in the GTA to
emulate as new ways of governing and delivering
services are sought. Government reform in the
GTA requires not just tinkering with operational
matters -- shuffling service delivery
responsibilities -- but are-evaluation of the role
of government in the community.
The case for an equal partnership between the
municipalities and the province is needed to
provide better services at lower costs, direct
accountability to the taxpayers and the ability to
be more responsive. The establishment of
autonomous and accountable local governments
would permit better decision making to respond
to the needs of the local community and allow
the province to focus its resources on serving the
public in a more responsive and direct way.
1. St r onger l oc al gover nment .
2. By Dec ember , 1996 t he
boundar i es f or 10 t o 15 c i t i es be
det er mi ned t o c onsol i dat e t he
c ur r ent 30 muni c i pal i t i es i n t he
GTA.
3. Legi sl at i on t o abol i sh t he f i ve
r egi onal gover nment s, est abl i sh
10 t o 15 c i t i es and c r eat e t he
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea Ser vi c es
Dec ember 1, 1997.
4. A new Muni c i pal Ac t by
Dec ember 1, 1997.
5. Revi t al i zat i on of t he Pr ovi nc i al
gover nment t o pr ovi de bet t er
gover nment as an i nt egr al par t of
GTA r ef or m.
I NTRODUCTI ON
The establishment of the Greater Toronto Area
(GTA) Task Force in February 1995 to review
governance and other matters in the GTA has
given municipalities and the Province the
opportunity to take a proactive and necessary
look at the issues of governance and legislative
reform.
The current legislation that defines municipal
governments has its roots in the 1800s and
clearly, requires reform to reflect the environment
of the 1990s and the beginning of a new century
which is only half a decade away.
In 1849, the Baldwin Act, that essentially created
local government, and the Municipal Act, still in
effect today, was designed to keep municipalities
as children of the Province. The Municipal Act
is now antiquated legislation that mirrors the
historical view of municipal government that is
rigid, inflexible, and maintains a bureaucracy that
prevents local government from operating
efficiently and cost effectively.
Fortunately, the City of Mississauga, despite the
antiquated laws, finds itself in the enviable
position of being fiscally responsible -- a City
with no debt and the ability to deliver services
not only efficiently but at a lower cost than many
of the GTA municipalities.
A Busi ness Li k e Appr oac h
Mississaugas philosophy to run like a business
despite outmoded legislation and, in the face of a
major economic recession, is a model for the
entire GTA. For the last five years the Citys
portion of the property tax has not increased and
in fact, in 1993, residents received a historic one
per cent decrease in their property taxes.
The City is constantly looking for new ways to
do business but finds itself butting heads against
the stonewall of legislation. Other background
papers will deal with specific issues related to
reform of property and business taxation, where
and who should deliver and finance services and
the issues surrounding urban form and
infrastructure in the GTA. However, fundamental
to any discussion about the GTA is governance.
In the book Reinventing Government by Ted
Gaebler and David Osborne they note that the
word government stems from Greek origins:
The word government is a Greek word which
means to steer. The job of government is to
steer, not row the boat.
Real government reform in the GTA requires not
just tinkering with operational matters --
shuffling service delivery responsibilities -- but a
re-evaluation of the role of government in the
community.
Osborne and Gaebler argue that better
government in the modem global economy is
government that concentrates more on steering
than rowing.
Governments that focus on steering actively
shape their communities, states and nations. They
make more policy decisions. They put more
social and economic institutions into motion.
Some even do more regulating, Rather than
hiring more public employees, they make sure
other institutions are delivering services and
meeting the communitys needs.
In contrast, governments pre-occupied with
service delivery often abdicate this steering
function. Public leaders who get caught on the
tax and spend treadmill have to work so hard to
keep their service systems together -- running
faster and faster just to stay in the same place --
that they have no time left to think about
steering.
2
Cust omer Ser vi c e Comes Fi r st
In Mississauga, our corporate approach to
running the city in a business-like way fits with
the new philosophical approach to government.
This means responding to the needs of customers,
both business and residents, while continuously
striving to improve the delivery of services to
provide them in a cost-efficient and effective
manner. Our business-like approach has resulted
in a sustained drive for overall excellence in
administration as is reflected in our low tax
levels.
Local government is a responsible level of
government capable of delivering a wide variety
of services efficiently and cost-effectively. It is
time that recognition is enshrined in new
legislation. The Municipal Act must address
todays world, which in every aspect, is
completely different from the times in which it
was written. Appropriate legislative parameters
are needed to allow municipalities to ensure their
place in a global economy and guarantee that
their citizens can enjoy the quality of life they
have come to expect and can afford.
The case for strengthened local government has
become increasingly evident as the recession
lingered through the early part of the decade and
the taxpayer made it clear they would not and
could not pay increased property and business
taxes.
In addition, the position of the GTA as the
economic engine of the country was threatened
by the recession and by the difficult financial
situations of the Provincial and Federal
governments. It is expected that funding from
senior levels of government will continue to
decline for the foreseeable future.
Muni c i pal Ref or m i s Nec essar y
It is imperative that municipalities have the
flexibility to find new ways of doing business
outside of the restrictive and dated Municipal
Act. GTA reform will require a clear delineation
of the role of the Province in relation to the local
government. In fact, it can be argued that
municipal reform is necessary for Provincial and
Federal interests to be realized.
If municipalities continue to be treated as
children of the Province, the Province will be
forced to continue in the supervisor role the
Municipal Act now demands. A new Act would
ensure that autonomous, accountable local
governments could operate for the benefit of the
local taxpayer and would enable the Province to
focus its resources on serving the public in a
more direct and responsive way.
The Ontario Committee on Taxation, or the Smith
Committee, noted that local government plays
two important roles. Its primary role is to provide
a number of important services to the public.
However, the report noted that the function of
local government is not merely to decentralize
the administration of provincial services; it also
provides opportunities for, and access to, local
decision-making. Indeed, local governments have
a political strength which flows from their role as
major service providers and from their status as
elected governments representing local interests.
The diversity of communities, within the GTA,
requires elected politicians and staff to respond to
local interests within the larger context of the
GTA and to the need to be more strategic in
planning for the future.
GOVERNANCE
What is needed is stronger local government and
an equal partnership between the Province and
municipalities. Local governments, which
historically have had no independent
constitutional authority, must now be recognized
as essential players in the inter-governmental
workings of the country.
The Canada-Ontario infrastructure works
program is a good example of co-operation that
will enhance local economies and also benefit the
countrys infrastructure. The construction, for
example, of the Living Arts Centre Mississauga
will not only create temporary and permanent
jobs but will help foster development in the city
core, provide a venue for local artists and add to
the economic vitality of the City.
Delineating the roles of the Province and
municipalities in terms of accountability will
achieve efficiencies and cost savings. For
example, responsibility for dealing with
municipalities should reside in one ministry that
has the power to facilitate stronger local
governments.
Enabling legislation could encompass many
different pieces of legislation in a new Municipal
Act. The focus would be to simplify and
consolidate empowerment coupled with the
authority and decision making for
implementation.
Where there is a shared responsibility, the Act
must clearly establish co-operation. In
circumstances where the local level is clearly the
best provider, the Province must divest control.
It is expected that the Province will focus its
energies in delivering services related to those
involving income redistribution, provincial
infrastructure and that serve a common need or
function provincially,
The Province should also continue to set common
standards and guidelines provincially. However,
once the standards are set and the cities are
responsible for delivering the service, the
Province must allow the municipalities to deliver
the service, without interference.
The cities must have the authority to deliver
services in a way that meets the needs of the
local community and the flexibility to alter how
services are delivered to meet changing
circumstances locally. This authority should be
extended to allow municipalities to work in
partnership with the Province and the private
sector to deliver utility-type services across the
GTA.
LEGI SLATI VE
REFORM
The current Municipal Act is a guarantee of
obsolescence. As time passes and the needs of the
public and its governments change, an Act which
tries to list specific areas within which a
government can legislate becomes immediately
outdated. Major revision is needed to replace the
specifics of the Act to allow for language that is
permissive and general in nature, thereby
allowing for flexibility as circumstances change,
The Act should indicate broad areas within which
municipal councils can function, rather than a
checklist of specifics that falls within the
boundaries of municipal competence.
A new Act should be a constitution establishing
the framework of municipal and provincial
powers and serve as an adjunct to the federal
constitution through which federal and provincial
powers are established. It is interesting that the
Federal constitution does not attempt to set out in
microscopic detail the areas that are properly
within either level of government while the
Municipal Act, in its present form, in Ontario,
does precisely that.
The Province of Alberta with its local
municipalities (there is no regional government)
undertook a significant review of its Municipal
Act when it was recognized that a new legislative
vehicle was needed to take municipalities into the
next millennium, Municipalities now operate
within a broader legislative structure.
The municipalities successfully pushed for
greater autonomy at the local level based on
increased sophistication that and a desire for
more accountability.
In Alberta, the Municipal Government Act is
broad and permissive in its approach unlike the
Ontario Municipal Act that establishes the powers
of a municipal council on a detailed and
restrictive basis. In a very few words the Alberta
government has defined the spheres of
jurisdiction in which a municipality can operate
and has delegated the powers needed to provide
the services expected by taxpayers.
In essence, the Alberta exercise recognized the
diversity of its communities and the need to give
the cities the tools, by legislative authority, to
deliver appropriate services. The Alberta
experience is worth investigating as Ontarios
Municipal Act is rewritten.
For example, the Alberta Act describes the
purposes of a municipal corporation -- the
provision of government, the provision of
services and the promotion of community. Other
sections address how the municipal corporation
fulfills its purposes and notes that although, not
necessarily a business corporation, it is a body
corporate.
What is even more important in this legislation is
the recognition that a municipality has natural
person powers.
Natural person powers means, the capacity,
rights, powers and privileges of a natural person,
allowing increased freedom to contract, the
capacity to seek profit and the freedom to enter
into municipal/private sector partnerships. It
would allow a municipality to look for ways to
provide services at reduced costs, more
efficiently and with innovative approaches to
service delivery. When the powers of the
municipality are broadened to expand and
facilitate options such as contracting out, profit
seeking and public-private partnerships, then
potentially the revenue base is also broadened,
decreasing dependence on the traditional funding
bases -- the taxpayer and other levels of
government.
The Alberta model demonstrates a structure that
is intended to be government, corporation, and
person at the same time. Alberta has defined the
term person to include a corporation, allowing the
municipality to fulfill the role of government with
the attributes of the natural person. It allows the
municipality to exist as a government body that
operates with the tools that the private sector
have historically employed. This enables
municipal corporations to become more
entrepreneurial while retaining accountability to
the taxpayer.
5
This is entirely consistent with Mississaugas
philosophy that municipal government should be
run like a business. It does not require
municipal government to be run as a business.
Some municipalities may be adverse to assuming
the stronger role envisioned in a new Municipal
Act fearing that a new Act may only serve as a
mechanism to download additional
responsibilities. However, the legislation would
provide that the municipalities would be under no
obligation to do so.
While legislative reform is critical, it cannot be
undertaken or implemented without adequate
resources, revenues and tools provided to the
municipalities. Without the proper resources, the
municipalities will not be able to reach beyond
their current limitations, perform as strong
partners with the Province or the private sector,
or be expected to meet the challenges of the 21st
century to provide better customer service.
In a new model of governance, the role of the
Province is not to only legislate. The public
expects that controls over government will limit
the potential for misuse of power and
inefficiency. Across the Province there is a
requirement for a broad overseeing of local
government to ensure that services are provided
efficiently within an established framework that
protects the interests of the taxpayer. The
Province is best suited to fill this role.
REVI TALI ZI NG
PROVI NCI AL
GOVERNMENT
For a variety of reasons, the provincial
government has not taken the time to review its
priorities and spending. Over the past decade, the
Province has fallen into a pattern of inefficient
government with a large debt load.
As an integral part of GTA reform, the provincial
government must also be revitalized to provide
better and more efficient government. The
Province should be setting broad policy
guidelines, establishing minimum standards,
outlining financial commitments and facilitating
stronger local government.
With the dissolution of regional government, the
Province will likely experience pressure to
expand its own jurisdiction and assume powers
that were previously regional. However, this
pressure must be resisted as the regional services
are not suited to being delivered on a provincial
basis.
Because of the urgency surrounding GTA reform
it is critical for successful reform that a new
Municipal Act be enacted by December 1, 1997
to coincide with the beginning of the new term of
office for municipal politicians elected in the
November 1997 elections.
6
STRONGER LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
It is apparent, that with the increased
sophistication at the local level of govemment,
a new governance model is needed.
The expectation of the taxpayer for lower taxes,
and direct accountability, coupled with cost-
effectiveness and efficiency, requires a closer
working relationship with the Province. It is clear
that the regional level of government does not
add value in serving the taxpayer.
To meet the challenges as we approach the next
century, a new way of looking at government is
necessary. As mentioned earlier, a strengthened
local government, with appropriate legislative
authority in a new Municipal Act, to make local
decisions and provide a better level of services is
vital.
The creation of the Greater Toronto Area Services
Commission (GTASC) -- a new and equal
partnership between the GTA municipalities and
the Province is recommended
Under this new structure with stronger local
government, the Province would set minimum
standards and the cities would deliver various
services. GTASC, as the facilitator of the
municipal-provincial partnership would set policy
and ensure co-ordination for initiatives to support
the GTA vision. This would also include
partnerships with the private sector.
NEW MUNI CI PAL
STRUCTURE I N
THE GTA
The overall boundary of the GTA should remain
the same as the map shown below. This would
include both urban and rural communities.
However, the municipal structure, as it relates to
current local municipal boundaries, needs review
and should be changed to make sure that the most
appropriate economies of scale are achieved.
To achieve better governing which would include
lower taxes, less government, direct
accountability, enhanced customer service, value
The result would be the consolidation of the
current 30 municipalities in the GTA into 10 to
15 cities with an average population of 400,000
to 800,000. The consolidation of GTA local
municipalities would bring added diversity and
well-being to the GTA as a whole. Local
communities would continue to be recognized for
their unique characteristics.
It is recommended that by December, 1996 the
boundaries for 10 to 15 cities be determined to
consolidate the current 30 municipalities. This
consolidation should take place through a
municipal-provincial partnership established to
recommend the new structure in the GTA.
See Appendices 1 and 2.
GREATER
TORONTO AREA
SERVI CES
COMMI SSI ON
(GTASC)
GTASC would not be a layer of government but
rather, serve in a complementary role to the
municipalities and the Province. GTASC would
function as a strategic co-ordinating body and
would ensure delivery of cross-municipal, utility-
type services across the GTA such as transit,
waste disposal, water purification and supply,
water pollution control, economic development
and tourism and approve an annual operating
plan. See Appendix 3.
A critical component of GTASCS work is the
creation of a shared vision that will shape the
future of the GTA.
GTASC STRATEGI C
CO-ORDI NATI ON
Critical to the efficient delivery of service across
the GTA is co-ordination. The partnership
necessary to accomplish this requires
membership from the provincial, municipal, and
potentially the private sector. This group would
be accountable to GTASC.
The co-ordinating partnerships mandate would
include matters strategic in nature and affecting
the GTA as a whole:
support and maintenance of the GTA vision
advice and input to federal/provincial
policies/legislation affecting the GTA
preparation of an overall GTA strategic plan
which would integrate other plans such as
urban form, transportation, water/sewer,
infrastructure and public sector
telecommunications
airports (liaison with the Greater Toronto
Airports Authority)
emergency services co-ordination
Expected outcomes from a strategic co-ordinating
group of this nature would include articulating a
GTA vision, population and employment
forecasts, financing/transportation, infrastructure
strategies and economic development strategies.
GTASC BUSI NESS UNI TS
The Greater Toronto Area Services Commission
would have the responsibility through various
business units for ensuring the delivery of utility-
type services including:
B t ransi t
B water and sewer (treatment facilities)
and trunks
B waste disposal
In addition, GTASC would co-ordinate the
marketing of the GTA as a single economic
region and tourist destination.
Using the business type approach to service
delivery, business and financial plans would be
developed for each service to determine if the
service should be delivered through:
B public/private partnerships
B tendered/purchased services
B contracting out
B privatization
An early review of these services would
determine the most appropriate provider, It is
anticipated that it may be more effective to have
the operations handled by the private sector.
Public-private sector arrangements would provide
the balance of public accountability while
operating like a business. GTASC will retain
responsibility for setting policies and standards,
macro service levels, operational design,
monitoring and accountability measures.
A corporate model could be the mechanism used
for the delivery of each of these services.
Funding would vary depending on the service,
however, user fees could be the predominant
funding source for all services provided by
GTASC. The Province would continue to provide
funding for capital projects related to GTASC
services.
Public-private partnerships could also be used to
finance major capital projects as the private
sector generally has access to more flexible
sources of funding than the public sector. The
operational business units would need strong
links with the strategic co-ordination arm of
GTASC to ensure that services are delivered in
accordance with GTA-wide policies and
strategies.
GTASC STRUCTURE
A key component of GTASCS structure is full
partnership, at all levels, between the
municipalities and Province. This partnership is
imperative for the GTA to thrive given the scope
of provincial legislation that affects it.
GTASC would be comprised of the GTA Mayors
who would co-ordinate the decisions of the
municipalities they represent and GTASC. Since
GTASCS role is seen as complementary to local
municipal activities this linkage between the
Mayors as GTASC representatives and their
councils, is essential. The Province would be
represented on GTASC by the four cabinet
ministers responsible for matters crucial to the
GTA, including the Ministers of Municipal
Affairs and Housing, Transportation, Economic
Development and Tourism, and Environment
and Energy.
The GTASC Chair would be filled by a
non-elected official to provide neutrality and
continuity.
The Mayors must have decision-making authority
independent of their councils on GTASC matters.
Each mayor would have one vote on GTASC.
GTASCS decisions should be final and binding
within its jurisdictional authority. It is important
that a collaborative approach be taken in light of
the differences in views, perspectives and
positions that may occur during deliberations.
If consensus cannot be reached, independent
mediation could be used to resolve the issue.
It is suggested, however, that to guarantee
municipalities are not isolated as a result of
GTASC decisions that any matter needing
GTASC approval be a majority of its members.
Because of the urgency surrounding GTA reform
and the anticipated length of time to rewrite the
Municipal Act, GTASC would need to be
constituted through special legislation by
December 1, 1997. Its powers and authorities
would need to be clearly established. In addition,
the legislation would have to address how
GTASC would operate.
10
CONCLUSI ON
The GTA stakeholders have a chance to write a
new future for the millions who live, work and
play here. Legislative reform to reflect better
government has been ignored for far too long.
Clearly, the current legislation that defines
municipal governments requires reform and a
new governance model to be developed. In half a
decade a new century begins and it is imperative
that the GTA have its house in order to deal with
a global economy and to regain its status as the
economic engine of the country.
Consolidating the current 30 GTA municipalities
into 10 to 15 cities, enacting a new Municipal Act
and creating the Greater Toronto Area Services
Commission will allow for more efficient and
cost-effective delivery of services and better
decision-making.
The relationship between the Province and local
municipalities needs to be clearly delineated to
forge a new partnership that will result in
eliminating duplication, increase efficiencies and
ensure that taxpayers are getting appropriate
services,
Municipalities can no longer be considered
children of the Province but instead must be
viewed as equal partners in governing.
RECOMMENDATI ONS
1. St r onger l oc al gover nment
To offer better customer service, more
accountability and more responsiveness to the
needs of citizens, the role of local government
must be strengthened and an equal partnership
must be developed with the Province.
Municipalities must be recognized as essential
players in the inter-governmental workings of the
country.
2. By Dec ember 1996, t he
boundar i es f or 10 t o 15 c i t i es be
det er mi ned t o c onsol i dat e t he
c ur r ent 30 muni c i pal i t i es i n t he
GTA.
Cities with a population in the range of 400,000
to 800,000 can be responsive to the needs of the
residential and business community and still
achieve excellent municipal management in a
business-like reamer, The delivery of cross-
municipal utility-type services can be handled
more efficiently and maximize the potential for
3. Legi sl at i on t o abol i sh t he f i ve
r egi onal gover nment s, est abl i sh
10 t o 15 c i t i es and c r eat e t he
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea Ser vi c es
Dec ember 1, 1997.
The next municipal elections are in November
1997 and should reflect the new model of
governance as a result of GTA reform.
4. A new Muni c i pal Ac t by
Dec ember 1, 1997.
The new Municipal Act will provide the
framework for strengthened local government and
a new and equal relationship with the Province. It
is imperative that the Act be ready to coincide
with the municipal elections, the consolidation of
cities and creation of GTASC.
5. Revi t al i zat i on of t he Pr ovi nc i al
gover nment t o pr ovi de bet t er
gover nment as an i nt egr al par t of
GTA r ef or m.
Concurrent with GTA reform discussions, the
Province must review its operations to eliminate
duplication, and inefficiencies. In addition, a
delineation of the roles of the cities and the
Province should result in the Province focusing
its energies on services related to income
redistribution, provincial infrastructure and that
serve a common need or function provincially.
12
APPENDI X 1
PROVI NCI AL -
MUNI CI PAL
RELATI ONSHI P
EXI STI NG:
I
PROVI NCE
I I
5 REGI ONS/ METRO
RUNNI NG THE GTA LI KE A BUSI NESS :
APPENDI X 2
GTA/
MUNI CI PAL
COMPARI SON
GTA
Regi onal
Muni c i pal i t i es
Loc al
Muni c i pal i t i es
Tot al s
EXI STI NG TWO-TI ER
MUNI CI PAL STRUCTURE
GTA Mayor s Commi t ee
(I nf or mal )
HALTON
PEEL
YORK
METRO
DURHAM
TOTAL: 5
CITIES 10
BOROUGHS 1
TOWNS 15
TOWNSHIPS 4
TOTAL: 30
RUNNI NG THE GTA
LI KE A BUSI NESS
(TO BE I MPLEMENTED ON DEC. 1, 1997)
Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea
NONE
CI TI ES 10-15
APPENDI X 3
GREATER
TORONTO AREA
SERVI CES
COMMI SSI ON
(GTASC)
GTASC
(MAYORS AND PROVI NCI AL CABI NET MI NI STERS)
I
I
I
BUSI NESS UNI TS:
1. TRANSI T
2. WATER& SEWER
3. WASTE DI SPOSAL
4. ECONOMI C
DEVELOPMENT/TOURI SM
OUTCOMES:
-Busi ness Pl anni ng
-Fi nanc i al Pl anni ng
STRATEGI C COORDI NATI ON:
STRATEGI C PLANNI NG
OUTCOMES:
-GTA Vi si on Devel opment
-Popul at i on/Empl oyment
For ec ast s
-Tr anspor t at i on and
I nf r ast r uc t ur e St r at egy
Devel opment
THE CORPORATI ON OF
URBAN FORM
AND
I NFRASTRUCTURE
BACKGROUND
PAPER 2
OUTLI NE
Page
EXECUTI VE SUMMARY 1
I NTRODUCTI ON 2
KEY PRI NCI PLES AND 3
CONCEPTS
Running the GTA Like a Business 3
GTA Strategic Co-ordination 3
Partnerships, Collaboration
and Co-operation 3
Nodal Form of Development 3
Ecosystem Approach to Sustainable
Development 4
Efficiency 4
Infrastructure Includes Telecommunications 4
BETTER GTA GROWTH
MANAGEMENT 5
A GTA Strategic Plan 5
Better Transportation Co-ordination
Better Infrastructure Management 6
Better Information Accessibility 7
CONCLUSI ON 8
RECOMMENDATI ONS 9
APPENDI X 1 10
EXECUTI VE
SUMMARY
RECOMMENDATI ONS
An important component of the discussions
around GTA reform includes urban form. This is
particularly important as urban form affects the
distribution of human and other services
throughout a municipality and across the GTA.
Clearly articulated directions and concepts for
urban form will help guide the location of new
infrastructure vital to the economic well-being of
the GTA.
The development of an overall GTA strategic
plan must include the planning aspect of urban
form and infrastructure, in addition to the service
delivery issues related to cross-municipal GTA-
wide services such as transit, water and waste
disposal. The urban form discussion also needs to
be central to the review of the current municipal
boundaries and the consolidation of
the GTAs 30 municipalities to 10 to 15 cities.
Mississaugas approach to urban form and
infrastructure in the GTA is based on retaining
the overall boundaries of the GTA including
urban and rural communities recognizing that to
be cost-effective and efficient, reform is needed.
The responsibility for developing a plan to shape
the future of the GTA will rest with the proposed
Greater Toronto Area Services Commission
discussed in this paper and the paper on
Governance and Legislative Reform.
To achieve an urban form and infrastructure
program that will benefit all residents it is
proposed that:
Ser vi c es Commi ssi on w oul d be
r esponsi bl e f or devel opi ng an
over al l GTA st r at egy t o
c o-or di nat e ur ban and r ur al
gr ow t h management and
i nf r ast r uc t ur e.
Ser vi c es Commi ssi on shoul d
manage GTA-w i de i nf r ast r uc t ur e.
3. Ci t i es shoul d be r esponsi bl e
f or al l l oc al and ar t er i al r oads and
si dew al k s, i nc l udi ng w i nt er
mai nt enanc e, l oc al st or m sew er s,
w at er di st r i but i on, hydr o and
w ast e c ol l ec t i on.
devel op a publ i c sec t or
t el ec ommuni c at i ons pl an t o
pr ovi de bet t er i nf or mat i on
ac c essi bi l i t y about gover nment
ser vi c es t o t he publ i c .
I NTRODUCTI ON
One of the four major issues identified in the
discussion paper titled Running the GTA Like a
Business - A New Framework for GTA Reform
is the implementation of a business approach to
developing, renewing and maintaining.
infrastructure. Projected growth across the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) will continue to
place increasing pressure on government to
provide the infrastructure required to support
almost seven million people by the year 2031,
while recognizing both urban and rural
communities.
The GTAs future ability to provide essential
services such as transit, water and sewer,
education, and health care will depend on more
cost effective patterns of development, which will
support the provision of infrastructure more
efficiently. More compact development forms,
combined with cost effective and efficient
infrastructure development, support a business
approach to government.
It is imperative, that a growth management
strategy encouraging compact, transit-supportive
land uses be adopted across the GTA. The urban
form must be linked to infrastructure
development to ensure effective and efficient
expenditures. Many studies have been conducted
over the years about GTA issues. Appendix 1
provides a summary of the previous studies.
There is an urgent need to build on all this
excellent work, but to refocus it in the context of
running the GTA like a business.
2
KEY PRI NCI PLES
AND CONCEPTS
RUNNI NG THE GTA LI KE A
BUSI NESS
This paper builds on the concept of running the
GTA like a business and positions the GTA as an
innovative leader based on Mississaugas
experience. This business approach anticipates
considerable change in the future management of
infrastructure with an emphasis on maximizing
public-private sector partnerships and contracting
out. Over the next several decades, billions of
dollars of investment will be needed to serve the
additional three million people who will live in
the GTA. This investment is in addition to the
capital that will be required to renew and
maintain the infrastructure that is already in
place. Capital investments of this magnitude
cannot be afforded by the public sector alone.
Partnerships with the private sector are essential
to drive down costs and generate savings.
GTA STRATEGI C
CO-ORDI NATI ON
The development of a GTA strategic plan that
integrates urban growth with infrastructure, is
critical to link growth with the cost-effective and
efficient provision of infrastructure. This strategic
plan will be the framework for the development
of complementary plans detailing the provision of
transportation, telecommunications and other
cross municipal services. This GTA strategic co-
ordination and decision-making is best provided
by the Greater Toronto Area Services
Commission (GTASC) in conjunction with the
Province and local municipalities.
PARTNERSHI PS,
COLLABORATI ON AND
CO-OPERATI ON
The recommendations in this report are based on
partnerships, collaboration, and co-operation
between levels of government.
GTASC would serve to promote partnerships
between municipalities across the GTA as well
as between the municipalities and the Province.
More details about GTASC are provided in the
paper titled: Governance and Legislative Reform.
NODAL FORM OF
DEVELOPMENT
The nodal form of development builds on
existing communities and their infrastructure.
It provides for continuing population and
employment growth in the suburban and the
central built up areas, while stressing compact,
mixed-use communities which would favour
urban transit, walking and cycling for many trips.
It also recognizes the rural areas that exist within
the GTA.
The nodal form also provides the greatest range
of choice in terms of population density and
housing types, community size and character,
suburban and downtown living styles,
transportation modes, and integrated delivery of
services.
Mississauga supports the findings of the
provincial governments Office of the Greater
Toronto Area (OGTA) Infrastructure Working
Group which are consistent with the Mississauga
Official Plan to:
B
B
B
B
identify a hierarchy of nodes and corridors

based on public transit;
maximize use of infrastructure and
investments in land and buildings within
nodes and corridors;
channel highest densities of residential
development and employment development to
locations where high frequency transit is
available;
identify strategic transfer points as places to
concentrate a range of multiple uses; and,
protect stability of existing neighbourhoods.
These concepts should be used as the basis for
the identification of the 10 to 15 cities to be
created within the GTA.
ECOSYSTEM APPROACH TO
SUSTAI NABLE DEVELOPMENT
An approach to managing growth and
infrastructure based on an environmental
perspective is imperative. The importance of
taking an integrated view of decisions made
pertaining to the economy, the environment and
community has emerged as a principle of
planning. It is acknowledged that actions with
respect to one of these three areas; environment,
economy and community will influence others.
For example, a strong economy is required to
provide financial resources to ensure a healthy
community, and to protect the environment.
Taking this approach has been referred to as an
ecosystem approach. There is a need for both an
awareness and understanding of such an approach
for sustainable urban development to achieve
safe, healthy and vibrant communities.
EFFI CI ENCY
Services should be delivered by the level of
government that can do so most efficiently.
These services should be optimized and provided
at the scale that makes sense from a business
perspective. Some services may be more
effectively delivered by the private sector or a
public-private partnership.
Co-operation is needed across the GTA to utilize
existing capacities to resolve deficiencies and
maximize use of existing infrastructure before
incurring additional costs for new facilities. There
is a need for a GTA growth management strategy
which co-ordinates and links growth and
infrastructure.
I NFRASTRUCTURE I NCLUDES
TELECOMMUNI CATI ONS
The traditional definition of infrastructure must
be expanded to recognize that
telecommunications is now an integral
component of urban infrastructure along with
transportation, water, sewer, and hydro services.
Through the enabling effect of co-ordinated
telecommunications for the public sector,
governments can achieve efficiencies, streamline
service delivery, enhance service access, improve
communication and enhance the world-wide
visibility of the GTA as a desirable location.
BETTER GTA
GROWTH
MANAGEMENT
A GTA STRATEGI C PLAN
It is imperative that GTASC prepare a strategy
that would endorse the concept of sustainable
development, preserve prime agricultural lands
and significant environmental areas, demonstrate
leadership in environmental matters, and provide
open space to balance the urban and rural
context.
Mississaugas Strategic Plan recognizes and
supports the nodal concept for future
development. The nodal concept builds on
existing communities and their infrastructure, and
provides for continuing population and
employment growth both in the urban and rural
areas, yet stresses compact, mixed-use
communities which favour the use of transit,
walking and cycling. This concept also provides
the greatest range of choice in terms of
population density, housing types, community
size and character, rural and urban lifestyles,
transportation modes, and integrated delivery of
services.
Various studies and reports have concluded that a
nodal pattern of development is the most cost
effective in terms of land use goals,
environmental impact and maximization of
infrastructure. This work will be taken into
consideration as one of the elements used in the
recommendation to consolidate the current 30
municipalities to 10 to 15 cities within the
existing GTA boundary.
A healthy and vibrant GTA depends on a strong
central core. The central core is the focal point
for all other nodes and activities throughout the
GTA. These activities are, however, comple-
mentary to similar activities in other nodes.
A balanced distribution of activities within the
GTA provides for diversified communities and
improves the economic competitiveness of the
GTA.
BETTER TRANSPORTATI ON
CO-ORDI NATI ON
A GTA transportation plan is essential to ensure
that key transportation infrastructure decisions
support the overall GTA strategic plan. The need
for an integrated and co-ordinated land use/
transportation process with commitment from all
local municipalities cannot be overstated. The
necessary planning, co-ordination of corridor
protection, and infrastructure design/
implementation must be given the highest
priority. The development of a transportation plan
by GTASC would encompass and build on the
considerable work done to date by the existing
GTA Transportation Plan Steering Committee.
The GTA Transportation Plan must optimize the
capacity of existing and future transportation
networks, facilities and services while continuing
to serve existing development. This plan should
incorporate substantial expansion of the transit
network, major service improvements/extensions
in the commuter rail network and selected
expansion of the network of highways and
arterial roads.
GTASC should be given responsibility for the
planning and co-ordination of transportation
services and delivery of transit services including
commuter rail,
Currently, there are several agencies responsible
for planning services across the GTA competing
for the same scarce transportation funds, resulting
in a lack of co-ordination in transportation
planning.
GTASC would be better able to deliver transit
services including commuter rail to provide
efficient service delivery, ensure that operations
support the GTA strategy and achieve integration
from feeder routes to bus and subway lines to
GO Transit and commuter bus services.
GTASC would have the necessary legislative
powers to plan the following GTA transportation
services:
B GO Transit rail and commuter bus services;
B
subway lines and other rapid transit lines;
B key inter-municipal road corridors linking
cities; and,
B various other special services and programs,
such as a GTA High Occupancy Vehicle
Lanes Network.
However, the Province should be responsible for
all provincial highways including the Don Valley
Parkway and Gardiner Expressway.
MANAGEMENT
Running the GTA like a business is based on
implementing innovative service delivery models
including privatization, contracting out,
public/private partnerships, tendering of
purchased services and strategic alliances. In
addition, maximizing the utilization of costly
capital infrastructure must:
develop and implement water conservation
measures throughout the GTA;
use existing capacities to resolve deficiencies
and maximize use of existing infrastructure
before incurring additional costs for new
facilities;
plan sewer and water facilities to support the
GTA strategic plan;
implement the most efficient, effective and
responsible waste disposal measures across
the GTA; and,
develop minimum standards for quality,
service levels, and service delivery.
These principles would be complemented by
service delivery models involving the private
sector for water purification and supply, water
pollution control, waste disposal and transit
services,
The general concept of a GTA level versus local
can be put in the context of wholesale versus
retail.
For example, maximizing the use of existing
water and sewer systems in the GTA would
encompass water purification plants, water
pollution control plants (sewage treatment), trunk
water mains, reservoirs and pumping stations,
and trunk sanitary sewers.
The intent is to optimize the use of the present
systems and have the flexibility to use these
systems to maximize efficiency without the
artificial restraint of jurisdictional boundaries.
It may be beneficial for one system to buy water
from another or sell capacity to another to receive
the greatest benefits of economies and servicing.
The local water distribution system, as well as the
local sanitary sewer system, could be owned and
operated by the city. Now, there are variations
within the GTA as to who does what. The Region
of Peel operates the local water distribution and
sewer system, and the water purification and
sewage treatment is owned and operated by the
Ontario Clean Water Agency. Metro Toronto is
responsible for water supply and sewage
treatment, and the local municipalities such as
Etobicoke, North York, City of Toronto, etc. are
responsible for water distribution and the local
system.
The implementation of water supply and
treatment at the GTA level lends itself to
the principle of privatization to provide the
maximum efficiency in a public-private
partnership.
There should be co-operation across the GTA
to make the best use of existing infrastructure
before additional costs for new facilities are
incurred. It is also important to realize that
the provision of sewer and trunk facilities
is paramount to influence where and how
development will occur.
BETTER I NFORMATI ON
ACCESSI BI LI TY
Within the context of a GTA telecommunications
plan, municipalities would manage the public
sector telecommunications infrastructure.
Components could be purchased, outsourced to
the private sector, acquired through strategic
alliances with other public or private sector
partners or achieved by the construction of
private networks. Significant cost savings in
program delivery, elimination of duplication and
streamlining would be achieved.
Ideally, information about all GTA and municipal
services such as waste collection, utilities,
recreation programs, licensing, and transit should
be integrated across the GTA regardless of
geographic location. Each city hall would be the
focal point for service access and would be
supplemented by kiosks, computer access from
homes and businesses, and key locations in
libraries and community facilities. Ultimately,
information about all government services would
be integrated so that the public could access a
wide range of services electronically from
licenses to income tax information without
needing to know which level of government was
responsible.
CONCLUSI ON
Growth management must be linked with
infrastructure development to ensure effective and
efficient expenditures; the key to promoting a
business approach for GTA reform.
Projected growth across the GTA will continue to
place increasing pressure on government to
provide the required infrastructure and deliver
services while minimizing environmental
impacts. Running the GTA like a business is
essential.
One of the first tasks of GTASC should be to
prepare a comprehensive GTA strategy for
growth management and infrastructure based on
the nodal concept of development, a strong
central core in downtown Toronto, sustainable
development, environmental responsibility, and
vibrant communities.
A more compact form of development based on a
hierarchy of nodes and transit-supportive land use
combined with a strategic co-ordination approach
to infrastructure expenditures supports a business
approach to government. A reformed GTA
focussing on an economic region supports the
need to consolidate the current 30 municipalities
within the GTA while helping to prioritize needs
and future expenditures.
The delivery of infrastructure services should be
co-ordinated between GTASC and local
municipalities to optimize efficiencies and ensure
public access and accountability. It also provides
the opportunity to maximize the potential for
The growth management and infrastructure
strategy proposed in this report is based on a
business approach to finding the most cost
effective form of urban form and infrastructure
both at a GTA and local municipal level. This
assists not only in economic enrichment to
improve the competitiveness of the GTA but also
supports vibrant communities.
8
RECOMMENDATl ONS
Ser vi c es Commi ssi on w oul d be
r esponsi bl e f or devel opi ng an
over al l GTA st r at egy t o
c o-or di nat e ur ban and r ur al
gr ow t h management and
i nf r ast r uc t ur e.
The strategy would be based on:
B
B
B
B
2.
integration of land use and transportation
planning with infrastructure including
telecommunications;
existing communities and supported by
cost-effective and efficient infrastructure;
a strong central core in downtown Toronto,
supported by cities which allow an
appropriate distribution of population and
employment across the GTA; and,
sustainable development, environmental
responsibility and vibrant communities.
The Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea
manage GTA-w i de i nf r ast r uc t ur e.
The GTAs ability to provide essential services in
the future will require a business approach to
managing infrastructure with an emphasis on
contracting out, public-private sector
partnerships, tendering of purchased services and
strategic alliances. Cross-municipal GTA-wide
services would include transit, waste disposal,
and water and sewer facilities.
3. Ci t i es shoul d be r esponsi bl e
f or al l r oads and si dew al k s,
i nc l udi ng w i nt er mai nt enanc e,
l oc al st or m sew er s, w at er
di st r i but i on, hydr o and w ast e
c ol l ec t i on.
Services to the public should be provided at the
local level so that rates, service levels, and
priorities can be established by the accountable
municipality. The public should also be able to
easily determine who is accountable for local
service delivery.
devel op a publ i c sec t or
t el ec ommuni c at i ons pl an t o
pr ovi de bet t er i nf or mat i on
ac c essi bi l i t y about gover nment
ser vi c es t o t he publ i c .
Ideally, information about all GTA and municipal
services should be integrated regardless of
geographic location so that the public could
access a wide range of services electronically
without needing to know which level of
government was responsible.
APPENDI X 1
SUMMARY OF PREVI OUS
GTA STUDI ES
The challenge of directing and regulating growth
in the GTA has been studied over the past 40
years. In 1953, rapid suburban growth on the
fringe of the City of Toronto led the Province to
create the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto.
By the mid-1960s continued growth pressures
resulted in the Province conducting studies to
guide planning in the area, including the 1967
Metropolitan Toronto and Region Transportation
Study (MTARTS), the 1970 Design for
Development, the Toronto - Centred Region Plan
(TCR) and the 1974 Central Ontario Lakeshore
Urban Complex (COLUC). By the late 1970s,
having created four regional municipalities
surrounding Metro, the Province ceased efforts to
plan for the GTA until the late 80s.
During 1989, the Office of the Greater
Toronto Area (OGTA) and the Greater Toronto
Co-ordinating Committee (GTCC) initiated
studies of demographic and economic trends
in the GTA which resulted in low, medium and
high estimates of population and employment
during the next 30 to 40 years. Discussions with
staff regional and area municipalities resulted in
a most likely trends allocation of this growth
among the 35 municipalities, if current develop-
ment trends continued. These projections were
to be used as the basis for land use planning
throughout the GTA.
In 1990, the GTCC commissioned a study
conducted by a multi-disciplinary team headed by
the IBI Group to examine the challenges and
opportunities in accommodating growth in GTA.
This report titled, Greater Toronto Area Urban
Structure Concepts Study, compared three basic
urban form concepts (Spread, Central and Nodal)
for future growth in the GTA. The study analyzed
infrastructure requirements, efficiency of
services, costs and other quality of life indicators.
It concluded that while the costs of infrastructure
may be similar for the three urban form options,
the impact on the environment, the economy and
the community is substantially different in each
case, with the central and nodal option offering
significant advantages. In general, the study
concluded that some form of concentrated nodal
development was preferred and closer
co-operation among municipalities across the
GTA was necessary to facilitate this type of
development.
In December 1991, the report, Growing
Together: Towards an Urban Consensus in the
Greater Toronto Area was released. This report
provided a summary of three other reports: The
USCS, Watershed: The Second Interim Report
of the Royal Commission on the Future of the
Toronto Waterfront, and Options for a Greater
Toronto Area Greenland Strategy. Comments
from municipalities, provincial ministries and
other interested groups regarding the three
options clearly favoured some type of nodal
structure as the basis for future GTA
development.
Following Growing Together, the OGTA
released GTA 2021: The Challenge of our
Future, A Working Document in March, 1992.
The intent of the report was to raise public
awareness of the issues facing the GTA; to
present a vision of what the GTA would look
like in 2021; and to provide a broad outline of the
process to achieve this vision.
To assist in the next stage, six working groups of
provincial and municipal staff, co-ordinated by
the OGTA, were established to further examine
the above issues. The six working groups were:
Urban Form; Countryside; Human Services;
Economic Vitality; Infrastructure; and Investment
Planning and Mechanisms. The mandate of the
Urban Form Working Group included defining
and elaborating upon what was meant by urban
structure , compact urban form, nodes and
corridors in the GTA context; identifying
impediments to achieving the desired objectives
of compact urban form; illustrating how compact
urban forms of development can reflect the
values of social equity; economic enhancement
and a healthy environment; and what needs to be
done at the local, regional, and Provincial levels
to achieve a more compact form.
The Infrastructure Working Group assessed the
transportation and water/sewer requirements to
serve and help shape the nodal land use concept.
Telecommunications is recognized in a 1992
Ontario Government report,
Telecommunications Enabling Ontarios Future
which envisions that enabled by
telecommunications, Ontario and in turn Canada,
will be the best place in the world to live, work,
learn, and do business. The report sets out high
level goals and is based on a strategy of
co-operative action.
More recently, the GTCC formed a
Telecommunications Committee with the purpose
of developing a telecommunications strategy for
the GTA. The recommendations in this report
build on this work.
THE CORPORATI ON OF
SERVI CE
DELI VERY AND
FI NANCI NG
BACKGROUND
PAPER 3
OUTLI NE
Page
EXECUTI VE SUMMARY
1
I NTRODUCTI ON
4
FI NANCI NG GTA REFORM 4
FI NANCI NG CRI TERI A
7
RESPONSI BI LI TI ES FOR
8
FI NANCI NG
THE BOTTOM LI NE
20
RECOMMENDATI ONS
21
1995 GTA
MUNI CI PALI TI ES
EXECUTI VE
SUMMARY
Thirty billion dollars worth of services are being
provided in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) by
provincial, regional and local municipal
governments as well as various boards, and
commissions. In many cases, similar services are
provided by more than one level of government.
Examples include both the Region of Peel and
the City of Mississauga maintaining a road and
traffic function. Across the GTA there are
numerous transit systems, and water supply
authorities operating. In other cases, the provision
of services has become entangled so that it is
no longer clear to the taxpayers who is or should
be responsible for delivering services. The
current delineation of GTA service delivery is
demonstrated in Table 1.
Taxpayers sense they are not getting value for tax
dollars and are demanding better customer
service, greater accountability from government
and relief from the tax burden.
Resources for financing services are scarce. The
federal and provincial governments are in debt
and, as a result, some costs are now being
inappropriately downloaded to the municipal
level resulting in an increase in municipal
expenses. This is forcing municipalities to look
beyond the traditional property tax revenue to
finance services.
The time has come to take a new look at the
services being delivered by governments in the
GTA and to realign the delivery and financing
responsibilities. It is essential that this be done to
promote accountability, efficiency, and cost
effectiveness by incorporating pay for say or
decision making tied to funding.
This report analyses the financing and delivery
of GTA services by applying a common set
of financing and service delivery criteria. It
proposes solutions that will save taxpayers more
than $1 billion through effective, efficient and
accountable service delivery based on solid
business principles.
Implementation of real GTA government reform
requires more than operational reorganization. A
re-evaluation of the role of government in the
community is essential. Therefore, this report is
linked to the report Running the GTA Like a
Business Governance and Legislative Reform,
which recommends a stronger role for local
governments in delivering services.
To this end, the Running the GTA Like a
Business - Governance and Legislative Reform
report recommends that the five existing regional
governments including Metro be abolished, the
boundaries for 10-15 cities be determined to
consolidate the current 30 municipalities in the
GTA and the Greater Toronto Area Services
Commission (GTASC) be established to deliver
utility-type services at the GTA level.
This paper is about providing better government
that takes a more business like approach to the
delivery and financing of GTA services. There
are four main recommendations.
RECOMMENDATI ONS
1. Tak e a busi ness appr oac h t o
t he del i ver y of ser vi c es and
f undi ng sour c es ac r oss t he GTA.
2. Max i mi ze publ i c /pr i vat e
par t ner shi ps.
bodi es.
4. Ref or m, w i t hi n one year , t he
educ at i on syst em
t he pr oper t y t ax .
i n r el at i on t o
Tabl e 1
Cur r ent Responsi bi l i t i es f or Ser vi c e Del i ver y bet w een t he Regi on of
Peel , Ci t y of Mi ssi ssauga and Pr ovi nc e of Ont ar i o
unc t i on Cur r ent
Responsi bi l i t i es
Ser vi c e Del i ver y
Hospitals Special Purpose Body
Ambulance Province
Public Health Region
Health Inspection Province/Region
General Welfare Region
Social Housing Private Sector/Region/Province
Day Care Private/Region
Homes for Aged Private/Region
Sewer Plants Province
Sewer Collection System Region
1. Waterworks Plant Province
2. Waterworks Distribution Region
3. Waste Disposal Region
Region
Hydro Special Purpose Body (Commission)
6. Trunk Storm Sewers City
7. Local Storm Sewers City
Conservation Authority Special Purpose Body
Roadways - Arterial Predominantly City/Region
Roadways - Local City
Parking Control City
2
Street Lighting
Transit
Transit - Disabled
Police
Fire
Planning
Zoning
Building Standards
Compliance
Parks and Recreation
Cultural Activities
Libraries
Heritage Preservation
Cemeteries
Animal Control
Business and Vehicle Licencing
By-law Enforcement
Cur r ent
Responsi bi l i t i es
Ser vi c e Del i ver y
Mississauga Hydro
Region
Predominantly Region/Province
City
Predominantly City/Region/Province
City
Predominantly
City/Province
City
City
Predominantly City/Region
Special Purpose Body
City/Private Sector
City
City
City
I NTRODUCTI ON
This paper is about providing better government
that takes a more business like approach to the
delivery and financing of GTA services. The first
section deals with the components of financing
GTA reform and considers various challenges and
opportunities each presents. The second section
outlines the criteria or principles that were
applied when considering the most appropriate
body to deliver a service and the funding sources.
The third section provides the context and
analysis of which level of government should be
responsible for each service and the funding
sources. The final section, The Bottom Line,
details the minimum $1 billion savings to be had
by following the approach outlined in the report.
FI NANCI NG GTA REFORM -
CHALLENGES AND
OPPORTUNI TI ES
This section outlines the various components of
financing GTA reform and considers various
challenges and opportunities each presents.
REVENUE SOURCES
Currently taxation accounts for 41% of revenues
raised by the regional and lower tier governments
in the GTA. Grants from the Province represent
an additional 28% and user fees raise almost 13%
of the revenues for the two tiers with the
remainder of revenues resulting from a
combination of various other sources.
Not all municipalities may choose to fund
services the same way. What is appropriate for
one municipality may not meet the needs of
another. For example, one municipality may
choose to heavily support recreational programs
from the property tax base, while another may
rely more on user fees to finance the programs.
This choice should reside with the local elected
representatives and reflect the priorities of the
local residents and businesses.
As a revenue source, Provincial grants should be
discontinued unless the Province mandates a level
of service at which time the grants would be
replaced by a fee for service or a block transfer
of money that represents the cost of providing the
mandated service.
New sources of revenue should be available to
the individual municipalities to pursue if they
believe it is best for the local constituents. The
choice should be left to the municipality to
determine what source of revenue is best.
CHANGE SHOULD DECREASE
COSTS AND I MPROVE
CUSTOMER SERVI CES
Changes to which body delivers services and how
services are funded should not adversely impact
the taxpayer. The change in service provider or
funding method should decrease taxpayer costs
and improve customer service.
PAY FOR SAY
One of the critical issues in GTA reform is the
issue of pay for say. This means that the
government body setting program policy and
determining service management levels and
operational design should fund the service. The
service delivery need not be delivered directly by
the government body but can be contracted out or
funded through user fees.
In the case of a provincially mandated service or
level of service delivered through another level of
government, grants would be replaced by fees or
block transfers of money for the purpose of
contracting out the delivery of the service.
Pay for say holds policy setting government
bodies more accountable for their actions because
they must also accept the responsibility for
ensuring the delivery of the service and meeting
customer expectations. The principle also makes
it clearer who is responsible for delivering
service to the customer.
If the public sector cannot deliver a service as
effectively and efficiently as the private sector, it
should not be in that business. The municipality
4
should contract out services that the private sector
can do better or more cost effectively, while still
setting parameters for service levels, policies and
standards. If the municipality can provide a
service that is provided by the private sector at a
competitive cost, the municipality should
compete and provide that service. This would
allow the municipality more accountability,
ownership and responsibility for the service and
would allow the municipality to respond to
customer requests more effectively.
The use of better business principles would help
ensure service delivery efficiency and would
create more customer confidence in the efficiency
and effectiveness of the service being delivered.
Private/public partnerships should be encouraged
in situations where the private sector and the
municipality can work together to create more
efficient service delivery. Many of the services
proposed to be provided at the GTASC level
would lend themselves to private/public
partnerships.
ECONOMI ES OF SCALE
Efficiency is represented by economies of scale
(i.e. the cost per unit decreases as more units are
produced). To be more responsive to the customer
many private sector organizations are moving to
more effective business units. The GTASC
structure will lend itself to this corporate,
business unit approach.
LOCAL CONTROL AND
FUNDI NG
Revenues received by a level of government
should support the services that are delivered by
that level of government. Property taxes raised in
a municipality should only support the services
provided or used by the municipality.
The responsibility for providing the services
should be located at the lowest level of
government that can provide the services
efficiently and effectively, taking into account the
impact of the service on the individual
community.
The concepts of sense of community, customer
service, and quality of life should always be
weighed against cost savings issues in
determining the level of government that should
be responsible for the service. Within the
framework of provincial legislation and province-
wide minimum standards, elected officials
representing the local municipalities should have
the right to choose the types of services, levels of
services, methods of delivery and financing
options that best reflect the needs of the local
municipality, This helps to reinforce the sense of
community and addresses the needs of the local
consumer.
Responsibility for, and extent of funding will be
more complex for those services that cross
boundaries, or are provided by the proposed
Greater Toronto Area Services Commission
(GTASC). If more than one municipality benefits
from a service, the cost of the service should be
apportioned based on use.
SERVI CES COMMI SSI ON
FUNDI NG
GTASC is detailed in the report Running the
GTA Like a Business - Governance and
Legislative Reform.
The purpose of GTASC is to co-ordinate the
delivery of services including transit, waste
disposal, water purification supply and pollution
control. These services can be mainly supported
by user fees, cross municipal boundaries, and are
conducive to economies of scale.
Many of these services could be contracted out or
provided through private/public partnership. In
these instances the services should be funded
from user fees to the greatest extent possible and
should rely on property taxes as little as possible
as a source of funding.
In cases such as economic development or transit,
which cannot be fully funded through user fees or
other mechanisms, funding from the
municipalities or a fee for service based on usage
should be developed.
Funding would vary depending on the service,
however, user fees could be the predominant
funding source for all services provided by
GTASC. The Province would continue to provide
funding for capital projects related to GTASC
services. Public-private partnerships could also be
used to finance major capital projects as the
private sector generally has access to more
flexible sources of funding than the public sector.
GTASC would provide a standard level of service
across the GTA; however, individual
municipalities may wish to have a higher level of
service for their community. Any service level
upgrade demanded by a municipality could be
provided by the municipality, or the upgraded
service could be charged out on a fee for service
basis by GTASC to the municipality.
PROVI NCI AL FUNDI NG
The Province currently provides $2.3 billion to
GTA municipalities in the form of conditional
and unconditional grants to help fund the
operating expenses of the municipalities and
regions. Over 90% of the conditional grants are
received by the regions, mainly to offset the costs
of providing health, social and family services.
Across the GTA $1.8 billion or 86.5% of all
grants support the operations of health, social and
family services. Another $238 million or 11.4%
of all grants help provide operating funding for
transportation services.
In Mississauga almost 9% of revenues or $23
million is received from the Province in the form
of operating grants. Unconditional grants amount
to $3.5 million while conditional grants amount
to $19.5 million with the greatest portion of
conditional grants supporting transportation
services.
The Province should fund activities that are
income distribution related, involve Province-
wide infrastructure or when there is a strong
provincial interest in the delivery of the service.
As a result, services delivered by the municipality
would not receive general funding from the
Province unless mandated by the Province. In this
case grants from the Province would be
discontinued and replaced by a fee for service.
Unconditional grants would cease to be a funding
source for local municipalities. Municipalities
have been moving to reduce their reliance on
unconditional grants in the last few years with a
push from the Expenditure Control Plan and the
Social Contract. Elimination of these grants
would have an impact on GTA municipalities of
$154 million representing less than 3% of the
total municipal revenues with the impact on
Mississauga amounting to $3.5 million.
This proposal would see all grants from the
Province to the municipality cease, including
conditional grants, so that all services provided
by the municipality would be funded from
property taxes, user fees or other local funding
sources. The impact on Mississauga would total
$32 per household for the lower tier portion and
$166 for the Regional portion for a total impact
on the Mississauga taxpayer of $198 per
household. Funding for capital projects should be
phased out and capital priorities reviewed and
determined by the municipalities. The
municipality could continue to provide
provincially delivered services as an agent of the
Province on a fee for service basis. This would
allow the Province to continue to set and control
service and delivery standards but would take
advantage of the existing delivery systems and
one window access for the customer.
TO help offset the impact of losing provincial
grants, the Province would take responsibility for
some of the services currently provided by the
municipalities that are more appropriately
delivered at the provincial level. All transfers
should have no adverse impact on the taxpayer. If
income taxes increase, property taxes should
decrease, so the average taxpayer would not be
impacted by the change in delivery of service.
EDUCATI ON
Given that education is currently 60% or more of
the property tax, the educational system should
be an integral part of GTA reform. A detailed
review of education financing cannot be done in
isolation of GTA reform and must be undertaken
by December 1, 1996.
6
SERVI CE
DELl VERY AND
FI NANCI NG
CRI TERI A
The f ol l ow i ng c r i t er i a gui ded
t he r evi ew of t he var i ous
ser vi c es and pr ovi ded t he basi s
f or det er mi ni ng t he most
appr opr i at e l evel of gover nment
t o del i ver t he ser vi c e, and
f undi ng sour c es.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ef f i c i enc y
Will delivery of service at the level
proposed result in economies of scale
i.e. lower per unit costs for the
service?
Ef f ec t i veness
Is knowledge of local conditions/
circumstances essential to the
delivery of the service?
I nc ome Redi st r i but i on
I s income redistribution the primary
goal in the provision of the service?
Uni f or m St andar ds
Is it important that there be a
uniformity in the nature of the service
received by the client across
municipal jurisdictions?
Ex t er naI i t i es/Spi l l over Ef f ec t s
Are there costs or benefits in the
provision of a service that will
spillover into other municipal
jurisdictions with either positive or
negative consequences?
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Communi t y I nvol vement
I s the service of such a nature that its
delivery promotes a sense of local
community, and therefore should be
delivered at the local level?
Ac c ount abi l i t y
Are the lines of responsibility for
service delivery clearly drawn and
does the customer know who is
responsible?
Pay f or Say
Is the level of government that funds
the service responsible for
determining the level and quality of
service that the end user receives?
Consumer Choi c e
I S consumption tied to cost and do
customers have a degree of choice in
the usage of the product?
Benef i t t o t he Pr ovi nc e
Does the service benefit the public
across the Province or just those in
the GTA?
RESPONSI BI LI TI ES
FOR SERVI CE
DELI VERY AND
FI NANCI NG
This section presents a business approach to the
delineation of services and funding sources
across the GTA.
The main thrust of a business approach to service
delivery is to determine the products or services
that customers need. Success in business requires
a clear focus on products or services. Like
businesses, each level of government must
determine what services to focus on and
eliminate any areas of duplication or redundancy.
To help ensure that services are delivered in a
business-like manner, each level of government
must also be given the legislative authority to
implement appropriate partnerships with the
private sector or non-profit sector. This gives
government greater flexibility to contract out
services that may be better delivered or managed
by others while retaining public accountability
and control for the service.
Over the years, special purpose bodies have
obtained substantial control over publicly funded
budgets, however, their accountability to the
public is diminished by non-elected board
members. As a result, all special purpose bodies
should be eliminated and their functions
transferred to the respective level of government
that is responsible for funding.
A critical component in the discussion of service
delivery is the relationship between services and
funding. It is proposed that the pay for say
philosophy be used as a general guide in the
determination of who funds, and therefore,
provides services.
Based on these factors and others identified
earlier in this paper, the following outlines a
preferred approach for the delivery of services in
the GTA. It is summarized in Table 2.
PROVI NCE OF ONTARI O
The Province of Ontario is responsible for setting
legislative standards and guidelines across the
Province and has been effective in delivering
services that serve the Province as a whole. The
Province should limit its involvement in service
delivery to those services that involve income
redistribution, provincial infrastructure, and
services that meet a common need or function
across the Province.
Maj or ser vi c es t hat shoul d be
f unded and pr ovi ded by t he
Pr ovi nc e i nc l ude:
Education;
General welfare;
Highways;
Hospitals; and,
Watershed management.
Utility-type services are most appropriately
delivered at the GTA level. This will: enable
more efficient financing of services when spread
over a large customer base; promote economies
of scale; avoid current municipal and regional
boundaries which are artificial; and facilitate
more effective long term planning and service
delivery. Most functions at this level are also
often funded through user fees rather than
property taxes. Building on the successful track
record of the GTA Mayors Committee, these
functions should be administered by a GTA
utility-type body the Greater Toronto Area
Services Commission (GTASC).
GTASC would not be a layer of government but
rather, serve in a complementary role to the
municipalities and Province. It would be an
effective and efficient body for delivering
services in the GTA that cross municipal
jurisdictions and are primarily of a utility-type
nature.
8
Strategic co-ordination at the GTA level through
GTASC will facilitate appropriate resource
management and avoid duplication of efforts. To
ensure continuity of service across the area while
taking into consideration local circumstances, it
is also very important that a number of municipal
functions be co-ordinated on a GTA-wide basis.
It is essential to review utility-type services as
early as possible with a view to determining the
most appropriate service provider, For example,
while GTASC must maintain overall
responsibility for waste disposal or water and
sewer treatment facilities since they are services
that benefit the general public, it may be more
effective to have the operations contracted out to
the private sector. Such public-private sector
arrangements can provide a balance of public
accountability while ensuring the services are
operated like a business.
There should be an acceptable minimum standard
of service provided by GTASC across the GTA.
Should, however, a municipality decide to have a
higher level of service it should be provided on a
user pay or fee for service basis.
Maj or ser vi c es t hat shoul d be
c o-or di nat ed and del i ver ed
pr ef er abl y by t he pr i vat e sec t or
t hr ough GTASC.
B Transit;
B Waste Disposal;
B Water purification and supply (trunks and
plants); and,
B Water pollution control.
Also with respect to economic development and
tourism, GTASC would co-ordinate the
marketing of the GTA as a single economic
region and tourist destination.
GREATER
TORONTO
AREA
SERVI CES
COMMISSION
(GTASC)
GTASC
(MAYORS AND PROVI NCI AL CABI NET MI NI STERS)
I
BUSI NESS UNI TS:
1. TRANSI T
2. WATER& SEWER
3. WASTE DI SPOSAL
4. ECONOMI C
DEVELOPMENT/TOURI SM
OUTCOMES:
-Busi ness Pl anni ng
-Fi nanc i al Pl anni ng
STRATEGI C COORDI NATI ON:
STRATEGI C PLANNI NG
OUTCOMES:
-GTA Vi si on Devel opment
-Popul at i on/Empl oyment
For ec ast s
-Tr anspor t at i on and
I nf r ast r uc t ur e St r at egy
Devel opment
10
MUNI CI PALI TI ES
With clearer accountability through the elimin-
ation of regional governments, local municipal-
ities would obtain greater responsibility for all
community-based services. These services are
best delivered by the municipality in that the
locally elected offficials can be representative of
smaller geographical communities (wards). As
such, elected officials at the municipal level are
responsive to specific local needs of residents and
businesses and are best able to address the
interests of their community.
The taxpayer also benefits from the provision of
services at the local level through easier access
and more direct accountability by municipally
elected officials than is possible with the provin-
cial or federal level of government, and will, as a
result, receive better customer service.
Maj or ser vi c es del i ver ed at t he
muni c i pal l evel .
B
B
B
B
B
Planning and zoning;
Building standards compliance;
Local by-law enforcement (parking,
animal control, property standards,
signs);
Local storm sewers;
Water distribution;
Roads;
Waste collection;
Parks and recreation;
Cultural activities;
Social housing;
Day care;
B
B
Homes for the aged;

Traffic and street lighting;
Economic development;
Telecommunications;
Libraries (as a city department);
Hydro (as a city department);
Property assessment and tax
collection;
Police;
Fire;
Ambulance;
Public health; and
Heritage Preservation, Cemeteries.
Tabl e 2
GTA Ref or m Pr oposed Del i neat i on of Ser vi c es
PROVI NCE GREATER TORONTO MUNI CI PALI TI ES
AREA SERVI CES
COMMI SSI ON
B Education
B Transit
B Planning and zoning
B General welfare
B Waste Disposal
B Building standards
B Highways
B Water purification and
compliance
B Hospitals
supply
B Local by-law enforcement
B Watershed management
(trunks and plants)
(parking, animal control,
B Water pollution control
property standards, signs)
B Local storm sewers
B Water distribution
B Roads
B Waste collection
B Parks and recreation
B Cultural activities
B Social housing
B Day care
B Homes for the aged
B Traffic and street lighting
B Economic development
B Telecommunications
B Libraries (as a city
department)
B Hydro (as a city
department)
B Property assessment and
tax collection
B Police
B Fi r e
B Ambulance
B Public health
B Heritage Preservation,
Cemeteries
12
GTA - Ser vi c e Del i ver y and
Fi nanc i ng Rat i onal e
M L O F SERVI CE RATI ONALE POTENTI AL FUNDI NG
GOVERNMENT FUNDI NG
RATI ONALE
SOURCE
Province General General Welfare is a method of in-
Province
-Income
Welfare come redistribution and should be
provided by the level of govern-
Redistribution
ment responsible for income tax.
-Pay for Say
-Accountability
Province Hospitals Hospitals should remain a provin- Province
-Pay for Say
cial responsibility to maintain a
common standard of hospital care
-Accountability
across the Province, and to accom-
-Standards across
modate particular hospitals
Province
offering specialized medical
services.
Province Highways It is more effective for the provin- Province
-Pay for say
cial government to continue to pro-
vide a uniform system of
-Effectiveness
provincial highways. Provincial
-Accountability
highways are a link between major -Spillover
communities and are more
effectively managed at a provincial
level to ensure consistent standards
that benefit the Province as a
whole.
Province Watershed Since there are significant cross Province
Management jurisdictional spillovers of costs,
-Pay for say
responsibilities and benefits in the
-Effectiveness
management of watersheds, this -Accountability
should be a matter of provincial
-Spillover
jurisdiction. It is also important to
ensure an ecosystem approach.
This would allow the resource to
be managed consistently across the
entire watershed.
Province Education Given that education is 60% or Province
-Effectiveness
more of the property tax burden,
education financing should be an
-Standards across
integral part of GTA reform. The
Province
Province should set common stan-
-Benefit to the
dards and policy to ensure an equal
access to education. By December
Province as a
1, 1996, a detailed review of edu-
whole
cation financing must be undertak- -Accountability
en. A more appropriate source of
funding other than the property tax
must be found.
LEVEL OF SERVI CE RATI ONALE POTENTI AL FUNDI NG
G0VERNMENT
SOURCE
RATI ONALE
Greater Toronto Transit There are too many transit authorities Province -Effectiveness
Area Services operating in the GTA. If we are serious
Fare Box -Accountability
Commission
about seamless transit, maximum
GTASC)
efficiencies, and minimum duplication,
Revenues -Economy
then there should be the creation of a -Efficiency
transit authority at the GTA level. The
-Consistency
transportation system is what knits the
jurisdictions in the GTA together.
-Business
Consistency of service and ease of travel
Approach
between municipalities will be enhanced
with a common operator. The Province
should make up the shortfall in funding
that cannot be covered by reasonable
transit fares.
Greater Toronto
Waste Waste disposal should be delivered at the Municipal -Efficiency
Area Services Disposal GTA level to provide: maximum
User Fees
-Effectiveness
Commission
efficiencies; economies of scale; and
(GTASC)
flexibility between municipal
-Accountability
boundaries. Waste disposal should be
treated as a utility type service funded
from tipping fees associated with the use
of the service. Waste disposal can
include landfill, incineration and hauling
to other jurisdictions. This service
should be privatized and/or contracted
out to the maximum possible degree.
There are some municipalities in the
GTA which have severely limited ability
to dispose of their own waste. User fees
will allow consumer choice and will
benefit those municipalities that are
environmentally conscious.
Greater Toronto Water Water is a resource that will have to be User Fees -Efficiency
Area Services Purification
shared across municipalities, and, as a
-Effectiveness
Commission and Supply
result, user fees should be common
(GTASC)
across the GTA. This includes water
-Accountability
purification, reservoirs, pumping stations -Consumer
and trunk supply mains. The funding
Choice
would be on a user fee basis and the
intent is that GTASC would wholesale
water to area municipalities. The benefit
would be the less water that is used the
less one pays. There would be econo-
mies of scale and maximum efficiencies
to privatize or contract out this utility
type service at the GTA level without
restrictions of artificial jurisdictional
boundaries.
14
G0VERNMENT
FUNDI NG
SOURCE
RATI ONALE
Greater Toronto Area Water Pollution To take advantage of economies User fees -Efficiency
Services
Control and
of scale, sewage treatment
-Effectiveness
Commission
Trunk Sewers
should be conducted as a utility
(GTASC)
type service at the GTA level
-Accountability
with associated user fees, and
-Economy
contracted out to the greatest -Consumer
degree possible. A co-ordinated
Choice
effort of all the GTA
municipalities is required to
maintain and enhance water
quality that will benefit all
citizens. There would be
economies of scale and
maximum efficiencies without
the restrictions of artificial
jurisdictional boundaries.
Greater Toronto Economic To effectively compete in the Private/Public -Effectiveness
Area Services
Development and global marketplace, it is essential
Municipality -Pay for Say
Commission
Tourism
to market the GTA as a single
(GTASC)
economic region and tourist
-Business
destination. Potential investors and
Principles
visitors must be sold on coming to -Economic
the GTA first, before promoting
the opportunities available at the
Enrichment
local level. The mandate should be
to increase awareness of the GTA
at a national and international
level. Public/private partnerships
are a cost effective approach to
international marketing activities,
while also reducing duplication
and competition amongst mun-
icipalities. It is important to
recognize that economic develop-
ment in one community brings
benefits to the GTA as a whole.
Local Planning, Planning, zoning, and building Municipality -Community
Zoning and
standards compliance are most
User Fees -Effectiveness
Building
effectively conducted at the local
level since a knowledge of local
-Pay for Say
Standards
conditions and circumstances is
Compliance
critical. Citizens increasingly are
requesting involvement in the
preparation of planning
documents, and the opportunity
to participate in the local
planning process fosters a sense
of community. While the
Province establishes standards
which govern the implement-
ation of protective inspections,
this service should continue to be
delivered at the local level to
ensure effective delivery and
responsiveness to local
conditions.
GOVERNMENT
SOURCE
RATI ONALE
Local By-law Local by-laws dealing with such
Municipality -Accountability
Enforcement
matters as parking, animal
Fines/Permit
control, property standards and
-Pay for Say
signs ought to reflect local
-Effectiveness
community preferences. -Community
Decisions on these matters
distinguish local communities
and foster community identity.
Having this service delivered at
the local level enables the
delivery to be responsive to
customer needs and ensures
accountability.
Local Local Storm Local storm sewers are a Municipality -Community
Sewers
combination of natural water
-Accountability
courses, storm sewers and storm
water management both from a
-Pay for Say
quality and quantity standpoint.
Storm water management is
increasingly relying on the use of
storm water detention ponds, and
should be planned in conjunction
with Iocal development.
Local Local Water Local mains distribute water to User Fees
-Accountability
Mains
local residences and businesses,
and should be provided at the
local level including the financial
billings. Proper co-ordination of
these services must also occur in
conjunction with other related
matters, such as local land use
planning, infrastructure
development and maintenance.
Knowledge of local conditions
and circumstances is important
to ensure efficient delivery of
this service.
Local Hydro Hydro is currently delivered User Fees -Efficiency
(City Dept)
at the local level. Delivery at
-Effectiveness
this level has ensured greater
accountability to customers,
-Accountability
and effective delivery of the
-Consumer
service in that the planning
Choice
of hydro service installation
has been undertaken in conjunc-
tion with the delivery of other
infrastructure. It is anticipated
that accelerating competition
across North America may
lead to privatization.
GOVERNMENT
SOURCE
RATI ONALE
Local Local and The building and maintenance of Municipality
-Community
Arterial Roads
local and arterial roads and -Pay for Say
and Sidewalks
sidewalks should be delivered
-Accountability
(including
locally as it is most effective and
-Effectiveness
winter
ensures proper accountability.
The roads in a municipality
maintenance)
should be either a responsibility
of the local or provincial govern-
ment. At the GTA there would
only be overall co-ordination.
This would minimize duplication
and clarify role responsibility.
Local Waste Collection Waste collection at the local level Municipality
-Community
ensures that the nature of the -Effectiveness
service is responsive to the
-Accountability
preferences and needs of the
citizens. Tipping fees at the GTA
level will foster the 3Rs
approach to usage and result in
lower costs. The local municip-
ality would be able to choose the
level of service.
Local Traffic and For the proper delivery of traffic Municipality
-Community
Street Lighting
and street lighting, knowledge of
local conditions and
-Pay for Say
circumstances is critical. By
-Accountability
delivering this service at the local
-Effectiveness
level there would be no
duplication. This service would
be contracted out to the greatest
degree possible.
Local Parks Recreation One of the main focal points that Municipality -Community
and Cultural adds to residents sense of
Facilities
User fees -Pay for Say
community are the parks,
recreation and cultural facilities.
-Accountability
Involvement of the community in
-Effectiveness
planning and delivery is
-Consumer
paramount. Knowledge of
Choice
community preferences and
ongoing involvement of residents
is critical to effective delivery. To
ensure proper accountability
these services should continue to
be delivered at the local level.
Local Heritage The delivery of this service is User fees
-Community
Preservation,
most appropriate at the local -Pay for Say
Cemeteries
level as knowledge of history and
-Accountability
sense of pride is an important
-Effectiveness
element of many communities.
LEVEL OF
GOVERNMENT
Local
Local
Local
Local
SERVI CE
Economic
Development at
the Local Level
Social Housing,
Social Services
e.g. Day Care
and Homes for
the Aged (City
Department)
Libraries (City
Department)
Public Sector
Telecommun-
ications
RATI ONALE
While it is important to have
economic development and
tourism co-ordinated at a GTA
level for national and internation-
al marketing activities, it is still
necessary to retain an economic
development function at the local
level to promote the unique
attributes of the community and
to provide effective customer
service. The focus of this service
will be to: address the needs of
existing business; undertake
business attraction initiatives
targeting businesses that are most
appropriate for the community;
facilitate site selection process;
and assist entrepreneurs with
business start ups.
Services such as social housing,
day care, and homes for the aged
should be delivered at the local
level. Delivery at this level will
help to promote a sense of com-
munity, and more effectively
reflect local conditions. Tire
Provincial Family Benefits and
General Welfare offices should
be located along with the muni-
cipality to provide better cus-
tomer access.
The delivery of library services
at the local level enables the
system to more accurately reflect
preferences of the local com-
munity. Libraries foster a strong
sense of community. Legislation
should be amended to permit
library services to be delivered
as a municipal department
thereby allowing for greater
accountability.
While there is a need for co-
ordination of public sector tele-
communications at the GTA
level, at the local level,
municipalities should be respon-
sible for the management of tele-
communications infrastructure
to meet public sector needs and
facilitate one-stop shopping.
Municipality
Private/Public
Municipality
User fees
Municipality
User fees
Public/Private
User fees
FUNDI NG
RATI ONALE
-Effectiveness
-Pay for Say
-Economic
Enrichment
-Business
Principles
-Community
-Pay for Say
-Accountability
-Effectiveness
-Consumer
Choice
-Community
-Pay for Say
-Accountability
-Effectiveness
-Community
-Pay for Say
-Accountability
-Effectiveness
GOVERNMENT
FUNDI NG
SOURCE
RATI ONALE
Local
Property Tax, Having property tax assessment
Municipality -Pay for Say
Assessment, and
delivered at the local level with
-Accountability
Collection
adequate staffing and resources
-Effectiveness
enables more accurate and timely
property assessment reflective
-Efficiency
of local market conditions. in
addition, this would enable more
regular updating and would
eliminate duplication of some
activities between the Province
and the municipalities. Tax col-
lection belongs at the local level
because it is the only level of
government that should be fin-
anced through property taxes.
local Police, Fire and The delivery of these services Municipality -Community
Ambulance
should be at the local level to
foster a strong relationship with
-Accountability
the community that is being
.
served. A community that has its
-Effectiveness
own emergency services fosters
a pride in the community itself.
In addition, having the delivery
at this level should enable rapid
response time as emergency staff
will have knowledge of local
circumstances resulting in
enhanced customer service. This
will also facilitate improved
liaison and co-ordination of
specialized emergency services
where necessary.
Local Public Health Public health including health Municipality -Community
inspections, education,
prevention, and monitoring is
-Accountability
most effectively delivered at the
local level. This would enable
-Effectiveness
the nature of the programs
delivered to be specifically
tailored based on knowledge of
local circumstances, and the
needs and preferences of the
local community. In addition,
delivery at the local level would
ensure greater accountability.
THE BOTTOM LI NE -
MI SSI SSAUGAS GTA REFORM
PROPOSALS SAVE AT LEAST
$1 BI LLI ON
Savings from the reform of the GTA will be
difficult to quantify, however, it is estimated that
$1 billion in savings should result from changes
to service delivery. GTA reform is based on a
business approach to delivery of services. It
would also provide improved services and
methods of delivery, and should result in
significant cost savings. In addition it should
increase responsiveness to customer needs. Many
of the efficiencies gained from reforming
government within the GTA would arise from
eliminating regional government and would
translate into savings to the taxpayer.
Assessment
Moving the assessment function from the
Province to the municipality would create savings
in the administrative area and would eliminate
duplication of effort in some of the functions. For
example, tracking of changes to the assessment
role is done both by municipalities and the
assessment office. Some duties can be combined
with duties currently undertaken by a
municipality to perform the task more effectively.
In addition, municipalities would have a greater
incentive to quickly respond to changes in
supplementary assessments and keeping other
assessment files up to date. By doing so
municipalities would benefit from increased
revenue flow from new or changed assessments.
Tr ansi t
Transit costs the municipalities in the GTA $835
million per year. Many of these costs include
overhead and administrative costs that are
duplicated for each of the 17 transit authorities in
the GTA. A consolidation of the various
authorities into one body would reduce or
eliminate duplication. Operations crews may be
rationalized but the majority of the cost savings
would occur in the overhead functions.
In addition economies of scale would occur in the
purchasing functions. The new transit body
would operate on a more business like approach
thereby reducing the net cost of the operation.
There may be opportunities for contracting out
the delivery of transit services to the private
sector for specific geographic areas within the
GTA.
Wast e Di sposal
A consolidation of waste disposal and recycling
would create savings through reduction of
overhead, economies of scale and through the
sale of recycling products at quantity volumes.
Wat er Suppl y
There are numerous water supply authorities in
the GTA. By consolidating into one utility a
portion of the overhead and administration costs
will disappear. In addition economies of scale
should be realized in the appropriate design and
location of water treatment plants and trunk water
mains, contracting out part of the delivery, and in
the purchasing function.
Pl anni ng
Currently the planning function is performed by
the Province, region and the local municipalities.
It is proposed to eliminate the function at the
regional level. By doing so it will eliminate the
costs associated with regional planning. This
would result in a reduction of much of the
planning function but will not eliminate the total
function. The municipalities would have to pick
up some of the responsibilities that were provided
at a regional level such as subdivision and
condominium plan approval.
20
Regi onal Gover nment
Elimination of the five regions will result in a
significant reduction in the amount of admin-
istrative overhead including eliminating five
regional headquarters, councillors, council
support, regional clerks, legal and corporate
services. Savings should also result from the
operations side as a consequence of the com-
petition induced by contracting out, private/public
partnerships etc.
I nc r eased Use of User Fees
The municipal sector should increase the use of
user fees to offset the costs of providing services
that are not considered a necessity and can be
attributed to a specific consumption (i.e. recreat-
ion programs). User fees account for only 12.670
of revenues across the. GTA. If this was increased
to 20% across the GTA additional revenues
would result and offset tax pressures. For ex-
ample, user fees in Mississauga account for
over 20% of revenues.
El i mi nat i on of Pr ovi nc i al
Gr ant s
Savings will result from the administration of
grants at both the provincial and municipal levels
if provincial grants are eliminated.
Di sent angl ement of Ser vi c es
Disentanglement will result in dollar sav-
ings, streamlined operations and improved
co-ordination at both levels of government,
RECOMMENDATl ONS
1. Tak e a busi ness appr oac h t o
t he del i ver y of ser vi c es and
f undi ng sour c es ac r oss t he GTA.
Building on Mississaugas success, a business
approach should be used in the GTA so that all
governments are run like a business. This
means responding to the needs of customers,
both business and residents, while continuously
striving to improve the delivery of services to
provide them in a cost-efficient and effective
manner.
2. Max i mi ze publ i c /pr i vat e
par t ner shi ps.
To help ensure that services are delivered in a
business-like manner, each level of government
must be given the legislative authority to
implement appropriate partnerships with the
private sector or non-profit sectors. This will
enable government to have greater flexibility to
contract out for services that may be more cost-
effectively delivered or managed by others, while
retaining public accountability and control for
the services.
bodi es.
Special purpose bodies should be eliminated and
their functions transferred to the respective level
of government that is responsible for funding.
4. Ref or m, w i t hi n one year , t he
educ at i on syst em i n r el at i on t o
t he pr oper t y t ax .
Given that education is currently 60% or more of
the property tax, the educational system should
be an integral part of GTA reform. A detailed
review of education financing cannot be done in
isolation of GTA reform and must be undertaken
by December 1, 1996.
Bac k gr ound Paper 4
RUNNI NG THE
GTA LI KE
A BUSI NESS
A REPORT ON
PROPERTY AND
BUSINESS TAX
REFORM
OUTLI NE
Page
EXECUTI VE SUMMARY
2
I NTRODUCTI ON
4
DEVELOPI NG A MORE
6
EFFECTI VE PROPERTY TAX
SYSTEM FOR THE GTA
The Industrial-Commercial Tax Differential
The Mississauga Context
A FRAMEWORK
8
FOR PROPERTY
TAX REFORM
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The GTA municipalities should move towards
full market value assessment and common valu-
ation year in two steps:
B within five years, market value by property
class (section 58 of the Assessment Act).
B within ten years, full market value (section 63
of the Assessment Act).
The province must provide resources to fast
track reassessment.
Tax impacts to be phased in over five years.
Tax policy must be visible.
Provincial legislation must allow municipalities
to set variable mill rates.
Combine the business and non-residential
property taxes,
Express the tax rate as dollars per thousand
dollars of assessment.
Conc l usi on 13
Appendi x 1 14
EXECUTI VE
SUMMARY
Over the past 25 years, numerous task forces and
commissions have examined municipal finances in
Ontario, mainly concentrating on the business and
property tax system. To date, few if any recommend-
ations have been acted on by the province. As a result,
the current system for collecting property taxes is
archaic and subject to distortion and inequity between
both taxpayers and municipalities. In addition, the
current system is, in part, responsible for the substan-
tial inequities in the residential and business property
tax rate across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
A more appropriate property and business tax system
that better serves the GTA citizens and businesses
must be established. In February 1987, the City of
Mississauga published the report 10 Steps_ Toward
Property Tax Reform. Recommendations arising from
that report, reproduced in Appendix I, provided a
framework which this report has built upon.
In the GTA, the preferred system for property tax and
assessment should be built around seven key recom-
mendations. Three of the recommendations require
no change in legislation and achieve reform within the
currrent legislative framework. The remaining four
recommendations reform the tax system and will
require changes to legislation.
REFORM WI THI N THE EXI STI NG
PROPERTY TAXATI ON SYSTEM
1. The GTA muni c i pal i t i es shoul d
move t ow ar ds f ul l mar k et val ue
assessment and a c ommon
val uat i on year i n t w o st eps:
B w i t hi n f i ve year s, mar k et val ue
by pr oper t y c l ass (sec t i on 58 of
t he Assess ment Ac t ).
B w i t hi n t en year s, f ul l mar k et
val ue (sec t i on 63 of t he
Assess ment Ac t -).
The basis of property taxation in the Province of
Ontario has always been market value and all studies
have concurred with this valuation methodology.
Market value is the amount which a property might
be expected to realize if sold in the open market by a
willing seller to a willing buyer. However, an alternate
method, unit value, has recently been the focus of
some discussion. Unit value is based upon a
combination of building and land measurements.
Market value assessment best reflects location and
service levels within the property value and is verifi-
able with market data. Unit value assessment does
not do this without modification and is based upon
subjective criteria.
Section 58 of the Assessment Act allows for
adjustment to current market values and a common
assessment year, while retaining the existing tax
burden relationships between property classes. Use
of Section 58 as a stepping stone to full market value
assessment would eliminate the inequities between
taxpayers with common types of properties within
municipalities. Full market value assessment estab-
lished next, would eliminate the remaining inequities
between property types.
2. The Pr ovi nc e must pr ovi de
r esour c es t o f ast t r ac k
r eassessment .
Additional resources will be required to achieve
reassessment within the five and ten year time frame.
The Province must commit to sufficient funding to
deal with the pressing need for reassessment.
Reassessment should begin with the oldest base
year municipalities first.
3. Tax i mpac t s t o be phased i n
over f i ve year s.
A transition period is necessary to smooth the impact
of tax changes.
Other municipalities have recommended complicated
transitional procedures in the past, including caps on
increases, only recognizing increases upon sale of a
property, clawback of decreases to certain property
classes and cross subsidies. We believe that these
approaches were destined for failure due in part to
complexity and lack of fairness.
A simple transition would require upward changes in
property values to occur at the same rate as down-
ward changes. This would treat all taxpayers in the
same fair and equitable manner. It would also ensure
stability in municipal taxation revenues and would
minimize administration costs.
REFORM REQUI RI NG
LEGI SLATI VE CHANGES
4. Tax Pol i c y must be vi si bl e.
This recommendation achieves the distribution of tax
burden to different types of property owners visibly
and through the mill rate rather than through the
assessed value of the property.
Section 375(4) of the Municipal Act specifies that
residential taxpayers be taxed at 85 per cent of the
rate of non-residential taxpayers, In practice, the tax
rate is achieved within the assessment system through
the establishment of property classes, which create
relationships between the classes other than the
intended 15 per cent differential. In the City of
Toronto for example, the commercial class pays tax
at a rate 3.7 times the residential class. This illus-
trates how the differential is hidden in the property
assessment. Amendments to legislation will be
required to transfer the tax relationships to the mill
rate from the assessment valuation.
5. Pr ovi nc i al l egi sl at i on must al l ow
muni c i pal i t i es t o set
var i abl e mi l l r at es.
It is the responsibility of the province, in consultation
with municipalities to develop a property taxation
policy to establish how the property tax burden
should be allocated. For example, should business
pay more or less tax relative to residents?
The province must take the responsibility in this area
to ensure a consistent tax policy across the GTA.
Municipalities should have more flexibility to set mill
rates which reflect community needs, services pro-
vided and levels of service. Municipalities should be
able to establish tax rates within a floor and ceiling
level, and between types of taxpayers. These will be
determined by the Province through legislative
changes made in consultation with the municipalities.
6. Combi ne t he busi ness and non-
r esi dent i al pr oper t y t ax es.
This recommendation eliminates a separate business
tax. This tax, while a large revenue source to municip-
alities, is costly to administer. This tax requires its
own billing and assessment and subjects a municipal-
ity to large write-offs due to the unsecured status of
this levy.
The same tax revenues could be obtained by combin-
ing this tax with the non-residential property tax.
7. Ex pr ess t he t ax r at e as
dol l ar s per t housand dol l ar s
of assessment .
This would be easier for the taxpayer to understand
than the existing mill rate which is confusing.
I NTRODUCTI ON
WHY PROPERTY AND
BUSI NESS TAX REFORM I S
ESSENTI AL I N THE GTA
One of the major issues confronting municipalities in
the GTA in the 90s, is how to finance the many ser-
vices that residents and businesses have come to
expect, in a fair and equitable manner.
It became increasingly evident as the recession lin-
gered through the early part of this decade that the
taxpayer would not and cannot pay increased proper-
ty and business taxes.
In addition, the position of the GTA as the economic
engine of the country was severely impacted by the
recession and by the difficult financial situations of
the provincial and federal governments. The senior
levels of government were forced to reduce funding
in the form of transfer payments and grants, ultimate-
ly putting severe pressure on municipal budgets.
It is expected that funding from senior levels of gov-
ernment will continue to decrease for the foreseeable
future. It is critical that financing issues be consid-
ered in the context of discussions about governance
and service delivery. Property tax reform must even-
tually occur across the whole GTA. However, Metro
Toronto needs to reform its assessment base first. The
GTA must be seen nationally and internationally as a
cohesive urban region -- open for business.
At the City of Mississauga, the philosophy of running
the city like a business -- providing services effi-
ciently and in the most cost-effective way, has result-
ed in continuous review of how those services are
financed and the most appropriate way to
deliver them.
The establishment of the Golden GTA Task Force
by the provincial government in February 1995 has
accelerate tax reform discussions across the GTA.
As part of its mandate, the Task Force, was asked to
make recommendations on changes to the property
tax system, to answer, in large measure, the allega-
tions of Metro Toronto that the outlying municipali-
ties have had an unfair tax advantage over the years,
and are causing businesses to relocate to the outer
GTA, creating the hole-in-the-donut effect.
The issue of whether or not the City of Mississauga
and other GTA municipalities have an unfair advan-
tage in terms of lower business taxes should not be
the primary focus of any review of tax reform.
Businesses are choosing to locate outside of Metro
Toronto, for many reasons. The factors causing busi-
ness to relocate to Mississauga in particular include:
a well-educated labour force, access to Pearson
International Airport, a wide range of housing and a
recognition that the City of Mississauga does operate
like a business. However, the City of Mississauga
also recognizes the importance of the GTA as an eco-
nomic entity, and believes that any review of proper-
ty tax reform must not harm the competitive advan-
tage of the GTA as a whole relative to other cities in
the world.
Solving Metros funding problems at the expense of
the taxpayers in the outlying municipalities will only
exacerbate an already archaic and confusing system.
This report elaborates on the recommendations con-
tained in the discussion paper titled Running The
GTA Like A Business. A New Framework for GTA
Reform. received by General Committee of the City
of Mississauga on June 21, 1995.
As referenced in the executive summary, municipal
finances have been examined by numerous groups
but few, if any, changes have been implemented by
the Province of Ontario. The City of Mississauga,
however, made the tough decisions within the con-
fines of the existing legislation to implement full
Market Value Assessment (MVA). In 1970, fuIl mar-
ket value assessment was adopted with 1%9 market
values. In 1986, market values within classes were
updated to a 1980 base year.
In 1987, Mississauga Council requested staff to
report and make recommendations on property tax
reform. Council endorsed the report produced in
February 1987 entitled Ten Steps Towards Property
Tax Reform. Appendix I contains Councils recom-
mendations which were submitted to the province
in 1988. This new report builds on those
recommendations.
Elected officials and senior management of the City
recognized that compared to the alternatives, MVA
represented a basis of assessment that best reflected
location and service levels within property values and
allowed for a fairer property tax assessment across
the city,
4
Attempts to implement MVA in Metro have failed,
due mainly to the fact that the Metro municipalities
are so far behind in updating their assessment base
year. Reassessment should begin in Metro first with
the balance of the GTA municipalities reaching a
common base later. A transition period needs to be
part of the implementation plan.
The current system, though, hides the tax burden
between property classes in the assessment system.
Changes in legislation to allow for greater flexibility
in setting mill rates within the property tax classifica-
tions would allow local councils to collect tax
revenues in a way that reflects the needs of the
community in any given tax year.
However, changing the legislation to allow more
flexibility, requires the province to make some
fundamental policy decisions about how the tax
burden should be allocated. In addition, the review
should look at simplifying how tax rates are
expressed to make them more understandable for
the taxpayer, thereby increasing the publics
awareness of how municipal services are financed
in the local community.
The establishment of the GTA Task Force was
welcomed by elected officials across the GTA. The
need for reform is clearly evident, and the recom-
mendations and subsequent decisions by the Province
have the potential to reform how the 4.5 million
residents in the GTA are both governed and taxed.
The GTA Task Force, with input from the municipali-
ties and other stakeholder groups, has the opportunity
to build a new structure from the ground up and
create a system that will regain the GTAs status
as the economic engine of the country,
Property and business tax reform is needed but can-
not be looked at within the limited scope of solving
Metros problems at the expense of the rest of the
GTA. However, given the compressed time frames
of the Golden GTA Task Force and its request for
recommendations on the property tax system for
possible implementation in the 19% taxation year,
the seven recommendations contained in this report
will be submitted as Mississaugas contribution to
resolving an extremely complex and difficult
problem. In addition, the province must commit the
appropriate resources -- financial and human -- to
implement what could be massive change.
DEVELOPI NG
A MORE
EFFECTI VE
PROPERTY
TAX SYSTEM
FOR THE GTA
THE I NDUSTRI AL-
COMMERCI AL TAX
DI FFERENTI AL
For some time now, it has been apparent that there is
a large differential in the amount of property taxes
paid on industrial and commercial properties between
Metropolitan Toronto and the GTA municipalities.
Figures published by Mississaugas Economic
Development Office show that this differential can be
as much as two and one half times on a 100,000
square foot property between Mississauga and the
City of Toronto.
Many assert that this property tax differential has
to an outflow of commercial and industrial busi
from Metro to the outlying areas of the GTA. Th
has created a decline in property assessment in
Metro, which combined with a need to maintain
vice levels, has led to revenue pressures. The fea
that declining property assessment, leads to eith
service cuts or higher taxes and becomes self-pe
uating; in effect a downward spiral whereby the
core and/or Metro loses its vitality and ultimatel
dies as people and businesses move out of the ar
and into more prosperous communities.
This fear was best expressed in the report
Metro Toronto Matters issued in January 1995 by
Chief Administrative Officer of Metropolitan
Toronto.
Eventually Metro Toronto would no longer
play a meaningful role as the vibrant core of
the GTA, and possibly could become a
liability for the regional economy and the
provincial treasury. Much of the physical inf
structure and other public investments in Me
Toronto would become under utilized and th
surrounding municipalities would continue t
sprawl, creating major environmental conce
This is a trend observed in almost every larg
urban region in the United States.
Tabl e 1
I NDUSTRI AL PROPERTY TAXES I N THE GREATER TORONTO AREA -
1994 ESTI MATES
Municipality
Building A Building B Building C Building A
($/SQ. FT.) ($/SQ. FT.) ($/SQ. FT.)
20,000 sq. ft. on 1 acre
10% office
MISSISSAUGA 1.06 1.15
.98 18 clear
Vaughan 1.06 1.12
.87 Brick and block construction
Brampton 1.09 1.19
1.01 Building B
Markham 1.10 1.16
.91 60,000 sq. ft. on 3 acres
Richmond Hill 1.25 1.26
1,01 25% office on 2 levels
Oakville 1.26 1.32
1.10 24 clear
North York 1.60 2.15
1.60 Precast construction
Etobicoke 1.75 1.88
1,59 Building C
*Toronto 1.85 2.93
2,48 100,000 sq. ft. on 5 acres
Scarborough 1.90 2.25
1.80 5% office
24 clear
Precast construction
* May not be representative of actual values due to very small sample.
SOURCE: Regional Assessment Offices of Peel, York, North York, Toronto, Scarborough, Etobicoke.
Many factors influence the size of the property tax
levied by a municipality including: service levels,
composition of the community, and other sources of
funding such as provincial grants and development
charges. Both the Golden Task Force and the Greater
Toronto Co-ordinating Committee (GTCC) are
attempting to determine the magnitude of these dif-
ferent factors. For example, many reports including
Metro Toronto Matters and the Preliminary
. .
i n
Force, in May 1995, by the City of Toronto suggests
that lack of provincial funding to Metro area school
boards has led to higher taxes than necessary in the
Metro municipalities. While these factors should not
be ignored, at this time, only the assessment system
and the manner in which taxes are determined, is
being considered in addressing the issue of easing the
property tax differential between Metro and GTA
municipalities.
THE MI SSI SSAUGA CONTEXT
Mississauga is proud of its tradition of being run
like a business. We make the tough decisions nec-
essary to provide our businesses and residents with
the best service at a reasonable cost, This philosophy
extends to decisions on tax and assessment matters.
Mississauga has been through two reassessments in
the last 25 years, first, to bring our assessment base
to 1%9 values (full market value reassessment) and
second to 1980 values (market value within classes).
This has not been an easy process, but, it has allowed
Mississauga to ensure that ratepayers are treated fair-
ly by updating the assessed value of their properties.
This process will likely continue into the future.
However, given the resource constraints the govern-
ment has imposed on its delivery of service, it is
unlikely that another reassessment will occur until the
resource issue is addressed.
Mississaugas proactive approach should be
considered as a means of resolving the tax
differential issue within the existing framework.
Governments cannot shy away from making the
tough decisions necessary to ensure fairness and to
maintain the financial strength and competitive edge
of the GTA.
A FRAMEWORK
FOR PROPERTY
TAX REFORM
1. The GTA muni c i pal i t i es shoul d
move t ow ar ds f ul l mar k et val ue
assessment and a c ommon
val uat i on year i n t w o st eps:
B w i t hi n f i ve year s, mar k et val ue
by pr oper t y c l ass (Sec t i on 58 of
t he Assess ment Ac t ).
B w i t hi n t en year s, f ul l mar k et
val ue (Sec t i on 63 of t he
Assessment Ac t ).
Assessment Val uat i on Met hods
Recent studies have focussed on two property valua-
tion methods. A market value based assessment sys-
tem has been the preferred method for valuing prop-
erty. It is the methodology currently utilized within
the province and other jurisdictions in North America
and has established rules and regulations governing
it. It is verifiable and the concept itself is understood
by property owners, Opponents criticize MVA for its
volatility. That has been overcome in other jurisdic-
tions by frequent updates. Variable mill rates can also
assist in smoothing changes.
In a full market based system, all properties are
subject to shifts. In a class based market system,
only properties within each class are subject to
shifts because the relationships between the classes
are fixed.
An alternate property valuation method which has
been studied in recent years is unit value assessment.
This method utilizes criteria such as property size and
building dimensions to develop the assessed value of
the property. While the criteria would be easily veri-
fied, the establishment of the criteria is subjective.
The main advantage of such a system is that once the
assessed value is established it is stable, unless either
the criteria change, or there is a physical change to
the property.
The City of Toronto is considering an approach
which would utilize unit value criteria adjusted by
reference, to the income generating potential of a
building through its possible rental. This would allow
market based factors such as location, proximity to
services. etc. to be accounted for in essence a mar-
ket value adjustment. Without these adjustments the
introduction of straight unit assessment would have
shifted the assessments in Toronto from the richer
areas to the poorer areas.
Tabl e 2
ADVANTAGES OF MARKET
VALUE ASSESSMENT
B All impartial studies since 1960 have endorsed
MVA as the most appropriate basis, until
Fair Tax Commission and City of Toronto
discussion paper
B Easily understood by property owners -
know the worth of their property
B Leads to fairness
B Independently verifiable and objective
B MVA infrastructure in place today
8
Ful l market val ue i s best
The effect on the City of Mississauga of adopting a
unit value system cannot be determined without an
impact study by the Ministry of Finance. The sense,
however, is that unit value assessment would not
enhance the Citys competitive position. The real
estate adage location, location, location is true.
Any assessment system adopted must consider
location in determining value. Market Value
Assessment does this best.
Reassessment - how t o get t here.
Having identified MVA as the preferred base, consid-
eration must be given as to how you achieve it.
Since the use of full market value results in shifts
between all properties thereby affecting relative tax
levels, most municipalities have opted for section 58
reassessment which freezes the relationship between
classes. These relationships are historical in nature
and in the case of Mississauga would reflect class
relationships in place in 1%9, while in Metro, they
would reflect class relationships in place in 1940.
The relationships can be seen in (Table 4) which
shows assessed values relative to market values
within Peel and Metro municipalities.
Tabl e 3
DI SADVANTAGES OF UNI T
VALUE ASSESSMENT
B
System not fully developed, still theoretical
.
No set method of calculation
B
No meaningful analysis completed to
demonstrate method is more fair than
current approach
.
Adjustments such as those proposed by
City of Toronto (rental value) reinforce
the need to utilize market data in
property assessment
As Table 4 shows, the assessed value for commercial
property in Toronto is three times higher than resi-
dential and 2.39 times higher than industrial. In
Mississauga, commercial property is assessed at 1.18
times higher than residential and 1.32 times higher
than industrial. In general terms, it would be easier
for the City of Mississauga to go to a full MVA sys-
tem than it would for the City of Toronto since resi-
dential properties there are undervalued relative to
current market value. A phased-in approach would
have its appeal as an option. A section 58 reassess-
ment could be implemented first which would allow
for adjustment to current market values and a com-
mon assessment year, while retaining the existing tax
burden relationship between property classes.
Inequities within the classes would be eliminated.
Full market value could be established next and
would eliminate the remaining inequities between
property types,
Tabl e 4
ASSESSED VALUES RELATI VE
TO MARKET VALUES, GTA 1993
Municipality Residential commercial Industrial
Toronto 1.97% 5.91% 4.71%
North York 2.63% 5.86% 8.24%
Scarborough 2.84% 5.30% 8.47%
Etobicoke 2.72% 5.27% 8.51%
East York 2.28% 5.42% 8.85%
York 2.41% 5.02% 8.68%
Mississauga 15.4870 18.20% 20.56%
Brarmpton 15.48% 15.57% 22.72%
Caledon 13.78% 11.62% 21.04%
Source: Ministry of Municipal Affairs, MARS database
Sol vi ng Met ro' s Assessment Probl ems
Whether or not Metro continues to exist as a separate
level of government, a Metro-wide reassessment
makes sense as all six municipalities are on a
common base year and could move to a new base
year at the same time. Unlike a City of Toronto only
reassessment, a Metro-wide reassessment would
require class relationships to be established. A review
of Table 4 shows that this would not be as large a
problem as one would think, since, with the excep-
tion of the industrial class within the City of Toronto,
all of the class percentages relative to market values
within the Metro municipalities are within reasonably
close bands.
Further, it is apparent that reassessment is occurring
within Metro despite reassessment not being
implemented. An impact study on a property-by-
property basis was provided which has allowed
property owners to determine if the property is over
or under assessed. Even though this information is
not being used in the preparation of the assessment
roll, art individual property owner is free to use it in
appealing their assessment to the Assessment Review
Board, In most cases, the assessment is being reduced
and is contributing to a declining assessment within
Metro and the resulting loss of revenue.
Given the urgent need to address Metros assessment
problems, reassessment should be done first in Metro
and done quickly.
Impact on t he t axpayer
The two step approach recommended, will impact
taxpayers within Mississauga to a lesser extent than
those within Metropolitan Toronto. This is because
the City of Mississauga has taken action in the past
and undergone two reassessments in the past twenty-
five years, in 1969 and 1986. Taxpayers within less
progressive municipalities will see greater changes
in their property taxes.
Within Mississauga itself, we would expect to see
shifts similar to those experienced in 1986. Properties
located in more desirable areas will have increased
in value at a greater rate. We would expect some
decrease in assessed value for commercial and indus-
trial property in the second phase as the recession has
dampened commercial and industrial property values
relative to residential properties and full market
values will reflect this. It must be stressed that
change cannot be known with any certainty without
an impact study being prepared.
A t wo st ep approach pref erred
Full market value assessment cannot be implemented
immediately. Tax shifts would occur both within and
between classes and while acceptable from a theoreti-
cal perspective, in practice the impact would be too
great on certain taxpayers in those municipalities
with the oldest assessment base. For this reason, a
two-step approach is preferred with reassessment
by classes occurring first (section 58), and full
market value assessment later (section 63). The
urgent need to reform the assessment system would
suggest that phase one occur within five years and
that phase two occur in the next five yearn. While this
would not level the playing field in the short term, it
would begin the process. As events over the past 25
years have shown, even a section 58 reassessment
to a more recent base year would be a significant
accomplishment,
2. The pr ovi nc e must pr ovi de
r esour c es t o f ast t r ac k
r eassessment .
Urgent probl ems requi re f undi ng
The Regional Assessment Offices receive insufficient
funding to carry out reassessment of all municipali-
ties at the same time. A phased-in approach would
see resources allocated to the oldest base year
municipalities first. This would ensure that resources
are allocated to the Metro area municipalities early
on, to allow their problems to be corrected quickly.
The balance of the GTA would follow later.
The greater the resources committed by the Province,
the faster a common base year can be achieved across
the GTA. The urgency of the problem and the recom-
mended five and ten year time frame of the two step
approach suggest that the province should commit
additional resources to enable all municipalities to
be reassessed quickly rather than just the oldest
base year municipalities.
3. Tax i mpac t s t o be phased i n
over f i ve year s.
Transi t i on peri od necessary
There needs to be a transition period from the present
system. Fifty years of inequities cannot be corrected
overnight. Complicated transitional procedures
including caps on increases, only recognizing
increases upon sale of a property, clawback of
decreases to certain property classes and cross
subsidies simply do not work. We believe that the
simpler the phase in the better. A method which can
be automated would minimize the administrative
costs involved in a phase in.
Increases mat ch decreases
To ensure fiscal stability within a municipality,
any assessment increase should be matched by a
corresponding decrease. All changes would be
applied to all property owners at the same rate
achieving fairness and equity for all taxpayers;
those receiving increases as well as those
receiving decreases.
4. Tax pol i c y must be vi si bl e.
The exi st i ng t ax syst em i s mi sl eadi ng
The design of property tax
policy should be
concerned with the alloca-
tion of property taxes to
different types of properties
(ie. classes). Just as the fed-
eral government periodically
makes decisions which
determine the proportion of
income taxes collected from
individuals relative to busi-
nesses, so too should similar
consideration be given to the
levy of property taxes.
Table 6 shows the effective tax rate of the three
major property classes using a residential
base of 100.
In Mississauga, for example, the 15 per cent differen-
tial is maintained between residential and commercial
properties (18 per cent higher is the same as 15 per
cent lower). However, industrial taxes are higher
even though the mill rate is the same as for commer-
cial properties. In the Metro municipalities, the
differentials are quite different. The use of historical
assessment bases (1940) has distorted tax policy,
contrary to the intentions of the Province expressed
through the Municipal Act.
Tax policy should be visible, not hidden. As shown,
the assessment system hides the actual tax rate
through the creation of classes, which are then
expressed as a percentage of market value.
The differing percentages to market between
the classes, determine the actual amount of
taxes borne by the class.
Ful l market val ue and vari abl e mi l l rat es
are t he sol ut i on
An alternative to this hidden expression of tax
policy would be to express all assessed property val-
ues at 100 percent of market value and have a mill rate
Tabl e 6
EFFECTI VE TAX RATES
FOR SELECTED MUNI CI PALI TI ES
Municipality Residential Commercial Industrial
Mi ssi ssauga 100 118 148
Etobicoke 100 238 400
North York 100 313 263
Scarborough 100 286 265
Toronto 100 370 388
Source: Ontario Fair Tax Commission 1991
which reflects the tax
policy. In Mississauga, for
example, rather than have
a differential between resi-
dential and commercial
classes of 18% derived
from both the mill rate and
the assessment relation-
ships, the mill rate would
have this differential while
the assessed values would
be the same. Similarity, the
industrial mill rate would
be 48% higher than the
residential mill rate.
This would go a long way
towards achieving greater
understanding on the part
At first glance, it would
appear that residential tax-
payers pay taxes at a rate 15
per cent less than that of non-residential taxpayers as
of property owners as to what they actually pay and
defined under section 375(4) of the Municipal Act
how it relates to what others pay.
(ie. the residential mill rate is 15 per cent less).
However, as demonstrated earlier, the class relation-
ships developed within the assessment system, adjust
this differential to something other than 15 per cent.
Under the two-step process identified in
recommendation number one, the proposed section
58 reassessment would occur by assessing all
properties at current market value. Any adjustment
of property type relationships would be reflected in
the mill rate, not the assessed value of the property.
There would be a separate mill rate for each property
type (or class). Over time, as discussed in the
e
next
recommendation, these relationships could be
changed to eliminate the mill rate differentials
between municipalities. Amendments to legislation
will be required to transfer the tax relationships to
the mill rate from the assessment valuation.
5. Pr ovi nc i al l egi sl at i on must
al l ow muni c i pal i t i es t o set
var i abl e mi l l r at es.
Tax rat es r ef l ec t i ve of the communi t y
Once t ax policy is out in the open, it should be the
responsibility of an elected Council to ensure its
design is reflective of the community. To some
degree Council should have the ability to utilize tax
policy to attract business or to provide relief to types
of taxpayers.
Provi nce set s tax rate guidelines
To ensure that Councils do not confer undue advan-
tage upon certain types of taxpayers, and in recogni-
tion of the need to level the playing field it would
be appropriate for the province in consultation with
the municipalities to establish through legislation the
allowed types of property upon which a mill rate
would be levied, and a floor and ceiling level for the
mill rates themselves. This would eliminate any ten-
dency of a Council to attract business at the expense
of neighboring municipalities but would allow a
Council to set a reasonable tax policy which address-
es the concerns of its constituents and appropriately
finances services provided and service levels. Market
forces can also be counted on to create some equilib-
rium with respect to rates between municipalities.
6. Combi ne t he busi ness and
non-r esi dent i al pr oper t y t ax es.
A di f f i cul t t ax t o underst and
The same i ssues of comprehension and class differen-
tials discussed with respect to property taxes are also
apparent in the business tax. Although the business
mill rate is exactly the same as the non-residential
mill rate, the actual business tax paid is determined
with reference to the business assessment. The
Assess ment Act specifies that business assessment
is to be between 25 per cent and 75 per cent of the
property assessment. The percentage is dependent
upon the type of business.
A combi ned tax makes sense
It would be appropriate to express these percentages
through the mill rate, rather than through the assessed
value of the property in the same way that it has been
suggested that property tax policy be expressed,
through the mill rate rather than the assessment sys-
tem. However, the business tax could be eliminated
and the levy transferred directly onto the commercial
and industrial mill rates. Rather than have a range of
business types and differing assessment percentages,
it would be preferable to eliminate these differentials
and to have one mill rate per property type.
We believe that the existing differentials are discrimi-
natory and are archaic. In the City of Mississauga 50
per cent of the businesses would pay higher taxes, 26
per cent would see no change and 24 per cent would
experience a decrease.
Subst ant i al savi ngs t o be achi eved
A combined tax would lead to substantial administra-
tive savings since a separate business tax bill
would no longer be required. This would lead to a
significant reduction in supplementary assessments
and fewer taxpayer inquiries and complaints. As
well, the collection of business taxes and the high
write-offs experienced by municipalities since
business taxes cannot be liened would be eliminated.
The savings gained within the assessment function
could be directed to achieving a faster reassessment
in accordance with recommendation one.
7. Ex pr ess t he t ax r at e as
dol l ar s per t housand dol l ar s of
assessment .
Si mpl e t o underst and
Of final note is the issue of comprehension of the
mill rate. A mill rate expressed as dollars per thou-
sand dollars of market value would be much easier
to understand by the taxpayer than the existing
fractional system.
12
CONCLUSI ON
Municipalities in the GTA have an opportunity to be
part of a new vision for governance. The discussion
surrounding governance includes how many levels of
government should exist, what services should be
delivered by what level of government, and how will
those services be financed.
It is clear changes are needed in the provincial legis-
lation that governs how property and business taxes
are assessed to provide more flexibility to reflect
local community needs. Implementing full market
value assessment across the GTA would assist in
achieving the goals of cohesiveness and promoting
the area, nationally and internationally, as an
economic entity.
In addition, allowing municipalities the ability to
approve variable mill rates and eliminating the busi-
ness tax would accomplish additional flexibility for
municipalities and also, in the case of eliminating the
business tax, reduce administration costs and the high
number of write-offs.
Any program of reform requires a period of transition
to be successful. The two step approach allowing for
class by class market value reassessment within a
five year period, combined with tax impacts being
phased in over each five year period meets this need
for transition.
The need for resources to meet this aggressive
schedule cannot be underestimated. The province
must ensure that these resources are available.
The City of Mississauga is a model of fiscal responsi-
bility for the GTA. The city has no debt and has been
able to hold the line on tax increases in the last five
years, This is due, in large measure, to decisions
made by elected officials and staff to run the city
like a business. Mississauga has been through two
reassessments in the last 25 years, first, to bring our
assessment base to 1969 values (full market value
reassessment) and a second time to bring the base to
1980 values (market values within classes).
These were not easy decisions to make but
have proved to be sound fiscal decisions that have
stood the city in good stead over the years. While the
city recognizes the limited scope of the Golden GTA
Task Force, it is our position that any changes to the
property tax system in Metro cannot be achieved at
the expense of the outlying GTA municipalities.
APPENDI X 1
TEN STEPS
TOWARD
PROPERTY
TAX REFORM
Resol ut i on No. 226-88
Dat ed May 24, 1988
In 1986, the City of Mississauga undertook reassess-
ment of properties to 1980 market values in accor-
dance with section 63 (now 58) of the Municipal Act.
In response to difficulties encountered through the
reassessment process, Council requested a staff report
reviewing the property tax system. These recommen-
dations have been reproduced in this appendix to
show that new solutions to property taxation issues
are really old solutions which are still relevant,
(a)
(b)
(c)
That the Province of Ontario establish a Local
Advisory Committee for each of its 31 Regional
Assessment offices. Made up of provincially and
municipally appointed representatives; and that
at the option of the local municipalities, the
Advisory Committee become the Board of
Directors for an independent assessment
authority.
That the Province of Ontario appoint Assessment
Review Board members from within the
Assessment Region where the appeal is being
heard, to sit as a panel of not less that two
members, and in sufficient numbers so as to
dispose of all appeals before the return of the
assessment roll; and that major appeals, upon
consent of all parties involved, be heard
directly by the Ontario Municipal Board.
That the Province of Ontario continue to provide
the Section 63* option as an interim program
until market value assessment and tax reform are
implemented, but provide more thorough and
detailed Section 63* impact studies, and allow
a significant review period for municipal
consideration of these studies.
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
(i)
(j)
(k)
(1)
(m)
Part
That the Province of Ontario streamline the
valuation process, using such techniques as
mailed questionnaires to collect information
regarding interior improvements, thereby sub-
stantially reducing time spent on interior inspec-
tions, and involving property owners more
directly in the verification of property data
in assessment files.
That the Province of Ontario implement full
market value assessment with differential tax
rates among property classes.
That the Province of Ontario merge the
current business and realty taxes into one
comprehensive realty tax, to be phased in
over five years, yielding the same revenue.
That the Province of Ontario assess farm lands
at their market value, but allow a municipality to
elect the option of assessing farm lands at their
market value for farming purposes only; and
conduct a general review of exemptions from
property taxation under Section 3 of the
Assessment Act.
That the Province of Ontario relate current
property tax relief more directly to property
tax payments, by having tax credits appear on
the municipal tax bill; and reinstate enabling
legislation for special municipal tax deferments,
constituting a repayable lien against property,
for homeowners 65 years of age and over.
That the Province of Ontario make all
legislative and other changes required to express
the municipal tax rate in a simpler form, as a
dollar amount per $1,000. worth of assessment,
That the Minister of Revenue be requested to
prepare an update Section 63* impact study for
the City of Mississauga.
That the Minister of Revenue be requested
to implement a program to upgrade the
qualifications of assessment officers.
That a resolution be passed requesting the
Province of Ontario to review the alternatives
for funding education as opposed to the
current system of levying educational taxes
against real property.
(j) of Resolution 266-88, adopted by Council on
May 24, 1988 was rescinded October 11, 1988.
* Section 63 of the Assessment Act R.S.O. 1980 is now
section 58 of the Assessment Act R.S.O. 1990.
14
September 12, 1995
Our File: 95/387
The Honorable Al Leach
Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing
777 Bay Street
17th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G2E5
Dear Mr. Minister:
I am enclosing for your information a document entitled Comparison of Transit
Integration Workshop Options with the City of Mississaugas GTA Reform Proposal.
I trust that you will find this document informative and interesting.
Should you have any questions regarding the documents contents, please do not hesitate
to contact me.
Sincerel
HAZEL McCALLION
MAYOR
ch
cc: Ms. Anne Golden, GTA Task Force
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
October 6, 1995
Our File: S 07
Dear Dr. Golden:
These reports were prepared prior to our GTA reform recommendations titled Running
the GTA "Like a Business and complement those recommendations.
If you have any questions regarding these reports, please contact me or Margaret Rodrigues
our Commissioner of Corporate Services at 905-896-5392.
Sincerely,
AZEL McCALLION
MAYOR
HMcC/dh
Attachments:
c c . Mayor P. Robertson
300 CITY CENTRE DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA, L5B 3C1
Submission
by the
Corporation of the City of Mississauga
to the
Provincial-Municipal Task Force
under
the Social Contract Act
February 18, 1994
The task force is operating within very tight deadliness, so Mississauga has tried to
provide specific and focused recommendations.
Since the Sewell Commission has
recently completed an extensive review of the planning process in Ontario, in which
the City participated, we have not made recommendations in this area.
The recommendations are grouped according to the target areas outlined by the task
force.
to the
1.
Where the City has no specific recommendations, its philosophical approach
target area has been provided.
Review Existing Regulations as they Affect Municipalities:
Combine the National Building Code and the Ontario Building Code
The Ontario Building Code is the governing set of regulations for building
construction in this province. The Ontario code is largely based on the
National Building Code of Canada. It is not clear which code has jurisdiction
for the construction of federal buildings on federal land in Ontario, federal
buildings on privately-owned land, and private buildings on federal land.
The City recommends combining the two codes and clearly outlining the
applicable authority.
Payment of Outstanding Business Taxes
Under section 382 of the Municipal Act, property taxes become a lien on a
property if the payments are not being made, which gives a municipality
protection in trying to collect unpaid taxes. However, business taxes are
based on the propertys use, not its ownership, and section 382 does not
apply.
- 2 -
The City of Mississauga recommends that the legislation be changed to give a
municipality secured creditor status for business taxes. This change would
increase a municipalitys standing when it came to settling a businesss
outstanding debts, and would reduce the business tax write-offs its forced to
take.
Limited Liability
Under the current statutes, in a liability suit municipalities are joint and
severally liable. This means that if the other par-ties in the suit have no
money for a settlement, the municipality pays 100 per cent, even if it is only
nominally liable. For example, if a municipality is 10 per cent liable and other
parties are 90 per cent liable but have no money for the settlement, the
municipality pays 100 per cent.
The City recommends that municipalities be granted the right of limited
liability, and only be responsible for that portion of a settlement for which
are liable.
Simplify the Procedure for Collecting Fines Imposed Out of Court or by
the Court
they
The provincial government has recently taken some important and valuable
steps to simplify and speed up the parking fine-collection system, for example,
justices of the peace can now judge parking fine offenses, and car registrations
cannot be renewed until all outstanding parking tickets are paid.
The City recommends that similar systems be introduced for other fines that
municipalities impose and collect. For example, fines for building code
violations could be collected when a provincial permit or corporate Iicence
comes up for renewal.
2. Replace Provincial Staff with Municipal Auditor for Auditing Provincial
Grants
The City supports this idea in principle, particularly for the larger municipalities
which have advanced internal auditing operations capable of per-forming the
necessary functions. The City recommends that the change be optional, so as
not to impose too great a burden on smaller municipalities. Any change in
responsibilities should be done through special memorandum of agreements
between the ministry and the municipality.
3. Develop
Level of
- 3 -
Permissive Provincial Legislative Framework to Achieve Greater
Municipal Efficiency
The City of Mississauga fully supports the principle of local governments
operating within a permissive legislative framework. The Province of Alberta
has recently proposed legislation which would give local municipalities much
more autonomy than provided in Ontario, This legislation should be used as a
model to give municipalities the ability to be more responsive to the needs of
the local community. The provinces role should be to set broad policy
frameworks within which municipalities can operate.
Simplify the Procedure for Obtaining Set Fines for Bylaw Offenses
Various statutes, such as the Municipal Act, set out the maximum fines that
can imposed for an offense. Each municipality must then apply to the Chief
Judge of Ontario for approval for the set fine that will be applied if a ticketed
person chooses to plead guilty to an offense to avoid going to court. These
set fines are always considerably less than the maximum fine, to encourage
people to plead guilty and avoid a trial.
There are three problems with this system:
1. It takes a minimum of three months and up to six months for the Chief
Judge to review an application for a set fine;
2. The Chief Judge approves tends to approve fines that are at the low
end of the possible amount, and consistent with surrounding
municipalities without consideration of specific local conditions; and
3. The reasons behind the Judges decision to accept or reject a fine are
not given.
The City of Mississauga recommends that the Chief Judges role in approving
set fines be eliminated. Instead, the applicable legislation should set out, as a
percentage of the maximum fine, a range within which municipalities can
establish set fines.
- 4 -
Development Charqes Act
The Development Charges Act is an example of an act which should be
clarified to the benefit of both the development industry and
municipalities.
A Task Force on Development Charges Implementation
was established with a mandate to report to the Minister of Municipal
Affairs on ways to clarify the act. The task forces review was to include
an identification of administrative and technical issues, and to reach
consensus on solutions. The task force had 15 members, representing
both the municipal and development sectors.
Unfortunately, the task force has been put on hold and has not met for a
number of months. The City recommends that the task force be reactivated
and encouraged to deal expeditiously with the outstanding issues. As well,
once the task forces recommendations are finalized, the City would encourage
the Minister to move quickly to enact the necessary changes.
Some of the specific recommended changes to the act are:
1. Redefine the land which must increase service needs before
development charges can be imposed to be the development charge
area as defined in the applicable municipalitys development charges
bylaw. Many property owners take the current wording in the act to
mean that the a municipality must show that their particular projects
result in an increased demand for services.
In Mississauga, the City has defined the development charge area as
the entire city, and the development charges are average charges
designed to cover growth costs across that area. This means that all
new projects are required to pay development charges but, because of
the lack of clarity in the definition of land, numerous requests are
received for exemptions. Changing the definition would eliminate these
requests.
2. Clarify that any reserve fund deficits at the end of a development charge
term can be rolled into the reserve funds for the succeeding term,
increasing new development charge rates if applicable. As well, allow
municipalities to make refunds from the development charges reserve
fund in cases where a building permit is revoked or cancelled.
These changes will give municipalities an alternative to having to absorb
any shortfalls through their general revenues.
- 5 -
Remove the restriction on local services which currently have to be
within a plan of subdivision to be excluded from the determination of
development charges. This change will give a municipality the ability to
require developers to pay for local services which are not technically
within a plan of subdivision (e.g. on the boundary road), but which for all
intents and purposes are local services.
Fire Services Act
Fire services in Ontario are currently governed by the Ontario Fire
Departments Act, 1927. The act has been under review since 1989, and the
;
Solicitor General issued a report in 1993 that made recommendations for a
new Fire Services Act.
Ten main recommendations were made including: defining the roles and
responsibilities of positions involved in fire services; allowing for alternative
ways of delivering the service through letting municipalities at any level to be
responsible for the services, and that the services could be amalgamated,
contracted and/or exchanged between municipalities; establishing minimum
standards for fire protection; the provision for the province to establish
minimum staffing levels; expanding the number of management positions that
could be excluded from the bargaining unit; provide greater flexibility in
recalling fire fighters to duty to deal with certain major emergencies; providing
more flexibility in the conduct of discharge hearings; establishing a conciliation
process; improved orientation for arbitrators; and requiring 24-hour life
insurance coverage for fire fighters, or a one-time payment to the estate of any
fire fighter killed in the line of duty.
The City generally supports these recommendations, although it has serious
concerns about the financial impact of establishing minimum staffing levels,
and requests that a new act be formulated within a permissive framework. The
City recommends that the review process be concluded as quickly as possible,
and that a Fire Services Act be enacted in 1994.
Motor Vehicle Dealership Licences
Under the Motor Vehicle Dealers Act, motor vehicle dealership Iicences are
issued by the Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations (MCCR). The
MCCR will not issue a Iicence until it receives notice from the municipality that
the use is permitted. In Mississauga, this notice is provided by issuing a
certificate of occupancy.
,.
:.
- 6 -
The City recommends that the MCCR Iicence be eliminated and that
municipalities issue the Iicences based on issuance of certificates of
occupancy.
Regional Approvals
Eliminate regional involvement in municipal functions, such as regional
approvals of traffic controls and speed limits.
4. Review Special Purpose Bodies and their Role in Service Delivery
As a general principle,
effective, efficient, and
practised this principle
governing committees.
Permissive Legislation
Mississauga believes that streamlining leads to more
economic service delivery. Since 1985, the City has
and reduced both the number of staff departments and
on Public Library Governance
In line with the above principle, the City has a private bill before the Provincial
Parliament requesting an exemption to the Public Libraries Act, 1984, so that it
can re-align the Mississauga Public Library Board to an advisory committee to
Council. The City is taking this step because it believes that it is in the best
interests of Mississaugas taxpayers to eliminate the administrative duplication
that exists between the Library Board and the Citys administration.
The City does not believe that the change that it is pursuing is appropriate for
every library system in the province and, therefore, recommends that the act
be amended to provide for choice in the matter of library governance.
School Boards
While school boards are not a local responsibility, in line with its
principle on special-purpose bodies, the City recommends that their
administrative functions be reviewed to eliminate duplication.
- 7 -
1
5. Reduce the Time Required for Environmental Processes for Municipalities
The current environmental process is too elaborate, inefficient, inflexible, and
expensive. It does not allow for adequate public input, and the existing
guidelines are too vague to protect proponents.
The City of Mississauga strongly recommends that the whole system be re-
engineered. If re-engineering is not feasible, the following two changes are
recommended:
Development Proposals
Both the Ministry of Natural Resources and conservation authorities comment
on development proposals and they appear to duplicate each other. This
should be streamlined.
Lake and Rivers Improvement Act
Eliminate the Ministry of Natural Resource permits required under the Lakes
and Rivers Improvement Act. The permit review is a duplication of a review
done by the conservation authorities, and the quoted turnaround time of four
months is too long.
6. Examine Opportunities for User Pay for Municipal Services
The Corporation of the City of Mississauga firmly believes in the principle of
user pay for services. As a municipalitys client base becomes more
fragmented and more demanding, the principle of user-pay allows local
governments to provide services to meet special needs or demands, without
placing a burden on the general tax base.
Since special needs or demands will vary from municipality to municipality,
based on its demographics, the City of Mississauga recommends that the
Municipal Act and other applicable statutes be amended to give municipalities
greater and clearer authority to charge user fees.
7.
8.
- 8 -
Review Opportunities to Reimburse Municipalities for Services Provided
on Behalf of the Province
As a guiding principle, the City of Mississauga encourages the provincial
government to continue its commitment to not mandate any programs
on local government agencies without providing the necessary funding.
Other
The following recommendations do not fit into the above target areas.
1. Under the Workers Compensation Act, organizations are assessed
workers compensation premiums according to whether they fall under
Schedule I or Schedule II of the act. Schedule I assesses the premiums
on an industry, or sector, basis. If the particular industry has a poor
safety record, then all the organizations in the sector must pay the same
high premium. Schedule II organizations are assessed based on their
individual records.
Many municipalities fall under Schedule Il. However, changes are being
considered to the act to change or eliminate Schedule II, and place
municipalities under Schedule I or a similar system, This change could
significantly increase premiums for municipalities with good safety
records.
The provincial government has indicated that no changes to the act will
be made until after the social contract ends on March 31, 1996, The
City recommends that the considered change or elimination of Schedule
II be shelved indefinitely, because of the potential cost impact.
2. Arbitration Process
Until the social contract expires in 1996, the City recommends that
provincial arbitrators be given specific guidelines within which they must
make awards so that they dont contravene the intent of the social
contract, and that consideration be given to extending a guideline
system beyond the life of the social contract.
\
\
3. Sick Leave Credits
- 9 -
A number of unionized employee groups still have access to a sick-
Ieave credit system that disappeared for City of Mississauga non-
unionized employees during the 1980s. It has proven difficult to
negotiate an end to this system, particularly for fire fighters who have
access to provincial arbitration. In turn, the provincial arbitrators have
refused to deal with the issue and have asked for a legislated solution.
Consistent with the spirit of the social contract, the City recommends
that the province enact legislation in 1994 to deal with sick leave credits:
4. Clarify local and provincial responsibilities for roads to eliminate
duplication.
5. Transfer protection for provincial courts from the Region to the
province.
6. Explore opportunities for electronic interface and data transfer
among all government agencies, including the federal
government. One example would be to give municipalities online
access to provincial assessment information to improve
communications and streamline updating.
7. Eliminate monthly subsidy claim submissions, and have the agreed
allocations paid to municipalities each quarter with one final claim and
related financial adjustment at year-end for transit properties.
8. Eliminate or reduce conditional grants and give more unconditional
grants to allow municipalities to set their own priorities without
distortions relating to subsidy availability.
9. Re-engineer the Ministry of Transportation subsidy review process for
road and transit subsidies. The current process can take years, as it
involves a too detailed review of project components to determine the
subsidy level.
10. Eliminate Ministry of Transportation review and approval of design
criteria for road projects.
February 18, 1994
CITY OF MISSISSAUGA
COMMENTS REGARDING THE
Association of Municipalities of Ontario
BETTER GOVERNMENT, LOWER COST REPORT
May 1995
AMO
BETTER GOVERNMENT, LOWER COST REPORT
1 A NEW DEAL: REFORMING THE PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL RELATIONSHIP
TOWARDS BETTER GOVERNMENT, LOWER COST
This is an introductory statement only with no specific recommendations.
2 LESS PROVINCIAL SUPERVISION AND GREATER MUNICIPAL AUTONOMY
AND DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY
2.1 Immediate discussions to identify a plan for implementing fundamental
provincial-municipal government reform.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation. This is consistent with the
need for a review of GTA reform and the City of Mississauga Corporate Report dated
September 9, 1992 titled Disentanglement of Provincial-Municipal Services which
was endorsed by Council.
3 LESS PRESCRIPTIVE AND MORE PERMISSIVE MUNICIPAL LEGISLATION
3.1 Replace the Municipal Act with new permissive legislation.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation. The existing Municipal Act
is too restrictive and does not foster innovation in municipal management. eg. The
Mississauga Innovation Corp. The Province of Alberta legislation should be used as
a model to give municipalities the ability to be more responsive to the needs of
municipalities.
3.2 Implement the recommendations of the Pilkey Task Force to eliminate
duplication and overlap.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation. On December 7, 1994, City
Council recommended that the Ministry of Municipal Affairs be encouraged to act
swiftly in implementing the Pilkey report recommendations.
2
- L -
4 MORE ACCOUNTABLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL
ROLES
4.1 Remove education and welfare costs from the property tax base as a priority
fiscal reform.
The City of Mississauga is in favour of municipal tax reform and supports the concept
that income based programs should be funded solely by senior levels of government
who are able to tax based on income. However, this recommendation would reduce
the gap between Mississauga and Metro property taxes and thus could reduce our
competitive edge for attracting business. The City agrees that education should not
be funded through property taxes.
It should be noted that the Fair Tax Commission recommended an alternate tax to
be levied by the Province to fund these services and the City does not support this
approach.
4.2 Repeal supplementary assessments charge and conduct a comprehensive review
of the assessment function in Ontario.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation. Based on concerns with the
new supplementary assessment practice the City of Mississauga is currently
withholding payment for 1994 supplementary assessment charges.
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
Implement reforms to reduce costs and improve efficiency of welfare delivery.
Ensure sufficient provincial funding for Homes for the Aged and Home Care
Programs.
Build on existing structures for planning, managing and delivering health and
social services.
Since the services identified in recommendations 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 are administered by
the Region of Peel, these are a regional rather than local municipal issues. The City
supports efforts to clarify service delivery, finding and accountability to taxpayers.
Commit to a moratorium on new special purpose bodies and review existing
ones such as district health councils.
The City of Mississauga support this recommendation. In a Resolution dated March
8, 1995, City Council requested that the role of Special Purpose Bodies such as Police
Service Boards, Hydro Commissions, and Conservation Authorities be reviewed as
part of the GTA Task Force with a view to making them more accountable to the
taxpayers that directly finance them.
. . . 3
-3-
5 MORE EMPOWERMENT TO MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTS TO DELIVER
PUBLIC SERVICES INNOVATIVELY, EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY
5.1 Amend the Police Services Act to ensure public accountability through greater
municipal control over police budgets.
Since policing is administered by the Regional Municipality of Peel, this is a regional
rather than local issue.
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
Immediately pass guidelines for arbitrators and introduce legislation to reform
the collective process.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation as reflected in the Pilkey Task
Force report recommendations and further recommends that until the Social Contract
expires in 1996, that provincial arbitrators be given specific guidelines so that they
dont contravene the intent of the social contract.
Reform Fire Departments Act towards removing barriers to more efficient fire
services.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation as reflected in the Pilkey Task
Force recommendations subject to a permissive framework on minimum staffing
levels.
Introduce legislation to protect the continuation of short-line rail in Ontario in
support of community financial well-being.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation in general, however, there
should be no change to assessment practices and tax levies on railway lands. The
AMO report does not address this factor which has come up recently with the Town
of Orangeville resolution to eliminate the railway class factor, which if implemented
would adversely affect the position taken by the City of Mississauga before the courts.
Repeal Bill 120 to restore municipal authority to determine local housing
intensification policies.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation particularly given that Bill 120
does not adequately address regulatory, enforcement and financial implications of
accessory apartment units.
Make further changes to the planning reforms to ensure streamlined and
accountable decision-making.
The City of Mississauga supports this recommendation. Mississauga staff and council
representatives have been instrumental in identifying major deficiencies in the
regulations related to Bill 163.
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
November 6, 1995
Our File: S 04
Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor, 2001
Toronto, ON. M5G IE6
Dear Dr Golden:
I was reading the latest edition of your GTA FAX NEWS recently and found your review of
the importance of economic development to be very interesting. In light of the importance of
economic development to the future of the GTA, I would like to bring to your attention two issues
that I believe are important.
First, it appears from reading your last newsletter that you are not fully aware of the great
strides made by the GTA Mayors Committee, in co-operation with the Office for the Greater
Toronto Area, to encourage economic development in the GTA. As you may know, I initiated the
GTA Mayors Committee three years ago specifically for the purpose of cooperating on economic
development. The GTA Mayors established a Steering Committee made up of the municipal
directors of economic development along with the Province and this Steering Committee has been
implementing several programs to promote the GTA internationally. In addition, the Steering
Committee has developed industry specific initiatives to support local businesses and have partnered
with the private sector on some of those initiatives such as SMART Toronto, I must acknowledge
the very helpful assistance and financial contributions by the Office of the Greater Toronto Area and
the direct support and encouragement given to us by the Minister of Municipal Affairs in helping to
implement these initiatives,
In January 1995, the GTA Mayors Committee meeting was devoted exclusively to the issue
of economic development, We invited representatives of each Board of Trade/Chamber of Commerce
in the GTA to the meeting as well as representatives from organized labour groups to discuss plans
and opportunities to work collectively for the economic betterment of the GTA, A copy of the
minutes from that meeting, including the 1995 GTA Economic Development business plan is attached
for your information.
300 CITY CENTRE DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO L5B 3C1
.
Given that the GTA Mayors Committee currently allows municipalities to opt-in or opt-out
of specific projects to promote the GTA, I believe that the results to date have been excellent, Due
to the efforts of the Steering Committee, the GTA has been featured at more than a dozen
international business exhibitions worldwide, we have developed industry specific GTA profiles and
partnerships and we have developed an impressive package of GTA promotional material.
Secondly, while I believe that private sector involvement in promoting the GTA is critical to
the success of such efforts, I must say that I have been disappointed by the lack of leadership or
interest by the Boards and Chambers to work with us to date. I hope that the Boards and Chambers
will take greater interest in our activities and will join us to make the programs even more effective
in the future. However, I do not believe that the Boards and Chambers should take over the function
of economic development for the GTA because many of them are strictly voluntary organizations and
quite frankly they have not shown the leadership or the ability as yet to work together in the GTA,
In finalizing your report, I hope that you will consider all the the work done to date by the
GTA Mayors and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs to encourage economic development in the GTA,
I look forward to your upcoming report and recommendations.
AZEL McCALLION
cc The Hon. Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs
Mr. C. Coles, President, Mississauga Board of Trade
HMcC/lp/ab
MINUTES
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SESSiON 1-95
GTA MAYORS MEETING
FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 1995, 9:20 A.M.
COUNCIL CHAMBER
TORONTO CITY HALL
TORONTO, ONTARIO
INDEX
Call to Order
Welcome by Mayor Barbara Hall, City of Toronto
Opening Remarks by Mayor Hazel McCallion, City of Mississauga
Introduction of Elected Officials
Introduction of Other Representatives Present
Presentation - The GTA Economic Partnership
Remarks by The Honorable Ed Philip
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister Responsible for the GTA
Presentation - GTA Financing Study
Discussion re Proposal by Mayor Hazel McCallion on the
GTA Reform and the Leadership Needed from the
Remarks by The Honorable Frances Lankin
Minister of Economic Development and Trade
Wrap-up - Mayor Barbara Hall and Mayor Hazel McCallion
Next Meeting
Adjournment
GTA Mayors - 1 - January 20, 1995
MAYORS PRESENT:
Barbara Hall
Hazel McCallion
Roger Anderson
Jim Jones
Peter Robertson
Walter Mulkewich
Carol Seglins
Diane Hamre
Michael Prue
Douglas Holyday
Robert Grossi
Marilyn Serjeantson
Margaret Black
Don Cousens
Gordon Krantz
John Cole
Paul Sutherland
Ann Mulvale
Nancy Diamond
Wayne Arthurs
William Bell
Frank Faubert
Lorna Jackson
Tom Edwards
Wayne Emerson
Frances Nunziata
MAYORS REGRETS:
Keith Shier
James Mortson
Mel Lastman
Gerri-Lynn OConnor
Toronto (Co-Chair)
Mississauga (Co-Chair)
Ajax (Deputy Mayor)
Aurora
Brampton
Burlington
Caledon
Ciarington
East York
Etobicoke
Georgina
Halton Hills
King
Markham
Milton
Newmarket
North York (Deputy Mayor)
Oakville
Oshawa
Pickering
Richmond Hill
Scarborough
Vaughan
Whitby
Whitchurch-Stouffville
York
Brock
East Gwillimbury
North York
Uxbridge
GTA Mayors
- 2 - January 20, 1995
REGIONAL CHAIRS PRESENT:
Gary Herrema
Joyce Savoline
Alan Tonks
Emil Kolb
Eldred King
PROVINCIAL REPRESENTATIVES:
The Honorable Ed Philip
The Honorable Frances Lankin
Liz McLaren
Bill Freeman
Drummond White, MPP
FEDERAL REPRESENTATIVES:
The Honourable Art Eggleton
Barry Campbell, MP
OTHER REPRESENTATIVES:
Reeve Bill Mickle
Fran Jackson
Ken Thibeau
Linda Tourney
Temple Harris
John Cartwright
Walter Oliveira
Denise Wiese
Bob Hartwell
Durham
Halton
Peel
York
Minister of Municipal Affairs and
Minister Responsible for the GTA
Minister of Economic Development and Trade
Assistant Deputy Minister OGTA
Policy Advisor, OGTA
Parliamentary Assistant OGTA
President, Treasury Board and
Minister Responsible for Infrastructure
Program
Chair, GTA Federal Liberal Caucus
President, AMO
President, Brampton/Mississauga Labour
Council
President, Durham Regional Labour Council
President, Labour Council of Metro Toronto
President, Toronto/Mississauga Const. Assoc.
Business Manager, Toronto-Central Ontario
Building and Construction Trades Council
President, Carpenters Union
(Industrial Division)
President, Ajax/Pickering Board of Trade
Ist Vice-President, Aurora Chamber of
Commerce
,.,
(
GTA Mayors
- 3 - January 20, 1995
(other Representatives continued...)
Robert Nutbrown
Randy Pickard
Frank Saraka
Sharon Cohen
Ted Fry
Dorm Fenn
Sal Crimi
Stephens Lowden
Michael Bourgon
Charles Coles
Heather Kerby
Gerry Johnston
Peter Dennis
Mike Nasser
Rick Santagato
Trevor Bardens
Helene Johnson
REGRETS:
Emanuel Dilecce
President, Brampton Board of Trade
1st Vice-President Burlington Chamber of
Commerce
President, Caledon Chamber of Commerce
President, Georgina Chamber of Commerce
President, Halton Hills Chamber of Commerce
Vice-President, King City Chamber of
Commerce
President, The Markham Board of Trade
President, Metropolitan Toronto Board of
Trade
President, Milton Chamber of Commerce
President, Mississauga Board of Trade
President, Oakville Chamber of Commerce
President, Oshawa & District Chamber of
Commerce
President, Richmond Hill Chamber of
Commerce
President, Scarborough Metro East Chamber
of Commerce
Vice-President, Vaughan Chamber of
Commerce
Chair, Whitby Chamber of Commerce
President, Whitchurch-Stouffville Chamber of
Commerce
Board of Directors, York Association of
Industry and Commerce
1. CALL TO ORDER
The meeting was called to order at 9:20 A.M.
2. WELCOME
Mayor Barbara Hall, City of Toronto, welcomed the GTA Mayors and all those
present to the City of Toronto Council Chambers. Mayor Hall commended
Mayor McCallion for her efforts and perseverance in organizing the GTA
Mayors in order to provide a forum for the municipalities to discuss issues of
mutual concern.
One of the,areas of focus over the past couples of years for the Committee has
been economic development and that is the main issue to be addressed today
at this meeting. It is important that economic development be dealt with on a
Regional basis as what happens in one municipality impacts on all
municipalities within the GTA. it is also necessary, when talking about
economic development, to consider the quality of life and what needs to be
done to make this Region a good place to work and live. There are many
areas where coordination of effort is possible in terms of promotion and
marketing and information sharing so that benefits accrue to the entire Region.
In the last municipal election it was made clear that the taxpayers want their
elected representatives to work together and cooperate. One of the issues
emerging on a daily basis is that of governance and what changes will be
made on how we are governed so that duplication of efforts can be eliminated.
Mayor Hall pointed out that the Premier of Ontario has announced plans to
setup a process to review governance. Municipalities will have to ensure they
actively participate in this process so that they are part of creating the changes
to truly reflect the grass roots needs. There are many challenging issues to be
addressed in this process in addition to the economy such as the quality of life
and the maintenance of the democratic process,
Today is a first step toward addressing these issues in a concerted manner.
Toronto is at the core of the GTA and it is essential that the core is well
represented. Mayor Hall reiterated her commitment to participate on the
Committee and that the regular meetings of the GTA Mayors will become
increasingly beneficial and necessary.
Mayor Hail concluded that it is clear by the attendance today that the GTA
Mayors also support this forum. This process will provide enormous
opportunities and challenges for working together in order to achieve what is
best for the constituents in the Region.
3. REMARKS - MAYOR H. McCALLION
Mayor McCallion commented that this was an eventful meeting and agreed that
the participation of the Mayor of Toronto is extremely important. It is the first
time that all these diverse groups have gathered to discuss issues of mutual
interest and concern.
Mayor McCallion suggested that the GTA is at a critical point in its growth and
development. An article in a recent issue of Fortune magazine indicated that
this area ranks fourth in terms of quality of life and by working together perhaps
this ranking can be changed to first.
Mayor McCallion referred to the announcement by the Province to review the
issue of local government within the GTA, such as organization, funding and
delivery of services. Issues which have been recognized by those in local
government as needing change for some time. Mayor McCallion distributed a
submission dated January 20, 1995, which contained a proposal outlining a
framework as to how the GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs can take a
leadership role in this process. To date, the Provincial Government has
mandated changes and it is time that those in local government became
proactive rather than reactive. Mayor McCallion noted that this proposal will be
the subject of open discussion during the afternoon session.
The GTA Mayors Committee began to work together in 1992 in order to
identify issues and solutions to mutual problems. The initial focus was on
economic development and considerable progress has been made to create
and promote a positive image for the GTA. It is important the GTA
municipalities have a united and collective approach in dealing with the other
levels of Government so that control over local issues and the quantity and
quality of services to the taxpayers are maintained.
GTA Mayors
- 6 -
January 20, 1995
4. INTRODUCTION OF GTA MAYORS AND REGIONAL CHAIRS
5. INTRODUCTION OF PRESIDENTS OF BOARDS OF TRADE
CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE
GTA CONSTRUCTION ASSOCIATIONS/TRADE COUNCILS
LABOUR COUNCILS/CARPENTERS UNION
6 PRESENTATIONS
6.1 THE GTA ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP
Ms. Karen Campbell (Director of Economic Development, City of
Mississauga) presented the report entitled, GTA Economic
Development Partnership -
1992-1994 Activities and Evaluation which
outlines the activities, achievements, and results since the inception of
the group in 1992. Ms. Campbell provided an overview of the report and
more specifically highlighted the following:
1.
2.
3.
Milestones
1.1 Formation of GTA Mayors Committee - April 1992
1.2 Commitment from Premier Rae - December 1992
1,3 Economic Development Workshop - February 1993
1.4
Strategic & Operational Plan - June 1994
Goals
2.1 To build commitment and foster cooperation amongst the
GTA municipalities
2.2 To increase awareness of the GTA
2.3 To identify prospective investors
2.4 To identify strategic alliances and business opportunities for
GTA companies
Achievements
3.1 Promotion Literature & Information
3.2 Marketing Activities
3.3
Partnerships
GTA Mayors
- 7 - January 20, 1995
4. Conclusions
The group has made significant progress in achieving its first goal;
however achievement of the other three goals is a long term
process.
While there are many positive results, it is important to recognize
that the GTA Economic Development Partnership has some
limitations, as identified as follows:
4.1 The group relies on volunteer time of municipal and
regional economic development staff as there is no
dedicated staff and a small core group of individuals have
been shouldering most of the work load.
4.2 Budget restrictions have also made it difficult for
municipalities to contribute significant funds which limits the
scale of the programs.
4.3 There is no decision making body that is truly in control of
the program which may be endorsed by the GTA Mayors
Committee but not individual local Councils.
Ms. Campbell summarized by emphasizing that the GTA
economic development partnership has the potential to flourish,
but it will require continued strong support and commitment from
the municipalities and the province.
Further, the Economic Development Steering Committee is
developing a Business Plan for the 1995-97 time frame in addition
to developing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry
of Economic Development and Trade which will identify areas for
cooperation with the GTA and outline the roles and responsibilities
of each party.
GTA Mayors
- 8 - January 20, 1995
6.2 1995 AND BEYOND BUSINESS PLAN
Mr. Bob Cranch (Director, Economic Development, City of Brampton),
Co-Chair, GTA Mayors Economic Development Steering Committee,
presented the report entitled, 1995-1997 Business Plan.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5
6,
7.
8.
9.
Executive Review
1.1. Background
1.2 Strategic Objectives
1.3 Target Sectors
Strategic Operation Plan 1995 to 1997
Objective 1: Stimulate Growth and Retention of Local Business
Objective 2: Promote Formation of Viable New Businesses
Objective 3: Attract Investment, Business & Businesses
Objective 4: Influence Policy and Program Development
Strategic Market Analysis
Confirmed Activities for the GTA Partnership in 1995-96
Activities under Consideration by the Provincial and Federal
Governments
Monitoring and Measuring Success
Keeping the Plan Current
Financial Implications and Associated Costs for 1995-96
Conditions for Success
10. Economic Development Advisory Council
Mr. Cranch extended an invitation to those in attendance to become part
of the Economic Development Partnership of the GTA, to act in an
advisory role in developing the economic development agenda which will
sustain and enhance the economy.
As a matter of clarification, Mayor Tom Edwards (Whitby) noted that to
date participation in the activities of the Economic Development Steering
Committee has been voluntary, and wondered how this would work in the
future with the inclusion of Chambers of Commerce and Labour
organizations.
Mayor McCallion responded that the Economic Development Steering
Committee is recommending an Economic Advisory Council and has
requested those in attendance to indicate their interest in participating on
the Advisory Council.
Mr. Cranch pointed out that there are two types of projects. The Core
Programs involve research and development of marketing materials
which provide the foundation for other activities. The other Projects are
funded by those who wish to participate, i.e. if a group decides they are
going to attend a trade show, the budget is established and the costs
shared equally amongst the participants.
Stephens Lowden (President, Metropolitan Toronto Board of Trade)
thanked the Mayors for the invitation to the meeting and commended the
Economic Development Steering Committee on the two reports.
However, Mr. Lowden suggested that some attention should be given to
the social issues and perhaps it will be necessary to form partnerships
with labour, social planning councils, and educational institutions in order
to address the matter of quality of life. He suggested that quality of life
issues must be given a high priority in the development of policies and
better integrated with the economic goals if the GTA programs are to be
successful.
Mayor McCallion responded that the quality of life is largely dependent
on the economic health of a given area and that is why the emphasis is
to re-establish the economic health of the GTA. Whatever successes
are obtained will certainly protect and enhance the quality of life.
Mr. Cranch pointed out that a committee of the GTCC (the Greater
Toronto Coordinating Committee) is looking at the quality of life as one of
its mandates and the results of their reports can be integrated with the
Economic Development Steering Committee.
GTA Mayors
- 1 0 - January 20, 1995
In response to a question from Mayor Peter Robertson (Brampton), Mr.
Cranch advised that the municipalities cooperate in attracting new
business to the GTA. Once a decision is made to locate within the GTA,
all the municipalities who might have participated in generating that lead
are given the opportunity of presenting their municipality to the particular
business so that a decision may be made on a specific site.
Mayor Anne Mulvale (Oakville) commented that the simple matter is that
the residents are very mobile and they may live in one community, work
in another and travel to yet another for culture and recreation. It only
makes sense for the municipalities in the GTA to cooperate in an effort
to provide the best service to the residents of the GTA.
Deputy Mayor Roger Anderson (Ajax) pointed out that it is necessary for
all the participants to be sales people and promote not only their own
municipality but the GTA as well. It is important that prospective
businesses have the convenience of one stop shopping and are sold on
the benefits of locating within the GTA.
The following motion, moved by Mayor Nancy Diamond ( Oshawa),
seconded by Mayor Ann Mulvale (Oakville), was brought forward for
discussion:
That the presentations of the GTA Economic Development Steering
Committee be received;
That the 1995-1997 Economic Development Business Plan
Framework be endorsed in principle subject to comments; and
That final approval be obtained at the next GTA Mayors meeting in
February.
Mr. Sal Crimi (President, The Markham Board of Trade) inquired whether
or not the Economic Development Steering Committee had considered
sponsoring educational seminars where one municipality could share
their expertise in one area with others such as in second languages.
He also suggested that perhaps municipalities could develop a roster
identifying what types of businesses they most often deal with including
suppliers so that the trade shows could be directed at specific target
audiences.
GTA Mayors
- 1 1 - January 20, 1995
Mr. Cranch responded that municipalities may not be the best provider of
such educational training; however, it may be advantageous to know
what municipalities are already doing so that their expertise can be
shared.
Mayor McCallion pointed out that there is only so much that the
Economic Development Steering Committee can handle with the current
volunteer staff and limited financing; however, with increased
participation including that of the business community and Iabour
perhaps more can be accomplished.
Mayor Tom Edwards (Whitby) commented that each municipality
undertakes and participates in whatever way they can based on their
staffing and budget constraints.
Mr. Rick Santagato (Vice-President, Vaughan Chamber of Commerce)
suggested that since there is no formal decision making body it is
important that all the stakeholders make a commitment to the programs if
any successes are to be realized.
Mayor McCallion noted that there has been a lack of appreciation by the
local Councils in the past, but the issue of communication is going to be
addressed at the next meeting. If the motion carries to approve the
reports today in principle it will be up to the individual mayors to take
them back to their respective Councils for endorsement. The boards of
trade/chambers of commerce and Iabour can influence those decisions at
the local level.
Mr. Charles Coles (President, Mississauga Board of Trade) advised that
they have resources available and certain companies are very interested
in the growth of the GTA. These companies would be more than willing
to cooperate for the betterment of the GTA.
Mr. Peter Dennis (President, Richmond Hill Chamber of Commerce)
stated that in Richmond Hill and York Region they have been spending a
good deal of time establishing links between business and education and
perhaps this forum could be broadened to include representatives form
the local school boards.
GTA Mayors
- 1 2 - January 20, 1995
In response Mayor McCallion suggested that the Hydro commissions
also be included since they have a major role in the economic
development of the GTA.
The motion previously moved by Mayor Nancy Diamond ( Oshawa),
seconded by Mayor Ann Mulvale (Oakville), was voted on and carried:
That the presentation of the GTA Economic Development Steering
Committee be received;
That the 1995-1997 Economic Development Business Plan
Framework be endorsed in principle subject to comments; and
That final approval be obtained at the next GTA Mayors meeting in
February.
CARRIED
7. REMARKS BY THE HONORABLE ED PHILIP - MINISTER OF MUNICIPAL
AFFAIRS AND MINISTER RESPONSIBLE FOR THE GTA
The Honorable Ed Philip opened his remarks with the point that it is very
obvious that there is a need for cooperation with one another at all levels of
government, with the private sector and the myriad of special interest groups.
The Minister expressed his pleasure that the new mayor of Toronto is
enthusiastic about participating in the GTA and thanked her for her hospitality
today.
The Honorable Ed Philip confirmed that the Province will through his office
continue to coordinate and support the marketing ventures as well as continue
to fund 50% of the partnership for the next three years.
The Minister referred to the report on municipal financing done by the Greater
Toronto Coordinating Committee which will be presented following the lunch
break by Mike Garrett (Region of Peel CAO and Chair of the GTCC Steering
Committee). This report is a study of the impact of government grants and
subsidies in the GTA and will form part of the deliberations of the Task Force
on Metro and the GTA.
GTA Mayors - 1 3 - January 20, 1995
With respect to the Task Force announced by Premier Bob Rae, The
Honorable Ed Philip stressed that it will be an action oriented working group
which will deal with practical matters and make recommendations on an on
going basis. The Task Force will look at ways of coordinating what
governments do, improving the delivery of services and the issues of tax
reform, property tax reform and education reform. While a project coordinator
has already been appointed, a formal announcement about the Task Force and
its membership will be made within a couple of weeks.
These issues have to be addressed in order to place the GTA in a competitive
position in the global market and in order to restore the economic engine of the
country. The Task Force will look at the GTA as a whole and see where
reforms are needed. Its goal will be a clear, focused, and rational system of
government for the Greater Toronto Area so that the varied interests of the
people and municipalities can be considered, understood and met.
The Honorable Minister concluded by urging all stakeholders - elected officials,
municipal staff, business and labour, social agencies and community groups, to
cooperate in this challenge so that the best interests of everyone are
addressed.
Mayor McCallion reiterated her point that this Task Force must be from the
grass roots up so that its recommendations are presented by the municipalities
and not mandated by the Provincial Government as has been done in the past.
The municipalities have a great wealth of expertise and are more familiar with
the needs of its constituents than the Province.
The Honorable Ed Philip responded that the role of the Task Force will be to
listen to everyone, including business, Iabour , community groups as well as
politicians at all levels.
In dealing with the subject of cooperation Mayor Tom Edwards (Whitby)
inquired whether the Province had considered participating on a tri-level basis
to create jobs as was undertaken with the infrastructure program. The
Honorable Ed Philip advised that the Province is working closely with the
Federal Government and more particularly with The Honorable Art Eggleton in
discussing and pursuing all avenues of mutual cooperation.
GTA Mayors
- 1 4 - January 20, 1995
Mayor Peter Robertson (Brampton) noted that while there have been some
successes within the GTA as in the transit fare integration, economic
development initiatives and planning reform, there have also been a number of
failures such as the basement apartments legislation, the interim waste
authority, to name a few. Mayor Robertson inquired how the Minister would
ensure that not only would the municipalities be listened to but how could he
ensure that they can be a partner in the decision making.
The Minister responded that the Task Force will be listening to a myriad of
interests, not only politicians, and sometimes these groups will have conflicting
interests, all of which will have to be weighed and considered before a decision
is made. It is hoped that the Task Force will be a vehicle for ongoing practical
reform.
The meeting recessed at 12:20 p.m. for lunch. The meeting reconvened at 1 :30 p.m.
8. PRESENTATION - GTA FINANCING STUDY
Mr. Mike Garrett (Region of PeeI CAO and Chair of the GTCC Steering
Committee) presented a report entitled, Rethinking the Fundamentals:
Provincial-Local Finances in the Greater Toronto Area which was prepared by
the Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee.
The GTCC was established by the Province in 1988 and is made up of senior
staff appointed by the Council of each municipality within the GTA, together
with senior staff from the Provincial Office of the Greater Toronto Area and
other provincial ministries. The GTCC is co-chaired by municipal and provincial
representatives and support is provided by the OGTA. The mandate of the
Committee is to identify or examine issues and trends that may have a major
effect on the quality of life, social equity and economic vitality of the GTA and
make recommendations for action. The GTCC through various subcommittees,
is investigating or has or will be reporting on: municipal financing, economic
development, quality of life, telecommunications, infrastructure, municipal
structure, and assessment delivery.
GTA Mayors
- 1 5 - January 20, 1995
Mr. Garrett presented a comprehensive review of the report, its conclusions and
the recommendations, which are reiterated as follows:
1. that the Province take action to reduce the net outflow of revenues from
the GTA;
2. that the Province take action to rebalance the allocation of municipal
subsidies towards the GTA in any future changes to overall levels of
subsidy funding;
3. that the Province re-examine the manner in which municipal subsidies
are calculated;
4. that the Province review of education financing proceed as a top priority,
and that reform recognize the unique population and demographic
characteristics driving education costs and service levels in the IGTA.
In response to a question from Mayor Douglas Holyday (Etobicoke), Mr. Garrett
advised that the next phase of the study will separate the figures for each
municipality within Metro Toronto as well as outside Metro. It is expected that
this study will be completed within the next six months. Mr. Garrett responded
to specific questions regarding the information collected, and outlined the next
step in the process.
Mr. Garrett advised that the Committee will continue its work in conjunction with
the Province in order to make suggestions for changes.
Received
GTA Mayors
- 1 6 - January 20, 1995
9. GTA REFORM AND THE LEADERSHIP NEEDED FROM THE GTA MAYORS
AND REGIONAL CHAIRS
Mayor McCallions proposal outlined the leadership role that should be taken,
how that role can be assumed, and thoughts on the scope and outcomes of the
project.
The following proposed structure of the Task Force was discussed:
Strategic Steerinq Committee
o Chaired by a credible, politically neutral, high-profile expert responsible
for stakeholder consultation.
o Comprised of senior stakeholder representatives
Provincial government: Minister of Municipal Affairs and Minister
Responsible for the Greater Toronto Area
Deputy Prime Minister, Treasurer of Ontario
and Minister of Finance
Local government: Chair, GTA Mayors Committee
Mayors (three - one representing Metropolitan
Toronto, and one each representing the east,
north and west outside Metropolitan Toronto)
Regional Chairs (two)
Federal government: Chair, GTA Federal Liberal Caucus or a senior
Liberal cabinet minister from the GTA
Business: President, Metropolitan Board of Trade
President of one of the Boards of Trade or
Chambers of Commerce in the GTA
Chair, one of the major Canadian Banks
Labour: Head of a major Iabour organization
GTA Mayors
- 1 7 - January 20, 1995
Technical Committee
o Headed by a vice chair seconded full-time, who is a senior local
government official (city manager) to provide the necessary local
government knowledge.
o Responsible for the expert panels.
o Expert panels staffed as needed from GTA municipalities, the provincial
government, and other stakeholders.
Secretariat
o Headed by a research director and manager to provide research and
administrative support.
o Funded jointly by the major stakeholders, particularly the provincial
government and GTA municipalities.
o Coordinated by the provincial Office of the Greater Toronto Area (OGTA)
In consultation, the Co-Chairs proposed the following amendments to the
composition of the Strategic Steering Committee:
o that there be three Mayors representing Metro Toronto and that one be
the Mayor of the City of Toronto
o that one of the Regional Chairs be the Chair of Metro Toronto
o add 2 representatives from Hydro
o add 2 representatives from the Boards of Education
GTA Mayors
- 1 8 - January 20, 1995
Mayor Peter Robertson (Brampton) put forth the following amendment which
deals with the process:
That the proposed GTA Mayors Reform Proposal as presented be
amended to include:
That the GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs sponsor an April
conference to identify the critical issues facing the GTA, the
relationships among the issues and an effort to find the area of
consensus; and
That we invite the Office of the GTA and Representatives of the
Metro Toronto Committee reviewing their governance, AMO
representatives and that the Canadian Urban Institute provide
research and ask SHARED VISIONS to help with the organization of
this consensus building conference;
And further that the proposal be endorsed in principal with final approval
subject to comments to be considered at the February GTA Mayors
meeting.
Mayor Robertson advised that the intent of the conference would be to allow
those who are not on the Strategic Steering Committee to have input and a
forum to voice their concerns. He pointed out that Shared Visions is a York
University group who has experience in this type of consensus building.
Mayor Walter Mulkewich (Burlington) felt that in light of the size of the Strategic
Steering Committee that it would be beneficial to establish an Executive Group
within the Steering Committee to work along side in an effort to meet the
deadlines.
Mayor Hall (Toronto) suggested that it is premature to make such a decision
until the group has had an opportunity to meet and determine its terms of
reference and how they could be most effective which would be at the February
GTA Mayors meeting.
In response to a concern about the possible duplication of the Provincial
initiative, Mayor McCallion advised that it is her hope that the Premier of the
Province will accept this as the vehicle for the process and not an addition.
Hopefully, the Premier will be receptive to the municipalities taking the initiative
in setting up this Task Force and offering to find solutions to the problems.
GTA Mayors
- 1 9 - January 20, 1995
Heather Kerby (President, Oakville Chamber of Commerce) suggested that the
business representatives be increased to allow one from Metro Toronto and
one each from the Boards of Trade and Chambers of Commerce.
Linda Tourney (President, Labour Council of Metro Toronto) advised that they
would like equal representation with business on the Committee.
Some elected officials present expressed reservations about the proposal in
light of the number of reviews on governance and the possible duplication of
efforts. It was suggested that the GTA Mayors Committee is the forum to build
consensus and present this input to the Provincial Task Force.
Mayor McCallion responded that that is exactly the point. It is time that one
review be done and by adopting this proposal the Province will know that there
is a united approach by all stakeholders within the GTA. It is important that this
proposal be adopted in principal now because the Province will be making
their announcement within the next couple of weeks and it is imperative that
this proposal be put forward for their consideration.
Members of Committee discussed the process to be followed in establishing the
composition and the goals and terms of reference of the Strategic Steering
Committee. [t was pointed out that members of the GTA Mayors, along with
the other stakehoiders (i.e. business, labour, hydro, school boards etc.) could
provide their input on these issues prior to the February meeting of the GTA
Mayors.
Metro Chair Alan Tonks proposed the following amendment to the motion:
That the proposed Strategic Steering Committee, include in the terms of
reference that it is not necessarily constructed to replace the proposed
Governmental Task Force, and further, that the Strategic Steering
Committee direct the Secretariat to place as its highest priority the
completion of the Provincial-Local Financing in the GTA internal
Municipal Comparison and report back as soon as possible to this
plenary group in order that should the Province setup a Task Force, that a
collective response can be made to the Provincial Government Task
Force.
GTA Mayors
- 2 0 - January 20, 1995
Metro Chair Alan Tonks, in putting the amendment forward, suggested that no
one would be working at cross purposes and by taking this approach the GTA
Mayors can build on the work already completed or underway.
Metro Chair AIan Tonks requested a standing vote on the amendment. The
amendment to the motion lost by a vote of 16-12.
The main motion as follows, moved by Mayor Peter Robertson (Brampton),
seconded by Mayor Ann Mulvale (Oakviile) was voted on and carried:
That the proposed GTA Mayors Reform Proposal as presented be
amended to include:
That the GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs sponsor an April
conference to identify the critical issues facing the GTA, the
relationships among the issues and an effort to find the ares of
consensus; and
That we invite the Office of the GTA and Representatives of the
Metro Toronto Committee reviewing their governance, AMO
representatives and that the Canadian Urban Institute provide
research and ask SHARED VISIONS to help with the organization of
this consensus building conference;
And further that the proposal be endorsed in principal with final approval
subject to comments to be considered at the February GTA Mayors
meeting.
Carried
10. REMARKS BY THE HONORABLE FRANCES LANKIN, MINISTER OF
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRADE
The Honorable Frances Lankin thanked the GTA Mayors for the invitation
today to address the Committee. The Minister opened by stating that the
Governments top priority is to stimulate economic recovery and create and
maintain jobs for today and the future. The Ministry is focusing on building
partnerships with communities, business, Iabour and other levels of
government, to promote economic development and get the economy back on
track. The Minister advised that the work at the Ministry will focus on working
in partnership with the following:
GTA Mayors
- 2 1 - January 20, 1995
11.
12.
13.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
define sectors to make them more competitive
strategic firms to leverage further investments
small and medium sized businesses so they can continue to expand and
create jobs
leading edge companies to create long term jobs
communities and municipalities to promote community economic
development
municipalities and groups to build the infrastructure that creates jobs now
and into the future
private sector and municipalities to attract investment and create new
trade opportunities
other governments to break down trade barriers
Mayor McCallion thanked the Minister for her time and presentation today.
WRAP-UP
1. Mayor McCallion advised that in agreement with Mayor Hall a
representative group, including a Regional Chair, would be setup to
review the resolutions passed today to formulate what will be presented
at the meeting in February .
2. Mayor Hall thanked everyone for their attendance and participation.
Mayor Hall commented on the positive discussions today and the
obvious commitment of the Members to continue to work together on
issues of common concern. Clearly, there is a lot of work to be done;
however, continued participation and cooperation will only work to
improve the overall situation in the GTA and thereby create a positive
impact on the constituents of the various municipalities.
NEXT MEETING
The next meeting which will be hosted by Mayor Robert Grossi (Town of
Georgina) is scheduled for Friday, February 17, 1995, at The Briars.
ADJOURNMENT - 4:30 P.M.
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
November 1, 1995
Our File: S 04
Dr Anne Golden
393 University Avenue, 20th Floor, 2001
TORONTO ON M5G 1E6
Dear Anne:
You have been receiving from the GTA Mayors Sub-Committee, under the Chairmanship
of Mayor Peter Robertson of Brampton, a number of letters and reports. I want you to know that
none of the reports have been endorsed by the Greater Toronto Area Mayors Committee, but
have been received, and of course processed through to you because I think it is important that
you receive all reports and that all municipalities participate in this opportunity to advise you of
their concerns and recommendations.
It will be very difficult to get even a consensus amongst the municipalities because of the
variety of sizes and the benefits received by some municipalities from regional government, and
the opinion of other municipalities that they are paying more than their fair share of the Regional
cost.
I wanted to advise you that the Chairman of the Sub-Committee has been very active in
writing letters to both yourself and to the Honorable Al Leach, and i just wanted to put forward
to you that at no time did any of these reports receive the endorsement of the Greater Toronto
Area Mayors Committee.
300 CITY CENTRE DRIVE, MISSISSAUGA, L5B 3C1
TELEPHONE (416) 896-5000
I hope that all municipalities have taken advantage of the opportunity of submitting their
position because that certainly was your request and the Minister has clearly indicated that he
wants to see, along with your report all the submissions made, which in my opinion, clearly
indicates that they want to see the total picture before making a decision.
MAYOR
HMcC/ab
Cc. The Honorable Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs, 777 Bay Street, 17th Floor,
Toronto On M5G 2E5
MISSISSAUGA
BOARD OF TRADE
Mississauga Executive Centre
100-Three Robert Speck Parkway
Mississauga, Ontario L4Z 2G5
Tel: (905) 273-6151
Fax: (905) 273-4937
Club: (905) 273-6387
September 13, 1995
Dr. Ann Golden
GTA Task Force
Phone 416-327-1515
Fax: 416-327-1516
Dear Dr. Golden:
I am writing to you and The Commission in my capacity of President
of The Mississauga Board of Trade. The Mississauga Board of Trade
(The
"Board") a private sector, non-profit, volunteer driven
business organization, currently has a membership of 2300 business
women and men who represent approximately 1500 companies located in
Mississauga. Our Board membership covers all aspects of industry
and commerce in Mississauga; our Directory lists over 500 business
classifications. Our members employ more than 60,000 people in
Mississauga.
We believe that the Mississauga Board of Trade truly
is the "Voice of Business in Mississauga, and as such we recommend
that the Commission Adopt and Recommend to the Government of the
Province of Ontario the following 9 points related to GTA reform:-
A.
B.
c.
D.
Using the Region of Peel as an example, we recommend
the amalgamation of numberous municipalities into a few
core nodes.
The delivery of services must be clearly defined as to
what level of Government is both responsible and account
able for the entire service to the tax paying customer
i.e. if welfare is the sole responsibility of the
Provincial Government, then they are both responsible
and accountable for it in its entirety.
The existing Municipal Act be completely reengineered
to meet the realities of the 21st century.
The consolidation of services to be implemented wherever
feasible, based on critical mass and/or, feasibility
of geographic delivery to the customer.
Cont'd..2..
E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
The GTA Municipalities should move towards full market
value assessment and a common valuation year. On this
point The Mississauga Board of Trade strongly supports
the submission made by The City of Mississauga in their
report on Property and Business Tax Reform.
Privatization should be evaluated and applied, wherever
it can both improve upon and more efficiently deliver
cost effective services to the customer.
A GTA wide, regionally co-ordinated and integrated transit
system be implemented.
The creation of a centralized Provincial Regulatory Agency
to establish and regulate comprehensive and unified
delivery of services within the GTA be implemented i.e.
Police, Fire, Transit, Utilities, Waste Management, etc.
The collection and distribution of taxes related to
Ontarios education system be removed from the Municipal
Property Tax Base, and be the sole responsibility of
the Provincial Government, for both collection and
distribution.
The Mississauga Board of Trade firmly believes that the
implementation of these points will lead to:-
B Governance - Responsible, Accountable and Responsive
B Promotion of Privatization and Public/Private Partnerships
* Promotion of - Job Creation and Opportunities
* Restored Consumer and Investor Confidence within the GTA
"The Mississauga Board of Trade is committed to co-operating with
the commission in the development of sound concepts for GTA reform.
The voice of business as a prime stakeholder in this process is
critical. We are prepared to be a partner in this restructuring
process and ask you to contact our office for us to assist further
in the additional amplification of the above issues or to provide
a business perspective on any additional aspects under
consideration".
November 1, 1995
Dear Dr. Golden:
RE: GTA REFORM and MUNICIPAL TAXES
The Mississauga Board of Trade regards the release of the Golden
Commissionss report as a turning point in the development of the
GTA. The Board believes that the recommendations and conclusions
reached by the Commission will have a significant impact on the
future governance and efficiency of the Greater Toronto Area.
Indeed, the implications of the new structure will influence the
progress of the province as a whole.
Given the important nature of the Commissions work, it is
imperative that the Board take this opportunity to address the
serious issue of municipal taxes. As you are well aware, there is
a great concern amongst the municipalities surrounding Metropolitan
Toronto that the tax dilemma experienced by Metro Toronto will be
corrected at their expense.
The Board of Trade fully recognizes that the GTA must co-operate on
a number of issues in order to become highly competitive in
relation to other North American jurisdictions. To reach this goal
we realize that the GTA must have a strong central core. In short,
we concur with your sentiments that "we are all in this together .
However, as a very important stakeholder within the GTA, and the
province, the Mississauga Board of Trade strongly believes that it
is totally unfair to burden adjacent municipalities with Metro
Torontos tax woes. The assessment base in Metro Toronto is
completely outdated.
../2
Most municipalities surrounding Metro Toronto, including
Mississauga, have taken the responsibility to introduce Market
Value Assessment. Metropolitan Toronto has refrained from taking
the same initiative. This has resulted in a situation where Metro
Torontos residential taxes are lower, and industrial/commercial
taxes are significantly higher than surrounding municipalities. In
taking steps to reform its tax assessment system, Metro Toronto
will stem the flow of businesses currently fleeing to the suburbs,
and ensure a stable core for the GTA.
It must be noted that the assessment base is not the sole reason
for Metros tax problem. Part of the predicament stems from the
fact that Metro Toronto has failed to control the expenditure side
of its ledger as, for example, has been done in Mississauga. It is
evident that Metro must take bold measures to get its expenditures
under control. The GTA cannot operate efficiently if the core
fails to be fiscally responsible.
The intent of the Board is not to be critical, instead we wish to
highlight problems in order to advance constructive solutions. In
our submission to the Golden Commission, the Mississauga Board of
Trade raised a number of issues which, we believe, will help
address the tax problem facing Metro Toronto. In our brief we
stated:
The delivery of services must be clearly defined as to what
level of government is both responsible and accountable for
the entire service to the tax paying customer. For instance,
the Metro Toronto tax burden would be eased if welfare costs
were paid solely by the province and road costs were paid
solely by Metro.
The collection and distribution of taxes related to Ontarios
education system should be removed from the Municipal property
tax base.
The municipal tax issue is only one of many issues facing the
reform of the GTA. However, it is an issue of critical importance.
We believe that "we are all in this together, we also realize that
a strong central core for the GTA is essential. Therefore, it is
critical to repair the system within Metro; not to transfer Metros
financial problems to the surrounding municipalities.
../3
The Mississauga Board of Trade looks forward to the challenge of
working in co-operation with its partners to find viable solutions
to our problems.
In this respect we
will attain success in
building a strong and competitive Greater Toronto Area.
Yours truly,
cc. :Honourable Al Leach
Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
:Chairman Emil Kolb
Region of Peel
:Mayor Hazel McCallion
City of Mississauga
YASMEEN MOTALA
1815 OCONNOR DR APT 203
TORONTO, ONTARIO
M4A 2P9
28 September 1995
ATTENTION: THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE COMMISSION
Dear Sir/Madame,
RE:THE AMALGAMATION OF EAST YORK WITH THE CITY OF TORONTO
As a new Canadian, residing in East York, I am greatly perturbed by
the proposed amalgamation of East York with the City of Toronto.
The main reason being, is that, coming from a country steeped in
violence, (South Africa) I feel that by living in a smaller
community I am better able to cope with the pressures that
accompany beginning a new life.
Another reason is that I feel secure in my new environment, and by
amalgamating East York, I am afraid that this new found safety will
be snatched away from me before I have a chance to fully appreciate
it.
I have found East York not only to my liking but a safe haven as
well, and would really appreciate it if the decision be
reconsidered and East York be able to retain its identity.
THANKING YOU,
Y. MOTALA (MISS)
September 29, 1995
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: MEA District Four and the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Dear Dr. Golden:
As Chair and President of the Municipal Electric Associations District Four, we wish to advise on the
status of studies within the electrical supply industry and ensure that any recommendations from your
task force are based on an informed understanding of our customer expectations for service, rates and
representation.
Background:
The Municipal Electrical Association (MEA) is the association of the 307 Electrical Utilities in Ontario.
The province is segmented into nine geographic districts.
Most of the utilities in the GTA are in District
Four which represents the largest electrical load in the province.
Each utility is responsible for maintaining the electricity supply in their area which includes rebuilding
older electrical plant and responding to customer problems. Most of the utilities are debt-free resulting
in lower electricity rates for customers. The entire cost of maintaining the electrical system, providing
customer services and administration represents about 15 percent of the customers hydro bill. The
hydro rates themselves are regulated by Ontario Hydro.
Customers have a direct say in how the utility is managed.
Each utility is responsible to elected or
appointed Commissioners.
In this way, utilities can provide customer programs that are custom-fit to
meet the requirements of the community. Many utilities have had customer opinion surveys performed
that show customers are pleased with the service and believe the price of electricity is worth its value.
-2-
The Future:
Because of the debt and downsizing of Ontario Hydro, and the general trend of restructuring, the MEA
has written a plan called Restructuring the Electrical Industrv in Ontario. This comprehensive document
was written in three phases over three years. It consists of a review of options for the electrical industry
in Ontario and other places around the world, and concludes with specific recommendations.
These recommendations (entitled Volume 1: Recommended Strategy) were discussed at length with the
provincial utilities throughout 1994, and passed at the Annual Meeting March 1995. We would be
pleased to review the strategy with you in detail at your convenience. The report maintains the power
pool relationship but encourages electrical generation by non-utility generators to reduce hydro rates.
In addition to the above study, another report has been written by a committee formed in the Fall of
1993. This committee consisted of six MEA appointees, five Ontario Hydro members, and an
independent chair. The mandate of this committee was to develop, explore and assess the options and
alternatives for structuring the retail distribution system for electricity services in Ontario in order to best
serve the electricity consumers. Six options were examined against eight criteria: Reliability, Cost,
Rate Equity, Customer Satisfaction, Capability of Delivering a Range of Services, Customer Influence,
Local Accountability, and Ease of Implementation. The interim report was completed last December.
Conclusion:
Both of the above studies recognize that change is necessary within the electrical system of the
province. They clearly state that any changes must be province-wide to minimize customer costs and
maximize customer service.
MEA District Four recognizes the important work that your committee is doing and the significance of
any future recommendations on the utilities in our district. Our most overriding concern is that any
changes to the municipalities and to the utilities do not adversely affect hydro rates to our customers.
There has been some discussion of changes such as moving the responsibility for electric supply to
the Regional level or integrating electrical supply with other municipal services as dependants. Either
of these actions would complicate future provincial actions.
We believe that we are well on the way to achieving
processes and the use of our own industry experts.
Yours truly
change in the utilities through collaborative
THE ASSOCI ATI ON OF
+
September 27, 1995
P.O. Box 69, Station (A, Toronto, Ontario M5W 1A2
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
ATTENTION: Dr. Anne Golden, Chairperson
Dear Dr. Golden
Subject: Submission of The Association of Muncipal Tax Collectors of Ontario
This report was prepared by representatives of the Association of Municipal Tax Collectors of
Ontario, an organization of municipal tax professionals founded in 1967. Our current
membership is four hundred-sixty individuals from all corners of our Province involved in
municipal taxation on a daily basis, and as such, we believe that our suggestions merit serious
consideration.
By intent, this report is short and to the point, devoid of political, personal or collective interests.
Our comments focus only on the specific area where, we believe, our practical experience and
expertise may contribute. Eroding municipal tax assessment bases are a prime concern to our
membership and, as such, it is our hope that positive changes will be implemented expediently.
To overcome a number of the municipal tax problems currently being studied by the Task Force
we offer the following comments: While these suggestions pertain to the Province in general,
they are, nevertheless, specifically and urgently needed in the greater Toronto area.
1.
2,
Each municipality in the greater Toronto area should be on a Section 58, Assessment Act
market value with a move toward Section 63, Assessment Act. Implementation should be
Province-wide to produce commonality. Only when this is accomplished can fairness be
attained in addition to ensuring that assessment bases are defendable at Provincial Assessment
Review Boards.
Business taxes should be eliminated in favour of an increase in commercial realty taxes and
municipalities should be empowered to use variable mill-rates within a range prescribed by
legislation, with the ratios determined by individual municipalities.
Dr. Anne Golden, Chairperson
Page 2
September 27, 1995
Subject: Submission of The Association of Muncipal Tnx Collectors of Ontario
3. The assessment function currently under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance is
seriously underfunded. The Assessment function should become a Crown Corporation with a
Board of Directors to include both political and administrative municipal representation.
4. Education taxes should be taken from the realty tax bill and funded by the Province. While
we do no intend to comment on the subject of wealth distribution, we believe that the
fundamental purpose of municipal property taxes is to pay for local services.
On behalf of the membership of our Association, we wish you every success in your
deliberations. Thank you for the opportunity to participate by way of our comments.
Yours truly
Jackie Turbitt
President
October 2,1995
Anne Golden
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Anne,
Thank you for your report dated September 21,1995 outlining your efforts to put
together agreeable options with respect to GTA.
Anne, several of my constituents from the Scarborough Town Centre small
merchants group have approached me to discuss some of their concerns. We had a
very productive dialogue and Id like to take this opportunity to share with you
some of their concerns and ideas for your consideration during your task force.
Below you will find a short synopsis of our discussions.
Taxation Issue:
All successful businesses operate on a strong financial plan which is based on
principles of fairness and balance.
The previous provincial government abrogated
these principles, when they rejected fair market value assessment, and turned
around and used a rarely applied clause to hit all small merchants in major malls in
Metro Toronto, The effect was increases in taxes, anywhere from 20% to 800%.
Some have not begun to catchup with those changes, which were applied as a result
of the successful appeals by big Anchor tenants, to the same provincial body that
rejected Market Value Assessment.
Clearly we require drastic changes in order to level the playing field once and for all.
Otherwise, we will never have an opportunity for growth in job creation and
business.
Taxation Solution:
The taxation issue is a question of fairness and ability to pay. If one looks at this
question purely from a single viewpoint it exaggerates any effort to adjust it, and
doesnt balance the results. We need much more input to produce an equitable
result.
We need to bear in mind that small merchants employ more staff per square foot,
and are much more responsive to changing sales patterns so that they have a greater
potential for job creation.
In addition, the stronger these small merchants are the more they can contribute to
the vibrancy of the malls. Our government believes it should be encouraging small
business growth as we outlined in the Common Sense Revolution, and we feel that
a fair tax system is fundamental to that goal.
Please find attached, an outline of some of the specfic issues and concerns proposed
by the Small Merchants of the Scarborough Town Centre Mall.
Sincerely,
MM:af
Cc. Honorable Ernie Eves, Minister of Finance
Honorable Bill Saunderson, Minister of Economic Development and Trade
Honorable Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
ISSUES
Ta xa t i on
Scarborough
Town Centre Small Merchants
-Fair market rent skews the tax system against the small
operator because their rents are much higher per square
footage.
-Larger tenants are given a massive rental discounts due
to their anchor position and square footage. In this
situation, the current taxation system doubles its effect on
small merchants.
-Large increase in operation costs (such as taxes) put these
small merchants in more direct danger of going
bankrupt than the large merchants.
-The excessive tax burden placed on small merchants
drives away new investment opportunities, jobs, and
makes it incredibly difficult for small merchants to
compete.
Employment Growth -Small and Medium merchants are a driving employment
force in retail today.
-More employees are used in small operations per square
foot.
-Small operations are more responsive to adding
employees as their business is so closely linked to service,
-Adjusting the current tax system by making it more
equitable would help stimulate a direct boost to job
creation in Scarborough.
Innovation
-Small operators need to find unique methods to deliver
their products and services in order to be competitive.
-These small merchants are continually seeking ways to
differentiate themselves from the bigger merchants.
-Most malls have the same formula mix of merchants and
t h e s ma ll merchants add the variety that consumers are
looking for.
Prepared by:
Town of Newmarket
465 Davis Drive,
PO Box 328, STN Main,
Newmarket, Ontario L3Y 4X7
Prepared for:
Golden Task Force
September 27, 1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Il. Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Ill. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Iv. Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
v. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GTA Map
3
4
5
19
20
2
Community Modelling - A Proposal by the Town of Newmarket
1. Introduction
Over the last several years, prevailing economic conditions and
rapid technological advances have profoundly affected the world, plunging us
into an age of change.
The private sector has undergone tremendous fundamental reform
in order to conform to these changing conditions and yet remain viable and
competitive. New developments like NAFTA and the Internet are shrinking our
planet, providing bold opportunities and forcing us to take a broader perspective
on the way we do business.
The time for governments to also conform and respond to
these changes is now.
The Greater Toronto Area is poised to enter a brave new era - one
in which traditional conflicts and barriers will disappear in favour of new
partnerships and co-operative ventures - one in which Communities will rise
above geographic boundaries.
This document describes a vision of the Evolution of Local
Government within the Greater Toronto Area - a process which addresses,
above all, the public demand for reciprocal change to more efficient and
customer-oriented government that will also enhance the basic democratic rights
of citizens to responsive and effective representation.
Il. Purpose
The purpose of reform, ideally, is to bring about positive changes
which address contemporary needs. Accordingly, government reform in the
Greater Toronto Area should contemplate the following results:
An end to duplication
An increase in efficiency
Clarification of service delivery
An increase in government accountability
Fairness of taxation
4
III. Discussion
Municipalities versus Communities
History demonstrates that people are social beings who tend to congregate and
thrive in communities. Communities offer the social, cultural, trade and other
activities that people desire. Communities afford feelings of friendship and
support that are shared through common interests. Communities are havens
where feelings of patriotism and loyalty grow.
Municipalities, on the other hand, are government-made. They are the machine
or tool that Communities use to distribute services shared by their citizens.
Recognizing this fundamental difference between Communities and
municipalities as being a strength, this strength can be used to determine which
level of government is able to provide which service in the most effective and
efficient manner.
Promoting Community Development
Elected officials strive to encourage the development of community spirit, citizen
involvement and pride which are the heart and foundation of our Communities.
All of these qualities contribute to the lifestyles of the individuals which form our
Communities. Communities vary from each other in size, geographical outlook
and limitation, and in their outlook on self-governance.
Local officials accept the responsibility of providing services in a manner which
meets the Communitys standards and expectations. These standards and
expectations vary widely between geographic and municipal structures within
the GTA.
Economies Versus Diseconomies of Scale
There are certainly some advantages to economy of scale but there are also
some disadvantages that may in fact create diseconomies of scale. Very
often, these diseconomies are a function of size, geographic differences and the
inability of those held responsible under provincial and federal jurisdictions to
evaluate and understand the specific requirements for service, and ensure the
effective and efficient delivery of such service.
The objective of service agents and service providers meeting the common
goals of Communities, should be to make decisions that are in the best interests
of Communities, rather than in strictly economical interests, as would be
expected if decisions were limited to a business like approach. This certainly
does not preclude municipalities from making sound business and economic
decisions on behalf of the citizens they serve, but since municipalities are not
profit oriented, certain services which they provide may not necessarily be
economically viable. In other words, if municipalities took a strictly economic
approach and worked only towards a bottom line, many of the services that they
provide to citizens would not be undertaken since they are not strictly
economically viable.
The issue is not simply whether community services are economically
feasible - for we already know that many are not. The real issue is the
importance of the service to the overall good and quality of life of the
citizens of the Community.
One Taxpayer - Five Levels of Taxation
Five levels of government exist within the GTA - Federal, Provincial, Regional,
School Board, and Municipal. This number of government levels and their
ability to create and cause taxation must be reduced.
One of the greatest concerns; however, throughout the Golden Task Force
Study and the media hype surrounding Provincial support for a reduction in the
number of levels of governments in the GTA, is the notion that bigger means
better.
6
To illustrate, an average two-income family with a total annual tax bill of
$30,000 pays roughly $18,000 of that tax bill to the Federal Government. The
Provincial Government receives approximately $9,500 from the same taxpayers.
What is left is roughly $2,500 in the form of municipal property tax. of that
$2,500 property tax, on average, 70% or $1,750 goes towards the School Board
and the remaining $750 is divided between the Region at $300, and the
Municipality at $450.
Federal Government (60.0%1
rnment (31.7%)
ard (5.8%)
nment (1.5%)
Regional Government (1.0%)
7
As demonstrated by this illustration, it seems rather suspicious that so much
controversy has been created over the management of as little as 2.5% of the
taxpayers total yearly tax bill. In fact, if economies of scale achieved through
the amalgations, streamlining of services, and other suggestions put forth,
resulted in, say, an optimistic 20% savings, we would, hypothetically,
accomplish a $150 reduction on a $30,000 tax bill - a 0.5% savings to
taxpayer.
the
Quite frankly, this simply cannot be what the taxpayers of any Community within
York Region or even the Greater Toronto Area, are hoping GTA reform will
achieve. The taxpayers of the GTA expect substantial decreases in their overall
tax burden, in response to widespread economic conditions.
This does not suggest that there are not areas in need of improvement at ail
levels of local and regional service delivery. However, the Golden Task Force
should be looking at the big picture to find efficient solutions to service delivery
and taxation in general. The notion, thus far, that local and regional
streamlining will make a significant difference in the taxpayers overall burden is
simply not valid.
The key is in recognizing that there is but one taxpayer for five levels of taxation
of residents within the GTA. Additionally, each of those five levels of taxation or
governments, may or may not be providing the most efficient delivery of service
to the geographic region we call the Greater Toronto Area.
In order to decide which level is efficient or not, and what services each level
should be providing to make them efficient, it is fair to suggest that the
Provincial Government be part of the examination and solution since it is a very
large part of the tax bill picture.
8
Current Distribution of Public Services
Responsibility Local Regional Provincial
Environmental Services
Sanitary Sewers Collection Treatment
Trunk System
Storm Sewers Collection Treatment
Solid Waste Collection Disposal
Water Local Trunk &
Distribution Source
Recycling Collection &
Disposal Disposal
. Environmental Protection
Conservation
Authority
Financial
Tax Collection Local & School
Board
Property Assessment
Mill Rate
Tax Levy
9
I
Responsibilit
y
Licensing
Business, Taxi, Dogs
Birth, Death, Marriage
Building Permits/Inspect
Planning
Official Plan
Land Use
Site Plan
Subdivision Plan
Development Application
Committee of
Adjustment
Non-Profit Housing
Education
Protective Services
Fire
Police
Ambulance
Animal Control
Parking Control
Property Standards
Bylaw Enforcement
I
Local
Regional
Plumbing
Inspections
I
10
Transportation
Roads Maintenance &
Repair
Road Construction Local
Road Const. Commuter
Road Const. High
Volume Thoroughfare
Street Lighting
Public Transit
Traffic Lights
Traffic Safety &
Movement
Health Services
Health Protection
Disease Prevention
Health Promotion
Home Care
Seniors Care
Hospitals
Needs/Planning
Social Services
General Welfare
Employment Programs
Child Care
Residential
11
Business Development
Business Areas (Zoning)
Business Improvement
Areas
Tourism
Recreation/Culture
Parks
Recreation Programs
& Facilities
Library Legislation
Disentanglement of Services: A Funding Issue
A move which began approximately 25 years ago, and which has steadily been
gaining momentum especially over the last few years, is the gradual
downloading and transfer of responsibility for certain services from the
Provincial level to the local level: Disentanglement.
Social assistance, land use planning, and responsibility for certain roads and
bridges are examples of services which are gradually becoming local
responsibilities.
While the Province is applauded for recognizing that disentanglement is one
means of bringing services ultimately closer to the people who use them, it must
also be recognized that the existing municipal property tax assessment system
was not designed to support these additional service responsibilities.
12
The local municipality should provide those services that can be efficiently
provided within its geographic limits but it is also realized that municipalities
cannot function in isolation. There are those Communities who are
fundamentally industrially based. Others are commercially based or
recreationally based. Communities all play different roles in meeting the
demands of the fiscal and geographical constraints and opportunities they face.
Local Government is a sophisticated form of Government which should be
legitimately recognized by the Province. Along with the new service
responsibilities which are being handed to Municipalities by the Province, should
come the autonomy and freedom to best decide how to fund and deliver those
services. Disentanglement should be taken one step further and called
Community Empowerment.
Role of the Regional Body
If Regional Governments or proposed Inter-Regional Government were not
levels of government at all, but rather, providers of inter-municipal or inter-
regional services purchased by individual municipalities, one level of
government and taxation would immediately be eliminated. This does not
suggest an automatic corresponding reduction in the amount of taxation - but it
does suggest some savings and clarification of service delivery for the taxpayer.
It also accentuates accountability at the local level where it was previously
diluted amongst two or even three levels of government.
Some municipalities could not afford the quality and sophistication of service
that a regional police force or modern sewage treatment facilities currently
provide. These are examples of municipally mandated services which would fall
under one of two categories of services made available through contract
purchases from the Regional Service Agency.
The second category of services would apply to optional or non-mandated
municipal services which individually, would be prohibitive or not feasible for
local municipalities to administer, but on an optional basis, could be purchased
13
from a larger, region-wide agency. Economic development, transit service,
cultural endeavors, waste recycling and comporting are all good candidates.
If the mandate of the Regional Agency then, was to be in business to provide
municipal services on a region-wide basis, it would be up to that Regional
Agency to make its sales pitch to local municipalities. The Agency, no longer
being a level of government with the power to tax, would in effect be operating
on the open market, and would therefore necessarily become cost conscious
and bottom line oriented. The economies of scale which are presently being
achieved through regional administration of public services would not only
continue, but would be enhanced by open market competition - and
municipalities would reap the benefits in purchase options.
By empowering the Community with these options, taxpayers would gain the
ability, via their Municipality, to select the most cost-efficient services - whether
through purchases from the Regional Agency, the open market, or through self
administration. This creates a very competitive and business-like approach to
meeting the varying individual needs of several Communities striving to keep
pace with a growing, sophisticated Region.
in yet another role, the Regional Agency would act as a facilitator, assisting
local municipalities in forming partnerships concerning issues of mutual concern
such as boundaries and the sharing of municipal facilities. In this manner, the
power to alter ones boundaries or share in the maintenance of mutual features
like roadways, for example, would rest in the hands of the communities whom
they serve - and the Regional Agency would aid in fostering the sense of co-
operation and co-ordination which promotes efficiency.
The administrative and business structure of the Regional Agency would include
a Board of Directors comprised of the Mayors and/or other representatives from
participating municipalities.
14
Role of the Greater Toronto Area Body
The Service Agency concept is also well suited for application on a GTA-wide
basis for those services which are now being identified as needing inter-regional
co-ordination, such as public transit, water supply and distribution, waste
management, and economic development.
Similar to the Regional Agency, the GTA Agency would be headed by a Board
of Directors comprised of elected representatives from participating regions.
The importance of a strong and viable GTA core, the need to co-ordinate
seamless services for GTA taxpayers, and the need to create a unique identity
for an emerging Greater Toronto Area is obvious. However, this does not mean
that ones neighbors must be absorbed in the process.
Instead, the challenge for a GTA Agency would be to bring co-ordination to its
diverse regions by promoting the overall strengths and unique qualities of each
through economic development initiatives, for example. The Greater Toronto
Area Mayors Economic Development Committee has already achieved
excellent results in this endeavour, demonstrating the feasibility of this concept.
Amalgations or annexations are a simplistic, quick-fix solution ploy used to re-
direct our attention away from the much larger and complex taxation versus
service delivery problems facing Ontarians today. Its time the Province took its
proper lead and responsibility in addressing the assessment variables and
resulting taxation imbalances which have developed throughout the Greater
Toronto Area, as a natural consequence of years of rapid growth, changing
economic conditions, and provincial government inaction on municipal dilemmas
like assessment and service funding.
The mechanics of what is being suggesting for a GTA Service Agency would
certainly require some in-depth study and fine-tuning; however, the concept, if
kept free from taxation and political powers traditionally assigned to special
purpose bodies, could well become a model in the move to decentralize and
uncomplicated government and empower the taxpayer.
Political Representation versus Bureaucracy
One of the greatest concerns for political representatives who are closest to the
taxpayer, is the crippling effect that runaway bureaucracy can have on
democracy.
There is a disturbing and growing trend at the provincial level and now, the
regional and local levels, to reduce the number of political representatives at all
levels. The relatively questionable dollar savings which may be achieved
through this measure will be at the far more serious expense of the public voice.
A reduction in political representation is tantamount to a loss of citizen control -
the very commodity that citizens everywhere are demanding to regain over their
Communities, and their lifestyles.
The elimination of one local councillor would save the individual taxpayer less
than 40 cents per year. Democracy has a cost but it is a very small portion of
the municipal tax bill. One only needs to look to the recently restructured
Region of Ottawa-Carlton for an emphatic example: Fewer political
representatives have necessitated more staff who are less accountable and less
accessible.
There is no argument that economies of scale have been realized through
certain regionally administered services - and in fact, that fact should be
supported on a regional and GTA-wide level - but not at the cost of political
representation.
Reforming the Tax System
In our view, the Municipal Assessment and Property Tax System has become
obsolete.
Assuming that Regional Government and Taxation were dissolved and replaced
by a Regional Service Agency, the same move towards disentanglement of
services should apply to a reform of the tax system in Ontario.
16
This reform would begin with the separation of assessment and properly
taxation for pure municipal or hard services from income taxation for provincial
and soft or social type services.
Municipal hard services would include the traditional, tangible services
currently provided to residents and business owners by local and regional
municipalities such as roads and bridges maintenance, parks maintenance,
recreational services, waste disposal, transit service, planning and development,
fire and police protection, and bylaws and parking enforcement.
Soft or Social services would incorporate those services catering to the care
and development of the individual such as physical and mental health and
hospital services, social assistance, homes for the aged, public education
(school boards), and other services currently provided as functions of the
Province.
Based on the above division of services, the current five taxation levels would
be reduced to three: federal and provincial combined into income taxation, and
municipal or properly taxation.
Based on the above disentanglement, the goal of municipal property tax
reform for GTA Communities should be toward a completely self-supporting
local taxation system which does not rely on provincial transfers. This would
level the playing field for both GTA municipalities and the province in obtaining
their proportionate share of the taxpayers dollar and would effectively make
each level of government more fiscally accountable.
The first step towards this reformed municipal taxation system includes a
provincial wide market value reassessment with each municipality setting its mil
rate accordingly. This is the true path towards fairly and equitably living within
ones means.
17
Recognizing that todays Provincial Government is moving towards the
empowerment of Local Government, it is appropriate to review the role of
Special Purpose Bodies, whose proliferations only continue to dilute
accountability, complicate service delivery, and extend the long arm of
Provincial influence over municipal affairs.
Our view of reform for GTA and local government includes the abolition of
special purpose bodies and the inclusion of those services under municipal
government jurisdiction. This would include library, hydro, historical
preservation, conservation authority and every other manner of board or
commission appointed to deal with hard local services.
18
Iv.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Recommendations
Emphasize Community and Taxpayer identity by strengthening local
political representation and empowering communities through self
governance and municipal partnerships
Dissolve Regional Government and Taxation in favour of Regional
Service Agencies providing mandated and optional, competitive,
cost-effective intra-municipal services
Create a Greater Toronto Area Service Agency to provide optional,
cost-effective intra-regional services
Dissolve Special Purpose Bodies - Appoint responsibilities to Local
Municipal Governments
Define and delineate Provincial from Local Services and their
delivery
Include responsibility for education taxation under Provincial Income
Tax System
Restructure Municipal Properly Assessment based on province
wide market value assessment
Reform Municipal Property Taxation to a self-funded property
system based on funding of hard local services only
19
v. Conclusion
In the great urgency to reform, burn and slash, and whip government into
shape in the Greater Toronto Area, the reader is urged not to lose sight of the
single most important benefactor of this entire exercise - the communitys
individuals - the taxpayers.
Is the taxpayer reforming government - or is bureaucracy overtaking the
taxpayer?
You are invited to question the purpose behind each and every proposal
and recommendation for change as if you were that taxpayer.
Citizens and public servants of individual communities share a special
neighborly spirit which promotes simple service efficiency that just cannot be
duplicated on a mass scale.
However, there is also no limit to what can be accomplished by
preserving and extending a common sense neighborly co-operation,
community to community, and region to region - in a bold and innovative quest
for better government and service delivery for all Communities within the
20
Offic e of t h e Ma yor
0,
%( .,.3,0*
~,
J oh n E. Cole
VIA FAX 1-416-327-1516
October 10, 1995
Greater Toronto Area Task
Chair of the GTA Mayors Sub-Committee on Local Government, Mayor
Peter Robertson, regarding provincial interventions that impede municipal
efficiency and our suggestions for streamlining, I am pleased to provide
following comments:
1, Planning & Development
There are elements of the subdivision design review process,
particularly in respect of master drainage becoming and
stormwater management quantity and quality control, that
involve the MNR the Conservation Authority, the Town, and
the Ministry of the Environment. Additionally, the process
seems bog down with either the Ministry of Natural Resources
or the Conservation Authority.
There is very real inconsistency with regard to the treatment of
developments that go forward by Plan of Subdivision and other
developments that require only Site PIan control. Although
some site plan developments involve stormwater management
considerations very similar to plans of subdivision, for some
reason, site plan developments seem to escape the review of
Provincial Ministries and the Conservation Authority unless a
Plan of Condominium Official Plan Amendment or re-zoning is
involved.
the
2 -
Significant duplication exists between the design review carried
out by the local municipality and the design review carried out
by Regional Environmental Services on behalf of the Ministry
of Environment & Energy.
2. Bill 120- Apartments in Houses
This legislation makes it legal for any single family homeowner
to create another dwelling unit within that structure. There is
no effective means however to ensure that the additional unit
meets minimum safety standards as established by the Province.
In order to meet provincial safety standards, we would suggest
an amendment to the Act to provide for compulsory inspection
and registration with the municipality as a pre-condition to
making these units legal. In addition, we would suggest that
municipal officials be given the authority, under the Municipal
Act, to enter residential units for the limited purpose of
inspecting these for compliance with provincial safety
regulations.
Incidentally, in a pre-election letter to one of our local
community associations, the Premier advised that ...A Harris
Government will change this legislation to allow municipalities
to make their own decisions about basement apartments, and to
better protect the fabric and character of neighborhoods across
the province, as well as the safety of tenants.
3. Supplementary Assessment Fees
The former Provincial government introduced a fee for
processing supplementary assessments which is to be paid
entirely by the local municipality. The taxes generated by these
assessments are levied not only by the local municipality, but
also by the Region and the Boards of Education. In fact,
Newmarkets share of the tax bill is only 18%, yet it must pay
for 100% of the supplementary fee. The Region of York
recognizes the benefit of supplementary assessments and as a
- 3-
beneficiary, has agreed to pay its proportionate share of the cost
but the Boards of Education refuse to do the same. The
anticipated net cost to the Town in 1995 as a result, is $132,000
for these fees,
We would suggest an amendment to the regulation imposing
these fees that wouId require the local municipality, the region
and the boards of education to each pay their proportionate
share of the fee.
4.
Funding
Provincial policy with regard to finding must be modified. One
example of provincial intervention which has hampered
municipalities budgeting process is the Social Contract, Target
expenditure control figures were introduced without any regard
for the capabilities and/or limitations of individual
municipalities to meet same.
Similarly, transit subsidy cuts and welfare cuts at the RegionaI
level were made without adequate notice to local municipalities
who are left to juggle finances and/or services after budgets
have been set.
1 trust these comments will be of some assistance.
Yours very truly,
&John E. Cole
Mayor
JEC:C1
Ontario
October 11, 1995
20th Floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
On behalf of the Niagara Escarpment Commission (NEC), I submit
the following comments for the GTA Task Forces consideration.
First, here is some helpful background information on the NEC and
the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP) .
The Commission is a Schedule 1 provincial agency which reports to
the Minister of Environment and Energy, and is charged with the
administration of the Niagara Escarpment Plan. The Commission
was created in 1973 and is composed of 17 members appointed by
the Ontario Premier. Eight members are elected representatives
from the municipalities in the Plan area, and nine (one of whom
is the Chair) are citizens representing the general public.
The purpose of the Plan is to provide for the maintenance of the
Niagara Escarpment and land in its vicinity substantially as a
continuous natural environment, and to ensure only such
development occurs as is compatible with that natural
environment.
The NE Plan covers an area of over 183,000 hectares stretching
from Queenston to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula,
and is Canadas largest land use plan with the primary objective
of environmental protection.
In 1990, UNESCO designated the NEP area a World Biosphere
Reserve. Representative of the worlds important ecosystems,
biosphere reserves are demonstration areas for the conservation
of biological diversity and the accommodation of environmentally
compatible development.
.../2
2
COMMENTS
1.
2.
3.
4.
6.
7.
The NE covers, approximately 11% of Peel Region and 23% of
Halton Region. It combines with the Oak Ridges Moraine and
the major river systems in the GTA to form, substantially
natural ecosystems of great bio-diversity and visual
attractiveness. These ecosystems provide resources (e.g.,
water, aggregate) and free services (e.g., flood control,
air and water purification) on which the GTAs growth,
development and quality of life depend.
Since 1973, the provincial government has maintained a
provincial planning system (under the NEP&D Act) focused
exclusively on the long-term protection of the NE.
(The NE
planning system is parallel to, but takes precedence over,
the municipal planning systems authorized by the Planning
Act and various Regional Acts.)
The three main components of the NE planning system are
the Cabinet approved Plan (1985 and 1994), the NEC (lead
agency for administration of the Plan) , and a NE Development
Control system (main Plan implementation tool in place of
zoning by-laws) .
To deal with the numerous municipal, ministry and agency
jurisdictions covered by the NE Plan, the government made it
binding on all sectors, and authorised the NEC to implement
it through a Development Control (DC) system.
This means that most forms of development in most of the.
Plan area cannot take place without a development permit
from the NEC. Municipal zoning by-laws have been. set aside
in the DC area, and a development permit must precede, but
does not replace, other approvals (e.g., septic tank,
building, pit/quarry, road).
The essence of the NE planning system is that it was
designed, and has been maintained, as a rational response to
a complex, provincial environmental planning challenge.
To protect provincially important NE ecosystems which
transcend municipal, conservation authority, and ministry
jurisdictions, the government has put in place provincial
institutional arrangements (Minister, Cabinet, NE
Commission, NE Hearing Officers) which transcend the
responsibilities of conventional planning institutions
(e.g. , Regional Councils, OMB) .
As the GTA grows and develops, so will the need to preserve
the Niagara Escarpment area, both as an increasingly
precious oasis of green within easy reach of the most
densely populated urban centres of Ontario, and as a crucial
headwaters area for a large portion of the GTA.
.../3
3
In addition, the NE is the home of the internationally known
Bruce Trail which provides fairly quick hiking and visual
access for GTA residents to the Escarpment's attractive open
landscape.
The only "infrastructure" needed for the continued
protection of the NE is the continuous vigilance
consistently applied by the NEC at the provincial level.
(No costly municipal tax levies or services are required. )
8. In mulling over the Escarpment's importance, to the GTA, I
found it instructive to reread the government's policy
statement of 1973 (copy enclosed),
which in retrospect seems
so prophetic today. The following quote from page 35 of the
document is a fitting final point:
"It is entirely appropriate that the place designated for
introducing development controls should be the Niagara
Escarpment. This ancient geological formation and superb
wildlife habitat represents the essence of Ontario:
splendour, strength and diversity. It is a place where
native plants and animals can flourish as they have for
millions of years, where people can find refuge from an
increasingly man-made environment and discover their harmony
with nature. On the Escarpment, within easy reach of the
crowded metropolitan centres of southern Ontario, it is
possible to relax, observe, explore and be refreshed by the
presence of something that people have no ability to create,
and no right to destroy.
The Government of Ontario is committed to keeping this
unique tract of nature for its own sake, for the people of
the Province and for the future.
I hope that you will find the points raised above useful when you
deal with the issues of governance, urban form and infrastructure
in the GTA.
If you wish to discuss the Niagara Escarpment programmed, I would
be pleased to meet with you at your convenience.
In addition,
your staff may wish to contact Nars Borodczak, Director of the
NEC, for more detailed information on our programme.
Yours very truly,
cc: Andre Castel
Brian Nixon
Gover n men t Policy
for
The Niagar a Escar pment
JUNE, 1973
The Niagara Escarpment
I NTRODUCTI ON
The Niagara Escarpment is one of the major natural features in the
landscape of southern Ontario. This Escarpment is a unique environ-
mental corridor stretching from Queenston, near Niagara Falls, across
the expanding urban belt and rich agricultural lands of southern
Ontario, to the tip of the Bruce Peninsula near Tobermory. It is a rich
mosaic of forests, cliffs, hills, waterfalls, scenic viewpoints,
unusual rock formations, and interesting plant and animal life. In its
southern portion, the Escarpment is the site of a multi-million dollar
extractive industry. Expanding urban, recreational and industrial
development are subjecting the Escarpment to a number of undesirable
pressures.
It is the view of the Government of Ontario that these and
associated factors necessitate a program to protect the Escarpments
distinct characteristics and to ensure a balanced future use of
Escarpment lands.
1
BACKGROUND
The Government of Ontario has expressed a continued interest in the
future of the Niagara Escarpment.
This has been manifest in a number
of ways over the last few years.
The Gertler Report
In 1967, the Government appointed Professor L. O. Gertler of the
University of Waterloo to co-ordinate a wideranging study of issues
and policies for the Niagara Escarpment area.
Professor Gertler reported
his findings the following year in a document entitled The Niagara
Escarpment Study: Conservation and Recreation Report. This study
recommended that steps be taken to ensure the preservation of the
Niagara Escarpment as natural parkland. To accomplish this, the study
set out specific recommendations in four interrelated areas:
(a) preservation of the land through a combination of government
land purchases and land-use regulation;
(b) establishment of a network of parks;
(c) standards to regulate the operations of the extractive mineral
industry; and
(d) a joint provincial-municipal planning and finance program.
Response to The Gertler Report
While the Government of Ontario did not adopt all the recommendations
in the Gertler report, it did accept the basic principles and set about
on a program of Escarpment preservation.
In September 1971, Premier Davis announced that the
Government intended to proceed in a more vigorous way to acquire
2
additional land for recreational and related uses along the Niagara
Escarpment, and that the Government, which had previously adopted
the basic philosophies set out in the Niagara Escarpment Report, has
now instigated action towards meeting the principal objectives
and recommendations.
More specifically, following the Gertler Report action was
taken on four fronts:
(a) funds were allocated, on an expanded basis, for the acquisition
of key Niagara Escarpment lands, In addition, the Government
increased grants to conservation authorities from 50 per cent
to 75 per cent of the cost of Escarpment lands approved for
acquisition
(b) the Niagara
since January 1968;
Escarpment has been an area of special emphasis
for the provincial land acquisition program. Between January
1968 and the end of 1972 the Government bought approximately
20,000 acres of Escarpment land at a cost of almost $7 million;
(c) as a result of
municipalities
discussions with the Province, several
now have Escarpment preservation measures built
into their official plans.
(d) a new policy on pits and quarries, incorporating most of the
recommendations of the Gertler Report, became effective in
June 1970 with the passage of The Niagara Escarpment Pro-
tection Act. The following year, The Pits and Quarries Control
3
Act was passed, strengthening regulations covering the
operation and siting of all pits and quarries.
The Niagara Escarpment Task Force
Effective though these measures were in meeting a number of immediate
problems, they did not represent a comprehensive program for the
Escarpment. Many key issues remained unanswered:
- what are the overall goals and objectives which the Government
should adopt in framing a comprehensive policy for the Escarpment
which level of governmentmunicipal or provincialshould
bear the primary responsibility for developing an overall land-
use plan for
what kind of
Escarpment
this area
planning program is most appropriate for the
what should be the priorities for government acquisition of lands
what further
planning and
area
- what further
operation of
Obviously
was fully cognizant
such as these could
interim measures are necessary to ensure that good
landuse control become a reality for the Escarpment
measures, if any, are
pits and quarries?
these are fundamental
needed to regulate the
questions. The Government
of
do
the fact that snap
more harm than good.
4
answers to questions
At the same time, the
Government was aware that early action was needed if key portions of
the Escarpment were not to be overwhelmed by competing development
pressures.
To aid in formulating a practical and realistic policy for
the Escarpment, the Government announced the appointment of a Niagara
Escarpment Task Force in May 1972. This Task Force, consisting of
senior representatives from those Ministries most directly associated
with Escarpment programs, had the following terms of reference:
1. To develop overall priorities to be used in the acquisition of
land by the Province and its agencies
2. To advise on all proposed land acquisitions by the Province and
its agencies
3. To establish land-use and development standards and to examine
methods of land-use control and to recommend a system to ensure
the appropriate use of lands
4. To advise upon all proposals which would result in major
changes in existing landuse patterns.
The Task Force began
submit its final report to the
examining the substance of the
its work immediately, and was able to
Government in December 1972. Before
Task Force Report, and the Governments
response to it, a word should be said about how the Task Force operated,
The Niagara Escarpment Task Force set out to find
out how the people most concerned actually felt about the preservation
of the Escarpment. How did the public feel about what had been
done? About what remained to be done? To provide for this public
5
discussion, the Task Force held open meetings in seven communities alo
the Escarpment: St. Catharines, Hamilton, Milton, Orangeville,
Collingwood, Owen Sound and Lions Head.The meetings were well
attended and proved to be forums for spirited debate. As well as the
public meetings, the Task Force maintained extensive contact with local
authorities and concerned citizens through personal interviews, meetin
with municipal councils, ratepayers groups, conservation-oriented
organizations and businessmen, and through hundreds of briefs and
letters. In total, the Task Force has estimated that it had direct
contact with more than 3,500 people.
The Task Force reported in late 1972.The intervening
months have been spent in a careful analysis of the report, and the
formulation of a definitive Government policy for the Escarpment.
While this policy will vary from some of the recommendations of the Ta
Force, the Government wishes to emphasize that a comprehensive policy
would not now be possible without the work performed by the Niagara
Escarpment Task Force. The report of the Task Force is being released
today as a supplement to this Statement of Government policy.
GOAL AND OBJECTIVES FOR THE NIAGARA ESCARPMENT
To provide the framework for an Escarpment policy the Task Force
recommended that the fundamental goal, or purpose, of any policy for th
Escarpment should be:
To maintain the Niagara Escarpment as a continuous
natural environment while seeking to accommodate
6
demands compatible with that environment.
The Government accepts this recommendation. This means
that all Government actions in the Escarpment area will be directed
toward the preservation of the unique natural environment of the
Escarpment. It is important to note, however, that this goal recognizes
that preservation of the natural environment should not be the sole
purpose of all government activity related to the Escarpment.
Acceptance of the goal means that the Government will pursue policies
which also accommodate other demands-- such as urban and recreation
development which are compatible with the goal of Escarpment
preservation.
To attain this goal, the Task Force set out six objectives.
The Government accepts these objectives and will use them as guidelines
for its own programs,and for the activities of the municipal and
private sectors. These objectives are:
1. To protect unique ecologic and historic areas
2. To maintain and enhance the quality and character of natural
streams and water supplies
3. To provide adequate opportunities for outdoor recreation,
through the public and private sectors
4. To maintain and enhance the open landscape character of the
Escarpment by such means as compatible farming or forestry and
by preserving the natural scenery
7
5. To ensure that all new development is compatible with the goal
for the Escarpment
6. To provide adequate access to the Escarpment.
To ensure that all policies and programs for the Escarpment
will be framed with the basic goal and six objectives in mind, these
have been incorporated in new legislation introduced today.
TO ACHIEVE OUR PURPOSE
To carry out a program designed to realize the goal and objectives
outlined above, two differing approaches or alternatives could have
been used.
The Acquisition Approach
The first alternative is a massive program of land acquisition. Using
this approach, the Government of Ontario would have ended up owning the
Escarpment and associated landsan area of approximately 1.3 million
acres. This approach has been rejected by the Government.
Many activities in the Escarpment area can, most
appropriately, be left to the private sector. Examples of these
activities are agriculture, and some forms of recreation, quarrying and
urban development. To the extent that these activities do not
conflict with the accepted goal and are, in the words of the goal
demands compatible with that environment, they are acceptable.
We must also consider costs. The Government estimates that
the cost of purchasing all lands associated with the Escarpment would
8
be in excess of $3 billion. If public purchases were necessary in
order to achieve our purposes in the Niagara Escarpment area, it could
be done although the cost would be high.However, in most parts of
the Escarpment such purchases would be to ensure that present land
uses will continue, Therefore, it is appropriate that the land
remain in private hands and present uses remain undisturbed.
For these reasons, the Government has rejected total
acquisition of the Escarpment area.
The Planning Approach
The second alternativeis to create a planning system
provinciallydirected land-use regulation plus public
necessary. This approach is the method chosen by the
This has been done for several reasons.
featuring strong,
ownership where
Government.
First, this approach permits a variety of land ownership and
uses in the Escarpment area.This in turn means that we can harness
the strengths and initiatives of the private sector in helping us to
achieve our purposes. It is generally agreed that continued private
ownership in agriculture and some forms of recreation facilities,
for example, is desirable and necessary to our policies.
Second, we must recognize that the Escarpment has both
provincial and local significance. By using a planning framework to
achieve our purposes we will be able to provide for a strong local
contribution to land-use decisions affecting the Escarpment area.
9
Third, this technique will enable the Government to concen-
trate its land acquisition funds on those key areas of the Escarpment
where public ownership is most desirable. It must be emphasized, how-
ever, that such an acquisition program will still be expensive.
For these reasons, the Government has decided to preserve
the Niagara Escarpment through a new and innovative planning framework
which marks a significant departure from past practices. Again, it
should be noted that this conclusion is supported by the findings of
the Niagara Escarpment Task Force.
10
THE NEW PLANNING FRAMEWORK
The planning framework exhibits three new major features: a new
organization to do the planning, a new process whereby the planning
will be done, and new legislation to embody these changes.
The Niagara Escarpment Commission
The Niagara Escarpment Task Force recommended the establishment of a
Niagara Escarpment Secretariat to prepare a plan for the Escarpment,
to co-ordinate and monitor government programs, and to serve as the
source of public contact on Escarpment issues. The proposed
Secretariat was not seen by the Task Force as a part of a regular formal
Ministry structure.
After careful consideration, the Government has adopted a
slightly different approach. In the Governments view, the body charged
with planning for the Escarpment area must exhibit three essential
features.
First, this body should have a large degree of flexibility
in setting out its own administrative arrangements and in securing
the best staff support possiblewhether inside or outside government.
Innovative planning requires innovative structures.
Second, there must be direct local participation in such a
planning program. As noted before, the Escarpment is vitally significant
to those local communities directly influenced by its presence.
Third, the body directing such an important and new planning
program should be directly accountable to a member of Cabinet-
11
because Cabinet is the final policymaking body within our system
of government.
For these reasons, the Government has decided to establish a
Niagara Escarpment Commission. This Commission will report to the
Treasurer of Ontario because the Ministry of Treasury, Economics and
Intergovernmental Affairs now has the responsibility for guiding
provincial and local planning in Ontario.
Membership in the Niagara Escarpment Commission will be
secured on the following basis:
(a) eight members will represent local government. These will be
appointed by the Provincial Government following nomination
by the eight Counties and Regions within the Niagara
Escarpment Planning Area. In making nominations, it is
expected that the Counties and Regions will consider
individuals from those local municipalities through which the
Escarpment runs. The Counties and Regions which will be asked
to nominate representatives are: The Regional Municipality of
Niagara and the Counties of Wentworth, Halton, Peel, Dufferin,
Simcoe, Grey and Bruce;
(b) nine members, one of whom will be the Chairman, will be
appointed by the Government as Provincial representatives.
Thus, the Niagara Escarpment Commission will have a total
of seventeen members.
To enable it to carry out its duties effectively, the Niagara
Escarpment Commission will have the power to hire such staff as it
12
feels appropriate, and will also be able to request the services of key
personnel within any government ministry.
The Government does not view the Commission as a permanent
feature of the Provinces organization structure. As has been noted,
the Commissions main task is to prepare a plan for the Niagara
Escarpment area. When this job has been substantially completed-
probably not later than 1976the Government intends to transfer to
local government many of the responsibilities initially carried out by
the Commission.
The Planning Process
The Commission has been charged with the responsibility of preparing
a master plan for an area to be known as the Niagara Escarpment
Planning Area. This Area is similar to the study area used by the
Gertler Report with two important differences:
- the boundaries of the original study area have
off to follow lots, concessions and municipal
wherever possible.
- the entire Bruce Peninsula has been included.
been squared
boundaries
A map of the Niagara Escarpment Planning area is attached to
this Policy Statement.
In setting out a planning framework the Task Force noted that
if the stated purpose of Escarpment protection is to be achieved,
provincial policies and plans must be pre-eminent in the control and
13
development of the Escarpment. The Government accepts this premise
and has, therefore, authorized the Niagara Escarpment Commission to
prepare a master plan for the Escarpment area,
The Master Plan
In the preparation of this master plan the Commission will
be directed to work closely with local government. As will be seen
throughout this Policy Statement, the Government does not view the
Commission-or its planning program-as a substitute for direct local
decisionmaking. Municipalities will be full participants in the
Commission, in the plan preparation and ultimately in much of its
execution.
The Niagara Escarpment plan may contain guidelines covering
any or all of the following:
- policies for the economic, social and physical development
of the planning area, including land and water management,
population distribution and density, pollution control,
the designation of major land uses, provision of parks and
major servicing, transportation and communication systems;
policies relating to the financing and scheduling of public
worksprovincial or municipal;
provision for the co-ordination of provincial and local
planning and development activities;
policies designed to ensure that private development will be
compatible with the plan.
14
This must not be taken to mean that the
will be responsible for all planning in
the guidelines of the provincial master
Niagara Escarpment Commission
the affected area. Within
plan, there will still be many
significant planning decisions which can be made most effectively by
local government.
In recognition of this continuing role for local government,
and to ensure that local government accepted this responsibility, the
Task Force recommended that official plans be made mandatory for all
municipalities having jurisdiction within the Escarpment planning area.
In slightly modified form this recommendation has been accepted by
the Government. Under the new Niagara Escarpment Act, the Province may
require any municipality to prepare and adopt an official plan and
submit the plan for approval within a specified period of time.
In order to be effective, any plan prepared by the Niagara
Escarpment Commission and adopted by the Province must have clear legal
status. To achieve this, the Task Force recommended that any such plans
must be legally binding on all governments-provincial and municipal.
The Government endorses this approach. Once the master plan has been
approved by the Government, the plan will take precedence over local
plans. This means that no works can be undertaken which do not
conform to the plan. In addition, all existing official plans will be
modified to bring them into conformity with the overall plan.
The Government recognizes that the obligation to modify
existing official plans and, in some cases, to prepare new official
plans, will mean significant expenditures for many municipalities.
15
Because of this, funds will be made available to assist those
municipalities obliged to undertake such activities.
In a planning program as far-reaching as this, provision must
be made to enable changes in the plan after its initial adoption.
The Task Force recommended two ways of doing this: clear provision
for amendments, and periodic reviews of the entire plan. The
Government has accepted both of these recommendations, and appropriate
provisions are included in the new Niagara Escarpment Act.
Participation in the Planning Process
In a key set of recommendations relating to the planning process,
the Niagara Escarpment Task Force recommended that municipalities,
individual citizens and provincial agencies should be able to
contribute to the development of provincial and local plans
covering the Escarpment. These recommendations are entirely in keeping
with this Governments view of the planning process as an open system
where all can contribute. Because of this, the recommendations have
been accepted by the Government
is contained in the new Niagara
The Act provides that
and a detailed system of participation
Escarpment Act.
the Niagara Escarpment Commission
must ensure that copies of the proposed plan or any subsequent
amendments are supplied to municipalities, advisory bodies and
provincial agencies. In addition, copies of the proposed plan
amendments will be available
examination. After a stated
to any member of the public for
period of time has passed, during
16
or
which the
plan will have been evaluated by the general public and official
bodies, and comments will have been received by the Commission, the
Commission will appoint an impatial person to conduct a hearing or
series of hearings and to report back. This will provide a further
opportunity for any municipality or member of the public to state
a view on the proposed plan or amendment. The report of the hearing
officer, together with briefs and other comments, will be submitted
to the Treasurer along with the Commissions draft master plan. All
these documents will also be made public at the same time. Only after
this process has been completed would the Province proceed with
approval of the plan or amendment.
The Local Role in Planning for the Escarpment
The Task
outlined
if local
program.
that the
Force points out, quite correctly, that the planning framework
above will truly be a joint provincial-local effort only
governments are strong enough to carry their share of the
To accelerate the process, the Task Force recommended
system of local government in the Escarpment area
restructured immediately. The Government has not accepted
recommendation.
should be
this
One part of the Niagara Escarpment area is already operating
under a system of regional government. The Regional Municipality of
Niagara covers the southernmost portion of the Escarpment. Three
regional governments have been proposed for the segment of the
Escarpment running from Hamilton to OrangevilleHamiltonWentworth,
17
Halton and Peel. Some of these areas may be operating under a
form of regional government as early as the beginning of next
year. In the remaining section of the Escarpment, from Orangeville to
Tobermory, no proposals have been made for regional government. In
these areas, the Government will move to enable the existing counties
to set up effective planning mechanisms.
The Government of Ontario will take several steps to ensure
that the planning process makes adequate provision for local
concerns in all areas of the Escarpment.
In the Regional Municipality of Niagara, the new Niagara
Escarpment Commission will be directed to work closely with the Region,
The Government policy being announced today will assist the Regional
Municipality of Niagara in its planning program. Regional Niagara can
only frame detailed planning policies for its area of the Escarpment
when definitive statements of overall Provincial policy and guidelines
are available. The formation of the Niagara Escarpment Commission
and the planning program set out in The Niagara Escarpment Act will
make these policies and guidelines available. From the beginning,
we expect that the level of planning undertaken by the Niagara
Escarpment Commission within the Regional Niagara area can be
more generalized and less specific than will be the case elsewhere
since many decisions can and will be made at the regional government
level. The Commission will be expected
draft regional plan for Niagara as part
18
to use
of its
much of the existing
own guidelines.
The Niagara Escarpment Commission will be developing the
Escarpment master plan at the same time that the Hamilton-Wentworth,
Halton and Peel areas are working on their official plans and the
time-lag noted in the case of Niagara will not recur.With the
Provincial and local governments developing their plans concurrently
a fully integrated plan will be a reality.
In the
restructuring of
must be taken to
remaining section of the Escarpment, where no
local government will occur, a different approach
ensure effective local participation.
This section
Simcoe, Grey and Bruce
covers parts of the counties of Dufferin,
In each of these counties, the Government
will continue to encourage the establishment of county planning boar
to prepare county-wide official plans in close association with the
Niagara Escarpment Commission.
The working relationship between the Niagara Escarpment
Commission and local government is important. As suggested
above, this relationship will vary considerably from one part of the
Escarpment to another. In the Niagara Region, the entire Provincial
planning program will be less detailed than elsewhere, perhaps being
confined to a set of guidelines which the Region can use in defining
its own planning program. While the master plan will be more detailed
in other parts of the Escarpment, it must not become so specific as to
frustrate local decision-making. The Government will monitor the
work of the Commission carefully to ensure that the master plan does
not become a substitute for local plans and local decision-making.
19
As the planning program of the Commission evolves, the
provincial-local relationship will change. The bulk of the work to
be done by the Niagara Escarpment Commission will be completed by 1976.
At that time it is the intention of the Government that as many
functions of the Commission as possible will be transferred to local
government.
In addition to the responsibilities they will exercise as
planning authorities, local government on the Escarpment will have
role within the provincial planning process itself. Each regional
government and county will be directly represented on the Niagara
Escarpment Commissionthe body responsible for the preparation of
a
the provincial master plan. Also, during the period when the public
response is being solicited to the proposed plan or amendments, the
new legislation gives a clear advisory role to local government,
For example: counties and regions will be asked to receive any
submissions, comments or proposals from constituent municipalities,
and then to prepare a consolidated statement of views for submission
to the Commission.
Finally, provision is made for some of the detailed planning
powers of the Treasurer to be delegated to local governments along
the Escarpment when they have the necessary experience and
planning staff.
20
New Legislation
Today the Government has introduced new legislationThe Niagara
Escarpment Act. This Act will establish the Niagara Escarpment
Commission and initiate the planning process outlined above. Specific
features of the Act will be referred to in subsequent sections of
this Policy Statement.
In order to implement the policy of Escarpment preservation
through rational land use, the Government assigns a high priority to
this legislation and expects early passage during the current session
of the Legislature.
The Planning Framework: Summary
To summarize, the Government is introducing a new system of planning
for the Niagara Escarpment area. This new system has the following
basic features:
(a)
(b)
establishment of a Niagara Escarpment
the master plan. The Commission will
provincial-municipal body
Commission to draft
be a joint
establishment of a planning process in which:
- provincial policies will be stated in a master plan
official plans will be mandatory
- both the provincial plan and municipal official plans, will
be legally binding on provincial and local governments
all existing official plans will be modified to reflect
the approved provincial master plan
21
assistance will be given to municipalities in drafting

and modifying their official plans
full provision will. be made for public comment and response

to plan proposals before the master plan is adopted
- local government will play an increasingly significant
role in plan formulation and execution
(c) the passage of The Niagara Escarpment Act is a high priority
during the present session.
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION: DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
The Niagara Escarpment Task Force concluded that the present system
of controlling land uses through zoning by-laws cannot provide the
kind of control needed in a large, varied and environmentally sensitive
area such as the Niagara Escarpment.
In support of this conclusion, the Task Force took a critical
look at the current method of enforcing planning policies through
restricted-area by-laws (usually referred to as zoning by-laws).
They noted that such by-laws create a series of zones or land-use
areas and establish development standards for all the uses permitted in
each zone. A by-law of this sort is prepared according to general
knowledge of each zones physical condition. Because of this, a zoning
by-law cannot set out the particular requirements which would be
followed if every individual property were to be treated according to
22
its own environmental elements. If this were attempted, the zoning
by-law would become unmanageable since all the detailed conditions
would have to apply to all lands designated for the same use within
the area. This means that an important element of flexibility in
judging individual development would be lost.
What is needed
ment would be studied on
planning policies, would
implement these planning
is a system in which every proposed develop
its own merits and, if found compatible with
be subject to special standards designed to
policies. This type of plan implementation
is known as development control.
Accordingly, the
plan should be implemented
Task Force recommended that an Escarpment
by development controls instead of zoning
by-laws, and that the criteria for development control should be
incorporated into any master plan for the Escarpment area.
The Government has accepted these recommendations and, in the
new Niagara Escarpment Act, incorporates a system of plan implementation
through development control.
Development control is a departure from existing practices.
We do not know of any jurisdiction in North America where development
control is used as a method of plan implementationalthough it has
been used successfully in some European countries including the
United Kingdom. Because it is new, unforeseen problems will undoubtedly
arise in the initial period. In the longer run, however, this
23
technique will provide the flexibility needed if we are to achieve our
primary goal in the preservation of the Niagara Escarpment.
More specifically, the development control process will
proceed along the following lines within the planning process outlined
above:
(a) As soon as The Niagara Escarpment Act is passed, parts of the
Escarpment planning area would be designated as subject to
development controls, and appropriate regulations would be
instituted. These would be administered initially by the
Ministry of Treasury, Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs
(b) When the Niagara Escarpment Commission becomes operational,
development control administration would be delegated to it
(c) The Commission would then be responsible for preparing the
master plan as well as administering development controls
(d) After the master plan is
control may be delegated
substantially complete, development
to local governments.
The Government has decided to use development control as
means of plan implementation in order to avoid the cumbersome and
unwieldy techniques of freezing all development on the Escarpment
a
pending the adoption of the master plan. Development which is not in
conflict with our overall goal of preservation will not be held back.
Indeed, the establishment of the Commission as a central "point of
reference for all Escarpment issues should facilitate the making of
planning decisions on proposed development.
24
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION: LAND ACQUISITION
The Niagara Escarpment Task Force considered the issue of land
acquisition in detail. As pointed out before, a massive program of
land acquisition is not appropriate as a means for preserving the
Escarpment. The provincial purchase of key areas, however, will be an
important aspect of the Governments Escarpment preservation program.
But it is clear that the land acquisition program must reinforce the
realization of the master plan for the Escarpment.
There are many land uses which are compatible with the
Escarpments natural environment-agriculture, commercial forestry,
resort and residential development could all be compatible depending
on location and character. In such instances, there should be no
need for provincial land acquisition. In other parts of the Escarpment
area, the environment can be maintained through the master plan and
the use of development controls outlined previously. Although this
should reduce much of the need for provincial land purchases, there
are certain features which can be preserved most effectively by
acquisition. The Task Force has recommended, and the Government has
adopted for itself, and provincially-aided agencies such as conservation
authorities, the following priorities for future acquisitions:
(a) unique ecologic and historic areas
(b) new recreational facilities, especially potential park lands
near urban centres
(c) the best route for the Bruce Trail.
25
One
of easements.
and specified
applicable in
form of acquisition which can be used is the purchase
This is the purchase of certain rights such as access
uses without total acquisition. This is particularly
the case of the Bruce Trail, where acquisition will be
in the form of easements and total purchase, depending on particular
circumstances.
A further word here is appropriate regarding the future of
the Bruce Trail. The Task Force recommended, and the Government accepts,
an approach whereby the Province will determine the best route for the
Trail in consultation with the Bruce Trail Association. It is the
Governments intention to delegate Trail management responsibilities to
the Bruce Trail Association. There has been much discussion about use
of the Trail.
should be used
The Government
The Task Force has recommended that the Bruce Trail
only for walking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.
endorses this recommendation and will ensure that the
Niagara Escarpment master plan reflects this decision.
The Government is now developing land acquisition priorities
for southern Ontario. As far as the Escarpment is concerned, it is
our intention to adhere to these broader priorities in making any
land purchases outside the three categories outlined previously.
A vigorous program of provincial land acquisition is currently
underway on the Escarpment. This program has many activities pro-
ceeding at any given time, including the securing of options on
certain properties, and the commitment of provincial funds upon the
completion of current negotiations. To avoid any confusion or hardship,
26
the Task Force recommended that the Province honour its existing options
and other firm agreements regarding land acquisition. The Government
accepts this recommendation and appropriate provision is made in The
Niagara Escarpment Act.
Finally, on the question of land acquisition, the Task Force
put forth a series of recommendations on funding for these purchases.
Without accepting the details of each recommendation, the Government
agrees with the philosophy expressed. Funding for land acquisition
should be tied to the priorities set out previously for the various
types of purchases, and be seen as part of an overall long-term funding
of a provincial land acquisition program. The Government has, in the
past, viewed Escarpment land purchases as a high priority within its
overall land acquisition program for Ontario, and will continue
to do so.
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION: PITS AND QUARRIES
Perhaps no other issue has received more public attention along the
Escarpment than the question of the proper role for pit and quarry
operations. This issue will be an important element in the implementa-
tion of any plan to preserve the Niagara Escarpment.
As pointed out by the Task Force, guidelines relating to
pits and quarries must take into account the importance of the
Escarpment as a source of construction material. In 1969, consumption
of sand, gravel and stone in the Toronto-Centred Region totalled more
than 50.2 million tons, and the rate of consumption was increasing
faster than the rate of population growth. The availability of such
27
materials is essential to continued development in Central Ontario.
In that portion of the Escarpment extending from Saltfleet Township
to Collingwood, aggregate production represents more than 35 per cent
of all aggregate used in the Central Ontario Region.
But aggregate production is, by its very nature, disruptive
to the natural environment. No amount of cosmetic surgery" during
or after production can hide the fact that a pit or quarry is incom-
patible with the accepted policy of preserving the Niagara Escarpment.
How then does one reconcile the overall policy with the need for
Escarpment aggregate materials? This is a question which the Task Force
has considered carefully. A series of recommendations have been made,
and are accepted by the Government as policy for the Escarpment.
The Policy which the Government will adopt on pits and
quarries will have the following features:
(a) Within the Niagara Escarpment planning area, the Government
will establish a Pits and Quarries Restrictive Zone.
Within this zone, new pits or quarries--including
wayside pits
--will be prohibited. The Niagara Escarpment
Task Force has outlined a proposed restrictive zone shown
on a map attached to this Statement. This zone has been
delineated on the basis of prominent topographical features
associated with the Escarpment, unique and scenic areas
and recreational sites. As an interim measure, the Government
is adopting the restrictive zone as recommended, and will
issue no new permits within this area.
28
(b)
The restrictive zone will be reviewed by the Niagara
Escarpment Commission as part of its planning program, and any
necessary changes will be made when the master plan for the
Escarpment is adopted.
Within the "Pits and Quarries Restrictive Zone, if a
licensed pit or quarry is found, by the Niagara Escarpment
Commission, to be in serious conflict with the goals and
objectives for the Escarpment, the Government will work with
the operator to seek an alternative location. This might
necessitate the construction of access roads, aid in
assembling land, and freight cost assistance. The old site
would be rehabilitated by the operator and turned over to an
appropriate government agency.
(c) To protect the Escarpments valuable mineral resources, the
Niagara Escarpment Commission will be asked to designate
Mineral Resource Areas in the Escarpment corridor. New pits
and quarries will be permitted in these areas under standards
to be defined in the master plan for the Escarpment.
Finally, the Task Force has recommended that changes be made
in The Pits and Quarries Control Act to simplify permit procedures for
small operators producing less than 10,000 cubic yards per year.
The Task Force also recommends the publication of a booklet explaining
in simple language the complex regulations under The Pits and Quarries
Control Act. The Government accepts both these recommendations and
will take appropriate action.
29
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION: LIMITED RECREATION RESOURCES
Another area of concern identified by the Task Force is the growing
scarcity of recreational resources in view of rapidly accelerating
demand. Two recommendations have been made and will be incorporated
as Government policy in the master plan for the Escarpment.
One of the recommendations is a general statement of policy:
that good harbour areas, shorelines and water and access to shorelines
and water should be protected for public use within a comprehensive
plan for the Escarpment area. As part of this general policy, the
Task Force has made a recommendation with specific reference to the
existing 66-foot shoreline reserve around much of the Bruce Peninsula.
In all cases where this reserve has not been legally alienated, no new
private development should be permitted, and existing development should
continue only if it conforms to provincial and municipal plans.
Both these recommendations are accepted and will be referred to the
Niagara Escarpment Commission as directions to be included in the
planning program.
FINANCIAL IMPLACATIONS
The program to preserve the Escarpment will have financial implications
for both the Province and municipalities.
The Province
As noted previously, the acquisition of key areas within the Niagara
Escarpment corridor will make significant demands upon the Provinces
financial resources. It is not possible to make accurate cost estimates
30
at this time. However, the Government has attempted to develop some
very rough figures.
If it is assumed that the Government will acquire 20 per cent
of the Niagara Escarpment area (and we do not know precisely if the area
designated for acquisition will be 20 per cent, the figure could be
higher or lower), then acquisition costs could run from a low of $250
million to a high of more than $500 million. The high
on differing assumptions as to average cost per acre.
will be paid to all owners of property acquired in the
Escarpment area.
and low is based
Full compensation
Niagara
The Niagara Escarpment Commission itself will require
financing. For example, members of the Commission may receive payments
for their services, and it will be necessary to establish one or more
offices and to hire staff. Costs associated with the Commission could
be in the neighbourhood of from $100,000 to $200,000 per year.
The Niagara Escarpment Task Force has recommended certain
payments to local
by the Government
(a)
(b)
payments
government, and these proposals have been accepted
These payments will include the following:
in lieu of municipal taxes on properties owned
by the Province and its agencies;
payments in recognition of the need by municipalities to modify
existing official plans and prepare and adopt new plans;
The Government has not attempted to quantify the financial
implications of these decisions at this time.
31
Finally, the Province may incur expenditures associated with
the relocation of operating pits and quarries within the restrictive
zone described previously. Again, an estimate of expenditure
associated with this policy cannot yet be made.
Municipalities
No major new expenditures at the municipal level are expected as a
result of the policies outlined in this Statement. As noted above,
municipalities will receive grants to cover, in part, any significant
new costs associated with official plan preparation and amendment.
Private Sector
The land-use designations in the provincial plan and local official
plans will, of course, be reflected in property taxation in due course.
There will, therefore, be no undue taxation burden placed on owners
of lands in the Escarpment area. However, the Task Force did identify
one case where special tax treatment is recommended. While the property
tax assessment base will reflect the use to which the land is put,
there may be a few cases where the actual land-use is less intense than
the land-use permitted by the plan. Under such circumstances, a system
of partial deferral of property taxes was suggested. The Government
has accepted the concept behind this recommendation. The Niagara
Escarpment Act permits agreements between property owners and
municipalities in those cases which would permit the owner to pay
property taxes based on actual land-use with deferment of the remaining
taxes for a stipulated period.
32
One other point of particular concern to the private sector
must be noted. Much of the land in the Escarpment is used for
agricultural purposes and will be preserved as such. A policy of
preservation is not possible, however, without joint action by all
governments. The Government of Ontario and the municipalities of the
Escarpment area are ready to play their part in a program of farmland
preservation. But this will not succeed unless the federal government
also plays its role by ensuring stable domestic markets for agricultural
products. Recent tariff changes provide cause for great concern that
this legitimate role will not be accepted by the federal government.
If stable markets for agricultural products are not realized, the
Province will be forced to re-examine the validity of engaging in a
program of farmland and fruitland preservation along the Escarpment
and elsewhere in Ontario. All of the residents of Ontariourban as
well as ruralhave an interest in the preservation and encouragement of
our agricultural industry. We are all beneficiaries of a vital and
healthy farm economy. Ontario has recognized this in the farm tax
changes announced a few weeks ago in the 1973 Budget Statement. This,
and the needed action by the federal government to ensure adequate
markets, will make the role of agriculture in the Escarpment area
significantas it should be.
CONCLUSION
The Government of Ontarios concern over the future of the
Niagara Escarpment area is related to the two purposes of our policy
to preserve this unique area as a wilderness and recreation resource
33
and also to accommodate other land uses that are compatible with such
preservation. Neither purpose will be realized without a comprehensive
plan for the future and an effective means of putting that plan into
action.
Considering the size of the Escarpment area--2,000 square
miles--and the number of local bodies currently holding jurisdiction
throughout the area, there is a clear need for strong leadership
in both planning and implementation of Escarpment policies. The
Government of Ontario recognizes its responsibility to provide that
leadership, on behalf of all the people of Ontario.
The Governments goal for the Escarpment concerns the entire
Province. The Governments plan, however, must have a role built into
it for the communities of the Escarpment area. Within these areas are
the people most immediately concerned. They will have a strong voice
in the planning and, to as great an extent as possible, they will have
a major part to play in making the plan work. In this way, they will
participate in the preservation of an irreplaceable heritage.
Throughout the industrial nations of the world, people have
recognized the need to do something about the unstemmed tide of
development which could threaten the quality of human life. However,
in too many places, there is little more than mere recognition of the
problem. Ontario is a pioneer in taking action-now--to provide a
better life for the future. The course of this action, in the Niagara
Escarpment area, is a carefully planned program of development control--
something new to this continent and, like anything new, it is bound to
34
encounter some teething problems.
Nevertheless, the Government of
Ontario is convinced that without adequate planning, particularly in
this area of the Province, the future will bring ecological and
psychological chaos.
It is entirely appropriate that the place designated for
introducing development
This ancient geological
the essence of Ontario:
controls should be the Niagara Escarpment.
formation and superb wildlife habitat represents
splendour, strength and diversity. It is a
place where native plants and animals can flourish as they have for
millions of years, where people can find refuge from an increasingly
manmade environment and discover their harmony with nature. On the
Escarpment, within easy reach of the crowded metropolitan centres of
southern Ontario, it is possible to relax, observe, explore and be
refreshed by the presence of something that people have no ability
to create, and no right to destroy.
The Government of Ontario is committed to keeping this
unique tract of nature for its own sake, for the people of the
Province and for the future.
35
THE A. C. E. CONCEPT
COUNCILLOR BRIAN NICHOLSON
ClTY OF OSHAWA/REGION OF DURHAM
AUGUST, 1995
In the next few sections, we find the outline of that vision and the principles
behind it.
Too often a review of government depends on the views of its political
representatives and its bureaucracy. Abetter review would seek to
understand the needs of the society that the government wishes to serve.
For too many citizens, government appears distant, unresponsive,
uncaring and part of the problem.
In the so-called G. T. A., years of population growth have increased the
pressures on local governments. Our response has been to Increase the
complexity of local government as It tries to meet every demand, large
and small, The result of this headlong dash to meet the perceived
need is Inequity, waste, duplication, Inefficiency, paralysis, inertia,
public confusion and a lack of accountability. This complexity of
government and the growth of competing and non-cooperative tiers of
government have lead to a massive drop in the publics confidence. This is
particularly true regarding local governments ability to meet the real needs
of the society it claims to serve.
In Oshawa, we have five competing levels of municipal representation,
the Regional level, the Local level, the Public Board of Education, the
Separate Board of Education, and the Public Utilities Commission,
Additional to these levels are numerous special purpose and advisory
bodies. All claim to work for the public, but in essence compete with each
other due to confused mandates and conflicting visions. Confusing the
public further is that each grouping has a parallel bureaucracy. This tangled
web of policies, procedures and services challenges the abilities of both
those charged with administrating it and those seeking its services.
4
To explain the effect of this quagmire of confusion, you must picture a five
headed monster, each head with a different brain and different appetite.
Each head competes with the other to control the body. At feeding time,
each head wishes to eat according to its appetite, regardless of the needs
of the body. As the food supply diminishes, each head must devise ways to
achieve enough food to satisfy its hunger and thus each head competes
with the others. In times of plenty, each head gorges itself and develops its
massive appetite. In times of famine, each head must outfox the others in
order to eat. This expends more energy each day on the problem of
competing for food and less on managing the body. Ultimately as each
realizes that there is not enough food to go around, they try to cooperate so
that each may eat. Sadly while the brains may wish to cooperate, the
appetite continues to demand its accustomed share. Cooperation fades
into mistrust, mistrust to fear, fear unto paranoia and thus the heads fight
for the remaining food. Meanwhile the body wastes away as the heads
expend greater energies on the fight and lesson maintaining the health of
the body. Substitute the political representatives and senior staff for
the brain, taxes and other revenues for the food, the administration for
the appetite and the services for the body. You now understand the
problems of todays municipal government.
We must create a government that has the protection and the
enhancement of the services that the public demands as its first priority.
The A.C.E. concept demands as its first principle, ACCOUNTABILITY.
To be accountable, government must be understandable and accessible.
THE A. C, E, CONCEPT
Our current system requires you to have a directory to locate your
elected representatives, to direct you to what level each represents
and to explain how to access that level. This is not a system that is
either understandable or accessible.
The major benefit of the Provincial or Federal system is that its initial
access point rests at one place, the riding member. When all else fails, it is
the universal access to their systems. The municipal level replaces that
universal access point with a variety of tiers and individuals. Even worse,
they do not connect by a clear, cooperative method of communication.
Contact is sporadic, depending on the whim of the individual and tier.
Often, personal and political conflicts serve to sever any contact between
levels at all. The system takes on the characteristics of the multi-headed
monster.
The public victimized by the confusion and conflict retreats behind a
wall of apathy, frustration and anger. I have often felt that a sign should
hang over the entrance of each municipal hall engraved, "Abandon all
hope ye who enter here..
The second principle of the A.C.E. Concept is COMPACT. Many of
those who seek to improve municipal government due so behind the clarion
call of cooperation. They demand the creation or mandating of better ways
to bring the competing levels to a common goal. They urge better
efficiency through enhanced cooperation, through joint purchasing
agreements, joint collective bargaining, purchase of services from
municipal partners, etc., etc. The one undeniable fault with this approach is
that is still maintains the existence of competing levels of government. We
continue to expend time and energy to formulate agreements, monitor
effectiveness and just plain check on the other guy. This resembles the
competing heads of the monster. Regardless of how efficient
cooperative measures are at any level of municipal government, they
cannot be as efficient as that achieved by a single decision maker.
Cooperation is not an acceptable alternative when a compact single tier
can undertake all the necessary decision-making without the massive
bureaucratic back-up.
5
The final principle of the A.C.E. Concept Is EFFICIENT. We measure
efficiency in an organization by the manner in which it handles the transition
between the identification of a goat and the meeting of that goal. A system
that has the fewest roadblocks, hoops and debates will handle this
transition better than one whose decision path is confusing, time-
consuming and contradictory. A superior level of government develops
clear decision-making coupled with a compact delivery system and an
accountable management process.
The A.C.E. Concept and its visionary process meet these criteria and offer
a clear alternative to the bigger iS better" approach.
The A. C. E. Vision
Our vision is one that streamlines local government to its simplest
and most effective form. Unlike others who wish to re-invent the multi-
headed monster, the A.C.E. vision seeks to slay the beast and put it out of
its misery. We intend to replace the complexity and confusion of current
government with an easily understood, totally accessible and accountable
system of municipal government.
To achieve this change, It will be necessary to eliminate four levels of
municipal government, The Regional or upper tier; the school boards,
local and separate; and the utilities commissions. Some may call this
drastic or extreme, but it is a needed step if local government is to become
as effective as is required by todays society.
6
. n
E. CONCEPT
The local government in each municipality wiII absorb and administer
the services currently delivered by these eliminated levels. To
enhance service delivery across municipal boundaries, joint agreements
between affected municipalities are a more efficient process than
developing competing levels of government. Many current municipalities
have these types of bilateral agreements in force today. Common
examples are the York-Durham Sewer Agreement, the various waste
disposal agreements and trans-boundary transit agreements. The Province
should assume the role of honest broker to ensure the protection of the
rights of taxpayers when it is necessary to have third party involvement in
the process of developing these agreements. This type of role is similar to
that provided in other provinces in Canada.
Local Government is beatable to provide seamless and efficient
service delivery. Taxpayers should be able to access many different
services through a universal access point. The local government, acting as
agent of the upper levels, could provide many services currently undertaken
by the Federal or Provincial Government. Having services accessible at
the local level will provide taxpayers with an enhanced service, will ensure
accountability and provide for the efficient use of tax funds to provide
services, Communities could apply cost savings to protecting or enhancing
services or to providing tax relief to the overburdened taxpayer.
The changing economic and political climate must allow for the
redefinition of the boundaries of municipalities. New boundaries must
reflect the principles of containing excessive growth. They must
ensure accessible and accountable political representation; enhance
and revitailze the economy; and protect environmental sensitive areas
and habitats. Lastly, they must recognize the historical and cultural
sensitivities of area residents.
The A.C.E. Vision proposes a series of boundary changes to create a
system of core and edge cities in the urbanized central area of Ontario.
THE A. C. E, CO
NCEPT
AUGUST, 1096
The Core Cities would include:
B
B
B
B
B
the City of Mississauga;
the City of North York;
the City of Etobicoke;
the City of Scarborough; and
a new combined city of the former cities of Toronto and York and
the former borough-of East York.
The Edge Cities would Include:
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
the City of Burlington;
the City of Oakville;
the City of Brampton;
the City of Vaughan;
the City of Markham;
the City of Richmond Hill;
a new combined city of the current towns of Pickering and Ajax;
and
a new combined city of the current Town of Whitby, the current City
of Oshawa and the current urban area of the Town of Clarington,
known locally as Courtice.
THEA. C. E. CONCEPT
The establishment of the five Core Cities and the Eight Edge Cities would
be with the consent of their residents. A binding plebiscite must confirm
or defeat any proposed amalgamation Initiative. Towns or cities refusing
to join the amalgamation would continue to operate as separate enclaves
within the Core and Edge City System. Each community must review
amalgamation on a case by case basis, although clear advantages exist for
the suggested outline of cities.
The Five Core Cities represent comparable population bases and
scales of development Each has a clear historical and cultural basis for
existence. The challenges each will face in the future will be comparable in
the areas of taxation, growth and intensification, social responsibilities,
cultural activities, and economic initiatives. Pooling of local assessment
should only occur among those Core Cities and not between the Core
and Edge Cities. This limited pooling recognizes the clear differences
between the Core and the Edge Cities. It creates a level playing field for
cities of comparable status.
10
The Eight Edge Cities also represent comparable population bases
and scales of development While the historical and cultural basis for
existence varies greatly among the group, each has demonstrated strong
local development and has established a clear identity for Its residents.
These edge cities are self-sufficient in all categories and are active partners
in the municipal fabric of our province. Pooling of assessment among
the edge cities as a single entity creates a level playing field for future
growth and development. The creation of the Edge Cities within this
system would allow them to meet the challenges that confront them within
the parameters established by societal demands and under accountable
supervision by the taxpayer. A compact and understandable municipal unit
enhances accessibility and accountability.
Cooper a t ive
Currently, the multi-tiered system of municipal government sets a
competitive process amongst the tiers and special purpose bodies. The
result is confusion run amok. The A.C.E Vision establishes a system that
eliminates competition between tiers within a municipal boundary. One
Ievel, the local government, is responsible for the policies,
administration and service delivery within the municipal border.
This principle of separated municipalities being responsible for activities
within their respective municipal boundaries guarantees effective
government through increased accountability and basic self interest. It is in
the interest of the municipality to function efficiently as there is only one
level to held accountable by the taxpayers, This eliminates the long
treasured pastime of blaming the other guy, the other tiers, for all
problems or tax Increases. With the transfer of all the responsibility and
ability to the local level, the system ensures that the local government will
have the necessary tools to meet the needs of their community. The
taxpayers will hold accountable any failure to meet their needs. No
excuses will be acceptable as only results will count.
10
11
The role of policy making will fall to the local elected representatives. This
will result in the subsequent elimination of the other elected
representatives. Each local council will ensure that they meet the needs of
the local community or risk being held accountable. In Oshawa, the
current sixteen local representatives will replace the current forty-two
elected representatives In the five tiers. Reducing these sixteen to a
lower amount is conceivable. Other area municipalities will achieve a
comparable reduction In the number of representatives.
Corresponding reductions In support services will also result. As the
general responsibilities for the local level increase, there will be a need for
a system of advisory bodies to assist in the formulation of policy. The direct
responsibility of policy making wiII remain with elected
representatives but the advisory levels review and recommend
alternatives. After receiving considerable input from those with specialized
skills, the political representative act as a final decision maker. The
politician is then the generalist manager reviewing the submissions of the
specialist through the staff and advisory levels. A clear comparison
would be that of a medical general practitioner and medical
specialists. The practitioner would take initial inquiries, perform
primary analysis and if the complexity is beyond his or her ability
seeks addition assistance from the specialists. This is very similar to
the current role of federal or provincial representatives.
Having dealt with the advantages of Separate, H is important to note that
the A.C.E. Vision also believes that the separation will foster cooperation
between communities. it is the self interest of each community to have
the most efficlent and cost effective system of service delivery. If
another community develops a better system, it will be in the self interest of
others to access that system and use it to their communitys benefit.
Municipal organizations such as the Association of Municipalities of
Ontario could contribute a greater effort toward improving municipal
systems and information exchange and less on intergovernmental affairs
and jurisdictional matters. The private sector would also have a larger role
in developing systems to benefit municipalities as the clearer mandate of
each municipality would allow them to address solutions to municipal
needs,
12
As well as improving internally through information exchange with the
public and private sector, it will also be in the self interest of the municipality
to work cooperatively with other communities. By pooling their efforts to
provide batter service delivery, each municipality wiII reduce Its costs
to provide that service. The need to reduce costs drives the self-interest.
Communities will have to cooperate or be held accountable by the
taxpayer. The taxpayer will benefit through better services and lower
costs.
The Provincial - Municipal Partnership
n
It is essential to strengthen the partnership between the municipalities and
the provincial government. We must review the current partnership with
greater emphasis on service provision and create a clearer delineation
between the role of the province and that of municipalities.
Too much time and effort has been spent on trying to modify the cost-
sharing formulas on services funded by both parties. It is time to clearly
define areas of provincial jurisdiction and that of the local community, We
must minimize jointly admlnistered or funded programs and if
possible eliminate them. The vision limits the provinces role in the
partnership to determining the parameters of the municipal role in providing
services to the community. Each municipality must have the ability to move
within those established parameters according to its own needs and
desires. Provincial Iegislation should be permissive In character and
allow the municipality the right to operate within clear and
understandable limitations.
12
We must limit provincial involvement to that of an honest broker
developing partnership agreements, and to the arbiter of disputes between
municipalities, The province must undertake services that am not
reasonably the role of the local government The vision also limits the
local role in these areas to that of an agent providing a service for a fee.
Services where the needs are identifiable and universal across the
entire province should remaln at the provincial level. Examples of
these are Housing, Social Assistance, Public Health, etc.
The vision limits the Provincial role in taxation assessment to ensuring a
level playing field amongst comparable municipalities and sectors. We
must ensure that no municipality subsidizes another through pooled
assessment or other taxation measures unless they consent to the
action. if the situation requires subsidy, then the province should assume
that role. Each municipality in a unique situation that requires taxation
assistance must make the case to the province for its assistance. It must
not seek to grab revenues from its neighbours or others in the municipal
sector.
Municipalities must make all efforts to ensure financial self-sufficiency and
stability and discourage dependence on grants from senior levels of
government, Equally so, the Province must accept its responsibilities
as a municipal taxpayer and eliminate the grant in lieu policies that
prevent the province from paying its fair share of municipal tax.
The Province must provide municipalities with the ability to develop new
sources of revenue or negotiate for a fixed percentage of provincial tax
revenues from areas such as gas taxes, lotteries, sales tax, etc. These
additional revenues would allow for the elimination of economically
regressive taxes such as business tax.
14
b) Education reform.
Education is a prime example of how the A. C. E, Concept in partnership
with the Provincial Government can remodel local government along more
efficient and effective lines. The current system of elected trustees and
school boards Is a product of the 1800's. Established to give a
measure of local control to small communities, this system has grown
Into an unaccountable quagmire of competing boards and special
interests. The system is no longer effective in teaching our children nor is
It accountable to the taxpayers who fund it.
The A.C.E. Vision would replace the current system with one that
would see the administration of policy and curriculum be undertaken
at the provincial level. This would ensure that a common base curriculum
would be available at all schools in the province while allowing local input.
The local community through its local council would retain the
administration of service delivery. The growth of the concept of parent
councils at each school creates the realistic and effective alternative t to the
school board. A strong parental voice in the administration of their
local schools is necessary but clearly within the parameters
established by the policies of the Ministry of Education.
The Province must provide funding for the Education system
through its progressive income tax not through the regressive
property tax system. The Provines would grant funds to Local
Councils to administer within established parameters.
Those who wish to have their children educated in Catholic or other
religious denomination can do in this system but as an adjunct to the
base curriculum. The vast majority of the curriculum in both systems is
identical and established by the Ministry of Education. The establishment
of specialized advisory panels would ensure the maintenance of
denominational standards at individual schools. The parent council at each
school can ensure that the school follows parental wishes.
The A, C. E. Vision would eliminate the systems of parallel school boards,
administration, and service delivery through the schools. It would also
eliminate the current duplication caused by these competing boards. The
replacement of two virtually identical systems with parallel
bureaucracies give tremendous cost savings to the taxpayers. This
cost saving is available to enhance services to the students or to
provide tax relief.
One of the frequent complaints about local government is that the actions
taken by elected councils are often contrary to the wishes of the electorate.
Although the voters may replace unaccountable representatives at the tri-
annual election, actions between elections are harmful to the community.
When the actions are financial in nature, irreparable harm could occur to
the future of the community, The A.C.E. vision addresses this problem
through a system of direct democracy that would allow the electorate
an opportunity to override or veto actions taken by their councils. The
vision would limit the appeal to those areas that cause significant financial
hardship to the taxpayer. We must set the parameters in the empowering
legislation or by-laws.
A group of citizens may deem that a financial action taken by its
council to be contrary to the wishes of the majority of the electorate. It
can challenge the decision by means of a binding plebiscite. The
empowering legislation or by-law would establish the necessary level of
support to activate the appeal. This level must allow a reasonable appeal
but ensure it is high enough to back frivolous or vexatious petitions. The
A.C.E. vision would recommend a petition of no less than ten percent
of the eligible electors In the community.
15
THEA, C
. E, CONCEPT
conclusion
Continued dependence on old ideas and outmoded solutions will not result
in a municipal system that will meet the needs of the urbanized
communities. As tax dollars dwindle, new solutions must deal with the
challenges that will face us in the near future. We must work to eliminate
the problems that confront us not postpone them until the next generation.
Repeating past mistakes by simply adding additional levels of
government or administration wiII not solve the existing problems nor
allow for the necessary tools to deal with upcoming challenges.
Continuing to adhere to levels created as simplistic solutions to
pressures of growth will not achieve the desired changes to the
municipal system,
Our municipal system of government does not need a simple transfusion
nor a special elixir that purports to cure ail ills. Our system needs a vision
that will allow for the future well-being of municipal government. The
A.C.E. Vision provides the remedy to the existing problems and allows all
municipalities an opportunity to prepare for and deal with the challenges of
the future.
All that Is missing is the political will to establish the vision. These
actions require courage but to do less is to fall our citizens when they
need us most
Summary of Principles
1.
A greater and more complex system of government
will not solve the problems of municipal
government
20 Government must be accountable therefore it must
be understandable and accessible.
3. Regardless of how efficient cooperative measures
are at any level of municipal government, they
cannot be as efficient as that achieved by a single
decision maker.
A superior level of government develops clear
decision-making coupled with a compact delivery
system and an accountable management process.
5. The A. C. E. Concept represents a clear alternative
to the bigger is better" approach.
6. Local government is best able to provide seamless
and efficient service delivery.
7. The changing economic and political climate
demands a redefinition of the boundaries of
municipalities.
8. The establishment of a Core and Edge System
represents the best option for sustainable
development, but this system must be established
only with the consent of its citizens.
9. Pooling of assessment should only occur between
Core Cities as an entity and between Edge Cities as
a separate entity.
10. The multi-tiered system of municipal government
must be replaced with a single tier in each municipal
boundary.
11. The direct responsibility for policy making must
remain with directly elected representatives.
12. The self-interest of each community will ensure the
most efficient and cost effective system of service
delivery.
13. We must review the current provincial-municipal
partnership with greater emphasis on service
provision and with a clear delineation between the
roles of the province and that of municipalities.
14. Provincial legislation should be permissive in
character and allow municipalities the right to
operate within clear and understandable limitations.
15. We should minimize jointly funded or administered
programs and if possible eliminate them.
16. The province must undertake services that are not
reasonably the role of the local government.
THE A.
C. E, CONCEPT
17.
18.
19.
No municipality should be required to subsidize
another through pooled assessment or other taxation
measures without their consent.
The Province must accept its responsibilities as a
municipal taxpayer and eliminate the grant in lieu
policies that prevent the province from paying its
fair share of municipal tax.
The Province must allow municipalities the right to
develop new sources of revenue or negotiate for a
share of provincial tax revenues.
20. The administration and curriculum of the education
system would be undertaken at the provincial level.
21. The Province must provide funding for the
education system from its progressive income tax
system not through the regressive property tax.
22. Local municipalities must administer the education
system as an agent of the province and funded by
grants for administration.
23. A system of direct democracy should be established
to allow the electorate an opportunity to override or
veto actions of their councils.
24. Binding plebiscites must be allowed to facilitate
direct democracy. Limitations must be set by
legislation or by-law.
CITY OF NORTH YORK
CITY CLERKS DEPARTMENT
R E P O R T
July 10, 1995
TO: Mayor and Members of Council
FROM: Wanda Liczyk
Gayla McDonald
Deputy City Clerk
RE:
GTA - DO I T RI GHT, DO I T Now
A VI SI ON OF THE FUTURE OF THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
In April of this year, Council adopted Mayor Lastmans motion referring this matter to the
Committee of Department Heads. The task was to develop a vision statement for
Councils consideration that would form our submission to the Golden Task Force and
recommend changes for governance in the GTA.
We have worked with a sub-committee of department heads; Josephine Bryant, Chief
Executive Officer, North York Public Library, Paula Dill, Commissioner of Planning; George
Dixon, City Solicitor; Joe Halstead, Commissioner of Parks and Recreation; Al Speed, Fire
Chief and Barbara Yaffe, Medical Officer of Health. This group has worked together over
the past two months to develop the report you see before you today.
We would also like to thank all the other department heads who worked with us and
whose input has been invaluable in developing our final submission. Special thanks as
well to Alan Slobodsky of Mayor Lastmans office who undertook a large portion of the
research work involved.
Our group does not purport to have all the answers. What we have prepared forms a
framework for change and a basic statement of philosophy and principles. We believe
we have developed a good jumping off point.
You should be aware that, in the case of other municipalities, the numbers we have used
have been gleaned from available budget documents, containing little detailed information.
We are therefore, unable at this time, to talk in terms of definite numbers or potential cost
savings.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF
NORTH YORK COUNCIL HELD ON
JULY 12, 1995
300. METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT - STREAMLINING. (GB38)
In considering this matter, Council had before it the following:
Joint report (July 10, 1995) from the Commissioner of Finance and
Treasurer and the Deputy City Clerk; and
Extract from the minutes of the meeting of North York Council held on April
12, 1995.
It was moved by Mayor Lastman, seconded by Councillor Feldman, that the
recommendations as contained in the joint report (July 10, 1995) from the
Commissioner of Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer and the Deputy City
Clerk, be adopted; and that:
a) the document attached to the joint report (July 10, 1995) from the
Commissioner of Finance and Treasurer and the Deputy City Clerk, be
adopted as Councils framework for further development and discussion;
b) the joint report (July 10, 1995) from the Commissioner of Finance and
Treasurer and the Deputy City Clerk, be submitted to the Golden Task
Force as North Yorks preliminary submission on the issue of governance
in the GTA;
c) the joint report (July 10, 1995) from the Commissioner of Finance and
Treasurer and the Deputy City Clerk, be forwarded to:
1. the Premier of Ontario and the Minister of Municipal Affairs for their
information and consideration; and
2. COMLAC (Committee of Metro Local Area Councils) to work with the
municipalities to develop a consensus position wherever possible;
and
3. all area municipalities within the proposed Greater Municipal
Federation;
d) Mayor Lastman be requested to meet with the appropriate North York
MPPs to put forward North Yorks position in this matter.
It was moved in amendment by Councillor Shiner, seconded by Councillor
Sutherland, that the Mayors and interested Councillors from the proposed Greater
Municipal Federation be invited to the City of North York for a presentation of the
subject document.
A recorded vote on the amendment moved by Councillor Shiner, seconded by
Councillor Sutherland, to invite the Mayors and interested Councillors from the
proposed Greater Municipal Federation to North York for a presentation, was as
follows:
FOR: Severino, Li Preti, Di Giorgio, Rizzo, Berger, Feldman, Lastman, Flint,
Yuill, Filion, Minnan-Wong, Shiner, Sutherland
AGAINST: NIL
ABSENT: Summers
Carried
- 2 -
Council approved a request from Councillor Filion that for the purpose of voting,
the matter of direct election be voted on separately.
A recorded vote on the recommendation that there be no direct election to the
Greater Municipal Federation, was as follows:
FOR: Berger, Feldman, Lastman, Flint, Yuill, Minnan-Wong, Shiner,
Sutherland
AGAINST: Severino, Li Preti, Di Giorgio, Rizzo, Filion
ABSENT: Summers
Carried
A recorded vote on the main motion moved by Mayor Lastman, seconded by
Councillor Feldman, as amended, was as follows:
FOR: Severino, Di Giorgio, Berger, Feldman, Lastman, Flint, Yuill, Filion,
Minnan-Wong, Shiner
j
Sutherland
AGAINST: Li Preti, Rizzo
ABSENT: Summers
Carried
Do It Right, Do It Now
Introduction
Maps
1
2
3
4
5
5
6
7
8
8
9
9
10
11
12
13
Background
Highlights
Our Vision
Principles
Greater Municipal Federation
Who Is Included?
What It Would Do
What It Would Not Do
Policing
Attractions
Licencing
Metro Reference Library
The Provincial Role
Division of Responsibilities
Taxation Reform & Revenue Sharing
H
alf a century ago our provincial and civic leaders rose to the
challenge of creating a system of municipal government that
resulted in a vibrant and prosperous metropolitan region that is
the envy of the world. Today we need an equally bold vision to ensure our
continued vitality for the next fifty years.
By the late 1940s the growth of Toronto had stabilized, while
development in the suburban regions, such as North York, was explosive,
unprecedented and unstoppable. The demand for schools, roads, water and
sewers overwhelmed our financial ability to provide them; and there arose
a pressing need to co-ordinate common services throughout the wider area,
such as public transit and policing.
Now the growth of Metropolitan Toronto has stabilized, while the
regions surrounding Metro, from Oakville to Oshawa, are expected to
continue growing until the population of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
exceeds six million by the year 2015.
The challenge today is not unlike it was more than four decades ago
-- to find a system of governance that accommodates growth outside of the
core without encouraging sprawl, that co-ordinates common services over a
wider area, that is accountable to and understandable by the taxpayer, and
that is efficient and affordable.
North York Council, long a critic of the present system within and
surrounding Metro Toronto, welcomes the prospect of change. In the
following pages we present our vision of the future and we urge all citizens
to take part in the debate to ensure that whatever reform is imposed by the
provincial government is adequate to the task and in the interests of North
York.
he newly-elected provincial government has asked the Golden Task
Force to report earlier than expected, so that changes within the
GTA might be initiated well before the next municipal elections.
The last formal review of Metropolitan Toronto took place almost
two decades ago. Dramatic economic and demographic changes have
occurred since then, resulting in inequity, inefficiency, waste, duplication,
diminished accountability, and increased public confusion.
Successive provincial governments have failed to remedy unfair
levels of business and residential property taxation within Metro or among
adjacent regions. The arbitrary creation of non-elected special purpose
bodies to address regional issues has eroded the publics ability to
understand who is responsible for individual local services.
The Metro level of government has outlived its usefulness. Today
Metro is too small to solve problems that affect the GTA and too large to
provide cost-effective or flexible neighbourhood services. Direct election
to Metro Council, initiated in 1988, has been a disappointment, resulting
in turf wars, not responsive government.
North York has been providing high-quality services to its residents
since 1922 and is firmly of the view that local municipal government is best
suited to provide services, is most responsive to residents needs, and is the
only level of government with the ability to resist tax increases and debt.
Our recommendations for change, therefore, grow out of almost 75
years of experience and are rooted in the belief that new structures can be
devised to provide regional co-ordination while at the same time
strengthening local municipalities and guaranteeing residents superior
services that they can afford.
o
ur vision for good government within the GTA involves
strengthening the major urban municipalities, providing one-stop
government services at local city halls, eliminating all of the
existing regional governments and creating a single GTA-wide regional
body made up of representatives from the local councils.
We want to streamline government, cut costs and provide
convenience to the residents of the GTA.
The heart of our proposal is to strengthen local municipal
government, with the city halls of North York and the other urban centres
within the GTA serving as accessible points of service delivery for all levels
of government -- one stop for everything from birth certificates to
passports.
We want to eliminate existing regional governments, including
Metro, that are too small to address truly regional issues, and replace them
all with one 36-member body based on representation by population.
The role of the Greater Municipal Federation would not be to
provide services directly to citizens but to co-ordinate a limited number of
regional issues. It would be composed of elected members of the local
councils, a true federation of local municipalities. Because members would
not be elected directly, the federation would not be a separate, independent
level of government.
Most services now delivered directly to residents by regional
governments would be taken over by the local municipalities.
service centres
contain sprawl, protect agricultural land and green
space and encourage economic vitality
services
3
1. CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ONE-STOP SHOPPING
I
Local government should be the source of services to residents. We are
accessible, accountable, capable of responding to changing needs, and
keenly aware of the need to control costs. Taxpayers should be able to
obtain birth certificates, marriage licences, passports and any other
government documents at their local city hall, whether the services are
municipal, provincial or federal. There really is no reason why our
residents should have to go to several locations, some of them outside of
North York, for government services.
2. LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS THE CORNERSTONE
. seamless service delivery
. accessibility
. eliminate duplication
3. ENHANCE ECONOMIC VITALITY
B new boundaries
. contain growth in urbanized areas
B revitalize economy
. protect green space
4. ACCOUNTABILITY
. full accountability rests with local councils
. no direct election to the Greater Municipal Federation
. Greater Municipal Federation to manage not govern
4
Who Is Included?
The yet-to-be-named Greater Municipal Federation would include
all municipalities within the present GTA which have populations
exceeding 50,000. It would comprise an area of approximately 2,700 square
kilometres and have a population of 3.9 million.
Large urban centres include Ajax, Brampton, Burlington, Markham,
Mississauga, Oakville, Oshawa, Pickering, Richmond Hill, Vaughan,
Whitby, and the six Metro municipalities -- East York, Etobicoke, North
York, Scarborough, Toronto and York.
Local councils would appoint one or more of their own members to
represent local interests, on the basis of one representative for
municipalities between 50,000 and 200,000, plus one representative for
each 100,000 in additional population.
At this
federation:
time, the formula would result in the following 36-member
What It Would Do I
Local assessment would be pooled to provide high-quality services
throughout the region. Local municipalities would need to co-ordinate
action on issues that cross boundaries.
The Greater Municipal Federation could achieve these goals without
being a separate level of government; and therefore does not need to be
elected directly.
Specific functions to be carried out by the regional level:
. water treatment, sewers, pollution control
. garbage disposal
B public transit, expressways
. conservation and floodplain control
. economic development
. debenturing
The federation would be about the same size as the current Metro
Council. The chair would be appointed by the members, but should not be
a mayor. Representatives would be appointed for three years, but reviewed
annually by their local councils to ensure superior representation.
What It Would Not Do
I
Direct service to residents would be provided by local municipalities,
not the regional federation, whenever possible.
Local municipalities would take over regional parks within their
boundaries, including programs, operations and maintenance, just as they
already do for their own parks.
They would assume responsibility for constructing, maintaining and
plowing arterial roads that pass through their jurisdiction, just as they
already do for their own roads.
Recycling would be operated by the larger municipalities on behalf
of themselves and neighboring municipalities. North York already
recycles its own waste more cost effectively than Metro.
The co-ordination of major infrastructure and traffic signals would
be a joint effort by the local municipalities.
All planning, including official plan and zoning amendments, would
be determined by the local municipalities, just as they do now, without the
duplication of a regional planning process. The Ontario Municipal Board
would act as a mediator in the case of disputes.
Ambulance service would be merged with local fire departments to
provide a more co-ordinated response and improved response time.
Transfers of patients from hospital to hospital would become the
responsibility of hospitals.
Today the province pays 80% of the cost of community services, such
as welfare, day care, homes for the aged and hostels. Metro pays the rest --
an extremely large burden in providing for the needy of the region. We
believe the province should assume the full cost of community services,
with delivery contracted to the local municipalities.
I Policing
I
We would like to see a new police system throughout the GTA that
could be a model for the rest of the province. Our proposal is to have local
police personnel under a local chief responding to the local councils, not
appointed police services boards; but specialized support units and services
provided by the province.
This would require the province to become more involved in the
areas of setting standards, communications and technology; and the
provision of all the higher-level police services, such as an area-wide
emergency task force and major crime investigation unit. The roles of the
Ontario Provincial Police and the specialized support units would be
restructured to ensure there is no duplication.
At the local level, we see police personnel specializing in crime
prevention, community policing including emergency response, as well as
detective and traffic functions.
We believe a system along these lines would serve citizens better,
give local municipalities autonomy to set their own local policing priorities
and save money.
I Attractions
Metro presently oversees or operates cultural, recreational and
educational facilities that serve audiences far beyond the confines of Metro
Toronto. The Metro Zoo, the Canadian National Exhibition and the
OKeefe Centre are truly provincial attractions.
We would like to see these major facilities taken over by the
province, and operated as provincial attractions just like the Ontario
Science Centre and Ontario Place, or privatized. Consideration might be
given to offering the OKeefe Centre to the city of Toronto and the Guild
Inn to the city of Scarborough.
8
Licencing
The Metropolitan Licensing Commission currently licences a
myriad of businesses and trades. The entire subject warrants a full review
to eliminate duplication between provincial and municipal bodies and to
eliminate unnecessary regulation.
Where regulation is required, licencing authority should rest with
the local councils for businesses that operate from fixed locations (such as
adult entertainment parlours, bowling alleys, dry cleaners, movie theatres).
Those not carried on at fixed locations (such as plumbers, electricians,
drain repairers, chimney repairers, renovation contractors, driving schools
and the taxi industry) should be licenced on a wider geographic area.
Wider area regulation could be a function of the Greater Municipal
Federation or the province.
We would like to see licencing turned over to the local municipalities,
except those services such as taxis where careful consideration must be
given to consistent standards and protecting the economic value of existing
licences. A full review should be undertaken before such changes are
imposed.
Metro Reference Library
The Metro Reference Library was relinquished by the city of
Toronto in the 1960s to act as the main reference facility for the Metro
Toronto area. At that time local library systems were not fully developed.
Now that local library systems are mature, they provide this service
within their local municipalities. As a result, it makes sense to return the
Metro Reference Library to Toronto to act as its central branch.
Citizens are constantly confused by the number of special purpose
bodies. Some are appointed by the province, making it difficult to hold
them accountable for their decisions or spending. Others are fully elected,
like hydro commissions and school boards, making it difficult to
understand who is responsible for local service delivery and taxation. For
instance, only 16 cents of every tax dollar levied in North York is required
by the city.
At North York, we have already integrated certain administrative
functions, such as the parking authority, library board and our performing
arts centre. We believe special purpose bodies should be eliminated to the
greatest extent possible, turning over management and operations to local
municipalities or the province.
10
T
he province should be in the business of setting uniform policies
and standards across the region and ensuring fair and equal
treatment in taxation and provincial transfer payments.
Whenever possible, the province should limit its role as a direct
service provider. It should establish the rules, provide financing where
appropriate, and leave the local municipalities to provide the services to
their residents.
We believe the province should also set its own house in order, with
a view to improving co-ordination among its more than 20 ministries. It
should also make an effort to consult with civic staff before imposing
legislation that affect municipalities.
Provincial legislation should be permissive, as it is in Alberta.
Today more than 100 provincial acts spell out what cities can do -- and if it
isnt spelled out we cant do it. North York firmly believes that major
urban municipalities across this province no longer need to be told how to
serve their taxpayers.
There are certain services we believe are not the responsibility of
local government:
. housing -- if the province chooses to stay in the business,
policy and funding for socially assisted housing should be
uniform across the province
B community services, particularly welfare -- funded by the
province but provided by the municipalities
. public health services -- funded by the province but
provided by the municipalities
11
I
I
I Division of Responsibilities
PROVINCE
. housi ng
. community services
GREATER MUNICIPAL FEDERATION
water treatment, sewers, pollution control
garbage disposal
public transit, expressways
conservation and floodplain control
debenturing
LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
existing local services
local policing
regional parks within their jurisdiction
arterial roads within their jurisdiction
recycling
planning
ambulance service
public health (100% funded by the province)
T
he present property tax assessment system in the GTA is an
acknowledged mess.
We look forward to the up-coming recommendations of the Golden
Task Force with respect to reform of the assessment system. In the
meantime, North York endorses the following actions:
. assessment should continue to be pooled for those services
co-ordinated or integrated under the new Greater Municipal
Federation
. municipalities should strive to reduce or eliminate their
dependence on provincial grants, because they limit municipal
autonomy and prevent cities from setting their own priorities
. where grants are necessary, such as for education or public
health, they should be allocated equitably so that no member
of the federation is disadvantaged
. new sources of revenue should be made available to
municipalities, such as a share of the provincial sales tax,
lottery sales, hotel or gasoline taxes, so that the confusing
business occupancy tax can be eliminated
Property tax is the major source of funding for municipal
government. Yet it is stretched to the limit, is being called on to pay for
programs that are not related to property, and it is a regressive form of
taxation.
Wanda Liczyk
Gayla McDonald
Deputy City Clerk
TABLE OF CONTENTS
One Stop Shopping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Local Government is the Cornerstone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
The New Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Managing Within the New Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . .......10
Special Purpose Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......16
Parks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .18
Roads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .21
Planning/Transportation/Infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . .......24
Ambulance - Emergency Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..28
Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .34
Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
- 1 -
Customer service is our focus. Service delivery should be at the
level closest to the people wherever possible. In most cases this
means at the local level.
Residents should be able to access a multitude of government
services at their City Hall.
.
Marriage Licences, Birth Certificates
Government Forms for Passports and Other Documents
Business Licences
Right now many similar services are spread across numerous
locations.
- 2 -
For example, birth certificates can only be obtained in person at one
location in downtown Toronto. The alternative is to write away to
Thunder Bay and wait 6 weeks. Long line ups force people to wait
hours to receive service. Yet every City Hall issues other provincial
documents such as marriage licences and some lottery licences. It
would be a simple matter, with todays technology for local
municipalities to issue all these documents.
Much confusion is caused by two bodies delivering similar services.
A good example of this is Earl Bales Park in North York. Although
it is a Metro park, a portion of the park itself, the community
centre and the ski hill are operated and maintained by North York.
Another large portion is operated and maintained by the Metro
Parks Department. This is very confusing to residents. Who do
they call when they have a problem?
Arterial roads are another example. If you live in a home on York
Mills Road, you may have no idea that your home is on a Metro-
owned road. Metro clears the snow but North York clears the
sidewalks. You may have a very different standard of service from
your neighbors a block away whose home is on a North York-
owned local road.
- 3 -
Under our proposal, all these services would be delivered locally to
provide coordinated one-stop shopping for taxpayers.
- 4 -
.
People identify with their communities - the towns and cities where
they live. They expect the body that provides and governs the
services and programs which affect them to be close and accessible to
them.
It is important for residents to know where to go when they have a
problem. It doesnt matter to them that a service is provided locally
or regionally. They want to look to the body closest to them - their
City Hall - to solve their problem or as a forum to voice their
concerns.
The regional level was never envisaged to act as or to replace City
Hall. It was first established to provide coordinated services to local
municipalities for those things that crossed municipal boundaries
like transit, police, garbage disposal, water treatment and major
infrastructure. It was governed by representatives from local
councils who worked together to ensure that services were delivered
as fairly and cost effectively as possible. It acted as a mechanism to
pool tax dollars to share the cost of these services.
- 5 -
The representatives, who also sat on the local Councils, were able to
reflect the viewpoint of their municipalities. Regional governments
provided a seamless service to taxpayers in that they were able to
deal with both local and regional issues on behalf of the taxpayers
who elected them.
With the onset of direct election in 1988, the ability for local
municipalities to provide this seamless service was lost. Now, with a
separate set of directly-elected politicians who no longer sit on the
local Council, taxpayers have two very distinct bodies to deal with.
They are faced with jurisdictional problems that did not previously
exist. With the stroke of a pen, another level of government was
created.
The role of local government must be strengthened. It should be
once again empowered to provide seamless service to its taxpayers.
That doesnt mean we dont need some things coordinated across the
region - we do. Things like transit and water treatment and garbage
disposal still need to be shared among us. But we believe that if the
regional level is truly doing its job, no one should know it exists. It
should simply act as an arm of the local municipality to once again
provide fair and cost effective service to the taxpayers.
- 6 -
Local councils have a proven track record as efficient managers of
tax dollars. They are close enough to recognize the needs of the
communities they service . Local government is small enough to
have the flexibility to adjust priorities to suit the demand. It can
respond to the uniqueness of its population in a manner no
enormous, region-wide bureaucracy ever could.
We believe the Province needs to recognize the capabilities of local
municipalities to self-govern. While the provincial government is
well suited to provide broad policy direction and clear funding
formulas across the region, it must provide new legislation to permit
municipalities to have autonomy over how programs and services
are administered. We welcome the opportunity to work closely with
the Province to develop new legislation in accordance with any new
framework.
- 7 -
,
In their reports, Metropolitan Toronto and the City of Mississauga
have presumed that the existing five regions should be rolled into
one large region. We are suggesting a slightly different approach.
In our proposal the boundaries include only the truly urban
portions of the existing regions.
These are: Burlington, Oakville,
Mississauga, Brampton, Vaughan, Markham, Richmond Hill,
Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa as well as the six Metro
municipalities -- for a total of 17 municipalities forming the new
region.
The reason is this. We believe that a number of objectives should
govern the future growth of the region:
B
B
B
contain future growth to within the already urbanized
region
confine the provision of future infrastructure within a
manageable area
protect green space and agricultural lands
- 8 -
Regionalism encourages sprawl. It pools assessment dollars to fund
major infrastructure anywhere within its boundaries. This funding
ability accounts for much of the growth to date in the GTA. Where
land was cheap, development occurred. Infrastructure was built to
support the development. Cheaper land, lower rents and taxes
lured businesses away from the core resulting in decline and slowing
recovery. The Metropolitan Toronto Area is suffering from the
slowest economic recovery of any city or region in Canada.
If we truly want to see the new region flourish, growth must be
encouraged within sensibly defined boundaries. We believe that by
drawing a line around the already urbanized areas of the region and
helping growth
It is interesting
to occur there, economic regeneration will result.
to note that our boundary proposal encompasses
2,668 sq. km. of the existing five regions.
slightly more than one third of the entire
930/o, 3.9 million people, live in the region
This represents only
7,059 sq. km. area. Over
we are proposing. This
demonstrates that we have identified the truly urbanized areas and
also the vast amount of rural or undeveloped land that can be
protected by the proposed boundaries.
- 9 -
We recognize that further study must be given to future structure
for those more rural municipalities not included within the new
boundaries. We have not examined whether regional services could
continue to be sustained by this second region on its own. It may
necessitate including these smaller towns within the county
frameworks that abut them to the north.
-10-
The basis of our proposal embraces the elimination of a level of
government. We feel that the coordination of region-wide services
is an extension of local services and therefore does not require
directly-elected politicians. A coordinating body would exist to
service the local municipalities for those functions that require cross
boundary cooperation. All other services would be provided by the
local level. The role of the
manage not to govern.
coordinating body would be to
We have considered the proposal of Metropolitan Toronto
suggesting the regional level be directly-elected. We can find no
persuasive reason why. Only Metro Council has full-time, directly-
elected councillors. In the other four regions, regional councillors
sit on the local Council as well.
- 1 1 -
The experience in the Metropolitan area has not been a positive one.
In an effort to remain close to their constituency, the new, full-time
Metro politicians involved themselves in local issues resulting in
unnecessary and costly turf wars with their local counterparts.
Frustrated with Metros failure to fairly reflect the local perspective,
the local municipalities in Metro finally resorted to establishing a
committee of local area councillors to develop common positions on
important issues. It was through the efforts of this committee
(COMLAC) and the Metro Mayors that the issue of governance was
finally brought to a head in the Metropolitan Toronto area.
As budgets grew and taxes continued to rise, the public initial
apathy grew to anger with the perception of duplication and waste.
The City of Toronto held a referendum during the last municipal
election, asking its voters if they favoured the elimination of the
Metro level of government.
61% of City of Toronto voters said
yes We believe that in North York that number would have
been even higher.
- 12-
The make-up of the existing regional Councils and their direct
support staff is as follows:
Metro 34 No 68
Toronto
Durham
I
32
I
Yes
I
3
York
I
20
I
Yes
I
o
Peel
I
24
I
Yes
I
o
Halton
I
21
I
Yes
I
o
This totals 131 politicians elected specifically to deal with regional
issues along with 71 direct. support staff. Our proposal would have
regional functions coordinated by existing local politicians and
should require no further support staff.
-13-
The City of Mississauga, in its report, proposes that the
coordinating body be governed by the Mayors of the GTA. We do
not support this position. Representation by population is our
.
preference as the fairest means to manage the new region. Our
proposal is as follows:
Population
# of Repesentatives
50,000-199,999 1
200,000-299,999 2
300,000-399,999 3
400,000-499,999 4
500,000-599,999 5
600,000-699,999 6
-14-
This would provide for a 36 member committee - similar in size to
the present Metro Council.
Using the 1991 Census data, the
representation would be as follows:
.
Municipality
Burlington
Oakville
Mississauga
Brampton
Etobicoke
York
East York
Toronto
North York
Scarborough
Vaughan
Markham
Richmond Hill
Pickering
Ajax
Whitby
Oshawa
Population
129,575
114,670
463,388
234,445
309,993
140,525
102,696
635,395
562,564
524,598
111,359
153,811
80,142
68,631
57,350
61,281
129,344
# of Representatives
1
1
4
2
3
1
1
6
5
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
-15-
We recommend that these representatives be appointed by each local
Council and that the Chair be appointed by the federation from its
own membership but should not be a mayor. The term would be
for three years but could be reviewed annually by each Council to
ensure the best possible representation.
-16-
CURRENT PROBLEMS:
.
Too many and not accountable to councils. Taxpayers are
constantly confused, frustrated and disappointed that education,
hydro commissions and Metro, are not under the direct control of
the local Council.
A Special Purpose Body is...
a separately elected/appointed board or commission that operates
independently of the municipality. Such body if it reports to the
municipality, does so for budget and/or legislative requirements but
the-municipality may/may not have a say in budget or operational
matters.
Integration works. Consider in North York, the Parking Authority,
the North York Public Library and the North York Performing
Arts Centre voluntarily have the Citys administration fulfil the
major administrative functions for these separate boards/authorities.
-17-
-18-
CURRENT PROBLEMS:
,
There is public confusion over why one park has two governmen
bodies with jurisdiction, e.g. Earl Bales Park.
There are differing maintenance standards in parks. Grass cutting
functions, done at a local level for large and small parks, are
duplicated at the Metro level.
Recreation programming units, done at the local level at a variety of
facilities, are duplicated at the Metro level.
Community groups applying for North York grants also have to
apply to Metro for grants - this duplicates the process in place at the
local level.
-19-
RATIONALE:
To the taxpayer, this proposal
red-tape in the administration
eliminates confusion and government
of parkland maintenance and
recreation activities. One accessible level of government will be
responsible for the same types of activities. Services are for the
direct benefit of taxpayers and should be delivered as close to the
taxpayer as possible.
The new additional responsibilities for parkland and facilities can
be efficiently integrated within the existing local structures.
-20-
To our community groups, the rationalization of grant
administration will eliminate duplication of functions for grant
programs.
.
-21-
CURRENT PROBLEMS: .
.
Taxpayers are confused and perceive duplication in government
when told that certain roads are local and others are Metro roads.
Taxpayers get different levels of service - snowclearing, sand and
salting, windrow clearing, streetcleaning depending on what road
they live on resulting in significant complaints to the local
councillors. Complaints are received about poor service resulting
from red-tape and bureaucratic run-around as taxpayers get
routed from one government to another.
Local municipalities already provide a majority of services on
Metro roads. The taxpayers are further confused when they see
the local municipality takes care of sidewalk clearing and cleaning,
streetlighting, bus shelters and boulevard permitting but not snow
clearing and road maintenance.
-22-
RATIONALE:
Road systems between municipalities in the current Metro
boundaries are mature with normal maintenance and reconstruction
required. Most work is contracted out in sections similar to local
practices.
Local municipalities already do the work on the local roads. In
North York, we take care of a 1150 km network of roads. Metro
takes care of 740 km for all of the Metropolitan
roads were transferred to North York, only 212
added to our present workload.
area. If the Metro
km more would be
Coordination of different utilities (gas, hydro, water) will be
simplified with only one government body responsible for road
work.
Taxpayers will be able to call one level of government with
complaints and get them resolved quickly.
Uniform standards can be set by the Province and then be
coordinated between officials of local area municipalities.
-23-
Road design and land use planning can be coordinated easier when
one level of government is involved.
- 24-
CURRENT PROBLEMS:
.
There is a duplication with local municipalities initiatives
particularly in research and policy analysis,
urban design and capital planning.
development approval,
There is a duplication of Metro environment programmed with the
Metro Toronto Conservation Authority and the Ministry of Natural
Resources.
Disagreements, delay and confusion occur between Metro and local
municipalities in the area of site plan approvals on Metro roads.
Public meetings that are now required at the Metro level for
subdivision and condominium approvals which are clearly
community oriented lengthen the development process by holding
meetings after development decisions have already been made.
-25-
RATIONALE:
Lands along arterial roads are the most intensely developed, are the
redevelopment areas for future growth and are the service areas for
adjoining industrial or residential neighbourhoods. Consolidating
all planning approvals at the local level, which has long experience
at public participation, would allow better decision making and
implementation.
Since it is proposed that local municipalities assume responsibility
for arterial roads, site plan authority at the GMF level should be
eliminated.
-26-
Urban design relates most directly to actual developments (site plan
approval) and development regulations and control (zoning,
condominiums, plans of subdivision) and this should be at a local
level.
Subdivision and condominium approvals are largely technical
exercises ensuring that all requirements of the Planning and
Condominium Acts are fulfilled. With the addition in the new
Planning Act of public meeting requirements, these activities make
most sense
with other
familiarity
processes.
consolidated at the local level where they can be linked
related approvals and where there is expertise and
in running public meetings and other consultative
Road allowance control - the same services are provided by local
public works and transportation departments requiring several levels
of approval. Duplication will be eliminated with local responsibility
only.
Corridor traffic control and traffic management - in some instances,
traffic control measures on arterial roads are implemented without
regard for their impact on adjacent local streets and
neighbourhoods.
Accident
program
exists.
-27-
data collection and analysis as well as the traffic count
at the local level would avoid duplication that currently
Local governments are capable of ensuring conformity with
regional interests, policies and standards if they are explicitly
stated in an Official Plan.
There is a need for regional scale planning, particularly for trunk
and regional hard services such as transit, major expressways, sewage
treatment, piped water, watercourses and similar features.
-28-
CURRENT PROBLEMS:
.
Ambulance response times for medical emergencies are not as good
as local fire departments. Yet, only ambulance crews have the
equipment, vehicle and personnel to effectively administer
emergency medical treatment.
Average Road Response
Ambulance -
North York Fire -
The public and other regional
high administrative costs with
as fire and ambulance.
6-7 minutes
4 minutes
governments perceive that there are
emergency response departments such
The public perceives a duplication in communications
functions between ambulance and fire departments.
and dispatch
-29-
RATIONALE:
Emergency response services at a local level will be designed to meet
the needs of the local community, established by the local Council
in accordance with the local tax base.
-30-
The taxpayers primary expectation with ambulance services is fast
emergency response. Based on an example month (October 1994),
an ambulance in North York only arrived first at an emergency
medical call 0.8% of the time. Firefighting personnel usually
arriving first (56.770) cannot provide emergency treatment nor
transport taxpayers to the hospital and must stand by waiting for
the ambulance. Although during the day there are more available
ambulances, many of these ambulances are providing non-emergency
transport services - taking taxpayers from one hospital to another,
from a hospital to another destination - and are therefore not
available for emergency purposes. By separating out these two very
different functions (transport and emergency response), effective
services can be delivered to the taxpayer. The Province can establish
a provincially run or privatized transportation function. Current
municipal grants to Metro could be kept by the Province to fund
the new transport service. The current Provincially run ambulance
services outside the Metro area can also be transferred to the local
municipalities.
This model (separating out emergency response from hospital
transport) is consistent with how other major cities like Phoenix,
Indianapolis, San Antonio and Boston are providing these services.
-31-
Response times for ambulances will be improved by limiting
municipal responsibility to emergency response and by placing
ambulance vehicles in fire stations. Currently in North York, 4
ambulances are already located in fire stations. If one ambulance was
located to cover the area of two fire stations (daytime and evening),
an effective 24 hour service to the community would be provided.
The City of Calgary has implemented this model for its ambulance
service. It is proposed that a total of 10 ambulance locations and 2
paramedic locations would adequately cover the needs of North
York taxpayers.
Since Metro was formed in 1954, the ambulance service was made
up of ambulances owned by Metro, the Province and the private
sector. Almost 100% of the funding was provided by the Province.
In 1976, when the Metro ambulance service was created, 70/0 of
funding was provided by the Province. At present, the Metro
ambulance service only has 48% of funding provided by the
Province. The Province currently pays almost 100% of other
regions ambulance services. Its time for action today to prepare
for the expected impacts of the Federal budget in the health area.
The latest Federal budget targets cuts to the National Health
programme and ambulance costs are mentioned as one benefit to be
borne by the user or by the municipality.
-32-
In reviewing the available preliminary 1995 Metro budget
information, the following demonstrates the administrative staffing
for both Metro Ambulance versus North York Fire.
Metro Ambulance - 19%
North York Fire - 6.4%
The administrative staff of each of the other area municipalities in
Metro is consistent with the above comparison. The total number
of administrative staff in each of the local municipalities does not
even come close to the number of current Metro ambulance
administrative staff. Integrating ambulance into fire departments
will mean lowering administrative staff across the existing Metro
area.
Within
are the
costs:
the administration percentages noted above, the following
communications/dispatch staffing as a percentage of total
Metro Ambulance - 10.4%
North York Fire - 2.6%
-33-
Again, it is obvious that the efficiencies in dispatch are at the local
level, and that the integration of ambulance into fire dispatch
systems will lead to savings.
.
-34-
CURRENT PROBLEMS:
.
The new decentralized organizational structure as outlined in the
recent Beyond 2000 report focuses on communities. There is no
accountability to local municipalities Councils and Mayors on
community issues. Local elected officials represent the smallest
number of taxpayers and know the community best, yet do not
have accountability links.
With a larger area of cooperation as proposed in this report, the size
of the police force would be huge -- almost 10,000 in strength. It is
difficult to imagine how an efficient and accessible police force can
be provided to the public while minimizing administrative costs.
The public perceives that there are not enough uniformed constables
in cars and on the street because administrative costs are too high.
Communications and other technology between the existing regions
could be better coordinated and integrated.
-35-
The taxpayer sees a duplication of functions between Metro Police,
the other regional police and the Ontario Provincial Police (e.g.
OPP response to 401 traffic accidents).
.
There are a multitude of Police Service Boards across the Province
that do not always reflect the wishes of the local community.
Parking enforcement on Metro roads varies from parking
enforcement on local roads. The taxpayer sees two different levels
of government and depending on what road the parking violation
occurs, the taxpayer needs to really pay close attention to who issued
the ticket. As a result, the taxpayer assumes that duplicate services
exist at each level of government.
- 36
OUR PROPOSAL:
Create local police services where local police divisions would report to
local Chief of Police. The Province would govern and/or oversee
specialized support units that require a larger operating size to be
efficient, e.g. training, technology,
detective support and
communications. The Province should also consider integration with
streamlining the OPP.
This proposed model is similar to the
Home Office" system successful:
employed in Great Britain for many years.
In the new defined urban area, eliminate the traffic response of OPP on
provincial highways.
e.g. an accident on the 401 at Bayview could and
should be handled by the local police service.
Create local boards or committees of Council where representation
s
similar to Library Boards - community and elected officials. The need
for Police Service Boards may be eliminated.
-37-
RATIONALE:
The recently adopted Beyond 2000 report of the Metro Police
outlines a plan to decentralize services and reallocate resources to
.
the front line in the Metro area. The goals are to create a structure
that will support neighborhood policing without jeopardizing
response to emergencies and investigative needs.
The Force must ensure that to the extent possible, front /ine policing
functions are fully staffed and are carried out at the divisiona/ /eve/.
Officers will be decentralized to divisions from areas of the Force where
they are not direct/y involved with, and accountable to, local
communities. (Beyond 2000- Page 37)
By establishing local community links, the Force will assure the public
that it is an integral part of the community, and will exercise powers and
spend money responsibly. This will lead to enhanced satisfaction with
police service. (Beyond 2000- Page 42)
The Beyond 2000 strategic p/an calls for a significant/y changed focus for
the delivery of policing services. Far from being simply reactive, engaging
in random patrols, and intervening in crises as they occur, the Force is
committed to adopting a focus on proactive, preventive initiatives, and on
the development of effective community patnerships. (Beyond 2000-
Page 45)
-38-
The Beyond 2000 report already supports community as a prime
focus of operations. What is still necessary is accountability to the
local municipality - the level of government that is most directly
associated with the community. Great steps have been taken to date
.
closing the loop is now necessary.
Why look at policing?
To implement the
necessary to build
new boundaries as proposed in this report, it is
upon the concepts of the Beyond 2000 report-- in
essence to go beyond Beyond 2000 and see how policing might
work best. Given that our principles suggest that services for the
taxpayer should be delivered by the level of government that is
closest to the taxpayer, and that local divisions in the Beyond 2000
report are to be community responsive and deliver a full service
from the division, it is felt that consideration be given to creating
local police forces and specialized support services. Separating out
local policing from specialized support operations is a model
successfully employed in London, England where the
provides the necessary administrative and operational
Home Office
support to
local police.
-39-
The Beyond 2000 report itself also suggests that certain functions
could be delivered across a broader area more efficiently and
recognizes that support services can and should be coordinated for
,
the benefit of local divisions.
While centralized policy will continue to guide response to emergency calls,
the local unit commander will establish priorities for the allocation of time and
resources to solve less urgent problems, ensuring that corporate response
standards are met. (Beyond 2000- Page 48)
Training is an example of a function which might be shared among the police
services of the Greater Toronto Area. (Beyond 2000- Page 102)
Sharing of resources or services is another option which can prove cost-
effective for the Force. For example, the Forces marine unit currently works
with the Coast Guard to provide services to Torontos waterfront. Similarly,
the Force is able to borrow aircraft from the OPP, the RCMP, the DND, and
others. (Beyond 2000- Page 101)
The plan puts the main focus of service on the front line officer in a decentralized
organization. Specialist and support units must facilitate the work of the front line
officer in emergency, short term and long term problem solving for public safety.
(Beyond 2000- Page 107)
In North York, there are 3 divisions located in the west, east and
central portions of the City. These divisions and their new
responsibilities would function like our parks districts, works yards
and fire stations -- where each carries out a full service delivery.
-40-
It is accepted that divisions will have different priorities in the selection of
local strategies depending on local needs and problems. Nevertheless, the
Task Force has concluded that each division should have a structure which
dedicates officers to fulfil each role: emergency response, short term or.
alternate response; and long term problem solving or community response.
This organization will require the unit commander to maintain service delivery
with a better balance of uniform platoon operations, community response
operations and detective operations, a Neighborhood liaison committee
comprising members of the community who assist the unit commander identify
policing problems and problems within their local areas; dedicated traffic services
organized to address local traffic problems; and, detective functions designed to
address police street level crime. (Beyond 2000- Page 708)
What is community/neighbourhood?
Neighbourhoods are defined as areas associated by geography in which
there exist concerns based on the area, mutual community concerns or
common interests shared by the people who live and/or work there.
They were identified using a set of criteria which include historic
neighborhoods, demographic considerations, levels of crime and
demand for service, existing police facilities and boundaries, geographic
barriers, municipal boundaries, and input from within and outside the
Force. (Beyond 2000 -Page 145)
It is interesting to note that local municipalities define communities
and neighborhoods in much the same manner.
-41-
Ability to respond and be consistent with the strategic directions of
the local municipality is another reason to localize policing. This
function of protecting persons and property significantly adds to the
fabric of the municipality. Meaningful strategic planning requires
integration of this critical function with other municipal services
involved with persons and property. The City of London, Ontario,
population 315,000, has its Police Force reporting directly to the
local Council and actively involved with community issues.
On the issue of parking enforcement, The Beyond 2000 Task Force
sees that this function is best decentralized.
Centralized parking enforcement has been a controversial issue, and the
Task Force believes it is contrary to the philosophy of Neighbourhood
Policing. /fit is to remain centralized, there fen?, the parking enforcement
function must be accountable to local unit commanders in addressing local
community parking problems. (Beyond 2000- Page 190)
If parking enforcement becomes a local responsibility, existing local
parking authorities could streamline and eliminate duplication. To
the taxpayer, duplication would be eliminated.
The concept of creating local police may lead people to believe that
administrative costs would be increased. However, consider the
administrative staffing outlined in the Beyond 2000 report.
Certain
-42-
#Staff
% of Total Staff
Chiefs Staff 46 0.6
Executive Support 240 3.3
.
Administrative Support 627 8. 6
913 12.5
staff noted above could be decentralized to the local police
chiefs. Local municipalities can also integrate certain police
administrative functions with existing local administrative functions,
as well as maintaining clerical support for divisional administrative
functions.
-43-
Metro police are developing the technology to improve information
sharing and communications. This state-of-the-art system
implemented across the new GMF area would enhance policing
across the urban area thus ensuring that within the urban area that
crooks who dont recognize municipal boundaries would be caught
more efficiently. Other regional police forces currently have their
own systems that are not compatible or currently integrated.
Unlike fire and ambulance where an emergency call involves a
stationary person or property, an integrated communications system
across the new GMF area will be more efficient at tracking the
moving criminal. Likewise, 911 response handling by each region
today could be integrated for the benefit of the taxpayer. This is
particularly important with the growing number of cellular phones
that are used across current regional boundaries each with their own
911 functions.
-44-
If the existing Police Service Boards are eliminated and local
boards/committees of council are created to deal with local policing
issues (by definition, local police forces will have a local focus thus
.
fulfilling the Provinces interest in community policing), the
Province can also still exercise its interests through the centralized
support force or Home Office. Integration/duplication reduction
opportunities with the OPP exist for the Province under this
proposal.
An obvious area is traffic response on provincial highways - Yonge
Street (Highway 11) in York Region, the 401, etc.
- 45 -
Present Policing Structure Metro Toronto
Chief
Restructuring, Internal Affairs
Employee Assistance Plan
Legal Services,Trials Office
Staff: 46
3 Deputies
CAO Deputy
Deputy
Deputy
Field Administrative
Detective Operational
Executive
Command Support Support Support
Support
Staff: 4,576 Staff: 627 Staff: 516 Staff: 1,324
Staff: 240
I
- 46-
PAYING FOR GMF AND NEW LOCAL SERVICES
The redistribution of services as outlined in this report will result in
changes in the relative split on the property tax bill between the
local and federation (regional/Metro) share. Those services that
are simply a transfer between the former region and local
municipality will result in no tax increase to the taxpayer.
Because the scope of proposed service delivery functions that would
be delivered on an coordinated/integrated basis by the new
federation would be reduced, the current regional portion of the
tax bill to pay for these GMF services would be reduced. The
current method of pooling assessed values across a broad area can
be maintained. Alternatively, an equalized assessment system could
be implemented where the 15% residential/commercial differential is
eliminated in the calculation. An equalized assessment system
would gross up the assessed values of each municipality by an
equalization factor, then combine/pool quasi-market values of each
municipality for the purposes of paying for these GMF services.
-47-
It is recognized that certain services we are recommending be
delivered locally will mean higher net taxes for certain
municipalities. For example, ambulance services outside Metro are
currently paid by the Province through the Ministry of Health. We
are recommending they redelivered and paid for by the local
municipalities.
It is obvious that the Province is under tremendous financial
pressure and, as a result, will likely transfer funding of ambulances
to the municipal sector in the near future anyway.
If the Province chooses to continue paying for certain
as ambulance and public health, it should do so on an
for each local municipality in the federation.
services such
equal basis
Where a local municipality cannot afford to
we recommend be new local responsibilities,
given to several different forms of funding.
pay for the services that
consideration can be
-48-
Larger municipalities can contract certain services to other
municipalities who dont have the infrastructure or resources to
deliver desired levels of service. For example, the larger Cleveland
Public Library contracts out cataloging, database management and
computer support to smaller municipalities and counties
surrounding Cleveland. The advantage of this approach is that
these smaller centres get a level of service they couldnt provide
themselves without a huge investment and, for the larger centre
providing the service, there is an incoming revenue to further
enhance and develop their service and infrastructure.
This kind of model could apply to many other service areas. In the
example of a park extending over two or more municipalities, it
would be more cost effective and efficient administratively to have
one municipality provide the service maintenance and charge back
proportionate costs to the other parties in a cost sharing
arrangement.
Intermunicipal agreement and
The Metro local municipalities
-49-
cooperation is already taking place.
are participating in a cooperative
purchasing process for certain commodities. The book borrowing
policy between libraries of the Metro local municipalities is another
great example of inter-municipal facilitation for the benefit of the
taxpayer.
Consideration can also be
across the new federation
the local school boards in
would submit its funding
given to funding these new local services
area in a manner that is similar to how
Metro are funded - each municipality
requirement for the particular service and
the federation would pool the assessment base of the new urban area
for funding all the local needs. As much as possible, however, the
for
eds
-50-
TAX REFORM
Taxes are higher in the Metro local municipalities than in the other
surrounding regions which has resulted in a steady decline in the
assessment base in the Metro area. For example, businesses of
similar sizes pay different taxes on either side of Steeles Avenue.
Real estate brokers and economic development officers find that the
issue of taxes is the foremost perceived problem that outweighs the
benefits of locating in Metro. Metro and its area municipalities
have been perceived as fat cat spenders - providing higher levels of
service than other municipalities and Metro and its area
municipalities have also been perceived to be not as efficient as other
municipalities.
A Metro staff report in May 1994 analyzed the nature of the tax
difference in North York against certain cities in the surrounding
regions. The factors causing the differences are:
.
current provincial grants and funding formulas are not
equitable across the GTA in the areas of transit, ambulance,
public health and education
-51-
.
municipalities are partly paying (20%) from the property tax (a
regressive form of tax) for programs like welfare, homes for
the aged, hostels and daycare that have income redistributive
effects. When one area like Metro has more volume in welfare
caseloads than others, municipal costs on the property tax are
higher even though the funding formula is the same.
.
other factors - the property tax assessment system, capital
financing, and differences in area municipalities expenditures,
ie. higher service levels. Every municipality in the new urban
area uses a different base with the current assessment system.
For property taxes, some municipalities residents pay less than
businesses and some municipalities residents pay close to what
businesses pay. On top of this, the business occupancy tax
(business tax) is archaic, confusing and not perceived as fair to
business.
.
unique factors - services such as MTCVA, Metro Zoo,
Exhibition Place, OKeefe Centre, Grants, and the Metro
Reference Library - service a wider area of taxpayers than
Metro because of their uniqueness. At present, Metro is the
only region that pays for ambulance services. The province
pays the full cost in all other regions.
-52-
Lets look at how North York taxes fare against the City of
Markham. The Metro staff report identified that on average North
Yorks taxes are $2.40/ sq. ft. more than Markhams. Heres the
amount (in percentage terms) of the difference in commercial taxes
per square foot by each contributing factor.
NORTH YORK VS MARKHAM
VARIATION
IN COMMERCIAL TAXATION
Other Factors
13.8%
Unique Services
ransfers
Volume of Service
42.3%
fers
25.2%
Source: Metro CAO May2, 1994 Report Graph 2
(Note: The percentages against cities in other regions differs from
the above.)
-53-
How can the Province immediately help fix this tax differential?
1. Equalize Education Grant Transfers - because the education
portion of the property tax bill is so large, action on this item
is important. An equalizing of education transfers per pupil
across the Province will significantly eliminate about 25/0 of
the tax differential. Although there has been discussion on
the transfer of education costs to the income tax, it is widely
recognized that this would create an uncompetitive provincial
income tax.
2. Equalize Municipal Grant Transfers - given that transit,
ambulance and public health services are all provided to
taxpayer, it would make sense to equalize the Provincial
contribution to all taxpayers across the new urban area.
would eliminate about 7% of the tax differential.
the
This
-54-
3. The Province should pay 100% for income redistributive
programs such as welfare, homes for the aged, hostels and
daycare.
This would eliminate about 42 % of the tax ,
differential. Local municipalities can,
the Province,
be privatized.
These three actions
to deliver these services
of
or
course, contract
else the services
should be done in conjunction with an
with
can
exchange program where municipalities would pay 100/0 for
services currently paid for by the Province, e.g. ambulance, roads,
library services (conditional and unconditional grants) while the
Province would pay 100/0 for other services eg. welfare, daycare,
homes for the aged and public health. In light of future Provincial
expenditure pressures, the time is now to do this exchange.
Further, a plan should be developed to generally eliminate cost
shared programs altogether. The Province has historically been
unable to sustain paying its fair share of funding in such
relationships. A key objective in this
effect, i.e. grants lost in total across all
equal the new expenditures being paid
exercise is a neutral net
the municipalities would
for by the Province. If the
Province takes
tax differential
eliminated.
action on the above three items, about 75% of the
between North York and Markham would be
-55-
How can the other components of the tax differential be handled?
.
other factors (excluding the assessment system) are described
as capital financing policies and area municipalities
expenditures (i.e. higher and wider service levels). These are
deliberate decisions taken by the municipalities that are a
result of financial strategies and the needs and desires of local
communities. Residents are willing to pay for some cadillac
services. This would remain as the truly defensible tax
differentiation between municipalities.
.
Unique factors are about 12 % of the existing tax differential.
This report recommends the transfer of the funding and
responsibility for delivery of several of the unique factors to
either the Province or a local municipality.
- Ambulance - all local municipalities to pay with no
provincial grants
.
Exhibition Place - to be funded by the Province
.
Metro Zoo - to be funded by the Province
- OKeefe Centre - to be financed locally by the City of
Toronto/privatized by the City of Toronto
.
Metro Reference Library - to be financed locally by the City
of Toronto
-56-
When you look at the new funding sources, almost half of the above
services would be paid for by the Province and eliminated as a
problem.
.
Whats left?
The property tax system problem - or otherwise described as the
uneven property class tax burden under the assessment system.
Fixing this problem is the most difficult of all. Market value
appears to be the tried and true system for assessment across North
America. The ideal model for assessment reform across the new
GMF would see each local municipality with the same market value
assessment base for funding federation and education services.
Practically speaking, property tax reform of the kind needed would
require a phasing in over a number years.
-57-
What is the outcome?
On an individual basis, the implementation by the Province of
1evelling/equalizing grants will cause taxes to increase in the local
municipalities currently outside Metro; The Province paying for
welfare and other community services 100% will benefit Metro
municipalities more than other local municipalities; Fixing the tax
assessment system will cause taxes to increase for the resident in
Metro. If all the fixes were implemented at once, then there is an
opportunity for the entire fix to be implemented across the new
GMF in one fell swoop. Taxpayers
generally be impacted the same.
across the new GMF could
-58-
THE BUSINESS OCCUPANCY TAX
The business tax, as it is commonly called, with its varying rate
structure is perceived as confusing, archaic and unfair to the .
business community. It is also difficult for municipalities to collect.
It has not been a stable revenue source for municipalities.
NorthYork
C I T Y C L E R K S D E P A R T M E N T
5100 Yonge Street
North York, Ontario
M2N 5V7
September 27, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden,
Chair, GTA Task Force,
Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G
Dear
RE:
2E5
Dr. Golden:
AMALGAMATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS.
RECEIVED
At its meeting held on September 20, 1995, Council gave consideration to the matter of
amalgamation of school boards.
The City of North York requests that the Province consider establishing a school board
as an adjunct to City government (possibly in a similar way to which the Public Library
Boards and Health Boards currently operate).
A copy of the extract relating to this matter is enclosed for your information.
Yours truly,
Denis Kelly
CITY CLERK
BL:ay
Encl.
EXTRACT FROM THE MINUTES OFTHE MEETING OF
NORTH YORK COUNCIL HELD ON
EPTEMBER 20.1995
334. Leave having been granted for the introduction of an additional item by Councillor
Sutherland, Council considered the following:
AMALGAMATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS. (GB42)
It was moved by Councillor Sutherland, seconded by Councillor Shiner, that:
WHEREAS there are currently nine school boards in Metropolitan Toronto;
AND WHEREAS considerable savings can be achieved by reducing the amount
of government administration at the local level;
AND WHEREAS the new Harris government has stated that its priority is to
emphasize classroom-based educational funding;
AND WHEREAS the Councillors of the City of North York could take on the
for School Board Trustee positions;
Part 1
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the appropriate City departments report on
the best approach to allow for the seamless merger of the City and PubIic School
Board administrative functions;
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that North York request that the Province
consider establishing a school board as an adjunct to City government (possibly
in a similar way to which the Public Library Boards and Health Boards currently
operate);
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be forwarded to the
Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.
It was moved in amendment by Councillor Shiner, seconded by Councillor Li Preti,
that consideration be given to funding being provided to a school board, if it
becomes a board of the City, in the same manner as the Board of Health, i.e. 75%
provincial funding and 25% being funded from property taxes.
A recorded vote on the amendment moved by Councillor Shiner, seconded by
.
Councillor Li Preti, that in the event a school board becomes a board of the City
that consideration be given to the provision of 75% of the funding from the
Province and 25% from property taxes, was as follows:
FOR: Severino, Li Preti, Di Giorgio, Rizzo, Feldman, Lastman, Summers,
Filion, Minnan-Wong, Shiner, Sutherland
AGAINST: Flint, Yuill
ABSENT: Berger
The amendment moved by Councillor Shiner, seconded by Councillor Li Preti,
carried.
- 2 -
A recorded vote on Part 2 of the main motion moved by Councillor Sutherland,
seconded by Councillor Shiner, was as follows:
FOR: Severino, Li Preti, Feldman, Yuill, Minnan-Wong, Shiner, Sutherland
AGAINST: Di Giorgio, Rizzo, Flint, Summers, Filion,
ABSENT: Berger
Part 2 of the motion carried.
A recorded vote on Part 1 of the motion moved by Councillor Sutherland,
seconded by Councillor Shiner, was as follows:
FOR: Severino, Li Preti, Feldman, Lastman, Flint, Yuill, Minnan-Wong,
Shiner, Sutherland
AGAINST: Di Giorgio, Rizzo, Summers, Filion
ABSENT: Berger
The motion moved by Councillor Sutherland, seconded by Councillor Shiner,
carried, as amended.
Office of the Chair
6 October 1995
Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Further to our meeting, 19 September 1995, I am sending you copies of the North York
Board of Educations submission and the brief of the Metropolitan Toronto School Boards
to the Commission on Planning and Development Reform in Ontario which outlines a number
of concerns that we have around planning issues.
Please do not hesitate to contact me, at 395-8409, if I can provide any further assistance.
Yours truly,
Shelley Stillman
Chair
Ss:cs
BOARD OF
EDUCATION
SUBMISSION TO THE
COMMISSION ON PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT REFORM IN ONTARIO
1 June 1992
NORTH YORK BOARD OF EDUCATION
M2N 5N8
To the Chair and Members
AND DEVELOPMENT REFORM IN ONTARIO
I would like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to express the position of the North
York Board of Education with respect to the planning process in Ontario. We welcome the open
process and the forthright manner in which the members seek the opinions of the community
and the institutions which are vitally affected by the planning process.
The North York Board of Education has had an active and deliberate involvement in the
planning process for many years but particularly in the past ten years where our involvement
has extended considerably beyond that of simply commenting on our ability to accommodate
students. As one of the largest landowners in North York, we continue to be involved directly in
official plans, zoning regulations and site plan approval where it is in the interests of the
Board. Increasingly we find that our Boards interests are directly affected.
GOOD COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
To be clear we should remind the members that we are a form of government with elected
representatives, taxing authority and expropriation authority. We are given certain tools to
carry out our statutory responsibility. This is not only to provide education in a fiscally
responsible manner to the residents within our community, but also to ensure that our school
sites and other property assets maintain their utility and value.
The Board wishes to impress upon the Commission the fact that the neighbourhood and
community which functions well socially and economically is in the direct interest of the school
board. We have learned that the school and education in general are often the first to be
negatively impacted when communities suffer from social and economic adversity or when
extreme rapid growth forces us to deliver proper educational services much later than when
required. These difficulties are often reflected by the many problems which surface in the
neighborhood school. This could range from tensions within the school culture which are
exacerbated by economic and social difficulties at home to inadequate teaching facilities due to
overcrowding as we witness portable classrooms becoming almost permanent fixtures on school
sites.
In addition, it should be pointed out that our school buildings and yards provide a focus for
community and neighbourhood activity. After school hours our facilities are available for
community use ranging from recreational use of our gymnasiums and pools to meeting rooms for
community groups.
In essence we suggest that good planning and development provides the basis in a community or
neighbourhood for the provision and maintenance of schools and programs which provide
quality learning environments.
2
ROLE OF THE EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITY
It is considered that the vrevision of education a nd the schools in which they are provided
form an intcgral Dart of the fundamental infrastructure of a community. In addition, the non-
educational opportunities of a social and recreational nature which the boards facilities often
provide enhance the quality of living in the neighborhood and community. It is not uncommon
therefore, that decisions on where to purchase a home are made primarily on the basis of the
the neighbourhood school.
The Board is concerned that boards of education or schools are not specifically mentioned in the
Commissions current initiatives notwithstanding the vital educational, social, and community
role which our schools play in the fabric of the local neighbourhood and the City as a whole.
THE ISSUE FOR EDUCATION
If the objective is to transfer greater decision making authority to the local municipalities we
are concerned that the new proposals do not give school boards solid safeguards at the
provincial level (Planning Act, Education Act etc.) against unwarranted local planning
initiatives which would adversely impact not only the school boards operational flexibility
but also negatively affect the utility and value of their school sites.
Without appropriate safeguards in provincial legislation or in local planning policies and
regulations our Board will find it increasing difficult to carry out its statutory educational and
fiscal responsibilities. It is our opinion that if the Commission continues to pursue its current
direction school boards would be affected in the following areas:
a).
b).
c).
d).
e).
The relationship of development to the provision of education will vary
from municipality to municipality depending on the relationship of the
individual school board with the municipality.
The ability to use schools for school purposes maybe adversely affected by
official plans, zoning, and other regulations.
The utility and value of school properties could be adversely affected.
The ability to utilize or lease surplus school space for other purposes could
become difficult forcing school boards to maintain at great expense vacant
space rather than generate revenue to reduce the impact on the local
taxpayer.
Capital planning for school facilities could become burdensome, inefficient
and cause financial strain to school boards, the province and to taxpayers
due to planning policies and development approvals having no requirement
to synchronize development with existing and planned school facilities.
3
SCHOOL BOARDS OBJECTIVES
In conclusion, the North York Board of Education suggests that the Commission seriously
consider the following points:
1. Provincial Goals and Policies
2.
3.
4.
Provincial Goals and policies should be established to ensure that a school
boards mandate to ensure the delivery of quality education in a fiscally
responsible manner is not constrained by restrictive local planning policies,
Municipal Official Plans and Zoning Bylaws
Municipal planning should require meaningful consultation and official plans
should include planning policies which co-ordinate and allow development in
relation to the timely delivery of education. Planning policies should also
protect the value and utility of school sites, including the ability to lease out
surplus space for a reasonable range of uses.
Appeals
Boards of education should continue to maintain and possibly expand their
appeal powers when referring matters to the Ontario Municipal Board.
Fair Market Value
The Boards ability to obtain fair market value for permanently declared
surplus school sites should be ensured by provincial policy or legislation in
order not to be diminished by local official plans and zoning bylaws.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion it should be emphasized that sound planning, including the process which leads up
to it, is not only in our Boards interest but also in the the local communitvs and provinces
interest.
We will be subsequently submitting a more comprehensive submission elaborating in greater
detail how we believe our concerns can be met while being consistent with good community
planning.
May, 1992
BRIEF TO THE
AND DEVELOPMENT REFORM
IN ONTARIO
The Public School Boards in Metropolitan Toronto
1.
2 .
3 .
4 .
5 .
6 .
7 .
8.
BRIEF FROM THE METROPOLITAN TORONTO SCHOOL BOARD
ON BEHALF OF TEE EIGHT PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARDS
TO THE COMMISSION ON PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT REFORM
IN ONTARIO
INDEX
Introduction
Mandate of the Commission
Summar y of Pr opos al s
P r e s e n t Le g a l Ob l i g a t i o n s o f t h e S c h o o l Bo a r d
Pr e s e nt Powe r s of t he Sc hool Boa r d
St a t e me nt of Pr obl e ms
( a ) Adequat e Si t es and Accommodat i on
(b) Need for Consultation and par t i ci pat i on
(c) Notice Provi si ons
Proposals for Change
(a) Legislative Changes
( b) Review of Official Plan -
Municipal Coordination and
Cooperation
(c) Provincial Policy Statement
Conclusion
APPENDIX
Considerations Regarding The Development Charges Act
- 1 -
1 . INTRODUCTION
The Metropol
itan Toronto School Board (the "School Board"
welcomes this opportunity to make known to the Commission its
concerns regarding the development process as it affects the
school Board and the seven public Area Boards of Education in
The public Area Boards within
Metropolitan Toronto include the East York Board of Education,
the Etobicoke Board of Education,
the North York Board of
Education, the Scarborough Board of Education, the Toronto
Board of Education,
the French Language
the City of York Board of Education and
School Council (the Area Boards).
This brief was developed in consultation with the Area Boards.
The brief sets out those general concerns common to the eight
public School Boards in Metropolitan
Toronto and makes
proposals for legislative changes which will enable the School
Board and the Area Boards to fulfill more effectively their
obligations with respect to the provision of
student
accommodation.
The School Board asks that the Commission give the Area Boards
the opportunity to be heard with respect to planning concerns
which are specific
to each Area Board.
Those particular
problems will demonstrate the application in practice in a
variety of different situations of the general principles
formulated in this brief.
MANDATE OF THE COMMISSION
The terms of reference of the Commission are set out in Order
in Council No. 1355/91.
The Commission was,
in part,
established to
inquire into, report
upon and make
recommendations on legislative change or other actions or
- 2 -
both, needed to restore confidence in the integrity of the
land use planning system. The Commission is to make
recommendations on improvements to the integrity, efficiency,
openness, accountability and goals of the land use planning
and development review process and on the protection of the
public interest in planning and land development.
SUMMARY OF PROPOSALS
Within these terms of reference, the School Board proposes for
the consideration of the Commission the following general
principles and legislative changes to the Planning Act, R.S.O.
1990 (the Planning Act) .
( a) The availability of educational facilities is an
important factor in good planning, just as the
availability of municipal services such as roads, water
and sewers are important factors. The Planning Act
should ensure that all approval authorities, in
considering development applications of a residential
nature, give consideration to the availability of school
sites and student accommodation as important criteria in
reviewing those applications.
(b) The extent of residential development
in urban areas often necessitates the
the addition to, existing schools.
a nd r e de ve l opme nt
renovation of, or
The costs arising
from such renovations and/or expansions cannot be covered
by existing funding sources. A mechanism must therefore
be provided under the Planning Act whereby the School
Board may raise school renovation and/or expansion funds
needed as a result of residential developments or
redevelopments. A requirement or charge similar to the
provisions with respect to parkland dedication under
- 3 -
Section 42 of the Planning Act, may be an appropriate
means by which to collect a school renovation and/or
expansion contribution on a comprehensive basis from all
residential development or redevelopment.
(c) Formal notice should be given to the Area Board and the
School Board of all proposed residential developments
which either by themselves or cumulatively impact upon
the Area Board's ability to fulfill its duty to provide
adequate student accommodation.
(d) In order to plan for adequate student accommodation, the
Area Boards require notification, throughout the
planning, construction and marketing stages of a
residential development, of any changes which may alter
the demographic makeup of the proposed population of the
development. For example, the Area Board must be
notified of any increase or decrease in the bedroom count
and of any change in occupancy from senior citizen or
adult lifestyle accommodation to family accommodation.
The use, by the municipality, of the Holding By-law
provisions of Section 36 of the Planning Act would, under
certain circumstances , be of assistance to the School
Board and the Area Boards in ensuring that demographic
factors which determine pupil yield have not changed
significantly prior to the removal of the "Holding
designation and the issuance of the building permit.
Present Legal Obligations of the School Board
Under the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Act (Section
155) , the School Board must endeavour to provide to all of the
Area Boards the funds necessary for student accommodation and
educational programs throughout Metropolitan Toronto.
- 4 -
Under the Education Act, the Area Boards have a duty to
determine the number and kind of schools to be established and
maintained in
accordance with policies and procedures
established by the Area Boards and the Minister of Education.
It is also the duty of each Area Board to provide instruction
and adequate accommodation during each school year for the
pupils who have a right to attend a school under the
jurisdiction of the Area Board.
The Area Boards must submit to the School Board annually for
approval their estimates, for elementary and secondary
education, of the monies required for the purposes of the Area
Board. In considering the estimates, the School Board must
endeavour to provide for all the Area Boards, having regard to
their varying needs,
the funds necessary for an educational
program throughout Metropolitan Toronto.
present powers of the School Board
The School Board and the Area Boards have the authority under
the Education Act to select and acquire, by purchase, lease,
or expropriation,
school sites that are within their areas of
jurisdiction. The School Board and the Area Boards may also
purchase or lease lands that are outside their areas of
jurisdiction. These are effectively the only express powers
of acquisition of land available to the School Board and the
Area Boards. The School Board and the Area Boards have
accordingly no right to claim an allocation of land for a
school site within a development of land by subdivision or
otherwise, either from the developer or the Municipality.
The means at the School Boards and the Area Boards disposal
to acquire a school site by purchase, lease or expropriation,
- 5 -
can only be used by paying a fair market value. There are no
sure means under the Planning Act for the acquisition of
school sites and the provision of adequate student
accommodation. Educational considerations and school sites
are referred to in the Planning Act in a limited context.
In considering a draft plan of subdivision, the Minister of
Municipal Affairs must have regard to a number of
considerations, including the effect of the development of the
proposed subdivision on matters of Provincial interest. One
matter of Provincial interest, as specified under the Planning
Act, is the equitable distribution of educational, health and
other social facilities. The Minister must also have regard
to the adequacy of school sites. The same considerations are
relevant in land severance applications.
The official plan, zoning and minor variance provisions of the
Planning Act do not contain specific references to the
adequacy of school sites and student accommodation.
While Area Boards have every right to participate in the
planning process with respect to official plan amendments,
zoning by-laws, subdivision approval, and minor variance and
severance applications, and to make their needs known to
developers, municipal planners and Councils, they have no
autonomous power to obtain satisfaction of their asserted or
established needs for school sites and student accommodation.
The School Board and the Area Boards are dependent upon the
decisions or agreements of others and upon their bargaining
strength to secure favorable land allocation in new
developments.
It is wrong to assume that the Area Boards, through the School
Board, have access to adequate funds for the purpose of school
site acquisition and the provision of student accommodation.
- 6 -
Traditionally,
school Board funding is only through property
taxes, a source of funding that is
and will remain under
severe constraint.
The School Board has the power to borrow money through the
issuance of debentures,
but this method of financing capital
projects has not been used since 1980.
Provincial grants for capital expenditures cannot
o n a s a s t a b l e s o u r c e o f r e v e n u e .
Fu r t h e r mo r e ,
be counted
the amount
received in grants is negligible.
In 1991 the School Board
had a budget of $87,200,000.00 for capital expenditures, while
less than $2,000,000.00 was received in grants for capital
expenditures.
The School Board
the Development
is currently
Charges Act,
reviewing its options regarding
So. 1989, however, it would
appear that there are some shortfalls in the use of education
development charges (see Appendix).
STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
(a) Provision of Adequate School Sites and Student
Accommodation
The dilemma of the Area Boards
broad duty to provide accommodate
is simple; they have a
ion to students entitled
to attend school, but their means of accomplishing that
end are limited to acquiring property in the marketplace
through lease or by purchase or by expropriation at fair
market value. Alternatively, agreements may be reached
with developers which, depending on the particular
context, may accomplish some modification of market
forces.
- 7 -
In the past, when land was readily available and
developers profits more easily obtainable, the system of
negotiation with developers for school sites was easier.
Developers saw the political and marketing advantages of
ensuring easy access to schools for children of the
families which were their main market.
Both the
economics and the demographics have changed.
Developers
and sometimes municipalities see little need to ensure
the construction of school facilities.
The change of circumstances requires both a fresh
approach by Area Boards to the acquisition of sites and
the construction of schools and a new legislative
framework which will ensure easier and more affordable
access to school sites and the provision of student
accommodation.
Another problem being faced by the Area Boards is the
change in the demographic composition of the population
of residential developments which results in a
significant increase or decrease in the number of school
age children. A change in the type of occupancy of a
building from what was originally proposed, and upon
which the Area Boards have based their forecasts,
can
have a drastic impact on the Area Boards ability to
provide adequate student accommodation. For example, due
to a downturn in the economy, a building which was
originally planned as a luxury, adult lifestyle
condominium may ultimately be used as affordable or non-
profit housing to accommodate families, with the result
that there would be a greater demand on the school
facilities in the area.
With the cooperation of the local municipality, the
Holding By-law provisions of section 36 of the Planning
- 8 -
Act may be used to control changes to the proposed
occupancy of a building prior to construction. As a
condition to removing the holding symbol, the municipal
council could require the developer to reaffirm to the
Area Board the proposed use and occupancy of the project
and obtain from the Area Board confirmation that adequate
student accommodation still exists to serve the project.
(b) Need for Consultation with and Participation by
the
School Board and the Area Boards in the Planning
Process
A further problem faced by some of the Area Boards is the
inadequacy of notice to the Area Boards of proposed
residential developments,
resulting in the Area Boards
being unable to properly accommodate students in a timely
fashion.
Without formal notice of applications, Area Boards may
not become aware of such development proposals until the
applications are well into the planning process.
By that
time, the Area Boards are often at a disadvantage in
having their concerns considered through amendments to
the proposal without the expense of an appeal to the
Ontario Municipal Board.
With proper formal notice, the
Area Boards would be in a far better position to take
development proposals into consideration in their long-
term plans for student accommodation.
The School Board
and the Area Boards should be included and consulted at
the beginning of the development process.
Ideally, they
should be consulted by both the developer and the
Municipality during the preliminary discussions, even
before a formal submission or application is submitted.
Adequate notice will also permit the Area Boards to match
potential need with existing supply.
This will assist
- 9 -
the Area Boards in determining whether or not school
openings or closures should or should not take place in
certain catchment areas. It may also assist the Area
Boards in advising the local municipalities as to the
areas in which growth should occur in order to fully
utilize the existing school facilities, and thereby avoid
or at least minimize the use of portable classrooms and
busing.
(c) Notice Provisions
The notice provisions under the Planning Act for the
major development processes are as follows:
Official Plan and Official Plan Amendments (Includinq
Part II or Secondary Plans)
Ontario Regulation 402/83 only requires notice of a
public meeting, for the purpose of informing the public
of a proposed Official Plan or a proposed amendment to an
Official Plan, be given either by publication in a
newspaper of general circulation or by personal service
or by prepaid first-class mail to every landowner in the
area to which the proposed Official Plan or Official Plan
Amendment would apply and to all landowners within 120
metres of that area. Furthermore, notice of the public
meeting must be given to every person and agency that has
given the clerk of the municipality a written request for
such notice in respect of the proposed official plan or
plan amendment.
There is no specific requirement that the School Board or
an Area Board be given notice of any application to amend
the Official Plan.
- 10 -
Sections 17(9) and 22(3) of the Planning Act only provide
t h a t t h e Mi n i s t e r may c o n f e r wi t h o f f i c i a l s o f
c o mmi s s i o n s , a u t h o r i t i e s o r c o r p o r a t i o n s a n d o t h e r s u c h
bodies or persons as the Minister considers may have an
interest in the approval of the Official Plan or the
Amendment of the Official Plan. There are no guarantees
that amendments pertaining to either general residential
policies or site specific official plan amendments
relating to residential developments will be brought to
the attention of the Area Board.
Local municipalities must be aware that even small
residential developments will ultimately have a
cumulative effect on the Area Boards ability to provide
student accommodation.
Zoning Bv-laws and Zoning By-law Amendments
Section 34(12) of the Planning Act requires a
municipality to hold at least one public meeting before
Municipal Council passes the Zoning By-law or any
amendment thereto. Regulation 404/83 contains the notice
provisions for the public meeting. Notice of a public
meeting for the purpose of informing the public in
respect of a proposed Zoning By-law must be given by
publication in a newspaper of general circulation or by
personal service or prepaid first-class mail to every
landowner or assessed person in the area to which the
proposed By-law would apply and within 120 metres of that
area. Where notice is by personal service or prepaid
first-class mail to a landowner only, notice of the
public meeting must also be
Under Section 34(15) of the
Council must forward to
posted on the property.
Planning Act, the Municipal
such boards, commissions,
- 11 -
a u t h o r i t i e s o r o t h e r a g e n c i e s a s t h e Co u n c i l c o n s i d e r s
ma y h a v e a n i n t e r e s t i n t h e z o n i n g p r o p o s a l s u f f i c i e n t
i n f o r ma t i o n t o e n a b l e t h e m t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e a p p l i c a t i o n
ge ne r a l l y a nd s uc h i nf or ma t i on mus t be f or wa r de d not l e s s
t h a n 2 0 d a y s b e f o r e p a s s i n g a By - l a w i mp l e me n t i n g t h e
p r o p o s a l .
Once again, n e i t h e r t h e r e g u l a t i o n s n o r t h e P l a n n i n g Ac t
speci fi cal l y requlre notice to be given to the Area
Board. The Regulations only require notice of the
passage of the By-law to be sent to the Secretary of
every school board having jurisdiction within the area to
which the By-law applies. Such notice after the fact,
may often come too late for the Area Board to have any
practical input into the proposal without an expensive
appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board. There must be
consultation with the School Board and the Area Board at
the earliest possible opportunity.
Plans of Subdivision
Under subsection 51(3) of the Planning Act, the Minister
of Municipal Affairs may confer with officials of
commissions, authorities or corporations and with such
other bodies or persons as the Minister considers may
have an interest in the approval of the proposed
subdivision. The Area Board is not specifically listed
as an entity to be consulted. There are no other
provisions or regulations requiring that notice be given
to the Area Board, although in considering the approval
of the draft plan of subdivision, regard must be had to,
including other matters, the health, safety, convenience
and welfare of the present and future inhabitants of the
local Municipality and to the effect of the proposed
subdivision on matters of Provincial interest.
- 12 -
One matter of
Provincial interest is the equitable
distribution of educational, health and other social
facilities. Regard must also be had to the adequacy of
school sites. These provisions do not go far enough in
encouraging early consultation with the Area Board or in
establishing criteria that goes beyond simply considering
t h e a d e q u a c y o f s c h o o l s i t e s .
T h e a c t u a l e x i s t e n c e o f
s t udent accommodat i on mus t be exami ned.
Consents to Sever
The approval authority,
in determining whether a consent
to sever is to be given,
must confer with such agencies
or persons as are prescribed under the regulations.
However, Ontario Regulation 406/83 does not list an Area
Board as one of the agencies
to which the approval
authority must, at least fourteen (14) days prior to the
Hearing, provide a copy of the application and a request
for written comments. The approval authority must give
notice of the application only to those local boards,
commissions or persons that the approval authority
determines should receive notice.
In determining whether a
consent is to be given, the
approval authority must only have regard to the same
matters that must be considered in approving a plan of
subdivision. Such criteria includes the adequacy of
school sites as well as the equitable distribution of
educational, health and other social facilities.
Minor Variance App lications
The approval authority must give notice of the Hearing of
the application to the persons and agencies prescribed by
- 13 -
regulation. However, the Area Boards are not
specifically listed in Ontario Regulation 447/83.
The
approval authority must give notice of the application
only to those local boards,
commissions or persons that
the approval authority determines should receive notice.
7 . PROPOSALS FOR CHANGE
( a) Legislative Proposals
The School Board respectfully requests that consideration
be given to the following amendments to the Planning Act,
R.S.O. 1990, Chap.
P.13 (underlining indicates proposed
amendment) :
(i) Section 2 - Reqarding the Responsibilities of the
Add paragraph (k) as follows:
2. The Minister, in carrying out his or her
responsibilities
under this Act, will have
regard to, among other matters,
matters of
provincial interest such as,
(ii)
- 14 -
(k) the adeaqacy of school sites and student
accommodation to service residential
development.
Section 3 - Regarding Provincial Policy Statements
Amend subsection 3(4) as follows:
3(4) Each municipality that receives notice of a
policy statement under subsection (3) shall in turn
given notice of the statement to each local board
of the municipality that it considers has an
interest in the statement, including notice to the
local school board.
(iii) Section 6 - Regarding Consultation
Revise subsection 6(2) as follows:
6(2) A ministry, before carrying out or
authorizing any undertaking that the ministry
considers will directly affect any municipalillty or
school board, shall consult with, and have regard
for, the established planning policies of the
municipality and the school board.
(iv) Section 17 - Regarding Official Plans
17(5) The council shall provide to the school
boards having jurisdiction within the municipality,
- 15 -
and to such other boards, commissions, authorities
or other agencies as the council considers may have
an interest in
the proposed
plan, adequate
information, a n d b e f o r e
a d o p t i n g t h e p l a n t h e
c o u n c i l s h a l l a f f o r d t h e m a n o p p o r t u n i t y t o s u b mi t
c omme nt s i n r e s pe c t of t he pl a n up t o s uc h t i me a s
i s s p e c i f i e d b y t h e c o u n c i l .
17(9) The Minister may confer with school board,
municipal, provincial or federal officials, with
officials of commissions,
authorities or
corporations and with such other bodies or persons
as the Minister considers may have an interest in
the approval of the plan and, subject to subsection
(11) , may then approve, or, after consultation with
the council, refuse to approve
the plan or, if
modifications appear desirable to the Minister, he
or she may, after consultation with the council,
make the modifications to the plan and approve the
plan as modified.
(v) Section 19 -
Regarding
Official
plans in
Unorganized Territories
Although this section does not apply to the School
Board and Area Boards,
the Commission may also wish
to consider the following amendment to paragraph
19(b):
19. Before adopting a plan for a planning area
consisting solely of territory without municipal
organization, the planning board,
- 16 -
(b) shall provide to any
school boards having
jurisdiction or an
interest within the
territory and to such other boards,
commissions, authorities or other agencies as
the planning board considers may have an
interest in the proposed plan, adequate
information, and shall afford them an
opportunity to submit comments in respect of
the plan up to such time as is specified by
the planning board,
and thereafter subsections 17 (6) to (18) apply,
with necessary modifications, as
though the
planning board were the council of a municipality
a n d t h e s e c r e t a r y - t r e a s u r e r we r e t h e c l e r k
mu n i c i p a l i t y .
(vi) Section 26 - Regarding Revision of Official
o f t h e
Plans
26(1) The council of every municipality that has
adopted and had approved an
official plan shall
from time to time, and not less frequently than
every five years, hold a special meeting of
council, open to the public,
for
determining the need for a revision
plan.
the purpose of
of the official
(2) Notice of every special meeting held under
subsection (1) shall be
given to every school board
with jurisdiction within the municipality
and shall
be published at least once a week in each of two
separate weeks, such publication to be completed
not later than thirty days before the date of the
meeting, and the council shall afford any person
- 17 -
who a t t e nds t he me e t i ng a n oppor t uni t y t o be he a r d
i n r e s p e c t o f t h e n e e d f o r a r e v i s i o n o f t h e p l a n .
(vii) Section 34 - Regarding Zoning By-laws
34(5) A by-law passed under paragraph 1 or 2 of
subsection (1) or a predecessor of that paragraph
may prohibit the use of land or the erection or use
of buildings or structures unless such municipal
services and school facilities as may be set out in
the by-law are available to
service the land,
buildings or structures, as the case may be.
34(15) The council shall forward to the school
boards having jurisdiction within the municipalitv
and to such other boards, commissions, authorities
or other agencies as the council considers may have
an interest in the zoning proposal, sufficient
information to enable them to understand it
generally and such information shall be forwarded
not less than twenty days before passing a by-law
implementing the proposal.
34(16) Where a school board,
board, commission,
authority or other agency receives information
under subsection (15), such school board,
board,
commission, authority or agency may
in writing
notify the clerk of the municipality at any time
- 18 -
before the expiry of the twenty-day period
mentioned in subsection (15) that a further period
of time is required to submit comments in respect
of the zoning proposal and, where notice is so
given, a by-law implementing the proposal may not
be passed until either the comments have been
received by the council or thirty days have elapsed
f r o m t h e d a t e t h a t t h e i n f o r ma t i o n wa s f o r wa r d e d
u n d e r s u b s e c t i o n ( 1 5 ) , whichever first occurs.
(viii) Section 51 - Regarding Approval of Plans of
Subdivision
Amend subsection 51(2) (k) as follows:
51(2) An applicant under subsection (1) shall
provide as many copies as may be required by the
Minister of a draft plan of the proposed
subdivision drawn to scale and showing,
(k) the municipal services and school
facilities available or to be available to the
land proposed to be subdivided; and
51(3) The Minister may confer with school board,
municipal, provincial or federal officials, with
officials of commissions, authorities or
corporations and with such other bodies or persons
as the Minister considers may have an interest in
the approval of the proposed subdivision.
Amend subsection 51(4) (j) as follows:
- 19 -
51(4) In considering a draft plan of subdivision,
regard shall be had, among other matters, to the
health, safety, convenience and welfare of the
present and future inhabitants of the local
municipality and to the following,
(j )
the adequacy of s chool s i t es and s t udent
accommodation;
(ix) Section 53 - Regarding Consents
53(10) The Minister in determining whether a
consent is to be given shall confer with such
school boards, officials, authorities,
corporations, bodies or persons as the Minister
considers may have an interest
and thereafter may, subject to
(19), give, or refuse to give,
(x) Regulations
The School Board also requests
in the application
subsections (11) to
the consent.
that amendments be
made to Regulations 402/83 and 404/83 to ensure
that notice of all official plan and zoning
applications pertaining to residential developments
be given to the Secretary of the Area Board which
has jurisdiction over the lands in the application.
With respect to severance and minor variance
applications, it is the request of the School Board
and the Area Boards that they be given
formal
notice of only those applications which would
- 20 -
(xi)
result in an increase in the number of residential
dwelling units.
Other Matters
As n o t e d a b o v e , any s i g n i f i c a n t c h a n g e t o t h e
d e mo g r a p h i c c o mp o s i t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f a
building may either increase or decrease the number
of school age children in the building,
thereby
affecting the Area Boards ability to efficiently
provide adequate student accommodation. Therefore,
consideration should be given to an amendment to
the Planning Act or the regulations thereunder,
which would ensure that,
during the planning and
development process, the School Board and the Area
Board are notified by the municipality of any
proposed physical changes to the building itself or
of any proposed changes to the use and occupancy of
the building which may significantly change the
pupil yield.
Review of Official Plans - Municipal Coordination and
Cooperation
Section 26 of the Planning Act requires a municipality,
not less frequently than every five years, to hold a
special meeting of Council, open to the public, for the
p u r p o s e o f d e t e r mi n i n g t h e n e e d f o r a r e v i s i o n t o i t s
Of f i c i a l P l a n .
Since the budgets of the Area Boards play a major role in
determining the annual mill rates, long-term land use
planning goals and the provision of student accommodation
- 21 -
must be coordinated between the municipality and the Area
Boards.
The School Board requests that both the School Board and
Area Boards be formally included in a municipality's
periodic review of its Official Plan Policies pursuant to
Section 26. It is through the general policy provisions
of the Official Plan that the direction of growth and the
long-term planning of student accommodation should be
coordinated. All Official Plans should contain a policy
statement recognizing the importance of adequate school
sites and student accommodation.
(c) Provincial Policy Statement
Under Section 3 of the Planning Act, the Minister of
Municipal Affairs and any other Minister of the Crown,
may from time to time issue Policy Statements that-have
been approved by the Lieutenant Governor in Council on
matters
relating to municipal planning
that in the
opinion of the Minister of Municipal Affairs
are of
Provincial interest.
In exercising any authority that
affects
any planning matter,
the council of every
municipality,
every local board,
every minister of the
Crown and every ministry, board,
commission or agency of
the government,
including the Ontario Municipal Board and
Ontario Hydro,
shall have regard to any Policy Statement
issued under Section 3.
The School Board requests the Commission to recommend to
the Minister of Municipal
of Affairs that a Policy
Statement be issued identifying the provision of adequate
school sites and student accommodation as a matter of
Provincial
interest
and encouraging all local
- 22 -
municipalities and government agencies and Ministries to
consult with the local school boards on any land use
decisions, issues or programs which may impact upon the
provision of student accommodation.
B
Such a policy would help to ensure the creation of a day-
to-day working relationship between the school boards and
the local municipalities and ensure early-notification to
the school boards of development proposals.
Early
notification of development proposals permits an Area
Board to formulate its position and
increases the
likelihood that the concerns of the Area Board may be
resolved early in the development
process. The
development proposal should be discussed with the Area
Board during its formative stages and even before a
formal development application is submitted.
The development of a close working relationship between
the local municipality and the Area Board would also
facilitate the sharing of existing data bases and the
collection and analysis of new data.
The issuance of a Provincial Policy Statement regarding
educational facilities should result in the setting up of
a mechanism whereby the Ministries of Education and
Housing would have preliminary discussions with the
School Board and the Area Boards prior to implementing
any new incentives that may
exacerbate the student
accommodation problem. For example, any major
intensification program supported by the Ministry of
Housing could have a substantial impact on the demand for
student accommodation within
existing schools.
Similarly, programming changes initiated by the Ministry
of Education may reduce class sizes and increase space
needs, thereby decreasing the Area Boards ability to
- 23 -
provide student accommodation.
Early
consultation
between these Ministries and the Area Boards may help to
avoid any sudden increases in the demand for student
accommodation.
Conclusion
It is hoped that the considerations raised in this brief will
be of
assistance to the Commission
in formulating its
recommendations for amendments to the Planning Act.
The
School Board would be pleased to expand on any
matters
contained
in this brief,
and supply supporting
detailed
information.
THE METROPOLITAN TORONTO SCHOOL BOARD
on behalf of the eight public School
Boards in Metropolitan Toronto.
- 2 4 -
APPENDIX
It may be suggested that a funding alternative may be the
enactment of an Education Development Charge By-law pursuant
to the Development Charges Act, S.0. 1989.
The School Board
has declined, to
date, to
proceed with an
Education
Development Charge By-law for a variety of philosophical and
practical reasons.
Among the reasons are the following:
(a) the Development Charges Act does not address financing
for non growth-related capital needs such as renovation
and replacement,
nor does it
provide funding
for
additional classroom space relating to various government
mandates such as the reduction in pupil/teacher ratios.
The Development Charges Act is based on the principal
that growth-related education capital costs (i.e. the
provision of new pupil places) should be paid for by all
development which
is generating the need
for that
expenditure.
Such a funding source is totally inadequate
for the School
Boards
needs.
Development or
redevelopment in an
urban
context like Metropolitan
Toronto does not generate the same demand for new schools
or school additions as
greenfield development" in more
rural areas.
Rather, greater demand is placed on the
School Board to upgrade,
renew and renovate its existing
stock of schools,
costs which are not recoverable under
the Development Charges Act.
(b) the continued availability of this funding source may be
uncertain as a result of constitutional challenges.
The
development industry is
largely in opposition to the
imposition of Education Development Charges;
.
- 25 -
(c)
(d)
the Development Charges Act represents a further shift in
responsibility for education funding from the provincial
government to a local user-pay system that in itself may
not be an appropriate source of funding for an education
system that is regarded as benefiting not only the user
but society as a whole; and
pursuant to Ontario Regulation 722/89 an education
development charge cannot be imposed with respect to the
creation of one or two additional dwelling units in an
existing single detached dwelling or with respect to one
additional dwelling unit in any other existing
residential building.
While this exemption may seem
insignificant, the cumulative impact of housing
intensification on
the need for additional school
facilities in a large urban area can be significant.
5100 Yonge Street
North York. Ontario
M2N 5V7
Tel: (416) 395-7617
Fax: (416) 395-7691
NorthYork
B O A R D O F H E A L T H
September 22, 1995
Ms. Anne Golden, Chair
Premiers Task Force on the Future of GTA
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms. Golden:
I am pleased to send you a copy of a paper prepared by the City of North York Public Health
Department on the municipal positioning of public health departments in Metropolitan Toronto.
As you deliberate on the future structure of the GTA, I encourage you and your task force to
consider the contents of this paper in the context of the important role that public health units
play in maintaining and improving the health of the population.
Public health units are unique in the health system because of our population health approach,
our focus on prevention and health promotion, and our municipal perspective. Public health is
relatively small in comparison to other sectors of the health system. While hospitals and
physicians mainly focus on the treatment of illness, public health focuses on prevention of illness
and promotion of well-being. Public health programs target the entire community (or large
subgroups thereof), as well as providing some services to individuals. Community health centres
provide a broad range of services but to a specific segment of the population, covering only
approximately 4/0 of the population.
Local planning and better delivery of programs are reinforced by accountability to the community
and municipal City Council through the Board of Health structure which requires municipal and
citizen representation. The world health promotion literature and major reform documents in
Ontario signal the importance of local community involvement. The current system enables
strong linkages with municipal structures, which are crucial as we advocate for healthy public
policy/legislation, e.g. municipal alcohol policy. We place a strong emphasis on local inter-
agency cooperation and collaboration to minimize duplication and share resources in a synergistic
fashion. We are providing customized service to meet the unique needs of our local community.
,../2
Page 2
Amalgamation into a super health unit for all the GTA would create a massive bureaucracy
with many layers. Management costs would likely increase, while responsiveness to local
community needs would definitely suffer. Note that the Metro Toronto District Health Councils
Action Plan 7 literature review has indicated that an area with greater than 700,000 population
does not work well with respect to governance for health care. On the other hand, splitting
public health into an increased number of smaller units would make the delivery of integrated
population health programs harder. There is thus a need for balance and flexibility in the
delivery of such services, and intentional collaboration between health units on selected
policies/programs, e.g. ongoing work to create level playing field with respect to smoking by-
laws.
The discussions of your task force are of critical importance to public health services. I am thus
asking you and your task force to consider the impact on public health services as part of your
deliberations.
I hope that the attached document will provide additional information for such discussions. Staff
of the Department would be happy to provide more information or attend your task force to assist
you in your deliberations if you so wish.
Yours sincerely,
Ms. Viki Scott
Chairman
City of North York Board of Health
Commissioner and Medical Officer of Health
City of North York Public Health Department
Encl.
/ww
EXTRACT FROM MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE CITY OF NORTH YORK
BOARD OF HEALTH HELD ON FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1995
1 0 0 . PUBLIC HEALTH IN METROPOLITAN TORONTO
The Board had before it Report No. 061-95 (April 11, 1995)
from the Commissioner and Medical Officer of Health respecting
public health in Metropolitan
Toronto and recommending the
following:
1. That the Board of Health endorse the following
recommendations contained in Appendix A of Report No.
061-95 re: Public Health in Metropolitan Toronto:
1. That public health departments in Metropolitan
Toronto remain at the local area municipal level;
and,
2. The six public health departments strengthen and
expand mechanisms to effect intentional
collaboration across Metro;
and further,
2. That the Board of Health send Report No. 061-95 to the
Boards of Health for the other municipalities in
Metropolitan Toronto and the Liaison Committee of Boards
of Health of Metropolitan Toronto, requesting their
endorsement.
Dr. Yaffe assisted the Board in its deliberation of this
matter.
It was moved by Ms. Pepe-Incerto, seconded by Dr. Reynolds,
that the recommendations contained in the foregoing report be
approved.
Carried
April 1995
PUBLIC HEALTH IN METROPOLITAN TORONTO
The purpose of this paper is to review the municipal positioning of Public Health
Departments in Metropolitan Toronto and to make recommendations thereon.
Background
A push to review the levels of government in Metro Toronto is coming from many
directions. Many people feel that the Metro level is redundant, an unnecessary layer of
bureaucracy. On the other hand, there is concern about duplication, inefficiency, and
lack of co-ordination across local municipalities. With on-going budget restrictions,
reducing the number of levels of government and increasing efficiency have become high
priorities.
There are a number of initiatives underway which have raised the issue of position,
governance and co-ordination of municipal services in Metropolitan Toronto. Among
these are:
1. A Committee of Local Area Councils (COMLAC) (Councillors from six local area
Municipalities in Metro)
2. Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee (a committee of Mayors from the
GTA municipalities).
3. The Premiers GTA task force on the future structure of the Greater Toronto
Area, to report on tax issues by the end of 1995 and on the restructuring of local
government within 18 months.
As well, the Metropolitan Toronto District Health Council (MTDHC) has struck a task
force to make recommendations on health system governance, in accordance with Action
Plan #7 under the MTDHC Strategic Plan. A preliminary review of the literature for
this committee has indicated that an area larger than about 700,000 population does not
work well with respect to governance for health care.
Given the level of activity concerning governance and co-ordination of efforts across
Metropolitan Toronto, it is necessary to be proactive regarding the positioning of public
health to best meet the needs of the citizens. Taking the old axiom that form follows
2
function, this paper reviews the role of public health and describes its local nature as a
fundamental characteristic. It goes on to delineate the need for collaboration among
public health departments in Metro and then makes the case that amalgamation is not
the preferred option.
The Role of Public Health
Traditionally the goal of public health has been to reduce premature deaths as well as
the prevalence of disease in the population -- in other words, to protect and promote
health and to prevent illness. While other health care professionals treat individuals with
problems in order to obtain immediate or short-term results, public health practitioners
plan and deliver services for the long-range improvement in the health of the population
as a whole. The greatest health benefits historically have been achieved through
improvements in the determinants of health through a population health approach to
disease prevention, health protection and health promotion.
The distinguishing characteristics of Public Health are its population health approach and
its focus on prevention and health promotion.
Major differences among the acute care sector; community health centres and Public
Health are found in the concentration of resources allocated to different points on the
health/illness continuum and in the proportion of the population served. Unlike the
acute care sector which is most involved at the illness end of the continuum, and
community health centres which provide a broad range of services but to a specific
segment of the community, Public Health concentrates on health-related programs
targeted to the entire community (or large sub-groups), with minimal allocation of staff
and programs at the illness end of the continuum.
COMPARISON OF SELECTED SERVICES
ALONG THE HEALTH-ILLNESS CONTINUUM
PERCENT
OF
POPULATION
PUBLIC HEALTH
HOSPITAL/ACUTE CARE
-----
------
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
,
,
.
.
.
.
HEALTH CENTRES
.
.
..-
A- - - - -
.
.
.
.
- - -
HEALTH
ILLNESS
The Public Health model of service began and continues as a community-based
movement to address public health needs. It evolved in early settlements in Ontario
continues to change as communities re-define their needs and priorities. Consistent
3
and
throughout its entire history have been a number of features
practice:
which define Public Health
1. a focus on the health of the entire community
2. public funding
3. a belief in equity of health opportunity
4. a focus on health protection
5. a focus on disease prevention.
6. a focus on health promotion
7. a multi-disciplinary approach to service delivery
8. a commitment to advocacy for healthy public policy
9. a recognition of the broad determinants of health.
Under the authority of the provincial Health Protection and Promotion Act, 1990, public
health departments in the province are mandated to provide or ensure the provision of
a minimum level of public health programs and services. These programs and services
are delineated in the Mandatory Programs and Services Guidelines under four major
Health Goals: Healthy Growth and Development, Healthy Lifestyles, Communicable
Disease Control and Healthy Environments. Some of the specific programs and services
which are provided are listed in Attachment I.
The Local Nature of Public Health
Having a local structure means we are closer to the community. This enables better
input and involvement to meet community needs in the best way. Local planning and
better local delivery of programs are reinforced by the accountability to the community
and Council by the Board of Health structure which requires municipal and citizen
representation. The world health promotion literature and all the important reform
documents in Ontario signal the importance of local community involvement.
The current system enables strong linkages with municipal structures. This is extremely
important as Public Health increasingly engages in the health promotion strategies of
advocacy and healthy public policy development to impact on the determinants of health.
4
In many ways, the status quo is working and working well. We are providing customized
service to meet the unique needs of our respective communities within each municipality.
In addition, in the current climate of financial constraints, we are finding ways to work
smarter and to benefit from the experience from our sister municipalities in Metro and
from others.
In the Status Report of the Political Steering Committee for the Review of Government
in Metropolitan Toronto, there is a set of Principles to Guide a Review of Governance in
the GTA. Included in the principles are the following:
3. Municipal governments must serve their communities. They must:
B
reflect the local sense of place and history;
B
be sensitive to local needs;
B
be able to respond to the local needs;
B
have sufficient flexibility to determine priorities that meet the needs
of their citizens;
B
have sufficient autonomy to meet the needs of their citizens;
B
have sufficient resources to meet the needs of their citizens;
5. Government services, functions, and programs should be provided and paid
for by the jurisdiction or community which benefits from them.
6. Government services, functions and programs should be provided and
delivered by the level of government which is closest to the people and
willing and able to do so competently.
Public Health is a good example of a set of services which meet these requirements. As
indicated above, the current structure of the Public Health system in Metro enables
sensitivity and response to local needs. Similarly, being part of the six municipal
governments allows the flexibility to determine local priorities and the autonomy required
to meet the local needs without approval from higher authorities. It is currently the case
that public health services are provided and paid for (60% of total cost) by the
communities i.e. the six municipalities which benefit from them. And finally, the
positioning of Public Health in the local governments also meets the requirement of
services/functions/programs being provided and delivered by the level closest to the
people.
The Need to Increase and Improve Collaboration
There are functions which could likely be performed more efficiently and effectively if
the Metro health departments collaborated. More administrative-type functions such as
purchasing could be considered. Existing purchasing arrangements may be satisfactory for
routine supplies but additional efficiencies may be achieved through bulk purchasing of
resources specific to Public Health e.g. condoms, syringes.
5
As well, services which are somewhat concrete and amenable to the development of
standards could perhaps be organized so that all departments operate on the basis of
such standards.
Could we create a process for public health planning in Metro? What about Metro
standards for health protection, communicable disease control, dental education, lifestyle
policy development, etc.? Standards would help address the frustration on the part of the
public (e.g. restaurant chains) regarding lack of uniformity in by-laws, etc. across Metro.
It will be difficult and time-consuming to collaborate in some areas/issues. But it is
becoming increasingly imperative that this occur. A strong recommendation out of North
York Health Departments community consultation process of 1994 is to collaborate
with other organizations, agencies and Greater Toronto Area public health units at all
levels (senior to frontline staff in a structured way, i.e. as part of an intentional and
strategic process that requires development and maintenance. Similar themes are being
echoed in many forums and forms across Metro.
There is definitely a need to maximize resources likely across Metro. High level
commitment is essential. There will have to be a strong commitment on the part of
senior management in each of the Metro health departments and likely at the level of
the boards of health, to ensure that collaboration, co-ordination, and co-operation occur.
That is, a mechanism to ensure intentional collaboration among the six departments is
required. The alternative is statutory or financial incentives which would be imposed on
the public health system from the outside.
One way to commence is to identify the many issues which cross municipal boundaries.
A recent review of existing joint initiatives across the six Metro health departments
identified about 25 groups which meet together to discuss and/or plan service delivery
issues. The Metro Medical Officers of Health have begun to meet to discuss avenues
for intentional collaboration.
What About Amalgamation?
Some people wonder why there need to be six health departments in Metro.
Given the nature of Public Healths involvement in communities, amalgamation is not the
preferred option. Some specific reasons against amalgamation of the public health
departments across Metro into one massive bureaucracy include the following:
1. An agency this size, serving a population of 2-3 million people, would be difficult
to administer. It would require, at least in the short-term as the system moved
from municipal to Metro service delivery, a de-centralized structure. There would
be many layers of bureaucracy, with all the myriad of problems associated with
that. One public health department in Metro which had a fully de-centralized
structure, is now slowly re-centralizing as a result of budget cuts.
6
2. While it would appear that management costs might be decreased in an
amalgamated public health department, in fact they would not. As well, other
costs such as those to ensure communications and effective administration, might
in fact increase. Otherwise it would not be possible to maintain responsiveness to
the local community. Note that the District Health Councils review of the
literature has indicated that an area larger than 700,000 population does not work
well with respect to governance for health care.
3. An agency of the size required to serve all of Metro would likely allow for little
customization of public health service to unique and/or distinct communities. A
bureaucracy this large would have difficulty responding to the needs of the diverse
local populations. The resulting level of service could be mandatory programs
only.
4. It is harder to be connected to, and in partnership with, the community, from the
perspective of a large bureaucracy. It will be even more difficult to consult the
community and work with the many groups than it is now with six health
departments, each dealing with the unique flavour of its respective municipality.
5. An amalgamated department would lose its strong links to local government which
are necessary for effective advocacy and policy/legislation development such as
smoking and rabies vaccination by-laws and municipal alcohol policies.
6. An amalgamated structure would also lose the opportunity to obtain local funding
to address local concerns.
7. In the current financial climate, the province is unlikely to increase its cost-sharing
for public health services, and certainly not to a 75/25 split with Metro. The
overall effect will be reduced per capita funding for some municipalities and
therefore a drop in program and service delivery.
Conclusion
The very nature of Public Health is community involvement. In order to have any
impact on the determinants of health and to meet the needs of the many small
communities which comprise Metro, public health services need to be delivered at the
local level where the necessary two-way dialogue between citizens and health
professionals can occur. The current health department bureaucracies are already large
enough; formation of an expanded agency which would serve all of Metro would be
counter-productive in terms of community consultation, involvement and tailored service.
Recommendations
1. Public health departments in Metropolitan Toronto remain at the local area
municipal level; and
2. The six public health departments strengthen and expand mechanisms to effect
intentional collaboration across Metro.
8
Bibliography
1. Status Report of the Political Steering Committee for the Review of Government
in Metropolitan Toronto, September 1994
2. North York Public Health Department. Public Health Goals for the City of North
York Public Health Department, September 1994
3. Liaison Committee of Boards of Health for Metropolitan Toronto. Funding for
Public Health Units in Metropolitan Toronto, January 26, 1990
4. Federal/Provincial/Territorial Advisory Committee on Population Health: Investing
in the Health of Canadians. Strategies for Population Health, September 1994
5. Association of Local Official Health Agencies. Population Health: The Role of
Public Health Units in Ontario (February 2, 1995 draft)
ATTACHMENT
Following is a brief description of programs and services offered by the City of North
York Public Health department.
These programs are mandated under the authority of the Health Protection and
Promotion Act, 1990:
Healthy Children
This involves community and home-centered health services to promote raising of
healthy children for families with new babies, and with thousands of preschool
children. Ensuring licensed preschools have healthy and safe environments.
Prevention of child and family abuse and child development delays. Parenting
education and support with emphasis on low literacy and English as a Second
Language (ESL). Parent/child centres in high risk localities.
Healthy Adolescents
School and community health services which give children and adolescents skills
and knowledge to make healthy choices regarding tobacco use, substance abuse,
healthy nutrition, sexual health and self-esteem, Coalition-building and working
with youth for adolescent suicide prevention. Promoting mental health,
preventing suicide, AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Promoting a healthy
school and community environment with students, teachers, parents, community
groups and high risk teens.
Healthy Adult/Elderly
Community-based health programs focusing on promotion of healthy lifestyles and
prevention of illness, workplace health promotion, womens health and breast
screening awareness, personal health counseling and prevention regarding cancer,
heart disease, coping with disability and illness, healthy aging, caregiver support
and counseling, home and community work with seniors who are frail and at risk
in their homes, coordination of services for seniors, and response to seniors found
at risk in the community by Fire Department, etc.
Dental Education (A component of Healthy Children, Healthy Adolescents, and
Healthy Elderly Programs)
Dental education and oral hygiene instruction are provided to the community as a
whole and to the following groups: staff and parents of daycare and nurseries;
students and staff at schools; adult (ESL) students; seniors and seniors
careproviders and dental professionals in training.
Dental Prevention (A component of Healthy Children & Healthy Adolescent
Programs)
A dental screening program is offered to all students from birth to Grade 8. This
screening is the entry point to the dental treatment programs offered by several
health departments, and to the CINOT program. Prevention services, based on
individual need, include cleaning, sealants and fluoride treatment.
Reproductive Health
This program encompasses group education and prenatal support; program
outreach to high risk pregnancies, such as teen parents; and programs to increase
health habits preconceptually and to prevent problems with birth and infant
health. Support group to young mothers and prenatal fitness classes. Healthy
Beginnings prenatal program to reduce low birth weight babies; community
awareness of preconceptual health.
Sexual Health
This program includes sexual health clinics in high schools and other settings for
birth control and pregnancy counseling; prevention of sexually transmitted
diseases; community-wide education for healthy family planning and sexual health
for all ages of the population. It also provides consultation to the community
regarding healthy sexuality as well as in-services to teachers and day care
operators.
Tobacco Use Prevention
Components of the Tobacco Use Prevention program include strategies with all
age groups to reduce and eliminate the use of tobacco. There is also the
integration of several peer support anti-smoking programs in schools.
The Environmental Health component of this program is primarily public policy
and advocacy with the goal of achieving smoke-free communities. Much of the
work pertains to statutory requirements (by-laws) aimed at preventing exposure to
second-hand smoke in public places.
Substance Abuse Prevention
The Substance Abuse Prevention program provides education and counseling for
prevention of substance abuse with all ages of the population. It includes support
of anti-drug coalitions; as well as policy development and advocacy through
coalition building (e.g. Mayors Task Forces on Substance Abuse in North York
and Toronto); Municipal Alcohol Policy development; and involvement with a
coalition to prevent alcohol advertising. Typical initiatives include raising
awareness through poster campaigns in schools, workplaces, recreational settings.
3
Nutrition Promotion
This program promotes healthy eating, healthy body weight and access to
sufficient nutritious and personally acceptable foods through consultation with
public health staff and community professionals, dissemination of accurate
nutrition information and policy development.
Vaccine Preventable Program
Registered nurses assess the immunization histories of students in accordance with
the Immunization of School Pupils Act and immunize children at school and
community clinics. Hundreds of thousands of records are assessed annually.
Staff are also required to assess the records of children attending licensed child
care centres. Educational activities include promotion of flu vaccine for seniors.
Disease Surveillance
The mandatory programs of Infection Control in Institutions and Outbreak
Control, are closely related to each other and to communicable disease
surveillance and control activities included in the Health Protection and Promotion
Act. Liaison is established with institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes, rest
homes, schools, child care centres, etc. to ensure that staff are aware of the need
for infection control programs and the legal obligation to report communicable
diseases. Disease surveillance reports are received not only from institutions, but
also laboratories and community practitioners. There continues to be a need for
expansion of educational activities to meet mandatory program requirements.
Rabies Control
Rabies Control has two main components: education about prevention of rabies
and investigation of exposures to potentially rabid animals, including provision of
rabies vaccine and immune globulin as appropriate.
Sexually Transmitted Diseases Program
This program has four main components: surveillance; public education; case
management and partner follow-up for sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea
and chlamydia); and, education, counseling and case and contact management for
AIDS.
4
T.B. Control
The components of the tuberculosis control program are management of cases of
TB, including counseling, provision of free drugs and ensuring compliance with
treatment, and identification and management of contacts of cases. Follow-up of
cases and contacts may be in the home, in institutions or in workplaces.
Educational programs are also provided for staff of institutions. The number of
cases of tuberculosis has risen significantly in Metro in the past year. Treatment
of TB requires drugs for nine to twelve months. Compliance is not always good
and public health supervision is necessary. Cases have become very complex over
the past two to three years and orders under the Health Protection and Promotion
Act have sometimes been necessary to ensure compliance.
Food Safety
The main components of the Food Safety program are routine inspection of food
establishments, including institutions, to ensure compliance with legislation and
good food handling practices. Staff also respond to food complaints, including
food poisoning/outbreak control; and they respond to Federal/Provincial Food
Recalls to stop the sale of unsafe food. They conduct food handler education
programs.
Healthy Environments Program
This program creates awareness about the quality of our physical environment:
air, soil and water. Staff monitor and investigate conditions and facilities which
are potentially hazardous to human health and take remedial action to reduce
risk. Staff in this program respond to and investigate all citizen complaints
ascertain health hazards (i.e. refuse and garbage, chemicals and pesticides,
cockroaches, rodents and sewage).
to
Water Quality
Staff provide routine inspections of public swimming pools for water chemistry,
bacteriology, safety equipment and other facilities relating to patron and public
safety. As well, they facilitate the testing of water for bacteriological assessment
on demand and investigate other water-related complaints.
In addition to the mandated programs listed above , there are a number of other services
offered by some or all of the Metro health departments. Among these are included the
following:
Local By-Laws
Staff respond to and investigate complaints made under local by-laws including:
Smoking, Infested Premises, Heat, and Sewer Connection.
Education and Research
All Metro public health departments provide student education and participate in
applied research in public health. Consultation with other programs leads to the
development of new and innovative public health programs.
Three of the departments (North York, East York and Toronto) have 100%
provincially funded programs for student education and research. The program
receives recognition from the University of Toronto since it has allowed for more
training of students in the community (as opposed to classroom settings). Two
positions (Environmental Specialist and Dental Health Specialist) are shared
across the North York, the East York and the Toronto Teaching Health Units.
Children in Need of Treatment (C.I.N.O.T.)
C.I.N.O.T. provides treatment for thousands of Metro children identified annually
as having urgent dental needs and declared financial hardship. C. I.N.O.T. is
funded 100% by the Ministry of Health. The Community Dental Divisions in the
health departments act as administrator for this provincial program and are
reimbursed for these costs.
NORTH YORK HYDRO
5800 Yonge Street
North York, Ontario
FAX TRANSMITTAL FORM
To:
Dr. Anne Golden
Company:
Fax No.:
327-1516
From;
Susan Pollock
Department:
Administration
Voice No.:
( 416) 229-5133
Fax No.:
( 416) 229-5121
Date:
19 September 1995
No. of pages including this page: 4
BRINGING COMMON SENSE TO METRO
Submission on Behalf of North York Hydro
Pr esent ed By: Mr. D.C. Anderson
Vice-Chairman
Mr. M.W. Butler
General Manager
Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to your examination of local
government and delivery of local services within Metropolitan Toronto. Unfortunately,
we were unable to attend the meeting in North York but are pleased you could
accommodate our request to be heard along with our friends from Scarborough this
evening.
We concur with your observation that taxpayers and ratepayers are
looking to optimize the efficiency, effectiveness and control over government and the
public services they receive. We believe this is happening at all 1evels of government as
witnessed by the pending referendum in Quebec. Metropolitan Toronto is no exception.
We would like to address individuality the four points outlined in your
mandate. As Hydro Commissioners, elected by the electrical consumers of North York,
we will focus primarily on hydro issues as they relate to your mandate,
1.
Some City services such as roads and traffic, water supply and waste
disposal do have a counterpart at the Metropolitan level which leads to the perception;
rightly or wrongly, that there is duplication of services. Hydro service is fundamentally
different. Each of the six cities or borough that you are visiting has a Hydro
Commission that operates independently. There is no counterpart at the Metropolitan
level. If there is any perception of duplication or confusion with consumers as to who
their electrical supplier is, that confusion would be between Ontario Hydro and the local
utility. In fact, Ontario Hydro is the generation and transmission authority while the
local utility looks after distribution. It is because Ontario Hydro is so large and often
attracts bad press about their large debt and high rate increases that many consumers
assume they are direct customers. When this confusion arises we are quick to point out
that North York Hydro, as their supplier, is debt free and has reduced rates for the past
two years. We have recently launched a public education campaign called Your local
power people to reduce the confusion between the provincial and local authorities.
- 2 -
2.
We strongly urge you to consider the benefits of local Hydro
Commissions. Local control means we tailor the services to our customers
requirements. The major variables in our industry are price, reliability, accessibility,
aesthetes and customer service, A good example of local influence is a study we
recently completed on the use of surface mounted vs. below grade transformers in
residential underground areas. We could save $5 million dollars over the next fifteen
years by changing to surface mounted transformers as we rebuild our underground
system. Most neighboring utilities have standardized on surface mounted transformers.
Our customers have responded very clearly to us that they will not accept surface
mounted transformers even if it means higher costs. What is acceptable in some utilities
is obviously not acceptable in all, In our business, one size does not fit all. The present
system of municipal utilities allows for local differences and local input.
As elected Commissioners we are accessible. When a customer calls our
switchboard and asks for me, the phone on my desk rings and I answer it. If Im not
there, I personally return the call.
-
Have you ever tried to reach the Chairman of
Hydro?
3. Services Which Should be Coordinated Regionally and the Most
Effilcient and Accountable Method of Delivering These Services
Ontario
The question here is, would one Metropolitan Toronto Hydro utility
replacing the six municipal utilities be more efficient, effective and accountable? We
believe the answer is no. What is the optimal size for a distribution utility? In terms of
accountability it is obviously the smallest possible. The fewer customers we serve the
better we can target their needs.
When we consider efficiency and effectiveness, however, the answer is
not so obvious. Most people would use low rates as a proxy for efficiency, If we do
that and look at the 300 municipal utilities in Ontario we get some interesting yet
conflicting results. The largest utilities have some of the lowest and some of the highest
rates in the Province. Conversely the smallest utilities also have some of the lowest and
some of highest rates in the province. There does not appear to be significant economies
of scale. In fact, there is a slow but growing worldwide trend to breakup large utilities
that are seen as inefficient, uncontrollable and unresponsive into smaller more
manageable and accountable utilities. If there is any cluster of low rate utilities in
Ontario it would appear to be in the medium size utilities. In Metropolitan Toronto the
two smallest utilities have significantly lower than average residential rates.
There is no evidence that a Metropolitan Toronto utility would result in
lower overall rates, In fact, it is more likely that everyones rates would increase except
in the City of Toronto where rates would probably go down. I visualize a situation
similar to market value tax assessment, only in reverse.
- 3 -
4. Best e
In Ontario, each Hydro Commission is solely responsible for its own costs
subsidies. Hydro receives no tax subsidies and in fact pays taxes to the Province through
water rentals and Ontario Hydro debt guarantee fees (not to mention collecting GST for
the Federal Government), Most municipal utilities are debt free and all are non-profit.
We collect just enough revenue to cover our costs. Any surpluses or deficits are
refunded to customers or collected from customers the following year when rates are
adjusted.
In summary, we hope our comments will help you reach the right
conclusion, We urge you to study closely the benefits of local Hydro Commissions
particularly with respect to accountability, accessibility, local control and efficiency.
Thank you for the opportunity to be heard, If you have any questions we would be
pleased to respond.
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
OFFI CE OF THE
MAYOR
September 27, 1995
VIA COURIER
1225 TRAFALGAR ROAD
P.O. BOX 310
OAKVI LLE, ONTARI O
L6J 5A6
TELEPHONE: (905) 338-4173
FACSI MI LE: (905) 815-2001
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Subject: Submission by the Town of Oakville
Enclosed are ten copies of the Submission by the Town of Oakville for review
and consideration by you and your Task Force colleagues.
The Submission was approved by the Oakville Council at is meeting on
September 25, 1995.
I have greatly appreciated the opportunity to meet with you on numerous
occasions to discuss the issues and challenges that we are facing in the GTA. I
hope that our exchange of views has been helpful to you in the preparation of
the Task Forces report to the Provincial Government which I am looking
forward to reading when it is released later this Fall.
All the best to you and the other Task Force members as you move into the
final critical weeks of your very important assignment. Please be assured of
the willingness and interest of the people resources in Oakville in providing any
additional information you may require.
Ann Mulvale
Mayor
Town of Oakville
ks
Encl.
lgold
SUBMISSION TO:
TASK FORCE
SEPTEMBER 25,1995
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
KEY ISSUES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Strengthen and Focus on Local Municipalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Self-Determination Through Permissive Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Overhaul Existing Property Tax and Assessment System . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Province to Develop Policy for Consistent Taxation Throughout
the GTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Eliminate Business Tax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Revise Provincial Legislation to Permit innovative Financing and
Permissive Taxation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Province to Assist Metro and its 6 Area Municipalities in Meeting
Their Financial Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
A NewGTA Level of Government Should Not be Created . . . . . . . . . . . 6
10, Allocation of Service Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
11. Review of Size of Councils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
12. Roles and Responsibilities of Separate and Public School Boards . 10
CONCLUSI ON . . . . , , . . . . , . . , . , . . . , . , . . , . . , . . , . . . . . . . , . . . , . , . , . . . 10
APPENDIX A Property Class Factor Index
:
(._A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
APPENDIX B Enterprise Fund Case Study, Building Department
Clark County, Nevada ,.,.,, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
SUBMISSION BY
THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF OAKVILLE
TO
THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE
INTRODUCTION
The Council of the Town of Oakville appreciates the invitation to submit its comments
to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force in its examination of the economic viability and
competitiveness of Metro Toronto and governance in the Greater Toronto Area.
The objective of the Task Force is to provide recommendations to reform the future
direction of governance in the GTA. This no doubt will involve the restructuring of
responsibilities and practices of the municipal, regional and provincial governments to
promote accountability, improve effectiveness and cost efficiency of services to citizens
and relieve pressure on taxation.
This is the first major review of local government in the Greater Toronto Area in well
over 20 years. Over that time, the local governments in the GTA have developed an
enviable performance record of delivering services to their communities. However,
rapid growth, major economic and technological changes and concerns about levels of
taxation have contributed to the need to re-examine the major governance issues to
ensure the continuing viability and quality of life of the GTA.
In this submission which was approved by the Oakville Council on September 25, 1995,
the emphasis is on identifying key areas where change needs to be considered. it
does not dwell on the many notable successes that do not require reform. Rather, we
have chosen mainly to provide succinct comment of key issues that the Task Force
should address.
KEY ISSUES
1. Strengthen and Focus on Local Municipalities
The local municipal role must be strengthened to maximize efficiency, effectiveness
and maintain fiscal accountability.
The organization of the GTA should reflect the individuality and diversity of the lower
tier municipalities. They have strong community identities which is evident from the
development of their own community specific standards and facilities, and particular
style of government.
Local government is the level of government nearest to the people and therefore is the
most responsive and receptive to individual community needs. For this reason, local
municipalities should be given more control over how programs and services are
administered within their communities.
The clarification and clear delineation of service responsibilities, and the incorporation
of a co-ordinated one stop shopping approach wherever possible will improve
customer service and enhance local governments role within the community.
2. Self -Determination Through Permissive Powers
There is a critical requirement for the Province to recognize the need for, and
implement means to achieve permissive power in legislation affecting municipalities
such as the Municipal Act and other statutes. Permissive power would enable the
municipalities themselves to determine the most effective and responsive means to
deliver services and exercise responsibilities at the municipal level.
The move to permissive power within municipal legislation would be a positive
undertaking from both a Provincial and municipal perspective. It would lessen or
remove the friction between the Province and municipalities because it would, by
extending flexibility within permissive legislation, remove the imposition of
Province-wide solutions when, in fact, Province-wide problems do not necessarily or
generally exist.
Permissive power would assist the taxpayers in holding the municipal service providers
more accountable for efficient and effective service delivery. Municipalities would have
responsibilities to fulfill and would have the opportunities to meet their obligations via a
flexible spectrum of action.
Municipalities are able and willing to be in the forefront to take on strengthened
responsibility and accountability rather than hide behind the lack of responsibility that
results from being a creature of the Province.
It is time for a fundamental redefinition of the Provincial-Municipal relationship to take
place. It is now readily apparent that the mature capabilities of local governments in
the GTA must be recognized. Municipalities are actively seeking to be empowered to
carry out their purposes within broadly defined spheres of jurisdiction rather than to be
shackled by a myriad of Provincial legislative requirements. This approach has been
modelled by the Province of Alberta in its relationship with its municipalities and should
be pursued by the Ontario Government in consultation with its municipal constituency.
3. Overhaul Existing Property Tax and Assessment System
There has already been extensive research and discussion on the need for major
revisions to the existing property tax and assessment system including the recent
report of the Fair Tax Commission. The concerns about the system have been
articulated for several decades but little headway has been made to effect progressive
Page 2
change. The seriousness of the situation is currently exemplified by the economic and
fiscal crisis that is facing Metropolitan Toronto. However, it is also having a serious
impact throughout a much wider area,
Issues surrounding the assessment system have been studied extensively for the past
few years at the local and regional levels in Halton. In February, 1995, the Oakville
Council established the Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform which
has been diligently studying the region-wide market value assessment (MVA) issue and
examining alternatives. A detailed study of the unit value assessment (UVA) method
has been completed utilizing sample assessments from across Halton Region and the
results will be forwarded to the Provincial Government.
At the beginning of 1996, region-wide MVA is scheduled to be implemented in the
Region of Halton. It will impose an assessment system which compares property
values across Halton Region rather than the current system of comparing values within
each municipality,
The Oakville Council in June, 1995, formally requested the Province to impose an
immediate moratorium on the implementation of any region/county/municipal market
value reassessments pending the Provinces review and consideration of the issue of
municipal property tax reform.
Any new assessment system should result in a region-wide tax base which eliminates
inequities among taxpayers with similar types of properties within municipalities and
should be fair, accountable and economically competitive, In addition, the new system
should:
B be simple and be understandable by the property ratepayers;
B eliminate wide fluctuations;
B be easy to phase-in over a period of time;
B be less costly to administer than the current MVA system; and
. not be required to be updated every four (4) years.
4. Province to Develop Policy for Consistent Taxation Throughout the GTA
Currently, the property assessment of municipalities within the GTA is based on a
variety of market value years, from the 1940s to 1984. In addition, the effective tax
rates applied against properties, i.e. residential, multi-residential, commercial and
industrial, is different within every municipality and varies substantially between
municipalities. This is especially evident in Metro Toronto where the tax rates on
multi-residential and non-residential property owners are substantially higher than other
municipalities within the GTA, as shown on the Property Class Factor Index table which
is attached as Appendix A. As a result, businesses are moving to take advantage of
lower property and business tax rates. It is, therefore, important that a consistent
Page 3
taxation policy be developed to ensure the continued economic viability of the
downtown core and of the GTA as a whole.
The Town of Oakville Council believes that this issue is one of the GTA Task Forces
greatest challenges.
5. Eliminate Business Tax
The existing business tax is a costly one to administer as it requires its own billing and
assessment and is often difficult to collect. It results in substantial tax losses to
municipalities, especially during difficult economic times.
The same revenues could be obtained by incorporating this tax within the
non-residential realty tax base. By doing so, unpaid taxes would be a lien on the land
and could be recovered by municipalities through tax sales,
The merits of restructuring the business tax have been fully addressed in the report of
the Fair Tax Commission,
6. Revise Provincial Legislation to Permit innovative Financing
and Permissive Taxation
A fundamental requirement for municipalities to be able to exercise their
responsibilities and to be held accountable is to have unfettered and clearly defined
access to adequate revenue sources.
A restructuring of the financial mechanisms to sustain strong local government is
clearly overdue.
From international experience, a number of financing options are achievable and
workable such as municipalities receiving a percentage of corporations taxation,
income tax, sales tax or lottery proceeds, As well, municipalities need the ability to
make their own determination of the appropriate services where user fees would be
applied to cover all or part of the costs.
By operating within permissive legislation, which directs that certain services must be
provided or that specific mandates must be executed, with enhanced financial
resources, it would allow municipalities to have access to an adequate funding pool to
determine their priorities within the overall legislative framework,
Municipalities must also be given new freedom to become more financially innovative
and flexible. New opportunities to provide services are emerging through such
mechanisms as public/private funding partnerships.
position to move forward with these opportunities in
citizens.
Page 4
Municipalities must be in a strong
order to meet the needs of their
This approach would ensure that municipal Councils can be held fully accountable for
their priorities and investment decisions when they have adequate financial resources.
7. Province to Assist Metro and its 6 Area Municipalities in Meeting
Their Financial Problems
The Oakville Council clearly recognizes the paramount importance of sustaining the
political, financial, economic, social, cultural and recreational health of the communities
of Metropolitan Toronto. The fundamental need to support that position has been well
documented in many submissions and other research activities.
However, many of the financial and economic challenges that are confronting Metro
Toronto are a reflection of leadership and decisions that have been made within Metro.
The perception exists that Metro Toronto has enhanced by its own choice certain
services beyond the levels that are mandated by the Province. There is also an
impression that Metro has higher staffing levels than other municipalities for some other
services and that the differential may not be particularly justified.
There is a willingness to understand that Metro may face some different issues and
challenges due to its urban diversity and complexity. However, as long as questions
remain about service and staffing levels, there should be no transfer of funds from
other municipal jurisdictions to assist Metro. This is particularly critical as other
municipalities are already operating at lower service levels and any transfer of funds
would unacceptably penalize these municipalities. The responsibility to resolve the
situation clearly lies with Metro with any extra financial assistance being provided
directly by the Provincial Government.
The other municipalities in the GTA should not be held financially accountable for the
problems that exist within the Metro Area and should not be required to shoulder any of
Metros financial burden. The solid financial management practices which have been
carefully nurtured by communities like Oakville must not be jeopardized.
8. Revise Form and Function of Regional Government
Since the creation of regional government in Ontario, there have been over 50
individual initiatives across the Province to review it. However, the results of these
efforts have produced minimal change,
Too many layers of government are costly and create duplication and loss of
accountability to the taxpayer. The structure of regional government in the GTA
should be reviewed and revised to eliminate any areas of duplication or redundancy
currently existing between the regional and local governments,
Page 5
In addressing this concern, Oakville has been an active participant for the past few
years in a project initiated in Halton involving the Chief Officers of the four area
municipalities, the Region and two School Boards to identify areas for streamlining
operations. The project produced combined cost savings approaching $3 million in
several areas and established the foundation for a broader self-initiated review to
address the fundamental reform of local government service delivery within Halton. In
addition, the Regional Council has recently approved the transfer of solid waste
collection from the 4 area municipalities to the Region. It is anticipated that this
initiative will result in a further savings in the range of $500,000 to $1 million per year.
As part of its review of regional government functions, the Task Force should give
serious consideration to the creation of a utility type of board or commission. Under
this form, there may be a strong future for each Region to co-ordinate and deliver
cross-municipal types of service such as garbage pick-up and waste management,
water purification and distribution, sanitary sewage collection and treatment, and
perhaps hydro services.
A potential model for the Task Force to consider is presented in Appendix B which
outlines the Enterprise Fund Program utilized by the Building Department in Clark
County, Nevada. The principles utilized in this model merit serious consideration in
moving to a utility type of structure.
9. A New GTA Level of Government Should Not Be Created
A new GTA level of government should not be created as it would only serve to
exemplify the many difficulties the GTA is currently experiencing with duplication and
loss of accountability.
It is not appropriate to establish an additional governmental structure and
administration at a time when the Province, municipalities and the private sector are
trying to reduce staff due to financial pressures.
The GTA Mayors Committee should continue to be a forum for the discussion of issues
that arise from time to time that are of common interest to the constituent municipalities,
The focus should be on developing policy statements and recommendations for
consideration by the municipal councils in the GTA,
To effectively address the various issues pertaining to the GTA, it is imperative that the
Provincial Government establish a single point of contact within the Cabinet for regular
dialogue with the GTA Mayors Committee, There must be a Cabinet Minister or
Cabinet Committee assigned and dedicated to this vital function with full authority to
coordinate and act on cross-Ministry issues affecting g the municipalities in the GTA,
An improved interface between the GTA Mayors Committee and the Provincial
Government would provide an enhanced opportunity to regularly discuss and address
Page 6
critical issues facing the GTA municipalities. From Oakvilles own experience, this new
approach must be instituted to expedite issues relating particularly to economic
development where short timelines are critical.
10. Allocation of Service Responsibilities
It has been widely recognized that a rationalization of some services needs to occur to
optimize service delivery in an effective, efficient and accountable manner. Despite
several attempts to move forward in this area, such as the discussion and negotiations
centred on disentanglement and the review undertaken in the Hopcroft Report, reform
efforts at the Provincial level have been stalled.
As outlined in Section 8 of this submission, Oakville is actively involved with its local
government partners in Halton in a further service streamlining and restructuring
project. Oakville is proud of the service improvements that have been made through its
own corporate reorganization in 1992 and the additional achievements that have
occurred subsequently. The Town is committed to continuous improvement of its
services with an emphasis on providing quality service.
The Towns experience in the delivery of a wide range of services provides a strong
background for putting forward suggestions for reform in the delivery of some services.
The following changes at the local, regional and provincial levels of government are
recommended for consideration by the Task Force.
a) Local Level
Planning Services
More land use planning authority needs to be delegated to the local level from the
regional level in recognition of the strong capabilities and expertise that area
municipalities have. The current division of responsibilities for planning administration
at the municipal level leads to frustration and delays in the policy development and
approval processes. Local municipalities should be empowered to take on more
responsibility for land use planning, The fragmentation of the function weakens the
accountability of the decision making process and gives rise to a needlessly
complicated system which is often difficult for citizens to understand.
If local municipalities were given enhanced planning responsibilities and the regions
were responsible for utility type functions, there would still need to be a coordinating
mechanism for planning at a regional level or a GTA level. A strong planning focus
would continue to be required to deal with the allocation of various infrastructure
services and the planning of major service extensions,
Page 7
The economic development function should be maintained at the local level, with a
concentration on retaining existing business and attracting new ones. By having this
function at the local level, municipalities are able to provide one stop shopping for
business clients in terms of co-ordinating business development processes and readily
providing information on such issues as land use planning, zoning, building
regulations, transportation, financial requirements, etc.
On a larger scale, there is a need to develop a marketing strategy for the GTA to
enhance its competitive edge in the global market place. The strategy should be jointly
formulated by a GTA co-ordinating group in concert with the Provincial Government.
The GTA Mayors Committee and the Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee have
demonstrated that through co-operative efforts, the municipalities are able to
co-ordinate and contribute significantly to the economic growth and prosperity of the
GTA.
Public Transit
A mechanism needs to be developed to improve integration among the transit systems
in the GTA to facilitate the movement of citizens across the area. Consideration also
needs to be given to establishing a GTA based transit system such as the
amalgamation of the Government of Ontario Transit and the Toronto Transit
Commission. The local municipalities could continue to provide their own transit
system to permit intra-municipal movement and to feed the larger system.
If the regions become responsible for utility type functions, there is merit in considering
the transfer of transit service to it and determining if that approach will enhance
co-ordination and integration while recognizing the role of transit in overall
transportation planning,
Emergency Services
Emergency response to medical calls is frequently duplicated by the Fire Department
and the Ambulance Service. Realignment of this function needs to be examined to
achieve optimum service in a more cost effective manner. Consideration should be
given to developing an effective means of integrating fire and ambulance services at
the local level to produce greater service efficiencies. As well, reciprocal service
arrangements should be developed among municipalities to ensure that municipal
boundaries do not impede economies and efficiencies for these emergency services.
Page 8
b) Regional Level
Section 8 of this submission puts forward suggestions for a revised form and function of
the regional level of government.
c) Provincial Level
The principle of pay for say, whereby the government body which sets program policy
should also be responsible for the full funding requirements associated with each
policy, must be fully adopted. This would ensure complete accountability for each
program and reduce confusion for the same taxpayers that all levels of government
serve.
Public Health, Social Services, Education and Policing are some of the key areas
where this principle must be applied in the Provincial-Municipal relationship,
The actual delivery of a service, however, should be undertaken by the most
appropriate level of government in the most effective and cost efficient manner.
Therefore, some fully funded Provincial services could be delivered under a contractual
agreement with municipalities. It is also recognized that careful review of private/public
service delivery options will likely become increasingly important.
The role of special service bodies needs to be examined to strengthen their
accountability and ensure that they are the most efficient and effective means in
delivering services.
When municipalities are mandated to provide a level of funding for special purpose
bodies, there is often little opportunity to have a meaningful review of the funding
request. Municipalities are accountable for providing the funding but have restricted
discretion in adjusting it. Therefore, the funding arrangement between municipalities
and special purpose bodies must be re-examined and clarified.
11. Review of Size of Councils
Regional and local councils are in the best position to undertake any review of their
political structures to reflect the needs of their constituents. Self-determination of the
composition of elected bodies is a clear reflection of the ability that municipalities have
to provide effective political representation in their communities. By way of examples of
effective local leadership in this area, the Town of Oakville revised its ward system in
time for the 1991 municipal election to meet the needs of its rapidly growing
community. At the regional level, the Halton Council has initiated a review of its
Page 9
structure involving issues related to the method of selecting of the Regional Chair,
composition of the Council and the method of electing the Councillors,
12. Roles and Responsibilities of Separate and Public School Boards
School Boards are an integral component of the local government system and are
supported by over half of the property taxes that are collected. The Sweeney Task
Force has recently completed its interim report on the education system which has
been circulated for comments, A strong and prosperous future for the GTA is vitally
dependent upon a first class education system for the youth of its communities.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the Provincial Government to focus any changes in the
education system on achieving optimum value for the investment that is made in our
schools.
The funding of education is an issue that has been the subject of considerable review
and study by others. It is not appropriate for the property tax to be a funding
mechanism for education and the Province should take action to give much greater
financial support to education.
CONCLUSION
The Town of Oakville recognizes that change must take place in order to meet the
current and future challenges that the GTA will face.
In this submission, the Town has commented on a number of key changes and issues
that it commends to the Task Force for consideration in its review of governance
issues.
The Town of Oakville has already established a proud record of progress and
innovation in meeting the challenges of a rapidly growing community. It looks forward
to building on its successes, but in order to do so, further changes must occur to
strengthen local government and redefine the Provincial-Municipal relationship.
The Oakville Council trusts that its comments will be carefully considered and that the
Task Forces recommendations will reflect the change imperatives that are set out in
this submission.
* * *
Page 10
APPENDIX A
PROPERTY CLASS FACTOR INDEX
m u l t i
municipality
residential residential commercial industrial
Toronto C 100 497 300 239
Etobicoke C 100
396
194 314
Scarborough C 100 331 187 298
North York C 100 378 2 2 3 314
York C 100 421 208 .359
East York B 100
452
238 388
Durham Region
Oshawa C 100, 246 173 286
Ajax T 1001 233 118 149
Clarington T 100 267 114 176
Pickering T 100 187 113 131
Whitby T l00 185 119 151
Brock Tp 100 116 163 220
Scugog Tp 100 176 136 189
Uxbridge Tp 100 249 167 270
Halton Region
Burlington C 100 235 120 194
Halton Hills T 100 187 114 182
Milton T 100 267 134 162
Oakville T 100 260 113 199
Peel Region
Brampton C 100 159 107 155
Mississauga C 100 174 118 133
Caledon T 100 162 84 153
York Region
Vaughan C 100
158
91 153
Aurora T 100 219
99
199
Markham T 100 226 154
163
Newmarket T 100 162 114
168
Richmond Hill T
100 219 112
158
Whitchurch - Stouffville T
100 278 93
185
East Gwillimbury T
100 182 101
163
Georgina T
100 161 140 179
King Tp
100 169 153
206
Note: Residential Class Factor = 100
Source: Ministry of Municipal Affairs, MARS database; April, 1995.
Page 11
APPENDIX B
Enterprise Fund Case Study
Building Department
Clark County, Nevada
The workload of building departments is driven by the construction industry. The construction
industry workload is driven by the whims, wishes, and wants of an incredible diverse, complex,
and always changing clientele--everyday ordinary people. TO satisfy the unpredictable demands
and desires of their clientele, the construction industry has been forced to be extremely flexible
and responsive. They cannot simply build and sell. The build it and they will come
philosophy might work in movies about building baseball diamonds in corn fields, but not in the
highly competitive free enterprise world of building houses and buildings. Builders have
learned that in order to survive, they must build what their clients demand. And that all their
demands, except for doing perfect work for a less than perfect fee, change costantly. Trying to
satisfy constantly changing demands is like hitting a moving target. It can be done, But it is
very difficult and requires the agility and flexibility to respond to every unanticipated move the
target makes. Builders can do it, but they feel extremely hampered by the inflexibility of the
rules, regulations, and especially the slow procedures of the local governments and the building
departments. Unfortunately, the wheels of government grind slowly for anticipated problems,
and virtually freeze in response to unanticipated problems. Too often, when builders are asked
to build something different or unusual they feel like they are in between the proverbial rock
and a hard place. A hard place because they need to make a living and satisfy their clients
demands, and a rock because the local governments move so slow in approving land uses,
reviewing plans, issuing permits, and inspecting construction. However, as true as this is,
builders often fail to realize that building departments are also in between a rock and hard
place.
Building Officials and their staffs in the building departments want to see builders succeed.
They want local voters and consumers to get what they want and pay for from the construction
industry. Building Officials do not enjoy hindering or slowing construction projects.
However, Building Officials do not have the latitude of movement that builders do. Building
Officials cannot hire and fire overnight. They cannot decide to purchase a piece of equipment
and then do it the next day. Building Officials are bound to follow the same slow due processes
as every other department in the local government. Thus, similar to builders, Building Officials
have a hard place in the form of builders that are clamoring for action and results for the lowest
possible costs, and a rock in the form of government roles, regulations, and procedures which
make responding to their builders demands very difficult. Consequently, Building Officials
have been traditionally limited in their ability to meet the needs of the construction industry.
These limitations are even more pronounced when there are wild swings in the construction
industry. Though all industries are susceptible to the Boom/Bust business cycle swings of free
enterprise, the construction industry is arguably the most volatile, In a matter of months the
construction industry can fall from a very high, high to a very low, low. Because of this,
builders have become very flexible and fluid. They respond quickly to the dynamics of their
industry.
Page 12
AS a r ul e, gover nment s do not par t i ci pat e i n t he busi ness cycl es of f r ee
bus i nes s es come and go, gover nment s j us t gr ow. As a r es ul t , gover nmen
t hei r cl i ent s t hat are fi ght i ng for survi val i n t he fast and fl ui d worl d of f
i s t hi s mor e appar ent t han wi t h bui l di ng depar t ment s. When a bust t ur ns t
qui ckl y hi r e mor e empl oyees t o do t he addi t i onal wor k. Thi s i n t ur n dr am
wor k of t he l ocal bui l di ng depar t ment . Unf or t unat el y, bui l di ng depar t men
gover nment envi r onment , cannot qui ckl y add new empl oyees. I n t he l ong
cont i nues, t hey can hi r e mor e empl oyees, but i n t he shor t t er m, t he bui l d
caught f l at f oot ed and cannot r espond t o dr amat i cal l y i ncr eased wor k. Th
d e l a y s , f r u s t r a t i o n , a n g e r , a n d l o s t p r o f i t s b y t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n
. . .
v
. .
Though we have not
compl et el y sol ved t hi s pr obl em, t he Cl ar k Count y Bui l di ng Depar t ment , a
number of j ur i sdi ct i ons, has f ound a sol ut i on by i nt r oduci ng t he pr of i t a
f r om f r ee ent er pr i se i nt o a gover nment agency. Thi s i s done by t r ansf or m
depar t ment f r om bei ng a t ypi cal gover nment agency whi ch dr aws i t s f i na
t he t ax suppor t ed Count y Gener al Fund, t o an Ent er pr i se Fund depar t ment
f undi ng i s der i ved f r om t he ser vi ces i t r ender s.
By def i ni t i on, an Ent er pr i se Fund means:
a f und est abl i shed t o account f or oper at i ons:
1. Whi ch ar e f i nanced and conduct ed i n a manner si mi l ar t o t h
oper at i ons pr i vat e busi ness ent er pr i ses, wher e t he i nt ent of t he
gover ni ng body i s t o have t he expenses ( i ncl udi ng depr eci at i o
pr ovi di ng goods or ser vi ces on a cont i nuat i on basi s t o t he gen
publ i c, f i nanced or r ecover ed pr i mar i l y t hr ough char ges t o t he
us er s ; or
2. For whi ch t he gover ni ng body has deci ded t hat a per i odi c
det er mi nat i on of r evenues ear ned, expens es i ncur r ed and net
i ncome i s consi st ent wi t h publ i c pol i cy and i s appr opr i at e f or
capi t al mai nt enance, management cont r ol , account abi l i t y or o
p u r p o s e s . 1
Li ke pr i vat e ent er pr i se, Ent er pr i se Fund depar t ment s must oper at e sol el y
pr oduce. Thei r expendi t ur es cannot exceed t hei r r evenues. Thi s f act pl ace
bui l di ng depar t ment st af f t o vi gi l ant l y moni t or t hei r expenses and t hei r r
businesses, when revenues appear to be short, and a deficit is looming in the future, the building
department must reduce its expenses and increase its productivity, or increase its revenues. This
focus on the bottom line is clearly different than typical government operations where there is no
bottom line. Generally; government agencies develop their budgets based on forecasts and
estimates of workload and needs six months to a year before the fiscal year begins. Then, during
the fiscal year, the agencies spend the budgeted appropriations whether or not the forecasted
needs ever materialize. There is a use or lose it motivation in traditional government
budgeting. In an Enterprise Fund department the use it or lose it motive is replaced with the
save it today, because we may need it tomorrow belief found in private enterprise.
Perhaps the most important benefit derived from being an Enterprise Fund is the flexibility it
allows the building department. In traditional budgeting, building departments are part of the
jurisdictions General Fund and must compete with all the other departments for the limited
General Fund money. Because there are so many needs to be funded in all the departments,
building departments are not permitted to budget for contingencies such as dramatic upswings or
down turns in their workload caused by the volatile boom/bust cycles of the construction
Fi gur e 1
(Multiply Valuation by 1,000)
industry. When that happens, the building department is either over staffed with nothing to do,
or under staffed and causing builders to lose tremendous amounts of money while their projects
are being reviewed. By being an Enterprise Fund, building departments are able to plan and
prepare for workload upswings and down turns by budgeting for contingency overtime, out
source plan review services, or adding temporary staff. The past five fiscal years of the Clark
County Building Department dramatically demonstrate this flexibility. (See Figure 1.)
During the past five fiscal years, the construction industry in Clark County experienced a
substantial boom. The valuation of construction in Clark County increased from $646,940,219
during fiscal year 1990-91 to $1,142,322,052 during FY 1994-95. This boom in turn caused a
Page 14
corresponding increase in the building department workload as measured by the number of
permits issued and inspections. The number of permits issued increased from 32,664 to 42,746
while the number of inspections more than doubled from 103,789 to 278,322 during the same
time period.
During this five year boom, there were substantial peaks and valleys in which the amount of
construction and department workload varied from year to year. The department attempts to
forecast the peaks and valleys to be prepared to quickly and accurately process the workload for
the coming year. However, since the construction industry is one of the most dynamic and
volatile industries in the free market, it is also one of the most unpredictable. Unfortunately,
neither the building departments, the banks, the state governments or the federal governments
forecast have been consistently accurate enough to be reliable. Therefore, in order to meet the
unanticipated peaks and valleys, the building department needed a flexible response that
allowed it to expand to meet the construction industrys expansion, and then to contract when the
industry slowed. The department was able to do this by having the ability to budget
contingency funds for overtime and outside plan review services.
During fiscal year 1991-92, the construction industry produced over $300,000,000 more in
construction valuation then in the previous fiscal year. This translated to a corresponding
increase in planschecking and other building department services. In order to review all the
plans for the new construction projects, the building department needed more planscheckers.
However, the department had a dilemma in that if it hired more planscheckers and the increased
workload was just a momentary spike, then the new employees would need to be laid off in the
very near future, Fortunately, the department had budgeted a contingency fund of $600,000 for
outside planschecking. Thus, when the 1991-92 surge hit the building department, the
department was able to channel the increased workload to a contracted planschecking firm
named Willdan. In fiscal year 1990-91, the department payed Willdan $186,549. With the
The following year 1992-93, the surge subsided. The department met the contraction of the
construction industry by reducing the amount of work it sent to Willdan. This is reflected in the
amount paid to Willdan during that year -$357,932.
Then during fiscal year 1993-94 the construction valuation soared to $1, 029, 859, 301 causing
the departments workload to explode. Over 45,000 permits were issued and 269,303 inspection
were performed. The department met the increased workload by increasing the work sent to
Willdan and by increasing the amount of overtime worked by the departments employees to
$428,431
The construction boom continued through fiscal year 1994-95. In that year, over
$1,142,322,052 in construction valuation was permitted. The department issued 42,746 permits
and completed 278,322 inspections. The department took a different approach to meeting its
workload. Rather than increasing the amount of work sent to Willdan, the department kept the
Page 15
. is looming in the future, the building
activity, or increase its revenues. This
government operations where there is no
air budgets based on forecasts and
are the fiscal year begins. Then, during
ions whether or not the forecasted
tion in traditional government
r lose it motive is replaced with the
.tund in private enterprise.
Enterprise Fund is the flexibility it
building departments are part of the
. other departments for the limited
.: be funded in all the departments,
.ingencies such as dramatic upswings or
bust cycles of the construction
NDs
1
I
is either over staffed with nothing to do,
is amounts of money while their projects
ing departments are able to plan and
geting for contingency overtime, out
The past five fiscal years of the Clark
e this flexibility. (See Figure 1.)
stry in Clark County experienced a
ark County increased from $646,940,219
:Y 1994-95. This boom in turn caused a
corresponding inc
permits issued and
while the number
time period.
During this five y.
construction and d
forecast the peaks
the coming year.
volatile industries
neither the buildin
forecast have been
unanticipated per
allowed it to expa
industry slowed.
contingency fund
During fiscal year
construction valu
increase in plans
plans for the new
However, the dep
workload was jus
very near future.
outside planschec
department was a
named Willdan.
1991-92 surge,
The following t
construction ind
amount paid to
Then during fisc
the department:
were performed
Willdan and by
:
$428,431.
The construction
$1,142,322,052
and completed:-
workload. Rath
ease in the building department workload as measured by the number of
, inspections. The number of permits issued increased from 32,664 to 42,746
of inspections more than doubled from 103,789 to 278,322 during the same
ar boom, there were substantial peaks and valleys in which the amount of
partment workload varied from year to year. The department attempts to
and valleys to be prepared to quickly and accurately process the workload for
However, since the construction industry is one of the most dynamic and
m the free market, it is also one of the most unpredictable. Unfortunately,
g departments, the banks, the state governments or the federal governments
t consistently accurate enough to be reliable. Therefore, in order to meet the
ks and valleys, the building department needed a flexible response that
nd to meet the construction industrys expansion, and then to contract when the
The department was able to do this by having the ability to budget
for overtime and outside plan review services.
: 1991-92, the construction industry produced over $300,000,000 more in
tion then in the previous fiscal year. This translated to a corresponding
hecking and other building department services. In order to review all the
construction projects, the building department needed more planscheckers.
artrnent had a dilemma in that if it hired more planscheckers and the increased
a momentary spike, then the new employees would need to be laid off in the
Fortunately, the department had budgeted a contingency fired of $600,000 for
king. Thus, when the 1991 -92 surge hit the building department, the
ble to channel the increased workload to a contracted planschecking firm
In fiscal year 1990-91, the department payed Willdan $186,549, With the
the department paid Willdan $525,926 for planschecking services.
ar 1992-93, the surge subsided. The department met the contraction of the
istry by reducing the amount of work it sent to Willdan. This is reflected in the
Willdan during that year -$357,932.
a1 year 1993 -94 the construction valuation soared to $1, 029, 859, 301 causi ng
workload to explode. Over 45,000 permits were issued and 269,303 inspection
The department met the increased workload by increasing the work sent to
increasing the amount of overtime worked by the departments employees to
boom continued through fiscal year 1994-95. In that year, over
in construction valuation was permitted. The department issued 42,746 permits
78,322 inspections. The department took a different approach to meeting its
er than increasing the amount of work sent to Willdan, the department kept the
Page 15
work in-house and increased the amount of overtime allowed its employees. By doing this, the
department was able to decrease the combined over-time/Willdan cost from $757,586 during
1993-94 to $696,592 for fiscal year 1994-95.
Over the past five fiscal years, the building department has been able to meet the unanticipated
and volatile changes in the construction industry by budgetting for contingencies. Typically,
General Fund departments are not permitted to encumber such large amounts ($500,000 to
$800,000) of the jurisdictions revenues because of the other competing and important needs of
all the other jurisdictions departments. By being an Enterpise Fund department, the Clark
County Building Department has been able to raise its own revenues by charging its clientele for
the services it renders and budget appropriately for the dynamic industry it seines.
Page 16
OFFICE OF THE
MAYOR
September 27, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
The Greater Toronto
THE CORPORATI ON OF THE
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
Area Task Force
2Oth Floor . 2001
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Subiect: Case Studies of Provincial-Municipal Interface
As a follow-up to our meeting on September 14, 1995, I have requested staff
to prepare a few case studies of roadblocks that have been encountered due to
the Provincial-Municipal Interface.
Attached are three (3) case studies which are examples of the delays and
frustrations that regularly confront us in processing municipal business.
Clearly these examples pinpoint the need for charges at the Provincial level to
enable municipalities to fulfill their responsibilities expeditiously and to meet
the expectations of our community.
The Province must remove itself from overregulating municipalities. If the
Province must maintain a role in certain issues, it must have the ability to
respond quickly to its customers: the municipalities. At the same time, the
Province must respect the capabilities and expertise of municipalities in dealing
with issues. If roadblocks are still encountered at the Provincial level,
municipalities must have a well defined mechanism to deal directly with high
level Provincial authority to expedite matters. The Office of the Provincial
Facilitator, as cited in case study no. 3, is an example of what is required.
I hope that the information in the case studies that I have provided will be
helpful to you.
Kindest regards,
Ann Mulvale
MAYOR
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
mkwcorr\lgo1927
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
PROVINCIAL INTERVENTIONS
THAT IMPEDE
MUNICIPAL
EFFEcTIvEness AND Efficiency
I
CASE STUDY NO. 1
ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION
ROADWAY CONSTRUCTION
Background
The Town of Oakville is constructing Neyagawa Boulevard between Upper Middle
Road and River Oaks Boulevard. The work includes construction of a new four lane
roadway, a bridge crossing the Shannons Creek and a pedestrian underpass. In order
to avoid having the contractors equipment and trucks access the site via residential
streets (including streets with elementary schools), the Town provided for the
construction of a temporary haul road between the north limit of our construction site
and Hwy. #5. The approximate cost of the haul road was $100,000. The haul road in
addition to accessing the current phase of construction would also serve the next two
phases of Neyagawa Boulevard construction.
In order to connect the access road to Hwy. #5, a permit from the Ministry of
Transportation( MTO) was required.
Provincial Permit
In applying to MTO for the necessary permit, we encountered a number of difficulties.
First, to ensure that the haul road could be completed in July to accommodate the start
up of our project, we initiated discussions in March, 1995 with the MTO. Without
providing all the details, we did not receive a permit until the end of August 1995. This
timeframe was only met with the assistance of the local ward councillor and local MPP.
Therefore our access road sat for almost a full month without use because of the delay
in providing the permit.
When the permit was issued, the access to Hwy. #5 was denied between 7:00 a.m. and
9:00 a.m. weekdays because of potential conflicts with the morning peak traffic on Hwy.
#5. Alternatively, the Town could route the construction traffic across River Glen
Boulevard to Towne Boulevard where unsignalized access to Hwy. #5 for all moves
could be made. In our view, the access at Towne Boulevard onto Hwy. #5 is no more
safe than our construction access. To route the traffic in the morning across River
Glen Boulevard was not considered desirable during the morning peak because of
potential safety concerns for school children going to the elementary school on River
Glen Boulevard.
Because of the restriction by MTO and our concern for school children in the area, the
contractor has been very limited in what work they can perform between 7:00 a.m. and
9:00 a.m. This is certainly affecting their efficiency on site. The effective use of the
haul road that was constructed has been reduced, therefore, the full benefit in our
investment in its construction has not been fully realized.
CASE STUDY NO. 2
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
In March of 1994, Ford commenced a construction program to build a
1.1 million sq. ft.
Paint Shop for its existing Truck Plant, which would improve its production capability
and quality. The total investment, including equipment and structures, is estimated to
be $400 million dollars.
one of the many items to be resolved prior to the releasing of the Building Permit was
the location and design of storm drainage ponds, and the overall design of the storm
water treatment system for this part of the Joshua Creek.
After extensive review with our Development Engineering staff, and staff of the Halton
Region Conservation Authority, we were in a position to release the approval for the
design of this system, but were prevented from doing so by the Ministry of the
Environment, who at a very late stage required six weeks to provide final clearance.
With the direct help of Mayor Mulvale, we were able to find a contact in the office of the
Ministry of the Environment who was able to expedite this approval in a matter of a few
days.
The design approval was a final step prior to the issuance of the full Building Permit for
the Paint Shop. Application for the Building Permit had been made on May 11, 1994;
and Ford was anxious to commence construction prior to the first of October in order to
have an opportunity of closing in the building, therefore allowing for the installation of
equipment and the preparation of the building for production in the fail of 1995. The
final Building Permit was issued on September 21, 1994.
The issue, however, is, given the guidelines which the Ministry has clearly set out for
the treatment of storm water, and which is followed by both the Conservation Authority
and our staff, whether it was necessary for the Ministry to be involved at all.
CASE STUDY NO. 3
coMMUNITY PLANNING
COMMUNITY PLANNING
The Town of Oakville is currently in the process of implementing plans for its Uptown
Core, a major mixed use district at the intersection of Dundas Street and Trafalgar
Road. Dundas Street (Kings Highway #5) is still under provincial jurisdiction. At the
south east corner of the intersection, there is an existing grocery store with an entrance
and exit onto Dundas Street. It is our understanding that this entrance has status
because of the length of time it has been in existence.
Substantial redevelopment is about to occur around this grocery store (Longos) and
shall involve the construction of more than 400,000 square feet of additional retail
services. The municipality had requested that the developer co-ordinate a plan with
the existing grocery store to ensure safe vehicular movements along the Dundas Street
corridor.
The traffic engineers have reviewed all of the plans and elected to relocate the existing
entrance to Longos as a right-in, right-out only. This is commonly done to eliminate
crossover traffic on high volume roads, This was agreeable to Longos because they
have come to agreement with the development company which surrounds them and will
co-ordinate design, parking and layout such that this entrance to the consolidated
commercial block shall be at a safe distance from the Dundas Street/Trafalgar Road
intersection. The principal entrance to the development shall be located on a ring road
which shall intersect Dundas Street at an approved location. It is the position of the
Ministry of Transportation of Ontario that the existing entrance to the Longos Grocery
Store should remain as is, notwithstanding our assertions that it is sub-standard and
should be closed and relocated a greater distance away from the intersection. We
have agreement between the Town of Oakville, the grocery store owner and the major
developer in the area, however, we may have to change what we consider to be the
best plan to one which is definitely sub-standard due to the Ministrys historical position
on jurisdiction and entrances.
SOLUTIONS
This type of occurrence is not an isolated incident. Not less than six months have
passed since this same Ministry requested road widenings on development land to the
west to ensure a full highway cross section. This was done in light of the fact that the
municipality was implementing its approved Official Plan which had been in place for a
number of years and had been prepared in consultation with the Ministry of
Transportation.
The impact on two major subdividers would have been significant had the matter not
found its way to the Office of the Provincial Facilitator. Dale Martin succeeded in
tempering the request of the Ministry on the basis that their ultimate requirement
request was not in any provincial plan or budget. In addition, there has been
considerable discussion for a number of years dealing with the potential transfer of
jurisdiction of Highway #5 to the Region of Halton.
In this particular case, the MTO seemed to be bound by standards of the right-of-way.
In the main case (Longos) the existing entrance doesnt meet approved standards but
because of tenure, it is what the Ministry wishes to remain. From the municipal
perspective, we get mixed messages and inflexible positions.
An ultimate resolution to this dilemma has to deal with the jurisdiction of the
right-of-way. Within an urban area the needs of local municipalities best represent the
consumers of the service. Our goals for Highway #5, certainly reflect a far more urban
type of roadway and will change the highway characteristics which have existed in the
past. This is not to say that it is at all inappropriate for a Provincial Ministry to ensure
appropriate standards for its highways, however, as growth occurs, perhaps the
jurisdiction should change and the Province should divest itself of these rights-of-way
which are not a part of the major system such as the 4 series highways, Q. E. W., etc.
Our experience with the Office of the Provincial Facilitator in this example was more
than satisfactory and to solve our latest dispute, we may seek assistance again. The
advantage in using the Office of the Provincial Facilitator was the speed at which
parties could be assembled and a decision made, quite unlike the formal process
where objections and referrals are placed before the Ontario Municipal Board. This
type of an example may demonstrate the potential for alternative dispute resolution and
perhaps a greater role the Province could play in defining these gray areas between
jurisdictions.
To
Members of Regional Council
From
Chair Emil Kolb
I have been following the progress (or lack thereof) on the cleanup of a
management site on Cadetta Road in Brampton. Recently, the matter
Date
October 6, 1995
Subject
AC. Valley
Cadetta Road
recycling/waste
was before the
courts and I thought I would share the information I received from staff on this matter. It
is quite illuminating and very disturbing because, after all is said and done, we still do not
have a start date for the cleanup of the site.
The owners of A.C. Valley on Cadetta Road in Brampton were charged with contempt of
court after failing to comply with a court injunction to clean up the above mentioned
property. The court injunction was issued after the issuance of numerous warnings, an
order and charges by the MOEE to have the property cleaned up were ignored. A
considerable amount of construction and demolition waste was deposited on this property
since the early 1990s until as recently as May of this year. The owners, Marisa and
Giovanni Ravallese declared bankruptcy on May 1, 1995.
Essentially the contempt proceedings were carried forward as the Ministry of Environment
and Energy felt that the bankruptcy was not legitimate. The MOEE felt that the Ravalleses
did have funds to clean up the site.
AC. Valley had its assets seized which included heavy equipment and vehicles. The seized
property has been assessed and will be auctioned off to pay for clean-up costs. The
bankruptcy seizures are expected to raise $283,000. It is not clear at this point the exact
amount of waste on site or the cost of clean-up but estimates range from $300,000 to
$2,000,000. These estimates were based on private consultants and the MOEE.
The MOEE attorney asked that the Ravalleses be sentenced based on the seriousness of
their disregard for the- court and the environment. It was asked that Mr. Giovanni
Ravallese be sentenced to serve 1 year in jail and his wife Marisa Ravallese be sentenced
to serve one month in jail. The court found the Ravalleses to be in contempt of court.
Giovanni Revallese was sentenced to 90 days in jail to be served intermittently (on
weekends) and Marisa Ravallese was fined $2,000.00, a fine that will survive their
bankruptcy. The proceeds of the respondents will be used towards the clean-up of the site.
The applicants (Attorney General and the MOEE) shall be granted their costs of the
motion on a party by party basis as assessed.
- 2 -
As for the start of clean-up, there have been no announced plans to date. The property still
has a large pile of waste material on it. There is no fence around the site and there is no
gate at the front entrance. The roadway entering onto the site has been blocked off with
large stones but this site is still accessible to anyone who wanted to dump waste. Most of
the debris is wood material.
Needless to say, this is not good news, especially if the site takes considerably more money
to clean up than resources available.
EVK:lS
The Town of Richmond Hill
P,O, Box 300
225 East Beaver Creek Road
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Canada L4C 4Y5
(905) 771-8800)
OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
William F. Bell
Fax (905) 771-2500
VIA FAX
October 10, 1995
Mayor Robertson
Town of Brampton
Im attaching a draft response prepared by our staff It admittedly rambles a bit but it was
thrown together quickly and I simply ran out of time to try to condense it and make it a
1ittle more punchy.
There was an episode mid way through the page 1 #l situation where a planner at
Municipal Affairs took it upon herself to advise us in writing that Municipal Affairs would
do our planning for us, It led me to say publicly that we didnt need a bunch of Provincial
bureaucrats Iiving on one acre lots in Oakville doing our planning.
What really happened with the page 3 #4 situation is that Ministry of the Environment told
us our studies were inadequate while admitting that they had never been read, The gall!
Aurora says it best, Get rid of Provincial Checkers.
Regards,
/
William F. Bell
Mayor
attach.
w
DRAF T
Chair, GTAMayors Sub-Committee
on Local Government
City of Brampton
2 Wellington Street
Brampton Ontario
L6Y 4RZ
West
Dear Mayor Robertson:
Further to your fax of October 4, 1995, the following are several areas of provincial municipal
interface that we feel require streamlining.
In the area of detailed case studies that illustrate provincial intervention that impedes the
effectiveness and efficiency of municipalities properly carrying aut their mandate, the following
are several:
1. In the recent approval of Official Plan Amendments and implementing zoning by-laws and
Plans of Subdivision for the 1,000 acre concession block bounded by Major Mackenzie
Drive, Bayview Avenue, Leslie Street and Elgin Mills Road, we endured an excessively
long OMB Hearing, The Chairman of the Hearing sat for only a few hours every day and
what was to be a six week hearing dragged on over a year. In that process, the Chair of
the Hearing, on several occasions made comments that his job was to "finish the planning
for the area. With that thought in mind, subdivisions and zoning by-laws were
consolidated before the Chair, making it impossible for municipal staff to negotiate
appropriate conditions for Draft Plans of Subdivision. Plans that were submitted to the
Town less than a week prior to being scheduled to be heard, were dealt with by the Board
without the municipality having the necessary time to review them. In this specific case, if
the Board Member had dealt with the Official Plan in a timely fashion at, the beginning of
the Hearing instead of dragging it out the municipality would have been able to comment
effectively on the various draft plans that were then submitted and could have been in a
position to have those draft plans approved without the necessity to be before the OMB
and with the municipal approval being given before the date that it was issued by the
Board.
...2f
in other words, more effective time management of the OMB process to approve the
Official Plan Amendments and then letting the municipality get on with its business, after
the Official Plan had been approved would have benefited all - the developers could have
had their approvals sooner, the municipality would have been able to negotiate more
effective conditions of draft approval, and the Board Chairman could have been better
utilized on other cases elsewhere.
2. A similar situation existed in the North Urban Area of the Town of Richmond Hill, where
a large pan of the Town was subject to being designated as an urban area and a very
lengthy OMB Hearing ensured. At the end of the Hearing the Board Chairman indicated
that he would be releasing his decision in writing at a later date and dates were set aside to
deal with functional servicing plans and Plans of Subdivision within the new urban area.
Some months later, at the time scheduled for a pre-Hearing conference on the various
plans of subdivision the Board issued its decision. This left the municipality and the
landowners in a position where they had to review the modifications made to the official
Plan by the Board and understand the implications of those modifications on the various
plans submitted. Where necessary, significant revisions to the already subrnitted plans had
to be made. With Hearing dates already scheduled for various Plans of Subdivision
neither the developers, nor the municipality had adequate time to do justice to the
revisions and to come up implementing zoning by-laws and conditions of draft
approval for the various Plans of Subdivision. Ministry comments on functional servicing
plans were not and still are not available.
Again more effective scheduling and better use of the Boards time could have benefited
ail.
3. Current Health and Safety legislation requires committees made up equally of management
and employee representatives to review safety in the workplace, to review and recommend
the implementation of policies and practices to make the workplace a safer one, and to
inspect various work stations from time to time. In the Fire Service, with only two
management personnel allowed under the Fire Departments Act (the Chief and Deputy
Chief being the only management personnel allowed) and with the interpretation of the
Provincial Ministries that a separate health and safety committee is required for each fire
station; if the Joint Health& Safety Committees are to do justice, the management
representation could end up doing nothing but health and safety work. In fact union
members who hold senior ranks in the Fire Departmrnt, have been designated as
management representatives on the Joint Health & Safety Committees. Either less
stringent interpretations of the number of committees that are required is necessary, or
additional management employees should be allowed in the `Fire Service; or both.
,..3/
-3-
4. In preparing technical studies done to determine the impact of development on the
environment in the Lake Wilcox/Oak Ridges area the municipality asked various
provincial ministries to provide their comments on the adequacy of terms of reference
developed and to participate in the technical steering committee that would review the
work being done as it progressed. At the time, the Ministry of the Environment indicated
to the Town that it was too busy to assign appropriate staff the task.
Subsequently, when the final work was completed, it was referred by residents to the
Environmental Assessment Advisory Board to determine whether a full Environmental
Assessment was required, the Ministry of the Envioronment then indicated that the studies
undertaken by the Town were inadequate. One of the results of that determination was
the establishment of a group to review development guidelines in the Oak Ridges Moraine
and the assignment of appropriate Ministry of Environment staff to that task.
We submit that if the Ministry had been exercising its mandate at the beginning, it would
have commented on the terms of reference and would have been involved in monitoring
the ongoing studies thereby negating the need for additional expensive studies that added
several years to the process`.
Turning to areas where the provincial/municipal interface needs to be streamlined, the following
are several suggestions as to how this could be accomplished:
1. In Planning matters, the various provincial ministries `.should either define what kinds of
items are those of provincial significance and keep its comments to those items. Those
comments should be made at the Official Plan stage and then once local OfficiaI Plans have
been adopted, the municipality should be able to process planning applications without the
necessity of referring back to the various ministries.
If the Province is unable or unwilling to state its concerns in a policy format up front and
then rely on the technical expertise of local municipalities to ensure chat various provincial
policies are complied with, then a second option exists.
The Province could modify the Planning Act to indicate that if Provincial Ministries do not
comment on local planning matters within a specific time frame (I would suggest 6 weeks)
and if comments were not received by that time, then the municipalities could take the lack
of comments to mean concurrence with the application and the municipalities could
proceed without Provincial comment.
The latter option would allow the Province to determine which applications it felt were
important and to comment on them. It could staff up to whatever level it felt was
appropriate to deal with the matters it w anted to comment on. While the latter would
work I favour the former.
..4/
.4-
2. We have all seen audit teams from the Ministry of Transportation in our municipal offices.
Their role is to audit the various matters that are subject to provincial subsidy to determine
whether or not municipalities subsidy applications conform with the Regulations in that
regard.
All of our financial transactions are subject to audit by our external auditors, Most
municipalities in the GTA no longer receive the maximum subsidies that are allowable by
the MTO, since the MTO has capped subsidy payments. Therefore, it would seem that
the MTO audit staff is no longer required, By ceasing to provide MTO auditors, the
Province could save considerable money in staffing and municipalities could save a
considerable amount of staff time reviewing matters that are currently subject to provincial
audit.
3. While the Province has made a step in having the MTRCA be the commencing agent for a
number of matters that used to also be the jurisdiction for the Ministry of Natural
Resources, I would suggest that the Conservation Authority be given authorization to be
the commenting agency for all MNR matters. This could eliminate considerable
duplication.
While I could go on with a number of other instances, time precludes that. I hope that the above
is of assistance.
Yours very truly,
W, F, Bell
Mayor
/ ss
September 28, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
151 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5S lT6
Telephone (416) 961-1660
Fax (416) 961-7796
Toll-Free 1-800-387-0058
151, rue Bloor ouest
Toronto (Ontario) M5S 1T6
Telephone (416) 961-1660
Telecopier (416) 961-7796
Saris frais 1-800-387-0058
ONTARIO ARTS
COUNCIL
CONSElL DES ARTS
DE LONTARIO
page 2 of 3
1. Regional Responsibility for Arts and Cultural Development and Support in
the City Core
You have flagged the prospect of a downward spiral in the central city as
one of the key issues for the whole GTA -- and an issue that must be
addressed through reform in the area of municipal finance.
Torontos healthy city core depends on the presence and vitality of a
concentration of major arts and cultural activities whose positive economic
and social impact is felt throughout the region. And it is the very presence
of this concentration of arts activities and facilities that creates the critical
mass required to achieve international cultural prominence and to act as a
major tourist destination.
The large organizations in the core serve a community that extends beyond
the City of Toronto and Metro. As other submissions to the Task Force have
shown, significant proportions of the audiences and attendees of these arts
organizations live outside of the city and regions boundaries. In addition,
many have education programs that reach across the province.
We believe that all jurisdictions that benefit from the major arts organizations
and activities in the Toronto core should share in their funding. For its part,
the Ontario Arts Council recognizes that the presence of local and regional
arts organizations benefit the larger community, and fulfills its responsibility
for sharing in their support as a major funder of these organizations. In
1993/94, OAC provided $20.8 million in grants to over 1,100 artists and
430 organizations in the Greater Toronto Area.
At the municipal level, the regional arts organizations and activities located
in the city of Toronto are currently funded by both the city (through the
Toronto Arts Council) and by Metropolitan Toronto. If the Metro Toronto
government is eliminated, its $6.6 million in cultural funding must be
maintained. To eliminate the government of Metropolitan Toronto without a
regional mechanism to replace this cultural funding would place the full
burden of support on City of Toronto taxpayers for major cultural amenities
that clearly serve the metropolitan and GTA regions.
The regional government approach has generally worked well in providing a
mechanism for planned development and shared responsibility for arts across
Metro. Whether or not the government of Metro Toronto continues to exist,
there is a need for some form of regional cultural development planning and
funding (e.g. taxation) that extends across the Greater Toronto Area. A co-
ordinated regional approach is essential to maximize the benefits derived
from the arts and culture sector and to ensure that those who enjoy the
benefits of these activities contribute appropriately.
ONTARIO ARTS
COUNCIL
CONSElL DES ARTS
DE LONTARIO
page 3 of 3
2. Local Arts and Culture Development and Support in Area Municipalities
Hand-in-hand with the need for regional responsibility for a healthy city core is
the need for development and support of the arts in the local municipalities
throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
The arts and culture sector has the potential to contribute to the economic
development and quality of life of each area municipality. To reach this
potential, the arts and culture must be recognized as a viable economic sector
and must be included as a matter of course in local economic planning.
Specifically, culture should be incorporated into local economic development
plans, and taken into account in such areas as core improvement, local facilities
development, transportation planning and service to new communities. Area
municipalities must maintain and augment their funding of arts within their own
boundaries and adopt a co-ordinated approach to local cultural development.
This approach garners social benefits to the community as well as economic
dividends. A full range of cultural groups in GTA communities express and
share their culture through the arts. In this way, the arts serve as a unifying
force in the community.
To sum up, your Terms of Reference identified several fundamental questions
Paul Hoffert
Chair
Introduction
OCCSPA/APECCO, the Ontario Community College Student Parliamentary
communautaires de lOntario, is a bilingual lobbying and networking group
for st ud ent s of Ont ar ios Colleges of Applied Ar t s and Technology. The
Association represents over 138,000 college students in Ontario.
OCCSPA/APECCO is a unique organization which focuses on educational
issues.
The mandate of OCCSPA/ APECCO is to represent Ontario college students
on mat t er s of common concer n. The Associat ion also gat her s per t inent
information regarding issues, problems and/ or solutions concerning college
students.
The Association has a strong commitment to information sharing and meets
regularly with other provincial associations such as the Student Board of
Gover nor s, t he St ud ent Life Gr oup, t he Ont ar io Und er gr ad uat e St ud ent
Alliance and OCCSPA/ APECCOs counterparts in both Alberta and British
Columbia.
The 25 colleges offer t r aining at 900 sit es in 200 communit ies and have
approximately 700,000 registrations annually.
OCCSPA/ APECCO Submission to Golden Task Force, 1995
1
790 Bay St., 11th Floor, Toronto, ON M5G 1N8
Tel.: (416) 325-2195 B Fax: (416) 325-1792
The Golden Task Force has the mandate to make recommendations to the
gover nment on issues in t he Gr eat er Tor ont o Ar ea (GTA) and wit h six
colleges in the area, we must make recommendations regarding possible
comments regarding the colleges. College students would be in favour of
eliminating some of the red tape that currently wraps itself around the college
system.
Ontarios 25 colleges of applied arts and technology should be flexible in
management and leadership, They should take the initiative in program
design and delivery, there should be effective support, continuous planning
and assessment. Currently our colleges are capable of this, however, some
action must be taken to ensure that the colleges remain competitive and
student focused. The real test of Ontarios education system will be how well
it pr epar es st udent for t he new wor ld of wor k. OCCSPA/ APECCO is
concerned about our Toronto colleges and want to ensure that Ontarios
commitment to education is maintained in the Greater Toronto Area.
In light of the current economic situation, the trend in the nineties is to do
more with less. This type of forced belt tightening has resulted in sometimes
short sighted cuts to education. There are hidden costs to underfunding.
Fiscal r est r aint s have pr ohibit ed colleges fr om making need ed changes,
sp ecifically imp r oving comp u t er syst ems, bu ild ing maint enance and
initiatives such as mediated technologies that could save dollars in the long
term. Students are losing support services, borrowing more, paying more but
are they getting more?
As students, we urge that all changes to education be done with some thought
and consid er at ion given t o t he long t er m implicat ions for t he syst ems
clients.
It has been said that there is not a need for six colleges in the GTA. The
questions of quality, access and accountability must be closely examined before
any adjustments are made to the colleges.
2
Recommendations
Administration Reduction
Any dollars saved through the reduction of administration should remain
within the college system. System savings should be directly focused on
improving the classroom. College students fall behind highschool students
in terms of state of the art computer facilities. This does nothing to encourage
high school students to attend our institutions. College students through
their identified elected student union, government or association should
have direct input on the allocation of these new funds, (direct input could
be defined as requiring mut ual approval by t he college board and t he local
st udent associat ion before t he designat ed funds are spent . ) Th i s t yp e of
agreement echoes an earlier precedent set by the Ministry of Education and
Training in regards to compulsory tuition related ancillary fees.
The funds should be directed at, but not limited to:
B
increasing the acquisition of library materials and expanding the hours
of operation of libraries,
B
increasing the acquisition of computers for student use,
B
improving campus security
B
providing more information to students on job prospects related to
their program of study.
The Premiers Council on Economic Renewal noted that lifelong learning
should be the foundation for the provinces economic renewal. Most people
will change career directions several times over the course of their working
lives. As a result, our education and training systems need to change if they
are to meet the needs of the lifelong learner. Learning will be the cornerstone
of Ontarios future. In order for our colleges to realize the philosophy of
lifelong learning, our system must not be bound by normal time boundaries,
singular intake and traditional modes of delivery.
3
In 1994, t he Council of Regent s (t he ad visor y bod y t o t he Minist r y of
Education and Training on colleges) headed up a multi-partner stakeholder
commi t t e e t o e xa mi n e a l t e r n a t i v e mod e s of d e l i v e r y a s we l l a s
technologically mediated instruction.
Alternative modes of delivery
t he cr eat ion of pr ogr ams for
scheduling. Technologically
examined compressed and flexible delivery,
specific t ypes of st ud ent s and year r ound
med iat ed inst r uct ions includ ed comput er
simulat ions, comput er upgr ad ing, and vid eo confer encing. Should t he
Commi ssi on r ecommen d a sa vi n gs in ad minist r at ion amalgamat ion,
moneys could be focused on pilot projects of these types of deliveries before
they are implemented system-wide.
The College of Metro Toronto
Much has been
however, serious
college from the
said about the benefits of an amalgamation of colleges,
consideration should be given to the implications of a super
student perspective. For example, a single parent with a
college one half hour from home will likely attend and have some comfort
knowing his/ her childs daycare is nearby in the event of an emergency.
However, if that same parents program was to be transferred to a college two
hours away, that parent would have to face moving or significant travel and
time away from their child. The parent would likely have to add another
year of study to accommodate the travel and would miss the eight oclock and
six oclock classes. This could have implications for access, student debt load
and student attrition.
Program Rationalization
The notion of program rationalization has been bantered about for a number
of years as an effective cost saving measure in the college system. This has
imp licat ions for s t u d en t a cces s , s u cces s a n d cl a s s s i z e. Pr ogr am
rationalization may not be an effective tool for cost savings due to the transfer
4
of increased costs to the student and to the college that receives the larger
program.
Programs that are considered community programs (programs in applied
arts, technology, business and health sciences) and available at all colleges
should not be rationalized. Programs that may be unique to some colleges
should be examined. It may be beneficial to reduce programs (for example,
post diploma programs) that occur in numerous GTA colleges. However,
befor e pr ogr am r at ionalizat ion is ut ilized as an oppor t unit y t o impr ove
cu r r ent p r ogr ams, cer t ain measu r able st and ar d s of su ccess mu st be
incorporated into any new, amalgamated program.
Students would require guarantees regarding the number of available seats in
a particular rationalized program. Students who are currently enrolled in the
program at their original college should be entitled to complete the program
at the original site. Students would not support program rationalization
where student access is compromised.
The theory of program rationalization has to be examined with all students in
mind, both part time and full time. Part time students would suffer as a
result of program rationalization if the number of spaces in the program was
not a combination of the seats in existing programs.
Business and Industrv Partnerships
Colleges have been exploring business and industry partnerships as a method
of improving facilities and obtaining direct access to equipment and students.
Cur r ent ly, t hr ee colleges in t he GTA st and out as lead er s in t his ar ea;
Geor gian has a st r at egic alliance wit h Canad ian Aut omot ive Inst it ut e,
Humber has the open learning center and Centennial has worked with Bell
Canada to create the Bell Centre for Creative Communications. The partners
in the Bell Centre have invested large amounts of money for both student
education and employee training. Any changes to the Toronto colleges will
have to be made with these sensitive partnerships in mind.
5
Conclusion
Our Association, OCCSPA/ APECCO, wants to be part of the process in any
discussions with regard to the 25 colleges of applied arts and technology.
OCCSPA/ APECCO has a history of working with the provincial government
to find solutions to the problems that face college students and the college
system. It is vital that college students actively participate in the challenges
that face the system.
6
OAKVILLE CITIZENS COMMITTEE
ON PROPERTY TAX REFORM
UVA IMPACT STUDY
Report and Recommendations
Technical Report
September, 1995
Oakville Citizens Working for Equitable Regional Taxation
Table of Contents
Report Summary
Purpose
Introduction
The Oakville Committees View on Property Taxation
The Case Against Market Value Assessment
What We Are Recommending
Appendix
UVA Impact Study
Description of UVA Alternatives Tested
Chronology of MVA Reassessment in Halton
i
1
1
2
3
5
A-1
A-4
A-6
Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform
Report Summary
The Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform has undertaken a preliminary
review of the impacts of a unit value assessment (UVA) based property tax system on
residential properties throughout the Region of Halton. This note summarizes the key
points raised in its more detailed report.
The Findings of Our Study
A unit value based system is one which taxes the size of a property rather than its value.
A UVA system takes into account the size of land and the size of building describing the
property. The rates applied against each of these tax bases may differ.
Our statistical investigation of the current market value assessment based system
(MVA) revealed the following:
residential property tax differentials across Halton reflect different building sizes,
different area municipal locations, different neighborhood locations within each area
municipality and, to a far lesser extent, different land size
a simple, straight forward, understandable property tax system consisting of one tax
rate applied to each square foot of building, and a separate tax rate applied to each
square foot of land, can be developed
implementation of a unit based property tax system would eliminate the type of wide
swings in the relative property tax base inherent in the proposed MVA based system
unit based factors can be phased in over any period of time considered appropriate
the relative factors on buildings and land -- and any flat rate per unit that might be
charged -- can be altered overtime as considered appropriate
initial unit based tax rates can be developed which have little more impact on the
current levels of residential property taxes throughout Halton Region than the
impacts expected as a result of the proposed region-wide MVA reassessment
The Committee recognizes a more detailed study of UVA is required, but is encouraged
that these preliminary results suggest a simple UVA formulation which minimizes tax
shifts can be devised,
What Is Wrong With MVA?
The Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform objects to the current MVA
based property tax system on the following grounds:
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
the MVA basis for taxation is inherently unstable overtime and across geographic
areas
the current system in Ontario requires arbitrary updates to a common base year
every four years
the use of moving averages of relative property values overtime does not eliminate
the random impacts of shifting relative values on taxes paid
intermittent updates to the tax base, therefore, will always foster divisiveness among
area municipalities within commonly assessed geographic areas
the acceptable margin of error of provincial assessors in assessing relative
property values within the same neighbourhood is an incredible plus or minus 25
percent
because property values tend to fall as distance from the urban core increases, MVA
tends to encourage urban sprawl (all other things being equal)
within the current system it is very difficult to determine the true burden of property
taxation across different property types as the current system does not assess all
property classes at full market values
the current MVA system is expensive to administer
the Fair Tax Commission has raised significant doubts about the presumed
correlation between incomes and residential property values, thus casting
considerable doubt on the justification of MVA on the basis of ability to pay
Given the drawbacks of the current MVA system, and given the inherent strengths of a
UVA based system -- its greater stability, simplicity, visibility and accountability, and that
such a system will reduce the costs of government at a time when the province is
seeking ways to do so - the Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform
recommends The Town of Oakville should petition the Province of Ontario:
B
B
B
B
to declare a moratorium on market value reassessments throughout the province
to reiterate its request for a detailed review of the impact of UVA on property taxes in
Halton Region and several other areas of the province (the Oakville Citizens
Committee study described above and in the attached Appendix strongly supports
the Town of Oakvilles original position that such a study should be undertaken)
to permit The Town of Oakville and other municipalities to implement property tax
systems within their jurisdictions, irrespective of the property tax base used in other
communities
to liaise with the growing number of communities throughout Ontario of like mind on
the issue of property taxation
I l l
UVA Impact Study
Report and Recommendations
Purpose
This is a technical paper prepared by the OakVille Citizens Cornmittee on Property Tax
Reform aimed at supporting the need for a Province of Ontario initiated Unit Value
Assessment (UVA) study and supporting the Town of Oakvilles request for a
moratorium on MVA reassessments.
Introduction
In the fall of 1993 Oakvilles members of Halton Region Council supported
implementation on January 1, 1996 of a region-wide reassessment of property taxes
based on 1992 property values. This supporl was provided on the understanding that
the Province of Ontario would initiate a study of the impacts of a Unit Value Assessment
(UVA) property tax system in Halton Region, a key recommendation of the Halton
Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform.
No such study was ever initiated by the Province.
Over the course of the last six months the Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax
Reform has carried out its own study of the impacts of a UVA based system on
residential properties. The Committee began its research by developing residential
property impact estimates on a sample of data for Oakville provided to the Committee by
The Town of Oakvilles Finance Department. The analysis was extended to include
region-wide data compiled by the Regions Finance Department for the Halton Citizens
Committee.
On the basis of this region-wide analysis -- the details of the Cornmittees research
appear in the accompanying Appendix - the Oakville Citizens Committee on Property
Tax Reform concludes the following:
B
. implementation of a unit based property tax system would eliminate the type of wide
Oakville Citizens Committiee on Property Tax Reform
Page 2
B unit based factors can be phased in over any period of time that may be considered
appropriate
. the relative factors on buildings and land and any flat rate per unit that might be
charged - can be altered overtime as may be considered appropriate
. initial unit based tax rates can be developed which have little more impact on the
These points are substantiated in the attached Appendix.
In view of these findings the Oakville Citizens Committee recommends that:
B
a unit-based property tax system -- one taking into account the relative size of
properties, rather than the relative value -- should be considered for the Region of
Halton
. the unit based system chosen should be as pure as possible (that is, it should take
into account a minimum number of factors)
. if Halton Region is not prepared to go along with a unit-based system, the Town of
Oakville Council should seek the legislative means to implement a unit based
assessment system on its own for the purpose of collecting regional, town and
school boards levies in Oakville; these efforts should include working with other
municipalities of like mind in petitioning the province to obtain this right
This report summarizes the research undertaken by the Oakville Committee on a unit
based assessment system and describes the basis on which it reached its conclusions.
The Oakville Committees View on Property Taxation
At the outset of this report the Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform
wishes to make clear the following:
. the best taxation relief that can be provided to taxpayers is that obtained through
reducing government spending at all levels
. government spending can be reduced through:
a combination of contracting-out to -- or partnering-with -- the private sector for
services currently provided exclusively by governments
Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform Page 3
the increased use of user fees, where feasible, to bring a degree of market
discipline to the provision of government services; and
the obtaining of greater control over the budgets of special purpose bodies
B
where government services are deemed essential from the point of view of income
redistribution (such as welfare), or where the benefits spill-over from one area of the
province to another (such as education), such services should not be financed on
the basis of property taxes; income or sales provide a more appropriate tax base in
such cases
. we support the complete disentanglement of provincial and municipal expenditures
and revenues
The Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform agrees with the Ha/ton
Citizens Committee and the many others who have concluded that:
. property taxes of any kind are inherently regressive
. property taxes, however based, can never be considered fair on the basis of the
ability to pay criteria of fairness
B
unit based property taxes, however, when used to finance property related services,
can be considered fair when judged on the basis of the benefits received criteria
of fairness
The Oakville Committee is aware that critics of UVA often point to the almost universal
use of MVA as justification for MVAS use in Ontario. The Committee notes, however,
that the bleeding of patients and the incarceration of the mentally handicapped received
widespread support not all that long ago. Widespread use of MVA is no justification for
its continued use, especially when many Oakville property tax payers believe MVA is
both bleeding and incarcerating the taxpayer at the same time, and particularly when an
easy to understand, administratively cheaper alternative is available.
The Case Against Market Value Assessment
The Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform believes market value
assessment is an inappropriate basis for property taxation for the following reasons:
. the MVA basis for taxation is inherently unstable overtime and across geographic
areas (see Chart 1 which reveals average resale house prices on an annual basis
over the period 1984 to 1994 throughout the GTA, relative to the GTA average)
Page 4
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
if Halton goes through with the Region-wide reassessment slated for January 1,
1996 the new system will require updates every four years to a common base year;
there is no guarantee the base years so randomly chosen in the future will represent
a fair basis for comparison of market values across geographic areas; the
arbitrariness of this new base year selection puts relative property taxation on a
random footing and guarantees no standard base year will ever prevail across the
province
even the use of moving (rolling) averages of relative property values overtime does
not eliminate the random nature of this footing; such averages only smooth them out
intermittent updates to the tax base, therefore, will always foster divisiveness among
area municipalities within commonly assessed geographic areas (e.g., Scarborough
vs. Toronto in Metro, Oakville vs. Burlington in Halton, Kanata vs. Ottawa in Ottawa-
Carleton, etc.)
provincial assessors admit the acceptable margin of error in assessing relative
property values within any given neighborhood is plus or minus 25 percent, a range
that should be unacceptable to taxpayers and a practice illustrating the arbitrariness
of the current system
because property values tend to fall as distance from the urban core increases, MVA
systems tend to encourage urban sprawl (all other things being equal)
within the current system it is very difficult to determine the true burden of property
taxation across different property types because the current system does not assess
all property classes at full market values; the current system hides the fact that multi-
residential properties are taxed more heavily than other residential properties, that
residential properties are taxed less than commercial or industrial properties, etc.
the current MVA system is expensive to administer (the recent region-wide
reassessment in Halton alone cost about $3 million, a cost recurring every 4 years
and which does not include the ongoing need for obtaining assessment values for
new properties or for administering the appeals system)
the Fair Tax Commission raised significant doubts about the presumed correlation
between incomes and residential property values, thus casting considerable doubt
on the justification of MVA on the basis of ability to pay
Page 5
Given the drawbacks of the current MVA system, and given the inherent strengths of a
UVA based system -- its greater stability, simplicity, visibility and accountability, and its
potential to reduce costs at a time when the province is seeking ways to do so -- the
Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform recommends The Town of
Oakville should petition the Province of Ontario:
. to declare a moratorium on market value reassessments throughout the province
. to reiterate its request for a detailed review of the impact of UVA on property taxes in
Halton Region and several other areas of the province (the Oakville Citizens
Cornrnittee study described above and in the attached Appendix strongly supports
the Town of Oakvilles original position that such a study should be undertaken)
. to permit The Town of Oakville and other municipalities to implement property tax
systems within their jurisdictions, irrespective of the base used elsewhere
. to liaise with the growing number of communities throughout Ontario of like mind on
the issue of property taxation
Councillor Kevin Flynn, Co-Chair
Sheila Biggers
Robert Higgins
Rick Kedzior
Stewart Lovie
David Porteous
Councillor Ralph Robinson
Councillor Stephen Sparling
John Hogg, Co-Chair
Ian Croskell
David Johnstone
Michael Lansdown
Tom McCormack
Bruce Rae
Alan Short
John Vail
Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform Page 6
Chart 1
Average House Prices Within the Greater Toronto Area
Average Price by Area Municipality Compared to the GTA Average
Annual Data 1984 to 1994
T o r o n t o East York Y o r k
150-
9 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 0 - - -
7 0 - - - -
6 0 -
.
84 85 86 87 86 89 90 91 92 93 94
S c a r b o r o u g h North York Etobicoke
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
80
70
60
- .
84 85 88 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94
Note: The charts above illustrate the relative resale price of a house in each municipality compared to the GTA average. The
GTA average in each year is equal to 100. In 1994 the average resale price of a home in the City of Toronto was $282,670
compared to an average price throughout the GTA of $204,207. Thus the relative price of a home in the City of Toronto,
expressed in index form, was 138 in 1994. Relative prices are shown as the MVA based system taxes properties on the
basis of relative values.
Oakville Citizens Commitee on Property Tax Reform Page 7
Chart 1 (Continued)
Average House Prices Within the Greater Toronto Area
Average Price by Area Municipality Compared to the GTA Average
Annual Data 1984 to 1994
Mi s s i s s a u g a Other Peel Region Oakville-Milton
150
1 4 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 3 0
1 2 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 0 0 - - - - - -
8 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 0 - -
Du r h a m Re g i o n York Region
150 -
1 4 0 - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 0
70 ---- .- -- . . . . . . . .
60 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . - - - - . . - - . . . - . . - - - - - - - . . - . . . -
84 85 66 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94
Note: The charts above illustrate the relative resale price of a house in each municipality compared to the GTA average. The
GTA average in each year is equal to 100. In 1994 the average resale price of a home in Oakville-Milton was $225,824
compared to an average price throughout the GTA of $204,207. Thus the relative price of a home in Oakville-Milton,
expressed in index form. was 111 in 1994. Relative prices are shown as the MVA based system taxes properties on the
basis of relative values.
Appendix
UVA Impact Study
UVA Impact Study
The Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform has carried out a preliminary
study of the impacts of a Unit Value Assessment based property tax system on the
Region of Halton,
The study included the use of a file of almost 90,000 residential properties in Halton
Region (covering property codes 301 to 399 inclusive) and of a file consisting of a
random sample of this file consisting of every tenth property in the original file. Using
regression analysis -- a standard analytical statistical tool used in biology, economics
and other disciplines for the purpose of determining the importance of one variable in
explaining another variable (nutrients on rates of growth, interest rates on spending,
building size on property values, etc.) --we attempted to explain the variation across the
region in the current taxes paid by property owners using criteria such as building size,
land size, property type (single detached, condominium, etc.) and area municipal and
ward location.
Our statistical investigation of the current market value based system (MVA) revealed
the following:
. building size is important in helping to explain the differences in taxes paid
. land size is statistically important (that is, it is valid according to statistical tests) but
the implied tax rate is so small land, in effect, accounts for very little of the current
differences in overall taxes paid
B
area municipal and ward locations are important in helping to explain the variation in
taxes across the region
. property type is also an important consideration in explaining the variation in tax
levels
Based on our overall review of the most promising UVA formula would appear to be
number 2 (UVA2) which suggests that residential properties across Halton Region
should be taxed at the following rates
$0.7439 per square foot of building, plus
$0.0009 per square foot of land, plus
a flat sum which varies by area municipality equal to $650 in Oakville, $514 in
Burlington, $453 in Milton and $465 in Halton Hills
A- 1
The relative size of this latter factor (that is, highest in Oakville, lowest in Milton) reflects
the fact that the current apportionment of taxes collected within Halton Region results in
higher taxes on the average property in Oakville and lower taxes on the average
property in Milton. This apportionment is calculated by the Region based on an
equalized assessment of relative property market values throughout the Region. This
UVA formula would result in no change from current levels in the total amount of taxes
collected from each area municipality.
The following table compares the impact of this UVA formula (called UVA2) on current
property taxes to the impact of the originally proposed region-wide MVA reassessment
based on 1988 property values (based on the one-tenth sample of 8,990 properties).
The table also shows the impacts of three other UVA formulations studied by the
Committee:
B
B
B
UVA1 does not take into account the difference in relative tax load across the four
area municipalities within the region, and thus results in tax shifts from one area
municipality to another.
UVA3, which takes into account the ward location of each property in the region,
provides a set of factors on a ward by ward basis which take into account the
difference in taxes collected across the four area municipalities and across all of the
regions wards.
UVA4 raises taxes across the region by assigning the total taxes currently collected
to the following: a flat rate amount equal to $500 per property plus one half of the
remaining taxes per square foot of building and the remaining half per square foot of
land. This formulation results in a huge transfer of the regions tax burden to those
area municipalities with residences on the largest average sized lots (that is, to
Milton and Halton Hills).
The UVA1, UVA2 and UVA3 alternatives are included to show that by adding more and
more factors to the UVA calculation it is possible to get closer and closer to the system
already in place, though matching the current system is clearly not the Committees
objective. UVA4 is included to show what happens if the factor on land is allowed to
increase beyond that determined through regression analysis.
A - 2
Based on this review the Committee concludes the following about a unit based property
tax system:
B
B
B
B
B
implementation of a unit based property tax system would eliminate the type of wide
unit based factors can be phased in over any period of time that may be considered
appropriate
the relative factors on buildings and land -- and any flat rate per unit that might be
charged -- can be altered overtime as may be considered appropriate
initial unit based tax rates can be developed which have little more impact on the
A- 3
Description of UVA Alternatives Tested
UVA1: Based on regression equation estimated across region. Constant term is
525.5446. Building area factor is $0.7607 per square foot. Land area factor is $0.0008
per square foot.
UVA2: Based on regression equation estimated across region with no constant term
but including area municipal factors. Building area factor is $0.7439 per square foot.
Land area factor is $0.00089 per square foot.
UVA3: As in UVA2 but estimating individual factors for each Ward across Halton.
UVA4: Assigns $500 base tax per property then apportions half of remaining tax to
buildings and the other half to land. Flat rate factor is $500 per property. Building area
factor works out to $0.3917357 per square foot. Land area factor works out to
$0.0371749 per square foot,
Impacts of Various UVA Property Tax Alternatives
0
/ 0 Change Current UVA1 UVA2 UVA3 UVA4 MVA
more than 100
80 to 100
60 to 80
40 to 60
20 to 40
0 to 20
-20 too
-40 to -20
-60 to -40
-80 to -60
-100 to -80
less than -100
Total
Avg. Taxes
o
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Current
133
67
278
458
1,013
3,139
2,955
734
154
50
9
0
8,990
UVAI
141
46
284
431
1,048
3,079
2,984
793
122
55
7
0
8,990
UVA2
124
41
147
407
849
2,512
3,636
1,047
142
78
7
0
8,990
UVA3
270
59
67
128
374
951
2,798
3,666
597
73
7
0
8,990
UVA4
12
8
20
134
533
3,286
4
$
857
137
1
0
2
0
8,990
MVA
Oakville 2,130 2,037 2,130 2,130 1.572 2,227
Burlington 1,775 1,814 1,775 1,775 1,560 1,699
Milton 1,814 1,910 1,814 1,814 3,669 1,822
Halton Hills 1,749 1,907 1,749 1,749 2,799 1,767
Region 1,907 1,817 1,907 1,907 1,907 1,915
A- 4
UVA3 Ward Factors
Size
6A
LA
Ward
01
02
03
04
05
06
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
Ml
M2
M3
H1
H2
H3
H4
Factor
0.7439043
0.0008866
Factor
429.38
319.12
611.28
574,20
382.16
474.24
496.67
684,19
548.98
492.56
412,93
391,54
637.60
425.33
412.61
435,88
582,57
266.02
557.58
426.21
433,25
A - 5
Sept
Dec
Feb
Sept
Nov
Dec
Mar
Sept
Feb
Jun
Aug
Sept
1989
1992
1992
1992
1993
1993
1993
1993
1994
1994
1995
1995
1995
(late)
Halton Regional Council passes resolution asking Province to produce
impact study on Region-Wide Market Value Assessment.
Province releases Region-Wide MVA study using 1988 market values.
Study indicates Burlington and Milton benefit and Halton Hills and
Oakville do not.
Halton Regional Council, comprised of nine seats from Burlington, five
from Halton Hills, three from Milton and seven from Oakville (plus
Chairperson) vote in favour of Region-Wide MVA being implemented
on January 1, 1993. (Burlington and Milton vote in favour, Halton Hills
and Oakville vote against, tie broken by Chairperson.) Concerned
citizens immediately start lobbying to have decision reversed.
Chairperson moves motion of reconsideration at Special Meeting
running until 3:20 am. More than 80 people slated to speak to Council
(only two speak in favour of Region-Wide MVA) with approximately
800 in attendance. Resolution passed deferring implementation to
January 1, 1994 and formation of Halton Citizens Committee on Property
Tax Reform (HCCPTR).
HCCPTR start extensive study of reforming property tax system.
HCCPTR release Final Report strongly recommending a Unit Value
Assessment study be conducted using the Region Of Halton as a test
site.
Regional Council passes resolution requesting province conduct UVA
study in Region of Halton and begin negotiations with Province to
have compromise to January 1, 1994 implementation.
Regional Council, after consultation with Province passes resolution
shifting approximately $2,000,000 of Regional and Boards of Education
taxes to Oakville from Burlington while using current assessment
system. MVA to be implemented January 1, 1996 using 1992 market
values. No further consideration of this subject is to be done unless
75% of Council and one member from each municipality agree.
Provincial Fair Tax Commission releases $9 Million report recommending
Region of Halton be used in UVA pilot study.
Regional Council reaffirms its position to have a UVA study completed
using the Region of Halton as a test site.
Regional Council forms committee to look further at alternatives (UVA).
Burlington refuses to participate.
Oakville Council forms Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax
Reform.
Oakville Town Council passes resolution requesting the Province
place a moratorium of Region-Wide MVA pending complete review of
assessment system and study of alternatives.
Oakville Citizens Committee on Property Tax Reform starts petition in
support of Town Councils June resolution.
Province releases impact study using 1992 values. Citizens Committee
hosts public meeting.
A- 6
T - 4 2 3 - 5 3 5 5
F - 4 2 3 - 1 5 8 4
SUBMISSION TO
TASK FORCE
PREPARED BY
DISTRICT 51- EAST YORK
ONTARIO SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS FEDERAT10N
SEPTEMBER 1995
The Ontario Secondary School Teach er s Federation, District 51, East York
wishes to officially inform the Greater Toronto Area Task Force of its position
regarding the future of East York within the G.T.A. structure. While this Execultive
agrees that educational reform is n eces s a r y, t h er e a r e s ever a l a r ea s of con cer n for
which our Executive has recommendations.
Greater Toronto is a community of communities. The distinct and cooperativc
nature of these communities creates an environment that makes the G.T.A. a wor ld
class area. Wc believe that it is our community commitmcnt that has enabled us to
evolve with our changing society. As members of that community the Teachers of. the
East York Board of Education have consistently, efficiently, and economically
delivered quality education to the learners of East York,
B
We believe there is an optimum size for a school board
With a population of 100000 people and a school system of 28 schools, 15
000+ learners, and 900+ employees, our school board represents the best of both
possiblc worlds, East York is large enough to enjoy the benefits of economy of scale,
yet small enough to enjoy the efficiencies 1101 evident in larger conglomerate-type
organizations. If we look to the business world for a parallel, it is the small and
medium sized businesses that are the largest generators of growth, job creation, and,
most importantly, innovation.
1
roposals that result in the amalgamation of the
G.T.A. municipalities and schools boards will result in cost savings.
The two consultants reports commissioned by the Metro School Board on
warehousing, purchasing, and computer services
found no cost benefit to East York.
Furthermore, the consultants report on centralized purchasing and warehousing has
stated thtl there are no savings to East York. The computer services report suggested
that it would take 28 years before East York realized any savings from the
amalgamation of services. Finally, studies have shown there would bc no true cost
savings yet the damage done to the quality of education and community of students in
East York would be significant.
B
Taxation for Education is not just about money.
Education and the fundamcntalf willingness to fund it is the key to maintaining
our quality of life. While a Board must be accountable for its expenditures, education
as a process of maturity within students cannot always bc measured in dollar terms.
We do not believe you can place a dollar value on teaching or coaching self-esteem.
We arc creating contributing members of the community through the educational
process.
Every East York school is over-enrolled. We are placing portables on playing
2
fields at the clementary schools. More importantly, every high school in East York has
awaiting list of out-of-borough students who want to attend East York High Schools.
They recognize the succcss of our systcm in its present medium sized structure. The
East York Secondary school teachers are proud to say that quality education is our
business!
B East York is in a position to quicklv rcspond to the evolving
needs of its community.
East York must survive as a separate entity if it is to avoid the fate of inner cities
in the United States. Right now East York acts as a magnet and is attracting younger
people and families in order to re-energize itself. These people come to be part of the
East York community.
B
The Business Community benefits from tax dollars.
The business community has a saying that you have to spend money to make
money. Similarly, you must spend tax dollars to receive tax dollars. The pay back of
educational spending is responsible citizens and taxpayers, Businesses want to enjoy
the fruits of operating i n the GTA infrastructure and sclling in the GTA without
paving the cost of doing business. A business operating near the Skydome may
complain about the high taxes in downtown Toronto yet neglects to mention that it was
3
essentially tax money that built the Skydome and spawned the economic growth of the
area, We believe that businesses should pay its fair share.
B The issue of taxation and assessment must be addressed.
Wc believe that there must be an evolution of the present system. There are
inequities that must be addressed that mean that some are overtaxcd and some are
undertaxed. The primary thrust of any taxation and assessment reform must ensure that
municipal taxes that are collected in the G.T.A. remain in the G.T.A. The G.T.A. is the
engine that drives Ontario; we must ensure its viability. The G.T.A. and especially
Metro supported other areas of the province. Now is the time for the rest of the
province to allow the G.T.A. and Metro time to usc is tax resources to renew its
infrastructure; to renew public hard and soft public services
and rebuild / build schools as we greet new growth and immigration.
District 51, East York, O. S. S.T.F. thanks the Commission for the opportunity to
provide input and looks forward to the initial report.
August 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden,
Suite 2001,
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
RE: Private Sector Involvement in Solid Waste Disposal in a Reformed GTA
Dear Dr. Golden:
Among the many issues that your Task Force is examining, Im sure, is the most
appropriate method of disposing of the residential solid waste that is produced within
the GTA. I am writing you today to make you aware of the essential difference
between the two main alternatives.
Solid waste disposal facilities can either be public sector or private sector facilities. In
some cases, they are joint ventures, being owned by one sector and operated by the
other. Regardless of the model the greater the role of the private sector, the less
costly it is to own and/or operate the facility.
There have been numerous studies that confirm the greater efficiency of the private
sector compared to the public sector m the delivery of a variety of services, including
waste management services. In 1993, Dr. Donald Dewees, a University of Toronto
professor, led a research team that compared the two sectors m the collection of
residential solid waste. I am including the Executive Summary
of his report for your
information.
Among other things, the Dewees Study concluded that:
B
Empirical studies strongly support the hypothesis that the private sector is
generally more efficient than the public sector. The vast majority of studies
conclude that there are eficiency advantages to private sector provision of
most of these services. We found study that demonstrated any significant
efficiency advantage to public sector service provision
Dr. Anne Golden,
Page 2
August 29, 1995
B
We find that the private sector provides more efficient and economical
performance in most areas of waste management, and that the quality of its
performance is similar to that of the public sector.
B
Where the public sector owns the landfill site, serious consideration should
be given to private operation of the site through management contracts
B
The public sector should confine itself to setting the objectives of the system
and supervising the private sector in delivering the service.
Surely one of the goals of your mission is to recommend the most cost-efficient model
for the delivery of services to the citizens of the Greater Toronto Area. We hope that,
m the matter of waste management services, you will bear m mind the findings of the
Dewees Study and include a prominent role for the private sector environmental
service companies.
I am also enclosing some other information about the Ontario Waste Management
Association.
If you have any questions about the issues raised m this letter, or if you want any
further information please do not hesitate to contact us.
Yours truly,
Nancy Porteous-Koehle
President
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
THE REGULATION OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT IN ONTARIO
A POLICY PERSPECTIVE
by
Donald Dewees
Michael J. Trebilcock
Ian Freedman
University Of Toronto
Law School and Department of Economics
and
Brent Snell
A. T. Kearney Ltd.
April 1993
i
Acknowledgments
The authors of this study are Donald Dewees, Professor of
Economics and Professor
Trebilcock, Professor of
A. T. Kearney, Limited,
University of Toronto.
of Law, University of Toronto, Michael
Law,
and
Cara
University of Toronto, Brent Snell of
Ian Freedman, a law student at the
McKerracher,
a graduate student in
economics/ Provided valuable research assistance in connection with
the data gathering and analysis.
This study was supported by the
Ontario Waste Management Association.
The opinions and conclusions
expressed in this study are those of the authors and not those of
the University of Toronto, A.T. Kearney,
or the Ontario Waste
Management Association.
Contents
Introduction . . .
The Organization of
Waste Management in
The Policy Environment in Ontario . . .
Waste Management Policies Elsewhere . .
Criteria for Choosing Policies . . . .
Ontario
. .
. .
Theoretical-Considerations in Public Versus
Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Private
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Previous Empirical Studies of Waste Management Performance
and Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
New Empirical Study of Ontario Waste Management
Policy Implications and Conclusions
General . . . . . . . . . . .
Residential Collection . . . .
IC&I Collection . . . . . . .
MRFs . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Landfills . . . . . . . . . .
Flow Control . . . . . . . . .
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1
2
3
5
6
7
9
11
14
14
15
16
17
17
18
Introduction
This study explores the respective roles of the public and
the private sector in waste management in Ontario.
Bill 143,
enacted by the Ontario legislature in 1992, raises, but does not
resolve, the question of what roles the public and private
sectors
require
largely
should play in the future,
and the next few years will
decisions by various levels of governments that will
resolve this question. Three general questions are
addressed.
of cost and
First, what is the comparative efficiency, in terms
productivity, of the public and the private sector in
the provision of various aspects of waste management, including
collection, separation, recycling, marketing of reclaimed
material, and disposal? Second, what is the comparative
efficiency of a shared model in which both private firms and the
public sector play a role versus a
these activities? Third, what are
answers to the first two questions
integrated waste management system
evaluation of the system described
public-sector only model for
the
for
for
implications of the
the design of an
Ontario, including an
by the Initiatives Papers that
have recently been issued by the Waste Reduction Office of the
Ministry of the Environment? Our purpose is not to develop our
own system design, nor to provide a detailed critique of specific
policy proposals. Rather we have set out to provide a broad and
general evaluation of these questions,
problem all-of the relevant theory and
bringing to bear on the
evidence that we could
-.
find.
2
The Organization of Waste Management in
Turning to the organization of the
Ontario
waste management industry
in Ontario, we find that the public sector and the private sector
are both involved in most waste management activities. The main
exceptions are the collection and hauling of industrial,
commercial and institutional (IC&I) mixed waste and recyclable
and the operation of IC&I material recovery facilities (MRFs),
which are undertaken predominantly by the private sector.
Another exception is that landfills within the Greater Toronto
Area (GTA) are operated almost exclusively by the public sector.
We find that a sizeable number of private firms compete for
the private sectors share of the market in several segments.
Eleven major operators compete for IC&I waste collection in the
Greater Toronto Area,and a larger number of firms operate just a
-
few trucks. Three large firms hold 40 to 60 percent of the GTA
IC&I market. The competition between private firms for contracts
is reasonably strong in the collection and hauling of IC&I mixed
waste and recyclable.
Fourteen firms compete for residential
mixed-waste and recyclable collection in the GTA.
Three major
firms account for 63 percent of the value of these contracts.
The Ontario Waste Management Association (OWMA) directory lists
over 70 firms operating in this segment province-wide.
In both
of these segments,there is a reasonable number of competitors,
and the barriers to entry by new firms are relatively low.
The degree of competition in the MRF segment, on the other
hand, is currently fairly low,
in part because of the early stage
SUMMARY
of development of
the prospects for
3
this sector. While future growth
competition, this will be limited
may increase
by the
existence of significant barriers to entry and the fact that
transportation costs may give individual MRFs a degree of market
power within the area they serve.
The landfill segment is similar to
competition is relatively weak although
the MRF segment in that
the landfill segment is
not in the early stages of its development. The lack of
competitive intensity is due to two factors.
First, each
landfill tends to have a relatively exclusive geographic area
and
restrictions on inter-regional waste transfer limit the ability
of waste haulers to move their waste from one geographic area to
another. Second, not only do existing landfills tend to have a
relatively captive customer base, but new entrants face
significant barriers to entering the market and challenging
existing companies for their customers. The most significant
barriers are the high cost of building the necessary facilities
and, more important, the difficulty of obtaining regulatory
approval to do so. Still, with high tipping fe e s there is some
competition among landfills, and in Southern Ontario landfills
presently face competition from U.S. facilities.
The Policy Environment in Ontario
Waste management policy is strongly affected by growing
public concern about environmental issues. This concern has led
to the development of principles of environmental stewardship
4
which include placing greater responsibility for costs at the
pollutions source and holding generators/producers responsible
for a product through its entire life cycle, from cradle to
grave. There is broad support for the 3Rs: reduce, reuse,
recycle, as a means of limiting the demand for waste disposal
space. Some call for a conversion from a consumer society to a
conserver society. While the implications of these demands are
uncertain, their existence is not.
In waste management, the Ontario Government has responded
aggressively. Policy development has moved beyond the point of
setting broad objectives for waste management and into the debate
on how best to meet them. The 1992 Waste Management Act, Bill
143, set the stage for a restructuring of the waste management
industry and a realignment of roles. Taken together, recent and
emerging policy initiatives reveal the Governments vision for a
\
highly regulated, integrated waste management system, with a high
degree of government involvement at all levels.
The Governments
plans include government determination of:
o How waste is classified and measured
o What waste goes to what facility (flow control)
o Who collects and hauls waste/materials
o Where recycling facilities are located and who owns
them
o How infrastructure costs will be financed
o How secondary materials markets should function
The implications for the private sector waste management
SUMMARY
5
industry are significant.
It is a stated public objective to
reduce the flow of waste to landfills by 25% by the end of 1992
and by 50% (on a per capita basis,
compared to 1988) within the
decade.
Landfill activities should decline, while recycling and
the transport of recyclable materials may increase.
New,
centrally planned waste management activities will be created in
municipalities across the Province.
Many of these activities may
be uneconomic and demand subsidies.
The freedom of consumers,
producers and distributors will be constrained.
New objectives
are being defined for the waste management sector that differ
profoundly from the objectives of the business as it has existed
for decades.
This changing environment will challenge the
private sector to adapt its role to the emerging public policy
objectives.
Waste Management Policies Elsewhere
Other jurisdictions are modifying their waste management
objectives and policies as well although few have taken the steps
implicit in Bill 143.
Many Canadian provinces have adopted
policies similar to those that existed in Ontario prior to Bill
143, including the establishment of beverage container deposit
fees, restrictions on the type of beverage container that may be
sold, and the establishment of recycling (blue box) programs.
B.C. has adopted waste reduction goals similar to those in
Ontario.
In the United States,
a number of states have adopted
beverage container deposit fees,
set targets for the proportion
of waste to be recycled in the
a part of waste management and
6
near future,
required recycling as
stated that recycled products will
be favoured in government procurement.
Twelve states have
mandated post-consumer recycled content for newspapers and
thirteen others have voluntary agreements with the newspaper
publishing -industry.
Many cities have residential recycling
programs or comporting programs for yard waste.
A number of European countries have also adopted similar
policies including regulations on beverage containers to
encourage recycling,
comporting of food and/or yard wastes, and
encouraging producers to recover their products and/or packaging.
Germany has been the most aggressive,
with a program requiring
labelling to facilitate the recycling of packaging, a mandatory
system for the return of discarded packaging to the manufacturer,
and bans on the marketing of certain restricted products.
There
is a target of 50 percent recycling of all packaging by mid-1993.
A private collection system has been established to recycle
household packaging,
and there is a proposal to require industry
to take back used products for recycling.
In this global context,
Ontarios policies rank as more
aggressive than those in most of North America, and more
aggressive than some European countries.
Criteria for Choosing Policies
How is one to choose among the broad classes of policies,
such as centralized government control policies versus financial
7
incentives or among the large number of specific
First, we believe that two criteria must be kept
policies?
in mind:
effectiveness and efficiency. Effectiveness refers to the
ability of the instrument to achieve the desired result.
One
must not simply assume that a given policy will achieve its
intended result. Instead, one must estimate the likelihood of
achieving a result with a specific policy, looking both at theory
and at empirical evidence arising from past use of that policy or
similar policies.
Efficiency refers to minimizing the costs of achieving the
result. Costs include costs imposed on all parties, including
costs incurred by industry in complying with the policy, costs
incurred by consumers for higher product prices, fees or taxes,
or time -consumed in complying with the policy, -and costs to
government of administering and financing the policy.
We reject
the argument that waste management policies should be pursued
because they create jobs; any job creation is likely to be
offset by job destruction arising from the increased taxes or
increased prices needed to pay for the waste management policy.
A policy should be evaluated on the merits of its costs and
benefits, assigning little weight to alleged employment effects,
given their uncertainty.
Theoretical Considerations in Public Versus Private Performance
We review economic theory to inform an evaluation of the
likely relative efficiency of the public and private sectors in
SUMMARY 8
performing waste management activities. Agency cost theory
supports the proposition that the private sector is likely to be
more efficient than the public sector. In the private sector,
there are inherent incentive structures that help reduce agency
costs. To a large extent, these incentives are absent in the
public sector, resulting
public sector. However,
compete with the private
in a less efficient, less innovative
when the public sector is forced to
sector for its
become more efficient than when it does
private sector efficiency.
survival, it
not compete,
is likely to
approaching
The literature on the theory of the firm suggests some of
the factors that influence when private sector industries arrange
for needed inputs through the firm and when they do so through
the market. These factors may also be used to assess when a
municipality will find it more efficient to provide a service
itself or to contract out. These factors include contracting
costs, negotiating costs, information costs, monitoring costs,
costs of uncontrolled chiseling, and incentive effects.
Applying this theory to the waste management sector, the
theory indicates that in general private sector provision will be
more economical than public sector provision.
However it is
important to note the costs associated with the public sector
monitoring and regulating
when private provision is
Once the decision to
providers is made, one of
the performance of private contractors
chosen.
utilize private sector service
five principal private sector
SUMMARY 9
organizational options must be chosen: contracting-out,
management contracts, franchising, licensing, and individual
contracting. Contracting-out, management contracts and
franchising are best suited to situations where economies of
scale are such as to favour monopolistic service provision. As
between these three, contracting-out is to be preferred when the
.
government wishes to continue paying for the service.
Management
contracts may be preferred when highly specialized equipment must
be used in this service because this may make competitive bidding
by alternative service providers infeasible.
Franchising is to
be preferred when the government wants citizens to pay for the
services they receive directly.
Of course a grant or voucher
system can be created to ensure that
society who may be unable to pay for
receive it. If there are not strong
low income members of
the service continue to
economies of scale, then
individual contracting may be preferred if price competition is
desired, while licensing may be preferred if regulation of non-
price factors is desired.
Previous Empirical Studies of Waste Management
costs
We then turn to empirical evidence of the
performance of the public and private sector.
non-waste management activities that have been
the public and the private sector, including fi
Performance and
relative
First, we consider
provided by both
re protection,
urban transport, airlines, postal service, rail road service,
water supply, debt collection,
electric utilities and others.
SUMMARY
10
Empirical studies strongly support the hypothesis that the
private sector is generally more efficient than the public
sector.
The vast majority of studies conclude that there are
efficiency advantages to private sector provision of most of
these services.
A small number
private and public sectors were
provision of certain services.
of studies have found that the
equally efficient in the
However, in these cases, there
were usually special circumstances surrounding the study or the
service that explained the results.
Finally, we found no study
that demonstrated any significant efficiency advantage to public
sector service provision.
Turning to the waste management sector, there is a large
body of evidence regarding the relative cost of public and
private collection of residential mixed waste.
Studies of
residential mixed waste collection conclusively demonstrate
private sector service provision is more efficient - often
substantially more efficient -
than public sector service
that
provision. Cost savings from contracting-out waste collection
range from ten percent to forty percent in studies of hundreds of
cities in the United States and Canada.
A portion of the cost
saving arises from lower wages paid to workers in the private
sector, but-wage rates account for less than half, often only one
quarter, of the savings.
Public sector personnel generally have
longer vacations,
more paid holidays,
and far higher absentee
rates than do the private sector personnel, substantially
increasing the cost of public providers.
Moreover, the
SUMMARY
11
productivity of the private sector operators is generally greater
than that of the public sector:
more waste is collected per
worker-hour or per truck-hour or both in the private sector.
These results are statistically significant and recur in
virtually every study.
Finally, the few studies that measured
service quality,
found that it was similar for public and private
providers.
Thus the empirical evidence conclusively supports the
theoretical literature in demonstrating the superior efficiency
of the private sector in waste collection.
New Empirical Study of Ontario Waste Management
We conducted a survey of waste management costs for four
activities in Ontario, gathering useful data in three:
residential general waste collection and residential recyclable
collection.
The results from our survey of landfills were
insufficient to address the policy issues of this study. We
gathered data from six operators
collection service, four private
of residential general waste
and
costs of operation and
of 37 routes.
For the
surveyed three private
the volume-of
collection of
operators and
two public,
regarding the
waste collected on a total
residential recyclable we
one public operator.
We find that for residential general waste collection,
public operators experience costs as much as 75 percent greater
than private sector operators.
See Table 1.
Public sector wages
12
Table 1
Residential General Waste Collection
Results Summary
Private Public All
Tonnes/crew member/hour
1.17 0.984
1.12
Tonnes/truck/day
23.2 10.8 19.2
Labour cost/tonne ($)
16 27 18
Equipment cost/truck-day ($)
261 248 257
Equipment cost/tonne ($)
11.2 22.9 13.4
Total cost/tonne
27 50 32
are 19 percent higher than private sector wages, public sector
benefits average 42 percent of the base wage compared to 25
percent for the private sector,
and longer paid holidays and much
greater absenteeism add another 7 percent.
See Table 2.
Table 2
Analysis of Labour Costs
Cost Element
Private Public
Difference
Operators Operators
(percent)
Hourly wage
$14.27 $16.98
19%
Benefits
25%
Wage plus benefits
$17.78
Stat. holidays &
Days taken
cost (%)
Labour cost/work
Productivity
42%
$24.07
sick days
11 25
4.58% 11.1%
hour $18.59 $26.73
35%
44%
Tonnes/crew-hour
1.17 0.984
Labour cost/tonne
$15.89 $27.17
71%
13
Lower productivity,
in tonnes per worker-hour or tonnes per
vehicle-day, accounts for a substantial part of the public sector
cost disadvantage.
important as labour
between private and
Indeed, equipment costs per tonne are just as
costs per tonne in explaining the differenc
e
public costs.
For residential recyclabl
e
Collection,
the public-private cost difference is similar.
See
Table 3.
The wage, benefit,
and absentee differences are similar
Table 3
Residential Recyclable Collection
Results Summary
Private
Public
All
Tonnes/crew-member/hour
Tonnes/truck/day
. 55
5.43
. 42
4.23
. 51
5.11
Labour cost/tonne
38
66
44
Equipment cost/truck-day
200
275
220
Equipment cost/tonne
39
63
45
Total cost/tonne
77
129
89
to those for general waste collection, as are differences i
n
productivity.
Public sector costs per tonne exceed private
sector costs by more than 65 percent.
This study offers powerful
confirmation of the earlier empirical conclusion that public
sector provision is much more costly than private sector
provision of residential collection services.
. Indeed, the
differences in our study are even greater than those of the US
studies discussed above.
The results of the study of the costs
of collecting recyclable materials are also important because
SUMMARY 14
they reveal costs per tonne more than two and one-half times as
great as the cost per tonne of collecting general residential
waste. See Tables 1 and 3. Taxpayers are paying a substantial
premium for the collection activity in the governments recycling
programs.
Policy Implications and Conclusions
General
We note that the choice of policy instruments is not simply
a choice between private sector and public sector provision of
waste management services. Instead, a wide array of arrangements
exists with different degrees of public and private sector
involvement. We believe that the choice among policies should be
made on the basis of the ability of the policy to achieve the
desired objective and its ability to do so at least cost. In
general, we find that the private sector provides
and economical performance in most areas of waste
that the quality of its performance is similar to
public sector. This does not mean that we see no
more efficient
management, and
that of the
role for the
public sector, but that the public sector. should confine itself
to setting the objectives of the system and supervising the
private sector in delivering the service. Where some public
service provision is warranted, the existence of competition from
private sector providers tends to enhance the efficiency of the
public sector providers. It is essential that the public sector
not be provided with subsidies, so that the market can determine
15
the most efficient provider.
We are concerned that the policies
being developed in Ontario today are highly centralized, with an
excessively large role given to the public sector, raising the
prospect of excessive costs in the future.
Residential Collection
More specifically, since
we conclude that for residential
general waste collection and residential recyclable collection,
contracting out to the private sector is generally far less
costly than-collection by the public sector, municipalities can
probably achieve significant economies by relying on private
collection.
Furthermore,
if a municipality engages in public
collection,
it would be prudent to contract out a portion of the
-
service to the private sector and to compare the performance of
the public and private operators regularly.
This should induce
more efficient public performance than is likely otherwise.
High landfill tipping fees paid for all waste deposited may
induce municipalities to promote residential recycling.
Mandatory source separation may also be justified, but careful
consideration must be given to choosing the items to be recycled.
The net cost of the recycling programme per tonne of waste
diverted should not exceed the tipping fee for general waste,
which should represent the opportunity cost of landfill space and
the externalities associated with landfilling of waste.
16
IC&I Collection
Currently IC&I waste,
both general and recyclable, is
collected almost exclusively by the private sector, and while we
have found no evidence of relative private and public costs, the
theoretical analysis supports the proposition that the private
sector would enjoy cost and efficiency advantages here at least
as great as those found in residential collection.
Indeed the
public sector would have difficulty meeting the varying service
needs of IC&I customers,
and would have difficulty establishing
price schedules that would reflect actual costs.
We see no
justification for the public sector to begin to provide this
collection service, particularly given the compelling evidence
that it experiences much higher costs than does the private
sector.
There remains the question of determining the appropriate
policies to encourage waste reduction in the IC&I sector. We
believe that high tipping fees,
such as those charged in the GTA,
will induce a considerable amount of source reduction,
source
separation,
and recycling activity.
Tipping fees in the IC&I
sector are passed on by the collection firm directly to the
generator thereby encouraging the generator to reduce his waste
volume,
unlike the residential sector where the home-owners pay
for waste collection through taxes and not on a per-bag or per-
tonne basis.
There may also be a role for governments in
providing information regarding costs and technology for waste
reduction,
reuse and recycling.
It is less obvious that
17
regulations such as banning specified materials from landfills or
requiring source separation of certain materials can be justified
in the IC&I sector so long as the tipping fees are appropriately
set. Such policies should at least be subject to intense
scrutiny to determine that they meet some test of cost-
effectiveness.
MRFs
It seems possible that few government policies are needed to
encourage the construction and operation of MRFs, so long as
relatively high tipping fees are charged at landfills.
With high
tipping fees,
material separation and recycling becomes an
economical means of reducing tipping costs for a source or a
municipality.
Indeed, private IC&I MRFs are already in operation
in the GTA in response to current tipping fees.
It may be
appropriate to consider mandatory source separation of a few
materials, but it seems unlikely that in this complicated and
dynamic field a government ministry will be capable
its regulations so that they reflect economical and
of adapting
efficient
practices.
We doubt that the high degree of planned intervention
by the Ontario Government in this area can be justified.
Landfills
We note the trend toward public ownership of landfill sites
in Ontario, particularly in Southern Ontario.
Further study
would be needed to evaluate this trend thoroughly,
but we are
SUMMARY 18
concerned that it may reflect the superior ability of governments
to penetrate the regulatory and political thicket of site
approval, rather than any inherent advantage of the public sector
in developing or operating landfill facilities. We conclude that
the possibility of private ownership of landfill sites should
remain open
t
and that private and public proponents of new sites
should be subject to similar regulations. Where the public
sector owns a landfill site serious consideration should be given
to private operation of the site through management contracts.
Flow Control
Flow control, limiting the landfill sites to which waste may
be sent, has grown rapidly in Ontario in recent
emerging provincial policy seems to contemplate
restrictions. While we have not fully examined
years and the
further
this policy, our
preliminary analysis leaves us sceptical that it is necessary to
achieve the goals of the waste management system.
It raises the
prospect of forcing waste generators to deal with monopolist
landfill operators, with the potential for waste and excess
profits reaped by owners, whether public or private sector. At
this time, we see risks in the expansion of flow control and
little evidence that it would have socially beneficial effects.
Empirical studies strongly support the hypothesis that the private sector is
generally more efficient than the public sector. The vast majority of studies
conclude that there are efficiency advantages to private sector provision of
most of these services. We found no study that demonstrated any significant
efficiency advantage to public sector service provision.
We find that the private sector provides more efficient and economical
performance in most areas of waste management, and that the quality of its
performance is similar to that of the public sector.
Studies of residential mixed waste collection conclusively demonstrate that
private sector provision is more efficient - often substantially more efficient -
than public sector provision. A portion of the cost saving arises from lower
wages paid to workers in the private sector, but wage rates account for less
than half, often only one quatier, of the savings.
We find that for general waste collection, public operators experience costs as
much as 75 percent greater than private sector operators. Public sector wages
are 19 percent higher than private sector wages, public sector benefits average
42 percent of the base wage compared to 25 percent for the private sector, and
Ionger paid holidays and much greater absenteeism add another 7 percent
The productivity of the private sector operators is generally greater than that of the
public sector: more waste is collected per worker-hour or per truck-hour or both in the
private sector.
For residential general waste collection, the total cost per tonne is $27.00 for private
operators; for public operators, it is $50.00 (a difference of over 75 percent!)
For residential recyclable collection, the total cost per tonne is $77.00 for private
operators; it is $129.00 for public operators (a difference of over 65 percent!)
times greater than the cost per tonne of collecting general residential waste.
Taxpayers are paying a substantial premium for the collection activity in the
governments recycling programs.
We see no justification for the public sector to begin to provide IC&l collection
service, particularly given the compelling evidence that it experiences much higher
costs than does the private sector.
We doubt that the high degree of planned intervention by the Ontario government in
MRFs can be justified.
Where the public sector owns the landfill site, serious consideration should be given
to private operation of the site through management contracts.
We are sceptical that flow control is necessary to achieve the goals of the waste
management system. We see risks in the expansion of flow control and little
evidence that it would have socially beneficial effects.
The policies being developed in Ontario today are highly centralized, with an
excessively large role given to the public sector, raising the prospect of excessive
costs in the future.
The public sector should confine itself to setting the objectives of the system and
supervising the private sector in delivering the service.
Municipalities can probably achieve significant economies by relying on private
collection.
and finally,
APRIL 1993
Organizational
Structure
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Nancy Porteous-Koehle (WMI) - President
John Sanderson (Sanderson & Sons) - Vice-President
Izzie Abrams (Dual Removal) - Secretary-Treasurer
Don Coates (Muskoka Containerized Services)
Bruce Cook (Laidlaw)
Martin Irish (BFI)
Carl Lorusso (Wasteco)
Tony Pingue (Philip)
Earl Turcott (Miller)
STEERING COMMITTEE
Joey Abrams (Dual Removal)
Alistair Commins (Toromont Cat) - Chair, Associate Services Committee
Jo-Anne Derrick (KCI) - Chair, 3/Rs Committee
Duane Fast (Fastco) - Chair, Membership Committee
Don Hemmerle (Big Bear)
Peter Mangialardi (Courtesy)
Dave Matchett (Redland Quarries) - Chair, Landfill Committee
Al Metauro (Metro Waste Paper) - Chair, Material Processors Committee
Bob Merritt (Philip)
Paul Murray (Gartner Lee) - Chair, Pub/ic Po/icy Committee
Mike Pullen (Laidlaw) - Chair, Government A1fairs Committee
Bob Redhead (Laidlaw)
lain Wates (Muskoka Containerized Services) - Chair, Safety Committee
Paul Walker (Laidlaw)
Bob Webb (WMI)
and The Board of Directors
STAFF
Terry E. Taylor, Executive Director
Nancy Crawford, General Manager
Lorna Martin, Administrative Assistant
CATEGORIES OF MEMBERSHIP
Active - waste haulers, recyclers, service providers
Associate - equipment dealers & manufacturers, lawyers, consultants
Affiliate - bureaucrats, academics, municipalities, etc.
EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES PROVIDED
HOUSEHOLDS
SERVICED
EQUIPMENT OWNED
WASTE VOLUMES
Collected
Diverted
Exported
. over 7100 people
. 90% full time
B over 1/3 are unionized (26% of those are CUPE
members)
. annual payroll is $247 million (average yearly
income is $34,788, 10% more than the Ontario
average wage)
Residential and IC&I collection; recycling; transfer
stations; landfills; incineration: sludge transport; bio-
medical waste, special and hazardous waste services;
waste audits; waste minimization counseling
Solid waste collection -
2.2 million of Ontarios 3.6
million
Blue Box collection - 1.1 million of Ontarios 2.9
million
over 4400 trucks and other pieces of equipment
6.9 million tonnes
Residential -2.6 million tonnes
IC&I/C&D -4.3 million tonnes
Residential -295,000 tonnes
IC&I -1.237 million tonnes
1.3 million tonnes
GROSS REVENUES $1.3 billion
Collection
$669.5 million
Disposal $630.5 million
Recyclable sales
$70.2 million
Other $19.5 million
ANNUAL $390.6 million
EXPENDITURES
Capital $97.6 million
Tipping Fees
$293 million
to Ontario public landfills
$150 million (est.)
to Ontario private landfills
$70 million (est.)
to U.S. landfiills $73 million (est.)
TAXES $56.3 million
Personal/ $32.5 million
corporate tax
Health tax $4.6 million
WCB premiums
$12.9 million
Fuel tax
$2.8 million
Municipal taxes $9.7 million
Other $3.8 million
The figures cited herein come from a survey of OWMA members that was
analyzed and reported by KPMG Management Consulting Toronto, Ontario,
S urvey figures document activity in 1992 and were complied in 1993.
T H E C OR P OR AT I ON OF T H E T OWN OF OR ANGE VI LLE
MUNICIPAL BUILDING
B7 BROADWAY
ORANGEVILLE, ONTARIO
L9W 1 K1
Telephone (519) 941-0439
Brampton Line (905) 846-0510
Fax (519) 941-9033
Faxed: Sept. 29/95
September 29, 1995
20th Floor -2001,
TORONTO, Ontario.
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
In accordance with a resolution of council enacted on September 25, 1995, please find
enclosed copies of reports with respect to the Towns Growth Management Study, and a
submission to the GTA Task Force.
Although Orangevlle is not part of the defined GTA, its close proximity makes it
fictionally part of the area, and it is greatly affected by developments therein. Therefore,
we would appreciate your consideration of the reports.
Mr. Alan Young, Director of Planning will be pleased to discuss any questions you may have
regarding this matter.
Yours truly,
Armstrong, AMCT
AAcj
c .C. Mr. A. Young, Director of Planning
TO: Mayor Rose and Members of Council
FROM: Alan Young, R.P.P.
Director of Planning
DATE: September 19, 1995
RE: SUBMISSION TO THE GTA TASK FORCE
1. Purpose
The purpose of this report is to recommend that the Town of Orangeville make
a formal submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force. Although the Town
is located outside the GTA, as defined by the Province, it is appropriate to draw
the Commissions attention to the boundary adjustments required along the north
limit of Peel Region.
2. The Greater Toronto Area Task Force Mandate
The GTA Task Force was established by the provincial government in February
1995 with the mandate to define a system and style of governance, appropriate
to the Toronto of the next century, that promotes economic health and
competitiveness, community well-being and a high quality urban environment.
The Task Force will report on:
the appropriate geographic scale, hierarchy and responsibilities of
municipal government;
the appropriate functional responsibilities of the municipal and provincial
levels; and
the appropriate operating principles for effective, efficient and accountable
urban government.
The new provincial government confirmed the mandate of the GTA Task Force,
but advanced its reporting schedule. Municipalities and other stakeholders within
the Greater Toronto Area have been asked to submit comments by September
30, which will allow the Task Force to report to Cabinet by November 11.
2
3. Definition of Greater Toronto Area
The Terms of Reference for the Task Force do not define what is meant by
Greater Toronto Area. However, the Task Force has interpreted the boundaries
of its study area to coincide with the area within the jurisdiction of the Office of the
Greater Toronto Area, i.e. Metro and the Regions of York, Peel, Halton and
Durham. For this reason, the Task Force has not identified the Town of
Orangeville as a stakeholder, and has not asked the Town specifically to make
submissions. However, it is appropriate for Council to draw the attention of the
Task Force to the Towns plight in regard to municipal boundaries.
4. Orangeville - Part of the GTA?
Although Orangeville is not part of the defined GTA, there can be little doubt that
Orangeville is functionally part of the GTA. A large part of the residential growth
of the Town over the past quarter century has stemmed from the proximity of the
Town to employment opportunities within the defined GTA. The opening of
Highways 403 and 410, and improvements to Highway 10 have greatly enhanced
the Towns accessibility, and, in the future, it would be logical for these highway
links to be augmented by GO Transit links.
In many ways, Orangevilles role in relation to the GTA is similar to that of a
planned new town: Orangeville provides housing and employment opportunities
in an attractive and vibrant, small-town setting to those who, for one reason or
another need to be close to the defined GTA, but who dont require to be within
the defined GTA.
Orangeville continues to enjoy a distinct character and identity, founded on its
nineteenth century heritage, and buffered from the metropolis by rural Caledon.
The pattern of local government is also distinct. Compared with the area
municipalities to the south, the Town of Orangeville administers a wide range of
services: it does all its own planning, it is the only Town in Ontario with delegated
subdivision approval powers, and it provides a multiplicity of services including
police and fire protection, a water pollution control plant, a groundwater supply
system, building permits, day care, and a bus service.
Given its distinct situation and character, the Town of Orangeville should not be
included in any GTA super-regional form of government. However, its position
relative to the GTA should not be overlooked in any solutions that may be
recommended.
4. Discussion
Orangeville is not part of the defined GTA, and the structure of government in
Dufferin County is not within the mandate of the GTA Task Force. The long-term
health of Orangeville is however linked to the health of the GTA region as a
whole.
3
The current boundaries of Orangeville restrict our ability to plan for the future.
Since we do not have a long-term supply of land for housing or employment
opportunities, we are hampered in our efforts to provide for the orderly growth
economic well-being of the municipality.
We have launched a Growth Management Study that is intended to provide a
rational, planning basis for the eventual expansion of the Towns boundaries, and
we are making every effort to reach agreement with adjoining municipalities on
the extent of the Towns annexation. However, the Town of Caledon has to date
declined to participate in these discussions, and has amended its official plan to
remove the policies that provide for co-operation along the Orangeville boundary.
Similarly, the draft Peel Region official plan takes no recognition of Orangevilles
growth and infrastructural interests in the adjoining area of Caledon.
The GTA Task Force will be making recommendations affecting the future of Peel
Region and the Town of Caledon. It would be appropriate to ask the Task Force,
in its consideration of local government structure, not to overlook pressing needs
for boundary adjustments at the edge of the defined GTA.
5. Recommendation
L
THAT the report of Alan Young, R.P.P., Director of Planning, dated
September 19, 1995, with respect to a submission to the GTA Task Force,
be received;
AND THAT the report of Mr. Young, Director of Planning, together with the
report on the Growth Management Study, be forwarded to the GTA Task
Force as the Towns submission;
AND THAT the GTA Task Force be asked to frame its recommendations in
a way that encourages boundary adjustments on the edge of the defined
GTA where desirable in the interests of promoting orderly growth and
economic well-being;
AND THAT the GTA Task Force recommend to the Province that it take a
leadership role in making boundary adjustments happen where the local
municipalities are unable to reach agreement amongst themselves.
Alan Young, R.P.P.
TO:
THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF ORANGEVILLE
Circulated to members
of Council/Committee
Chairman Drew Brown and Members
Community Planning and Development Committee
FROM: Alan Young, R.P.P.
DATE: August 8, 1995
SUBJECT: THE FUTURE OF ORANGEVILLE - GROWTH
STUDY
MANAGEMENT
The purpose of this report is to describe in general terms the concept and purpose
of a Growth Management Study, and to recommend that a consulting firm be
approached to prepare a Terms of Reference and study proposal.
In recent years, the Town of Orangeville has experienced considerable growth, and,
judging from general GTA trends and the development industrys continuing interest
in the municipality, considerable additional growth can be expected for the
foreseeable future. The Hemson study (1994) estimated, on the basis of current
trends, that the population of greater Orangeville could grow from 20,000 to 49,000
by the year 2021. Hemson concluded that the land area required for this amount
of growth would exceed 1,600 hectares, of which 70% would have to be found
outside the Towns boundaries.
The Towns existing boundaries also chafe for infrastructural reasons. For many
years, the Town has contemplated the construction of the South Arterial Road, a
major segment of which passes through the Town of Caledon. The construction of
this road will help take through truck traffic off Broadway and will greatly enhance
the accessibility of Towns Business Park from Highway 10. It would also provide
a logical setting for a new business park in a better location than the industrial lands
presently designated in the northwest corner of the municipality.
The foregoing considerations are well known to Council. Annexation discussions
are already underway with the adjoining townships, and the Town of Caledon has
been invited to participate.
2
During the course of those discussions, it has become apparent that a more
detailed technical assessment of the Towns future requirements is required, in
order to develop a rationale for a comprehensive annexation to serve the Towns
needs for the next thirty years.
A Growth Management Study would provide
direction for the structuring and servicing of future growth, and lay the foundation
for meeting housing demand, maintaining housing affordability, and realizing the
potential for business park uses connected to Highway 10 by the South Arterial
Road.
Once an annexation is agreed upon, the Town would be able to use the results of
the Growth Management Study for the preparation of official plan policies for the
annexed areas. The Growth Management study would provide the kind of
comprehensive approach to settlement planning that the Province will require in its
review of the Towns official plan amendments.
A Growth Management Study should:
forecast how much additional population and employment growth can be

expected over the next twenty to thirty years,
formulate targets or assumptions regarding housing and employment
densities, and calculate how much land would be required to accommodate
the expected growth,
assess how much of the expected growth can be accommodated within
existing Town boundaries, and how much will have to be accommodated
beyond the existing boundaries,
identify what lands, within the study area, are likely not to be available for
development for environmental reasons,
investigate the servicing suitability of potential development areas located
outside the Town, having regard for physical and environmental constraints,
identify viable options as to how growth can be served by new or expanded
water supply and sewage treatment facilities, and a tentative strategy for
their implementation,
formulate planning policies for the structuring of growth, e.g. greenway
corridors, street networks, communities, nodes, transit-supportive
development patterns, relationship to the Towns existing structure, logical
extensions of the existing built-up areas,
3
.
address Provincial expectations as expressed in the Comprehensive Policy
Statements and Implementation Guidelines, and
B
identify and evaluate alternative scenarios for the accommodation of future
growth
The Growth Management Study is a significant undertaking that will depend
ultimately on a major program of public participation for its success. The study
process should provide opportunities for the Towns citizens to learn about growth
management options, and to express their preferences on the future of the Town.
Early in the process, it will be desirable to establish a Steering Committee with
representation from Council, Town staff, Credit Valley Conservation, surrounding
municipalities, provincial staff and the local community (e.g. Orangeville Home
Builders Association, Association of Manufacturers of Orangeville).
The scope of the Growth Management Study is such that a consulting team will
have to be retained by the Town. In view of the work that has already been done
by Hemson in relation to population forecasting and resulting land requirement
calculations, we feel that some economies can be achieved by extending this firms
retainer. We would like to ask Hemson to review the background materials already
available (such as the Subwatershed 19 work), prepare a detailed Terms of
Reference, and submit proposal which will include a study program. It is expected
that Hemson would assemble a multi-disciplinary consulting team for the purpose
of making the proposal.
If Hemson is not available for the project, another consultant will be identified and
approached. To ensure the production of a completely independent study, the
Town should ask the consultant to agree not to continue or not to accept any
retainers affecting lands within the study area during the course of the study and for
a period of three years following the completion of the contract.
Also, staff would indicate to the consultants that their ultimate retainer, beyond the
preparation of detailed Terms of Reference, would be in the discretion of Council,
and that if Council is not satisfied with the proposal, a proposal call may be held.
It would be staffs aim to bring back the Terms of Reference and study proposal,
together with staff recommendations, to a meeting of Council in October.
Recommendation
It is therefore recommended,
THAT the report of Alan Young, R. P. P., Director of Planning, dated August 8,
1995,
be RECEIVED,
THAT the concept and purpose of a Growth Management Study, as outlined
in this report, be adopted,
THAT staff be directed to approach consultants with a view to preparing a
detailed Terms of Reference and submitting a proposal.
Alan Young R.P.P.
Department of
Janice M. Baker, C.A.
Corporate Services
Commissioner
By Facsimile and Courier
File A-21OO
A-211O
September 27, 1995
20th floor - 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: Submission on the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
On September 26. 1995. the Council of the City of Oshawa held a special
public meeting to receive input from the citizens and various organizations
of the City respecting the GTA Task Force. After receiving public input,
City Counci1 considered the mandate of the GTA Task Force and subsequently by
a series of resolutions adopted the following recommendations to the GTA Task
Force respecting municipal government reform in the Greater Toronto Area:
1. GTA LEVEL STRUCTURE
That the creation of a GTA level structure not be supported, including
creation of either a GTA level of government or coordinating body, and
that no action be taken to include Oshawa in a GTA, and further, the
City of Oshawa believes that the direct responsibility for policy
development must remain with directly elected representatives.
2. REGIONAL LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT (METRO AND THE 905 REGIONS}
That the Regional/Metro level of government (Metro and the 905
Regions) be dissolved entirely and the City urge the transfer of the
responsibilities of the Regional Municipality of Durham to the City of
Oshawa in order to create a single tier local level municipal
government.
B 2
- 2-
THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA
3. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY FROM PROVINCE TO EMPOWER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
That respecting delegation of authority from the province to local
municipalities and empowerment of local government through amendments
to the Municipal Act, the City of Oshawa endorses an immediate review
of the municipal-provincial partnership to ensure greater emphasis on
service provision, efficiency and financing, and further, that this
review include:
(a) establishing a clear delineation between the role of the
municipality and that of the province;
(b) providing permissive legislation to allow municipalities to
operate within clear and understandable limitations;
(c) elimination of jointly funded or administered programs;
(d) al lowing municipalities the right to develop new sources of
revenue or negotiate for a share of provincial tax revenues;
(e) elimination of grant-in-lieu policies and provincial acceptance
of its responsibilities as a municipal taxpayer; and,
(f) the province committing to undertake those roles that are not
reasonably the role of local government.
4. AMALGAMATION OF LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES
That the amalgamation of local municipalities with the endorsement of
the public through referenda is supported.
5. AMALGAMATION AFFECTING OSHAWA
That with respect to amalgamation affecting Oshawa, the City of Oshawa
believes that it is in the best interests of the residents of Oshawa.
Whitby and Courtice that
municipality.
6. POOLING OF TAX REVENUE
That there be no pooling
these communities eventually unite in a common
of tax revenue between municipalities.
7. PROPERTY TAX REFORM - EDUCATION FUNDING
That education should no longer be funded by property taxes.
8. PROPERTY TAX REFORM - SOCIAL SERVICES FUNDING
That general welfare assistance and other social services no longer be
funded by property taxes.
.0. 3
-3-
THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF OSHAWA
9.
10.
11.
12.
The
ASSESSMENT REFORM
City Council does not wish to make a recommendation to the GTA Task
Force with respect to assessment reform.
LOCAL SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES
That the integration of local special purpose bodies into direct local
municipal management and administration be supported, in principle.
NON-LOCAL SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES (CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES AND THE
ONTARIO MUNICIPAL BOARD)
That there be no change in the status quo of non-local special
purpose bodies and that:
(a) existing conservation authorities be retained as they now exist;
and,
(b) the Ontario Municipal Board be retained as it now operates.
DISTRIBUTION
That the position of the City of Oshawa respecting municipal reform in
the GTA be forwarded to Dr. Anne Golden, Chair of the GTA Task Force,
the Honorable Mike Harris, Premier of Ontario, The Honorable Al
Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, all Durham MPPs and
all municipal governments in the GTA.
foregoing position of the Council of the City of Oshawa is respectfully
submitted for consideration by the GTA Task Force.
OSHAWA & DISTRICT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Submission to
Chair: Dr. Anne Golden
Submitted: 12 Sept. 1995
KEY POINTS
- Elimination of Ontario Municipal Board
- Substantive Review of Regional Government
- Professionally Qualified Management
We would like to take this opportunity to express the impartial opinion of the Oshawa and
District Chamber of Commerce on the mandate provided to you and your Task Force
members. Your mandate is a most important one and one on which the Oshawa and District
Chamber feels its business community should take a position.
First and foremost we would state that there is too much government in the Province of
Ontario. There are too many politicians, too many bureaucrats, too many special purpose
bodies, too much regulation, and more importantly, too much taxation to pay for all of this
over-government. Having said this, we would like to note the most positive situation existing
today is that there is now a Provincial Government with the determination and political fortitude
to make the necessary changes. The purpose of this submission is to provide a business
perspective in order that these views can be taken into account and, hopefully, included in the
recommendations which, we understand, you are to make to the Government in September.
ELIMINATION OF ONTARIO MUNICIPAL BOARD
From our perspective and understanding, Ontario appears to be unique in Canada having two
fully-fledged levels of municipal government, a provincial government bureaucracy which has
retained extensive involvement within a wide spectrum of municipal decision making, and, a
non-elected Ontario Municipal Board (OMB), also with major powers of decision-making
affecting municipalities. The result of all of this is that the Ontario development approval
process is complex, protracted, combative, lacks political accountability, is expensive for
developers, municipalities and the taxpayers who pay for all of this duplication and contributes
to high realty costs negative to economic development. In short it has lost touch with reality
and is making our Province non-competitive. With the economy flat there is an urgent need
for more accountable, less expensive, more efficient and quicker development approvals.
2
With the need, and opportunity, for fundamental change now at hand the question must be
asked as to whether Ontario needs to retain its past heavy reliance on a special purpose body
- the Ontario Municipal Board as the preferred alternative to having the duly elected local
politicians made responsible for local planning decisions. Some provinces have, successfully,
empowered their municipalities to make final planning decisions and thereby have more
accountable, more timely, less complex, and ultimately less expensive overall planning for all
taxpayers in the Province. If municipalities can be successfully empowered to make final local
planning decisions in other provinces, and thereby avoid this most significant duplication of
purpose, then why not in Ontario? Why should the judgement of political appointees be
considered more appropriate in deciding local planning matters than the judgement of the duly
elected politicians from within the municipality?
We were heartened to hear the following from the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing,
Mr. Al Leach: Again, were committed to local decision-making. Local municipalities should
have more control over local planning and development, and be able to approve development
and growth in their own communities. One of the major ways for the Minister to achieve his
program would be to review the need for an OMB.
SUBSTANTIVE REVIEW OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
The situation of two levels of municipal government exists not only in the Greater Toronto
Area (GTA) but in other areas of the Province and all this is paid for by taxation. History
shows that the imposition of the regional system of municipal government on top of the
previously existing local system has never been accepted. Indeed, challenges to this imposed
3
system have been constant since the very establishment of regions across Ontario, these
challenges are as recent as the City of Torontos challenge of Metro Government. If other
Provinces appear able to operate successfully without Regional governments, then why not
Ontario?
In Durham, we feel confident in stating that the loyalty of the politicians who serve both
municipal levels of government remains, firmly, with their local level. The reality is that the
regional level of municipal government has never been accepted fully in all of the regions
since this system was established. This protracted non-acceptance remains for many (all?) of
the regional systems and surely must, of itself, reflect the need for fundamental change to, or
removal of, the regional level of municipal government.
However, it is not this continuing rejection of the regional level of municipal government which
is now the driving force for fundamental change but rather, the fact that the fractured system
of separate regional governments in the GTA cannot meet the real needs of the GTA now, nor
in the future. Additionally, and equally as important, is the fact that we can no longer afford
the taxation to pay for two levels of municipal government, either inside or outside the GTA.
New needs have developed within the GTA which the existing fractured regional system
cannot address. A new approach is essential if the business community and taxpayers are to
have relief from the unnecessary, and extremely costly regional governments system within
the GTA. Also, regional governments cause an unnecessary complexity in the overall system
4
of government and result in government being less accessible for its customers - the
ordinary taxpayers and the business community!
From the more local perspective of the Oshawa and District Chambers experience there are
two (local) municipalities which are included within our jurisdiction; these are the City of
Oshawa and the Municipality of Clarington. Both have duly elected Municipal Councils, and
Mayors, both have City Administrators, both have professional staff, both have exhibited a
strong mandate for proactive customer service provision, both provide efficient services to the
business community and work co-operatively with the Chamber, its members and the wider
business community. Both are at a scale in terms of size that enables this direct involvement
with the business community (and local citizens) essential to the understanding of the interests
of citizens as individuals, and, the business community. It is the taxpayers and the businesses
which ultimately, are paying for the services being provided and their ability to work co-
operatively with government is essential for the best interests of both. The long standing and
now irreversible lack of political acceptance and commitment to the regional level, together
with the sheer size of regional councils and their administrations (32 councillors in Durham and
an annual operating budget of $385 million), makes dealing effectively with the regions
unacceptably difficult.
Customer service has been, and remains, the focus for massive and necessary change
within the private sector in terms of efficiency gained through making people fully accountable.
It is essential that this customer service philosophy be introduced into, and maintained on
5
an ongoing basis by government, so that similar changes in cost efficiency, productivity and
quality service provision can occur. History clearly shows that big government is not
conducive to optimum efficiency, ease of access to political/staff representation and effecting
full accountability. Potential investment is discouraged because of the layers of red tape
associated with big government. The driving force for essential future change and cost
efficiency in government will result from recognition of the need to enable the customer to
communicate effectively with government and to be able to work co-operatively to ensure that
the services that are being provided stay relevant to their needs, and, are within their means to
pay. The larger and more complex the system of government, the less able the customer is to
directly impact the system and effect change to it. Big government, by virtue of its size, has a
built-in inertia and, as the current situation reflects, is well positioned to resist the pressure for
change in the way of doing things i.e., operating governments! From the business perspective
the most significant force for economic growth for the past number of years has not been from
big business but rather it has been from small business. There is a strong lesson here for
the design of the structure of government in the future. The existing system of local
municipalities, within the GTA (operating within an overall official plan or established urban
growth strategy for the total urban GTA) if empowered to make many of the decisions now
requiring the approval of the regional governments, the provincial government, and, in some
cases, special purpose bodies could provide much more cost effective, service oriented,
expeditious and customer responsive services to their taxpayers (especially the business
community). Such a rationalization of the approval responsibilities from the Province, and,
without the current restrictions of regional approvals, would lessen government, and
government costs, across the entire urban GTA. The amount and cost of government could
6
quickly and substantially be reduced.
The beneficiary would be the hard-pressed taxpayers
including businesses now having more disposable income to spend to activate the economy.
From the small business perspective, the priority now is reducing government and its costs.
This will enable reductions in taxation. On the less significant matter of the ideal size of local
municipalities within the GTA, it should not be necessary to immediately redraw all of the
local political boundaries. The GTA, and indeed Ontario, has a mix of size of local
municipalities providing both variety and choice within communities for residents. Any action
taken to adjust local municipal boundaries should be taken on the basis of being able to
produce significant cost reductions which can then be used to reduce taxes. What is much
more important to effect now is the need to reduce the reality, and, the perception, of too
much government in Ontario and the GTA. A much more simple and understandable form of
government with local scale,accessible municipalities, all working within an agreed official
plan/urban development strategy for the urban areas within the GTA, without the fractured
regional governments system would be a very major step in the right direction.
PROFESSIONALLY QUALIFIED MANAGEMENT
From a business perspective, it is almost beyond comprehension that in 1995 some of the
largest municipal governments in Canada, located within the GTA, have yet to recognize the
critical need for government to be professionally managed. By not having a Chief
Administrative Officer/City Manager who is responsible and held accountable for the effective
and cost efficient management of the total municipal corporation, on a permanent basis, the
effective management of these major (municipal) corporations, is seriously limited. The days
7
when the overall management of major, government enterprises can be left to the varying
abilities of temporary politicians, many with a three year vision of the future and many without
experience of either business or government management at the senior level, should be gone.
For the benefit of taxpayers, the Province must make mandatory the hiring of full-time
professional management to ensure efficient financial management and the provision of
customer service, at a level the taxpayers are entitled to. The effective management of
corporations with operating budgets of the magnitude of hundreds of millions of dollars and
several thousands of employees, as exist within the GTA, is a major and ongoing senior level
managerial responsibility, not a political responsibility. The political responsibility within
municipal government is and will remain most important but it is not their professional
management. When the Ontario Municipal Act is updated then there should be a requirement
that all cities (certainly all those over 50,000 population) must have a professionally aqualified
Chief Administrative Officer/City Manger.
These comments are most strongly held by the Oshawa and District Chamber of Commerce
as we, successfully, lobbied the City of Oshawa to hire a professional City Manager in 1993.
To their credit Oshawa Council listened to their business community. The Municipality of
Clarington has long recognized the need for a CAO/City Manager.
By way of conclusion, the more simple, accessible, accountable, professional and local the
system of government can be made the greater the ability is for the forces advocating
continuing progress and renewal. These forces for change are the ordinary taxpayers and
business community within municipalities who pay for the services, and all of the costs of
8
government! The business community which creates jobs and economic opportunity must
have an easier, more focused, less expensive, and much more responsive system of
government if it is to do its jobs in effecting economic development and growth successfully.
And make no mistake about this key point, business, not government, creates economic
development. The business community needs to have professionally managed government it
can work co-operatively with on an ongoing basis. Complex layers of government, numerous
special purpose bodies, bureaucracy, big government units, and a lack of permanent
professional management will inhibit our ability to play a vital role in keeping government
progressive and receptive to change and in creating economic activity through business
growth. The pressure to respond to the need for change, on a timely basis, is what now
keeps, and will continue to keep, both business and government competitive and cost
effective. We need to create a simple, politically accountable, local government system
responsive to change from the community it serves. Any dilution of this objective will lessen
the influence the taxpayers, whom we all in the final analysis depend upon for our living, can
have.
On the matter of non-elected special purpose bodies, (Ontario Municipal Board, Conservation
Authorities, Library Boards, Transit Commissions, Public Utilities, etc., etc., etc.) the same
need for political/staff accountability, and professional management exists as for all
government services. As far as possible, the responsibilities now exercised by such bodies
should become included within the local municipal government system, hopefully to be
established in the future.
9
We hope these comments can be taken into account in your recommendations to the new
Provincial Government as we feel our collective future depends on the acceptance of the fact
that business, and government, both, must play a critical role in the creation of a system of
professionally managed local government. We strongly believe that one of the major success
factors for a revival of business activity and confidence in the future of the GTA will be to make
the very significant, but necessary, changes to the structure of government in the GTA, and
possibly all of Ontario. Lets reduce government, lets reduce taxes and lets let the private
sector get on with the creation of jobs and wealth.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide the comments of the business community.
September 28, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
20th Floor-2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Subject: Submission to Task Force
On behalf of the Council of the Regional Municipality of Peel, I am pleased to enclose for your
Task Forces consideration, the following:
0
0
The enclosed
the document Leading by Example - the Greater Toronto Area
Mayors and Regional Chairs Action Plan, which Regional Council
approved in principle by resolution number 95-492
certified true copy, under corporate seal, of resolution number
95-492 passed by Regional Council on September 14, 1995
document which Council approved, reflects discussions held by Peel Council on
June 8 and July 13 of this year. Our Chief Administrative Officer. M. R.-Garrett, made an
in depth presentation to Council on the Leading by Example paper prior to Councils
decision.
We trust this document will be of assistance to your Task Force during formulation of your
forces recommendations on the future governance of the GTA and related issues. As you are
no doubt aware this paper was developed by individuals having expertise and knowledge in the
field.
Should you have any questions with respect to Peels position, please do not hesitate to give
our Regional Chair, Emil V. Kolb a call at 705-791-7800 extension 4310.
Regional Clerk
Cc. E. V. Kolb
Regional Chair
Attachment
Clerks 10 Peel Centre Dri ve, Brampton, Ontari o L6T 4B9 (905) 791-9400
Regi on of Peel
RESOLUTION 95-492
PASSED BY REGIONAL COUNCIL
SEPTEMBER 14, 1995
That the Region of Peel approve in principle the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) Mayors and
Regional Chairs Action Plan, dated September 11, 1995, titled Leading by Example.
! - - I
Amended Draft
MAYORS AND
REGIONAL CHAIRS ACTION PLAN
Leading By Example
September 11,1995
Consensus Plan
GTA Regions and Municipalities will work with the Province to
implement an inter-related reform program consisting 0$*
B Assessment/ property tax reform
B Provincial/ Municipal Financing S WAP
B Permissive Municipal Act
B A review of services, representation and boundaries
B Reform of S pecial Purpose Bodies
B GTA Coordinating Forum (Mayors, Chairs, GTA Cabinet
Committee)
B S ignificant Education Reform
Sept. 11
GTA
B Prov i n ce
Assessment/Property Tax Reform
to implement a fair and equitable assessment system
. achieves tax fairness within and between classes
B
attains the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential assessment mix
across each Region
B utilizes variable mill rates to control/phase tax burden shifts between property
B S hift assessment function from Province to the Regions
records
Sept. 11 2
Financing Swap
B S upport main elements of financing S WAP as suggested
B Add to S WAP: Municipal assumption of financial
of physicalplant
Sept. 11 {3 1
I
SWAP Specifics
Revenue Neutral
Sewer & water Homes for Aged
grants
Health Inspection
Property Assessment
. ,, . . . ... ,,, . . . . . . . . . . . . ,.
Education capital and
. . ... . . .- . .
Education operating costs as balancer
-
physical plant maintenance
,., ., . ,. . . ~..,,
Sept. 11
, I
B District Health Councils report to 905
Board of Health
B Childrens Aid Society (CAS)
B
B Ontario Housing Corporation
B
non-profits
. Police Service Boards - majority
. Conservation Authorities are already
consolidated
Depts.
I 1
Sept. 11
Education Option
B Eliminate school boards and replace with:
. create charter schools with parent councils to run publicly
funded schools
B 905 Regions or cities within Metro assume full responsibility for all
B Province (not Boards) responsible for curriculum
B Province funds a portion of teaching operations, possibly through a
. Province set the terms for Provincial bargaining with teachers
Sept. 11
-
Municipal Services/
B commit to rationalize and stream line programs/ services
B review representation and size of Councils
B Province to set timeline and establish broad guidelines
B recommendations from municipalities in time for
1997 election
B Provincial commitment to implement municipally achieved
solutions
Sept. 11
B Improved Municipal Act
. With permissive authority (like Alberta modeel
B Full and ongoing consultation with AMO and
B Review appropriate Provincial ministry functions
Sept. 11
. Create GTA Forum of Mayors and Chairs to address
cross -boundary planning/ coordination issues on regular basis
(eg. economic development, waste management, sewer/ water and
transit
B Province creates GTA Cabinet Committee
B involving key Provincial Ministries to deal with GTA issues in a coordinated,
on-going fashion
consensus
Sept. 11
Savings In The Plan
ED UCATION administration and board costs significantly reduced
GTA FORUM will facilitatepartnerships/collaboration, producingfurther savings
GREATER MUNICIPAL CONTROL over service levels, resulting in significant
savings
B reduced Provincial regulation/policies
MUNICIPAL REVIEWS of service/representation/boundaries to generate further
savings
DOWNSIZING ROVINCIAL MINISTRIES which have inhibited efficient
Sept. 11
CONCRETELY ADDRESSES THE REAL PROBLEMS FACING THE GTA
responsibilities
Demonstrates a willingness addability to further improve municipal
change
Ensures future economic vitality and quality of lije across the GTA
Sept. 11
Office of the Chair
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor
Toronto, Ont.
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Further to my letter of May 16 and the two 905 discussion papers that have been submitted
to you from the four Regional Chairs of Halton, Peel, York and Durham, I would like to
provide the following comments to you regarding my vision of the future as it relates to
the GTA.
I would like to begin by suggesting that the approach to local government reform we have
used to date is not addressing the need for continuous improvement in either our local
government functions nor in provincial/municipal relations. Local government should be
able to evolve over time, making incremental changes in any and all areas, on an ongoing
basis.
Your task force was given a monumental task. The lack of attention to the financing and
program/service delivery mechanisms between the province and municipalities has produced
a crisis situation. Most certainly one of the recommendations made to the province must
be to develop an effective mechanism to ensure the ongoing care and feeding of the system
of local government, in the GTA. Reviews without action are unacceptable and I believe
the idea of a major review once every 10 years or so is no longer sufficient to respond to
these changing times and the new economy.
My vision includes addressing issues of function before form, in the reform of the GTA.
In order to address issues of function or form, it is necessary to have a standardized method
of information gathering and measuring of efficiencies and service delivery methods. Each
municipality in the GTA if not across the province, has a different method of gathering and
reporting information. The province is in a position to standardize the kind and types of
information collected, its methods of collection and how it is analyzed. This standard is
necessary so that we can compare financial information and learn from one another. In
these times of the public demanding value for their tax dollars, ratepayers have a right to
information that will indicate the relative efficiency of their municipality, against other
municipalities, on a service by service basis. They also have a right to know the true costs
of municipal and provincial programs and services.
The hard data collected, as suggested above, will provide useful information on economies
,
of scale, appropriate service catchment areas, efficient governance models - which will in
turn help define the shape of future government structures.
The Regional Municipality of peel 10 Peel Centre Dr., Brampton, Ont, L6T4B9 (905) 791-7800 Fax (905) 791-2567
A final point I would like to mention is the importance of quality of life considerations in
any decision on future government structures. We can no longer rely on the downtown core
to support the GTA. To do so will ensure that people no longer have time for family,
community, leisure activities and voluntarism. Whatever system is recommended must
ensure that nodal development and a healthy, and reasonable live/work relationship can
be established for everyone who lives in the GTA. This means we must promote
employment centres outside of the core. Infrastructure, such as roads and transit, must be
in place connecting one node to the other, to support those centres.
Your valued consideration of these key elements, which support my vision, is appreciated.
Yours truly
Emil Kolb
Regional Chair
EVK:bhw:ls
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chairperson
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1FI
Dear Dr. Anne Golden:
Attached please find a statement of position that has been supported by the Peel Board
of Education at its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 26, 1995.
You will notice that recommendations numbers 1-5, 6 i), 6 ii) and 7 correspond
verbatim to a group of recommendations agreed to by the four regional public school
boards in the GTA.
Please be assured that representatives of the Peel Board are prepared to meet with you
to clarify any issues relating to school boards that may arise as you carry out your
mandate.
Sincerely,
Beryl Ford,
Chair
Peel Board of Education
/jm
Attachment
Peel Board of Education REVISED 10.7
Regular Meeting of the Board September 26, 1995
Peel Boards Statement of Position to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Recommendation:
It is recommended:
1. that the attached
be approved,
2. that the attached
report be received and the recommendations in it,
report be forwarded to Anne Golden, Chair,
Greater Toronto Area Task Force, indicating the support of the
Peel Board for the positions taken therein.
3. that the attached report be part of a joint submission from the GTA
Regional Public Boards of Education (Durham, Halton, Peel, York).
S ubmitted by:
Harold Brathwaite
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
a.
education finance since direct responsibility and accountability would
be lost.
GTA.
that Boards of Education continue to maintain responsibility for local school
governance, finance, and facilities.
that prior to any final report on Educational Finance Reform, the Government
of Ontario, through the Ministry of Education and Training define the specific
roles and responsibilities of Boards of Education vis a vis primary providers in
such areas as social services, day care, health care.
that prior to any final report on Educational Finance Reform, the Government
of Ontario consult with school boards to determine appropriate expenditure
levels that reflect an agreed range of services required to meet students
needs.
that the Planning Act be amended to (i) require consultation with school
boards in the planning of land use development and (ii) contain a provision to
require the phasing in of new development in accordance with the availability
of adequate school accommodation, as with other necessary infrastructure.
Development Charges (EDC) bylaw.
that the Government of Ontario assume a higher proportion of financial
responsibility for education , placing less dependence on local property
taxes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
education finance since direct responsibility and accountability would be
lost.
GTA.
that Boards of Education continue to maintain responsibility for local
school governance, finance, and facilities.
Government of Ontario, through the Ministry of Education and Training
define the specific roles and responsibilities of Boards of Education vis a
vis primary providers in such areas as social services, day care, health
care, and transportation.
Government of Ontario consult with school boards to determine
appropriate expenditure levels that reflect an agreed range of services
required to meet students needs.
that the Planning Act be amended to
i) require consultation with school boards in the planning of land use
development ;
ii) contain a provision to require the phasing in of new development in
accordance with the availability of adequate school
accommodation, as with other necessary infrastructure;
iii) Provide school boards with the same rights of approval as
municipalities where development is planned.
Development Charges (EDC) bylaw
that the Government of Ontario assume a higher proportion of financial
responsibility for education and other defined responsibilities, placing less
dependence on local property taxes.
BACKGROUND
In February 1995 the Provincial Government established a Task Force chaired
by Anne Golden (popularly referred to as the Golden Commission or Task Force)
to study issues pertaining to the Greater Toronto Area comprising the regions of
Durham, York, Peel, Halton and Metropolitan Toronto. According to the terms of
reference the objective is to provide direction for the future governance of the
GTA, including the potential restructuring of the responsibilities and practices of
municipal and provincial governments. The Task Force must define a system
and a style of governance, appropriate to the Toronto of the next century, that
promotes economic health and competitiveness, community well-being and a
high quality urban environment. The first concern of the Task Force is that of
developing Confidence in the Central City. (Appendix A)
To date the Task Force has received many reports and submissions, including
submissions from mayors, regional chairpersons and cities in the GTA. The
Task Force will continue to receive submissions to September 30, 1995.
SERVICES, ASSESSMENT & FUNDING ISSUES
In June 1995 the Chairs and Directors of the four regional public school boards
in the GTA met with Anne Golden and conveyed the following concerns:
1. Metropolitan Toronto boards because of their pooled tax base currently have
the capacity to provide levels of services and administration well beyond what
the regional boards can provide for comparable needs;
Il. There is no agreed base level of services, and therefore no ability to
determine appropriate expenditure levels;
Ill. In any arrangement that brought regional and metropolitan funding together,
the regional boards of education could not/would not raise their per pupil
expenditure levels to those of the boards in Metro.
IV. Regional school boards, given that there is no agreed base level of services,
are not prepared to raise taxes in order to allow boards in Metro to maintain
their current levels of expenditures.
V. Metro Toronto must be urged to revise its valuation methodology for
assessment to bring it in line with the rest of the province.
At the June meeting with Anne Golden the Chairs and Directors agreed to
provide some details of comparative expenditures. Subsequently Barbara
Moore, formerly Superintendent of Business and Finance with the Halton Board
and recently retired Superintendent of Business and Finance in the Central
3
Ontario Regional Office of the Ministry of Education and Training, prepared a
draft paper on behalf of the four regional GTA boards (Appendix B).
Barbara Moores draft paper provides useful information in gross terms of the
relative wealth and expenditures of the regional and Metro boards. On page 6
under Financial Information, she states It is extremely difficult to draw
conclusions when comparing the financial operation of school boards unless an
in-depth analysis of their expenditures is performed. This caution is particularly
relevant when, for example, administrative and classroom costs are examined.
The data (based on 1994 MET statistics) are not readily comparable because
different boards group expenditures differently e.g. Human Resources, Academic
Computing are categorized under Instruction in some boards and under
Administration in others. In Peel, both are categorized as Administration. What
is significant in this report however, are the differences in assessment base, mill
rate effort and per pupil operating costs. In the case of per pupil expenditure for
example, the average of the GTA regional boards is $6,804 versus $8,674 for
the Metro Boards.
The draft paper also raises the issue of the potential benefits of the pooling of
industrial/commercial assessment within the GTA. The suggestion that this
could be to the benefit of the GTA regional boards is based on the assumption
that, in a reconfigured GTA arrangement, assessment ratios in Metro (i.e.
industrial/commercial to residential) would remain at their current levels. It is
highly unlikely that in a pooled GTA environment, the assessment rates in Metro
would remain at their present levels. The lowering of industrial/commercial levels
in Metro, coupled with successful appeals could lead to a significant reduction in
assessment, unless it was offset by market valuation on residential property. It is
debateable, therefore, whether the GTA regional boards have anything to gain
from the pooling of assessment. In any event a rational valuation and
assessment methodology in Metro should precede any structural changes to the
GTA.
The quality of education and the knowledge and skills of Ontarios workforce are
seen by government and business as major factors in Ontarios strategic
competitive advantage, as well as in human development planning. The Ontario
Government has recognized that these factors will be even more critical in the
future. The Ontario Ministry of Finances Ontario Economic Outlook. 1994-1998
states With population growing by 1.6 percent a year, the need for public sector
services will continue to expand. The demand for education is increasing even
faster, as students seek to upgrade their qualifications to ensure good jobs in a
more competitive world. Given this prognostication, it is imperative that the
Ontario Government demonstrate its commitment in a tangible fashion, The
Provincial share of funding for school boards went from 61 percent in 1975 to 34
percent in 1993. This is not acceptable, since in spite of the best efforts of this
Board to be financially responsible, growth and reduced provincial grants result
4
annually in local tax increases. If this trend continues it will place an inordinate
burden on the local ratepayer.
GOVERNANCE AND PLANNING ISSUES
municipalities and mayors, senior staff have noted recommendations that either
municipalities take over responsibility for education from boards of education or
that education funding be removed from property tax and become a direct
responsibility of the province. Recommendation 3 allows the Peel Board to
reassert its position on the issue of school board jurisdiction.
It is worth repeating that school boards are among the earliest forms of
democratic local government in this province, preceding the establishment of
regional and municipal boards. There is a long history and tradition of elected
trustees sensitive to the educational needs of young people as well as the
concerns and interests of the local community. The Peel Board does not believe
that the interests and expertise of regional and municipal councils, as well as
their other competing responsibilities, would allow them to offer the quality of
service and accountability that school boards currently provide.
Proposals that the regions take over responsibility for building schools and
capital projects are predicated in most instances on the jurisdiction for education
passing to the municipalities and regions. Not only does the Peel Board reaffirm
its position that school boards retain jurisdiction for facilities, it believes that
many of the issues that relate to the acquisition of school sites and the building
of schools can be addressed in a timely fashion if school boards were legislated
partners in the planning of land use development. Currently school boards
usually only become aware when plans are already well developed. This does
not allow school boards to plan, and imposes a hardship on growing boards to
provide schools at significant cost. This matter was addressed in a report on
School Accommodation and Financing in Peel (September 15, 1994), prepared
for the Honorable Dave Cooke: It is the position of the school boards in Peel
that the Planning Act contain a provision to require the phasing of a new
development in accordance with the availability of adequate school
accommodation, as with other necessary infrastructure. MET supports this,
recommending that schools be recognized in the funding and planning
processes similar to other community infrastructure.
It cannot be too strongly emphasized that planning and zoning decisions,
including those made by the local Committees of Adjustments, that permit
multiple families in one dwelling and basement apartments have a direct impact
on school boards. In the case of the Peel Board, it has resulted in one of the
highest student to household (.49 FTE per household) ratios among public
5
boards in the province, a factor which is not adequately compensated for in
Ministry of Education grant formulae.
The phasing of development, legislated school board participation in land use
development planning, and the funding for new schools via educational
development charges (EDCS) would facilitate the total planning process, provide
revenues to assist the acquisition of school facilities, and eliminate much of the
frustration felt by developers, home buyers and school boards.
The Chairs and Directors of the GTA regional public school boards are united in
the view that school boards are prepared to work cooperatively with
municipalities and developers to achieve rational, fiscally equitable and
responsible development plans.
The Regional Municipality of Peel
TELEPHONE: (905) 458-1340
FACSIMILE: (905) 458-7278
POLICE SERVICES BOARD
10 PEEL CENTRE DR., BRAMPTON, ONTARIO L6T 4B9
September 26th, 1995.
Dr. Anne Golden,
Chair,
20th Floor,
Toronto, Ontario.
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
At its meeting of September 21, 1995, the Regional Municipality of Peel Police Services Board
adopted the following resolution:
That the reports from the Executive Director and the Chief of Police be
adopted and be forwarded to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
I am pleased to enclose a copy of the reports.
Yours very truly,
Frederick Biro,
Executive Director.
C.C. Chief R. F. Lunney
Internal Correspondence
To:
Chair and Members From:
Frederick Biro
Dept:
Police Services Board Dept:
Police Services Board
Date:
August 31, 1995
File Class:
Objective: 1) Respond to the various reports concerning the
reform of municipal governments in the GTA as it
affects police services boards;
2) Respond to suggestions that a GTA police service
be formed, composed of the four 905 regional
police services (Peel, Halton, York, Durham) and
Background Information and Discussion:
At its June 25th meeting, the Board endorsed a motion calling upon
the Executive Director to respond to the Discussion Paper submitted
by the Regional Chairs of Durham, Halton, Peel, York, calling upon
reform of the GTA. One recommendation in the report called upon the
abolishment of police
services boards, to be replaced by a
committee of council. The Board also requested the Ontario
Association of Police Services Boards undertake a comprehensive
report on the role and importance of police services boards in
Ontario.
Subsequent to the meeting, the cities of Mississauga, North York
and Toronto, the Metro Toronto Regional Government, and the GTA
Mayors, among others, released papers detailing their vision of a
reformed GTA.
At the August 25 meeting of the Board,
direction was provided that
the response to the 905 document be expanded to encompass the
other reports submitted to the Golden Commission on the future of
the GTA. An accompanying report from the Chief of Police on the
operational implications of combining the regional police services
into a GTA police force was requested.
It was also determined, dependent upon a degree of consensus being
achieved, that the Board would seek to have the '905' police
services boards, chiefs of police
, senior officers association and
police associations make a joint presentation to the Honorable R.
Runciman, Minister of the Solicitor General and Correctional
Services, and the Honorable A.
Leach, Minister of Municipal
Affairs and Housing.
Recommendation:
That the attached reports from the Executive Director and the Chief
of Police be adopted;
Further, that the report from the Executive Director be submitted
to the police services boards of Halton, York, and Durham, for
their information and possible endorsement;
Further, that the reports be shared with the
Association, and the Peel Regional Police
consensus on a joint position;
PRP Senior Officers
Association, seeking
Further, dependent upon reaching a consensus position, that the
Peel Board undertake to arrange a meeting, in conjunction with the
905' police boards,
the Regional Police Chiefs, and the area
police associations, with the Solicitor General of Ontario and the
Ministry of Municipal Affairs.
Frederick Biro
Executive Director
AN EXAMINATION OF POLICE GOVERNANCE
AND THE DELlVERY OF POLICE SERVICES
IN THE GTA
REPORT TO THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE
ON GTA REFORM
REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY OF PEEL POLICE
SERVICES BOARD
SEPTEMBER, 1995
PREAMBLE
This submission is in response to the reports forwarded to the Golden
Task Force by municipal agencies located within the GTA. Its focus is on
the role of police services boards and the delivery of police services
within the GTA.
It will not address the recommendations of each individual municipal
submission. Nor will the report address the role of any special purpose
body not involved in policing.
INTRODUCTION
The GTA Task Force (known as the Golden Task Force) was established by the
provincial government in February, 1995. Its mandate is to examine and propose
reforms to the operation of local governments within the Greater Toronto Area.
The need for change was recognized by a number of agencies because of a public
perception that the current system is faulty and ineffectual. Problems faced by the
GTA (as identified in the Metropolitan Toronto Report to the Task Force) include:
B
Lack of accountability in municipal decision making;
B
inefficiency, resulting from a lack of a coordinated approach to the planning and
development of infrastructure;
B
lack of fairness in the allocation of resources, and the use of those resources;
B
provincial barriers caused by legislative barriers and over-regulation of
functions;
B
overuse of special purpose bodies
B
unnecessarily high property taxes.
Municipal agencies also acknowledge that the Municipal Act needs a comprehensive
review and amendment, a long standing concern which several years ago led to the
provincial/municipal disentanglement process.
The Task Force was initially given eighteen months in which to provide
recommendations to the provincial government. On July 11, 1995, Premier Mike
Harris revised the deadline to 120 days, with a reporting deadline of November, 1995.
In turn, the Task Force has requested that all submissions be received no later than
September 30, 1995.
The Task Forces mandate is in keeping with the general direction of the new
provincial government. Under the heading of Less Government, the Progressive
Conservative Common Sense Revolution states: Canadians are probably the most
over-governed people in the world. We do not need every layer - federal. provincial,
quasi-governmental bodies, regional, municipal and school board - that we have now
(their emphasis). We must rationalize the regional and municipal levels to avoid the
overlap and duplication that now exists.
THE TWO APPROACHES
The attached sheets, prepared by the City of Mississauga, summarize the GTA reform
proposals with the exception of the GTA Mayors submission.
There are a number of variances and nuances between the proposals. However, the
approaches can be largely categorized as follows:
B
retaining local municipal units, with one large coordinating body for the GTA
that would be responsible for services such as water and sewer, waste
management and other infrastructure, economic development promotion,
transportation, and emergency services (police, fire and ambulance).
Composition of the municipal units depends on individual proposals as does the
constitution of the GTA coordinating unit. The Metro Toronto model goes
furthest in envisaging one large, regional government.
B
remodeling the status quo with a clean two-tier system. This is the approach
of the 905 Regional chairs and is closest to the current system. It is also
similar to the results of the disentanglement process.
Both models and almost every proposal proposes the elimination of special purpose
bodies, including police services boards. The exception is the GTA Mayors and
Regional Chairs Action Plan Leading by Example - September 11, 1995, which
recommends a municipal majority on police services boards. The status of this plan
is unclear as it was not endorsed by the GTA Mayors and Regional Chairs at their
meeting of September 15, 1995.
THE NEED FOR CHANGE
The need for municipal reform in the GTA is no longer questioned. Events such as the
City of Toronto calling for the abolishment of the Metro government, followed by the
Metro Toronto Regional Government voting to end its own existence as currently
structured are indicative of a system that no longer meets the needs of its
constituents. The situation in the 905 regions may be different, however, reform in
the GTA core cannot be accomplished unilaterally. Decisions made about the future
of Metropolitan Toronto will impact upon the regions.
It is clear that municipal reform is coming quickly to the GTA area.
that it is acutely needed.
What has been lacking to date, however, is any case whatsoever
It is equally clear
for reform of the
current governance system or review of the delivery of municipal police services in the
GTA.
Unlike municipal government in the GTA or Ontario, the delivery of police services
was closely examined by the Report of the Race Relations and Policing Task Force
(1989). Unlike the Municipal Act, police services operate as authorized by modern
legislation, the Police Services Act, enacted in 1991, following months of deliberation
and study, including the work done by the Lewis Task Force on Race Relations and
Policing which included public hearings and the review of hundreds of submissions.
The 905 police services have provided services in an effective and efficient manner.
An important component of this process is the leadership provided by independent,
arms length police services boards.
It is worth noting that police services continue to garner among the highest
satisfaction ratings among municipally provided services. An extensive survey
undertaken in 1994 by the Peel Regional Police found 87 per cent of all respondents
were satisfied with the overall level of service received by the police service. A survey
undertaken this year by the Halton Regional Police resulted in a similar finding.
It is imperative that the significant problems identified by municipal officials in their
submissions to the Golden Task Force, as it relates to the operation of municipal
governments, be seen as separate from the effective delivery of police services in the
GTA.
POLICE SERVICES BOARDS
The Metro Toronto submission to the GTA Task Force contains this passage:
However, special purpose bodies can be the worst of all evils and both
municipal and provincial governments have been criticized for their overuse of
this form of organization. Special purpose bodies are accountable neither to the
bottom line, as businesses are, nor to the electorate, as governments are. Their
existence also makes it difficult for municipal councils to choose among
competing priorities.
Lack of accountability is a mantra repeated by municipal politicians at every
opportunity. It is an issue that was studied most recently by Justice Wallace Oppal
in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Policing in British Columbia.
Others made the opposite argument that accountability requires either that
elected officials serve on police boards or that independent police board
members should be elected...lt is unclear why the argument about
accountability y through election is made about police boardmembership... Clearly
there are lines of accountability that do not depend upon election. We do not
demand that municipal department heads, ombudspersons, or provincial tax
assessment authorities be elected. They are simply given a mandate to execute,
and if they fail to perform, they are subject to removal form office. The same
is true of appointed police board members.... In summary, no strong argument
has been advanced for constituting police governing authorities from elected
4
members. On the other hand, there a variety of arguments... that indicate a
higher likelihood of talented membership and an independent board where the
board is appointed rather than elected. Appointment appears to minimize the
danger of boards becoming dominated by single-issue members, as happened
with some hospital boards in recent history. If appointees to the boards fail to
execute their mandate, they can be removed from office. In addition, well
qualified members of the community who would not stand for election, are
more likely to accept an appointment (B-55, 58-59).
Justice Oppal findings mirror those of the British Home Secretary in its review of
civilian governance of police.
The spectre of profligate police services boards is also raised under the banner of lack
of accountability. In discussing the rationalization of special purpose bodies, the
905 report states: institutional reform in the GTA must take into account the
publics overall perception of too much local government that costs too
much... Taxpayers are correct in noting that too many public agencies seem to be
involved in making local decisions, spending public funds and delivering services. The
problem of too much government is best understood as a problem of too much
unaccountable government . . . . . Currently, SPBs account for approximately two-thirds
of each GTA regions property tax levy - a fact of great concern for elected regional
officials.
This statement about unaccountable boards cannot be reconciled with the facts.
Each police service board has a minority of local councillors among its members (three
of seven, two of five) to ensure the municipal councils views are heard; the Police
Services Act requires that the board submit its estimates for the coming year to the
funding municipality at least one month prior to the beginning of the new fiscal year
for the municipality; and in practice each Council approves the police
the option of seeking a hearing before an independent Commission to
adequacy of the police budget.
Police boards and police services have also demonstrated their fiscal
budget or has
determine the
accountability
through their actions. As examples, the Peel Regional Police were able to develop
sustainable measures to offset Social Contract cuts, in spite of considerable increases
in workload because of a rapidly growing population. The Halton Regional Police
Service has just completed a reorganization that will see more officers deployed to the
front lines while reducing management size, for a total saving of $1.5 million. This
while operating with zero increases or reduction in budget as evidenced by the
attached chart.
It is worth repeating the vast difference between the state of municipal government
as acknowledged in the submissions to the GTA Task Force versus the operation of
police services in the GTA. Municipal officials publicly acknowledge they are operating
5
Budget
6
92-495
$40,000
$39,500
$39,000
$38,500
$38,000-
$37,500-
37,000-
36,500-
1992 1993
/ /
under dated legislation, as a group are inefficient in operation, and are experiencing
difficulty in coordinating their activities and interests. GTA police services are
operating under modern legislation, have close working relationships, usually marked
by written protocols or agreements, and deliver a service which is highly rated by their
communities.
The case for municipal reform is self-evident. Equally self-evident is the argument for
maintaining the status quo for the delivery and governance of the 905 police services.
BOARD COMPOSITION
The Lewis Task Force Report, in discussing which group should have a predominance
of members on the Board, stated: While several submissions were made around this
much-debated issue of whether provincial appointees or municipally elected members
ought to dominate, we do not believe that the issue itself has any relevance to our
mandate. We believe the need is, firstly, for clear delineation of commission powers
together with residual authority in the Solicitor General.
This goal was achieved in the Police Services Act. With Board authority clearly
delineated in the Act, it allows the question of board composition to be raised.
There is no consistent Canadian model with respect to board composition. However,
a survey by the Canadian Association of Police Boards of police board members
across Canada, including appointed and elected members, found a strong majority
favoured a mix of elected and appointed officials as being the most effective design.
An even larger majority stated that the key component to the success of a board was
not which agency made the appointment, but the need to ensure qualified individuals
served who were representative of the community,
It is recognized that the current composition of Board members is an irritant to
municipal councils. While there is no evidence to support the need for a change, the
province may wish to consider measures that would eliminate this perceived problem.
Some of these options have been advanced in the various reports to the Golden Task
Force. They include:
B
Introduction of provincial police per household grants in place of unconditional
grants, thus justifying the provincial majority on police services boards;
B
a mix of provincial and municipal appointees. This could be accomplished by
council submitting its candidates to the province and would not require an
amendment to the Act;
B
allowing councils to nominate appointees to the province. Again this would not
require a legislative amendment.
A GTA POLICE SERVICE
Several submissions to the GTA Task Force have recommended one GTA government
to administer some municipal services, indicating rationalization of these services
would result in significant savings. included among these are proposals for one GTA
police service, formed by amalgamating the police services of Metropolitan Toronto,
Peel, Halton, York, Durham.
Chief R. Lunney, Peel Regional Police, has addressed this issue in a comprehensive
report which is attached. Other significant concerns about this proposal are briefly
addressed below.
THE STATUS QUO WORKS
As delineated above, the prospect of a GTA police service, larger than the Los
Angeles Police Department, has been raised solely because of problems being
experienced by municipal governments within the GTA. Solutions to one should not
lead to problems being introduced into the other.
THE OTTAWA-CARLETON EXPERIENCE
Three Ontario police services, Ottawa, Nepean, and Gloucester, amalgamated in
January, 1995. Nine months later, they are operating with three separate collective
agreements, three different types of cruisers, and three separate communications
system. Experience has demonstrated it will take many years, and millions of
additional funds, for these issues to be resolved. It will also take considerable
corporate energy devoted solely to amalgamation.
The amalgamation of these police services has resulted in a police service of
approximately 1,200 members. The proposal for a GTA police service involves
amalgamating five distinct police services ten times that number. Any discussion of
a GTA police service should be suspended until the Ottawa-Carleton experience has
been fully studied and analyzed.
INCREASED COST
A GTA police service would be dominated by the Metropolitan Toronto Police Service.
It follows that either the Metro Toronto Collective Agreement would be the model for
the new police service or there would be a degree of cherry-picking to select the
most favorable components of each contract.
This would result in a significant increase in policing cost to the area regions. For
instance, the pay differential between a first-class constable in Peel and Metro
Toronto is $875. The incremental overall cost (estimate) for the entire police service
would be $825,000 annually.
COMMUNITY BASED POLICING
Every progressive police service in Canada has been developing a community based
policing philosophy and programs. Simply put, it equates to being accountable and
responsive to the community being policed, with communities defined geographically,
by similar interests and by background.
A police service stretching from Halton to Durham, appears to be the antithesis of this
approach to policing. Models which to study are difficult to locate as few urban police
services of that size can be used for comparison. Those that do exist, such as Los
Angeles or New York, do not inspire confidence.
CONCLUSION
An area politician in Peel described the proposed GTA police service as an army. It
is an image that municipal police services have successfully erased over the past
twenty years. Solutions to municipal governance issues in the GTA should not result
in this image resurfacing.
The governance and the delivery of police services in the 905 area is a success story.
It is a model to be followed, not altered.
COmpariSOn OF GTA REFORM P
ROPOSALS
.
s ONLY
.
ISSUES:
Property and
Bussiness Tax/
Financing
1. Full MVA across the GTA
-s. 58 within 5 years
-s. 63 within 10 years
2, Resources to fast track
reassessment.
3. Phase in impact over 5 years.
4. Tax policy visible,
5. Variable Mill rates
6. Combine business and non
residential property tax.
7. Express the tax rate as dollars
per thousand.
1. Establish a common
assessment system across the
GTA (a preferred type is not
recommended in the report)
2. Variable Mill rates
3. SWAP -remove general
welfare and education from
the property tax -
municipalities absorb costs
for municipal services
To July 31, 1995
1. The Province should study
the impact of Unit Value
Assessment for residential
properties across the
province.
2, The Province should study
Rental Value Assessment for
industrial/commercial
properties across the
province.
3. Unit Value and Rental Value
assessment should be
optional for all municipalities
in the province, This would
be the preferred system by the
City of Toronto,
4. De-pool education taxes
beginning in 1996,
1, The Province should study
impact of the following
options in the entire Toronto
Metropolis:
-remove the weighted residential
assessment from the mill rate
setting
-remove the five business
occupancy tax rates and
combine into one
-market value assessment based
on most recent data
-variable mill rates
-r emove gover n men t welfa r e and
education from the property tax
1.
2.
3.
4,
5.
I
I
Need to fix property tax

system based on market
value assessment system
Assessment reform should
be based on each GMF local
municipality having samc
market value assessment
base for funding education
and federation services.
Assessment should continuc
to be pooled for services co-
ordinated or integratcd under
GMF.
Eliminate business tax-
allow municipalities access
to replacement revenue
source.
Education portion of
property tax bill needs action
. equalize education transfers
per pupil across Province.
Service
Delivery:
4, Eliminate special purpose
bodies.
5. Review education system
financing within one year,
2. GTA FORUM:
Non institutional co-
ordination of growth
management and to formulate
solutions for inter-municipal
servicing issues and discuss
GTA-wide development and
infrastructure priorities.
5. Review special purpose
bodies
1.PROVINCE:
Status quo
5. Establish, disband and
modify the size, composition
and mandatc of special
purpose bodies.
1. PROVINCE;
Province should establish
rules, where appropriate
provide financing, and limit
its role as direct service
provider.
GR
EATER MUNICIPAL
FEDERATION:
Special functions 10 be
carried out by the regional
level:
- water treatment, sewers,
pollution control;
- garbage disposal;
. public transit, expressways;
- conservation and floodplain
control;
- economic development;
- debenturing.
3. LOCAL
MUNICIPALITIES:
- existing local services:
- local policing;
- regional parks within their
jurisdiction;
- arterial roads within their
jurisdiction;
- recycling;
- planning;
- ambulance service;
- public health (100% funded
by t h e province),
I
ISSUES:
-
Urban Form/
Infrastructure
GTA
Govcrnance/
Legislative
Reform:
SOURCES:
1 .Stronger local government.
2. Eliminate regional
governments.
3. Consolidate the number of
local municipalities from 30
to between 10 to 15 cities
(400,00 -800,000 pop.)
by Dec. 1996.
4. Implement GTASC
(comprised of 10-15 Mayors
and four Provincial cabinet
ministers) and n ew cit ies on
Dee, 1, 1997,
. Revise the Municipal Act to
give more permissive &
innovative powers to
municipalities.
Not addressed in the report.
1. Growth management would
be considered by USC GTA
Forum,
2. Reform the Municipal Act to
give permissive powers to
municipalities.
. Establish a Minister for the
GTA.
1. Province to adopt An Act to
Provide for the Dissolution o
Metro Toronto and the
Creation of the Urban
Toronto Regional Services
Board (UTRSB).
2. UTRSB comprised of the
Mayor from each of the six
area municipalities,
. Vote of each mayor based on
population. One vote per
each 50,000.
1. Growth management would
be determined by the new
Metropolitan government.
. Expand the current Metro
Toronto boundary to include
Mississauga, Brampton,
Vaughan, Richmond Hill and
Markham.
Establish a new Metro Act
to implement the above.
Consider the consolidation of
local municipalities.
1.
2.
Growth management
:
need
coordination at Greater
Municipal Federation level.
Need to contain future
growth to within already
urbanized part of GTA, and
confine provision of future
infrastructure.
1. Strengthen local (major
urban centres)
municipalities.
Eliminate the existing
regional governments,
including Metro.
Create a new regional
body called Greater
Municipal Federation
(GMF).
4. GMF would consist of 36
indirectly elected members.
to co-ordinate regional
services.
Define new boundaries for
GTA - a total of 17
municipalities forming a new
region.
Rural municipalitics - study
required for rural
municipalitics not included
GOVERNANCE OF THE GREATER TORONTO AREA.
POLICING ISSUES
The Peel Regional Police Services Board on August 25, 1995, requested that the Chief
of Police prepare an advisory report on the implications of combining the regional police
services into a single GTA police service. This report is intended to fulfil that requirement, but
the mandate has been extended to comment on the other option contained in municipal
submissions on the issue: devolution of regional forces to jurisdictions contiguous with the
boundaries of the municipalities of the GTA. The paper will also comment upon police
governance issues.
COMMENTARY
Policing is a subsystem of the more inclusive social system of society. In this sense, the
relationship and structure of policing within governmental design should conform generally to
the system evolved by political processes operating within the realm of a constitutional
framework. Whatever option is selected for GTA governance, policing must be structured to
adapt. Having said that, it is very legitimate to comment upon the predictable impact of the
major options for change currently before the provincial government. While time has limited
the assembly of comprehensive data in support of these comments, they capsulize the opinion
and advice of the Chief of Police.
CONSOLIDATION OF FIVE REGIONAL POLICE SERVICES INTO A SINGLE GTA
POLICE FORCE
Under this option, the existing police services of Metro, Durham, York, Peel and Halton
regions would be consolidated into a single organizational entity, presumably with headquarters
in the city of Toronto. The total strength following consolidation, based on current reported
complement would be 11,600 members. If Durham, York and Halton were to lose certain parts
of their current rural jurisdictions, this could mean a slight reduction to these numbers. This
immediately raises significant concern regarding governability, command and control. A
concentrated police service of this size is without precedent in Canada. A GTA force would be
almost twice the size of the police force of Montreal; would exceed the size of the Ontario
Provincial Police by 4,769; and would be one half the size of the combined federal and contract
strength of the RCMP. There are comparative forces of this scale in the United Kingdom and
United States of America. Excluding the mega forces of the London Metropolitan Police
(44,946) and the New York Police Department (39,442), a GTA force of 11,600 would compare
with Chicago (14,196) and Los Angeles (10,099).
There is a critical juncture where excessive size begins to negatively impact the ability
to respond to local needs and on the quality of service being provided. The metropolitan forces
are notorious for their cyclical scandals of corruption and malpractice. Their governability is
a continuing source of political and public concern. Aside from expression of a strong
bureaucratic bias for centralization in certain position papers reviewed to this point, there has
been no case made that consolidation would enhance the quality or improve the cost effectiveness
of police service. It has been said that all residents of the GTA should be able to expect a
common standard of police service. This is not true now and would not be true under any
configuration. In actual practice, the residents of the downtown core receive disproportionate
attention from the police, while the residents of quiet suburbs rarely see a police car on their
streets. Troubled neighbourhoods are subject to police problem solving and community relations
tactics, while the healthy and affluent areas never see these services. This process of
2
priorization is a normal part of police decision making and disposition of resources. The most
precise and focused decisions on priorities are invariably made under the influence of locally
elected councils, governing bodies and citizen advisory groups. Parochialism enhances order
maintenance and local crime control.
As observed on the British policing scene and in the functioning of metropolitan forces,
consolidation tends to strengthen the position of the Commissioner or Chief of Police. The
larger the force, the greater the concentration of power at the top and the less likely the
influence of the governing body will permeate through to the front lines of the organization.
While there is currently occurring a migration of police organizations and their inherent cultures
away from classic command and control, all police services currently retain the hierarchical
model of organization. This configuration, multiplied and expanded to accept a larger size and
scale, promises to increase the likelihood of bureaucratization and threaten the process of
delayering and empowerment now occurring. This with significant inferences for the cost of
management and supervision. The reform of the police culture is underway. Consolidation of
GTA forces at this time will stifle or kill that impetus under layers of overburdening numbers.
These listed concerns illustrate the negative factors inherent in a consolidated force:
Currently, each police service operates under the guidance of a Mission and
Values statement evolved in response to the particular concerns and priorities of
the various regions. These central principles have influenced the unique culture
of the existing force. A consolidated police service must necessarily be provided
with a single statement of Mission and Values, desirably influenced by the central
governing body, the elected representatives of the GTA, special interest groups
across the full spectrum of the area, and with opportunities for participation by
interested citizens throughout the constituency of the 4.4 million population. This
process can and has been accomplished in a region the size of Peel. It would be
a monumental task in a consolidated GTA. No doubt, a shorter path could be
found by restricting participation to the governing body and executive
management of the police service. But in contemporary organizational life, this
3
is viewed as a highly ineffectual process, unlikely to achieve acceptance by the
workforce. This may seem an unimportant factor, yet the Mission and Values
Statement of any organization is the driving inspiration for all progressive
achievement. What is at risk here is that consolidation will upset and destabilize
large portions of the organization and it will be very difficult to redeem stability
and direction.
Section 41 of the Police Services Act of Ontario compels the Chief of Police to
apply the principles of community oriented policing. This policing style is
decentralized in nature and depends heavily upon the development of community
partnerships and problem solving. It is a trite commentary in Canadian policing
that small police services have always practised community oriented policing as
their closeness to their communities broaches no option. On the other hand, the
very large forces are challenged to adapt to a style which requires local
empowerment and initiative. There has been a reliance upon a grand design
rather than the evolutionary processes of the medium sized forces. A
consolidated GTA force would have problems developing the mechanisms to
promote and sustain community policing. Municipal governments and community
groups within the constituency would have greater difficulty in influencing the
high command of the GTA force to recognize local needs and priorities. In a
hierarchy of priorities, the lesser are subordinated.
In the history of consolidation of police services, it has been observed that a
levelling-down phenomenon is evident in the early years. Centres of excellence
in the forces which are consolidated are seldom sustained in the larger soup of
varying norms of performance. Of local concern, the Region of Peel would lose
its accredited status on the date of consolidation, and given the predictable
preoccupation of central management in achieving overall stability and the non-
4
accredited status of the other four forces, it is unlikely that accreditation could
ever be achieved again. Similarly, centres of excellence such as the Peel
Regional Police child abuse program is certain to be subsumed by less
comprehensive practices. The quality improvement program of Peel Regional
Police which has earned a Certificate of Merit in the Canada Awards of
Excellence program would predictably lose momentum. This phenomenon would
be experienced by the other 905 regions, each of which has its centres for
excellence. Notable is the learning organization thrust of Durham Region.
Currently, each regional force operates under a unique system of policies and
procedures. Only that of Peel meets accreditation standards with CALEA. Top
management of a GTA force would be faced with the enormous task of
consolidating and rewriting these
of the outlying regions, for those
adopt the policies and procedures
procedures to accommodate the unique needs
needs would still exist. It is not an option to
of the Metro force.
Each region has made a large investment in police information services, in some
cases very recently. This includes 911 emergency systems, computer based
dispatch and records systems and the more specialized electronic systems such as
automated fingerprint identification systems. In each case the investment in
equipment and infrastructure has been based upon the geographic needs of the
five distinct regions. There is no feasible way of consolidating these systems into
a single cohesive system. With systems life extending from fifteen to twenty
years maximum, the first opportunity for major redesign reflecting the needs of
a GTA force would occur 2010- 2015. Until then, operational co-ordination,
command and control must necessarily remain encompassed by the boundaries of
the current regions. Police organizations are highly integrated and connected.
Information management is the nervous system of the organization, driving
operations and in turn collecting and recording every facet of operational activity.
The process of consolidating five such systems into a single one is impossible,
5
except in the long term. Design of a system connecting the central command to
the five subsystems would, in itself, involve a significant incremental investment
in design, equipment and human resources. Given the funding shortages likely
to exist, in reality this may also be impossible.
Human Resource management processes vary considerably across the five
regional forces. This impacts upon selection, staffing, promotion, and staff
relations. Again, consolidation of these processes would be a severe dislocation,
with staffing and promotion being major issues of contention.
Each Police Services Board has negotiated a number of collective agreements with
their associations. Peel alone has one contract with the Senior Officers
Association and a two part contract with the Peel Regional Police Association.
The governing body of a consolidated force would be faced with resolving this
diversity, again a complex and lengthy undertaking and certain to be extremely
expensive for the corporate interest. Past patterns suggest that the trend here is
that of levelling-up or cherry picking, so that employee associations seek to
entrench the most advantageous features of each plan in a new consolidated
working agreement. If, for instance, the pay schedule of the Metro force were
to be applied to Peel, Durham, York and Halton, the immediate impact upon the
GTA would be a significant increase in salary costs. A similar and possibly even
more consequential result could result if the two person car provision of Metro
Toronto were applied unilaterally together with the Metro practices on overtime
and court time. Potentially, this could have serious consequences for financing
GTA policing.
6
THE DEVOLUTION OPTION
Some authorities have proposed that policing authorities undergo a process of devolution
in accommodating to a new governance structure in a GTA. Devolution is the surrender of
powers to local authorities by a central government. The boundaries of the hypothetical ten to
fifteen municipalities to constitute the GTA would each have a local police service responsible
and accountable to municipal government. Under most imagined circumstances, this would
require excising portions of the area now policed by Metro Toronto. For instance, the city of
Scarborough may be a venue for a police authority. The Chief of Police of MTP has already
commented on the negative impact for his organization, given the existing integration of
Scarborough into Metropolitan policing, and the obvious expense of dislocation. Similarly, it
may be fancied that the cities of Brampton and Mississauga would have their own police services
on division of Peel Regional Police. In our local circumstances, this would leave Mississauga
without a police headquarters facility and dependent upon Brampton for location of police
dispatch. Inevitably, the desirability of shared services would emerge in the process of analysis,
leading to the conclusion that the process of separation would be so difficult and expensive that
the best solution was a shared police service based upon cost apportioning. Governance is
problematic. This notion of devolution is potentially the option most destructive of operational
effectiveness since its retrogressive aspects would denude the respective police services of
specialized crime fighting capabilities, information and administrative services only achieved
under conditions of optimum scale and scope.
FACTORS FAVOURING THE STATUS OUO
Factors favouring the status quo configuration of the five regional forces may be stated
quite simply and distinctly. They are:
Order maintenance and local crime control remain in the hands of regional forces
where local priorities under the guidance of elected and appointed local citizens
may ensure maximum sensitivity to local needs through the setting of police
priorities. Provincial and inter-regional crime control challenges are met through
joint forces operations and provincial co-ordination.
It avoids the concentration of police authority which would effectively buffer
civilian control and block local service priorities.
It ensures the continuing acceptance of policing, founded on community consent,
by sustaining the existing relationships. The priorities of policing must be based
on the needs of the local community.
This is the central principle of effective
policing.
There is no case for further consolidation of existing forces based upon objective
criteria of effectiveness, efficiency, and economy.
There is no case for devolution of the existing forces.
The current structure encourages local identity, accountability, and consultation,
all functions of community based policing.
The current form of regional policing is appropriately connected and influenced
by the communitys ability to pay, as determined by the local police services
Board and regional Council.
It is very arguable in the Canadian experience that police forces of approximately
1,500 and less are the optimum size for medium sized Canadian cities (excluding
the metropolises of Montreal and Toronto). Comparative jurisdictions are
Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, York Region, Vancouver, Hamilton Wentworth
and Durham Region. The tip over may occur when the jurisdiction exceeds a
population of one million, when the policing equation and possibly other forms
8
of service delivery may undergo a shift to a metropolitan style of governance and
organization.
The Region of Peel enjoys relatively low crime rates and elevated crime clearance
rates significantly better than the national averages. There are no appreciable
order maintenance problems. This favorable record is equally shared by
Durham, York and Halton. While there is no doubt that geographic and social
factors have a great influence on this favorable condition, policing style and
sensitivity to local priorities must be accorded some credit. The 905 regions
under the current system of governance are as fully entitled to take credit for this
result as they are for debt management, waste management, and social services.
Peel Regional Police was granted accredited status by the Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) in November, 1994,
culminating an arduous process of measuring up to some 759 standards designed
to reflect the best practices in the field of policing. The accreditation process and
the policies and procedures evolving from it are open to scrutiny and represent
a high standard of public accountability. In addition, PRP has been recognized
by the National Quality Institute through presentation of a Certificate of Merit in
the Canada Awards for Excellence competition 1995. This again is evidence of
an organizational culture dedicated to continuous improvement in providing
quality service to the citizens of Peel. These hard won achievements, and the
momentum they have provided, are surely persuasive factors militating against
any externally influenced interests who would destroy this mentality through the
process of levelling-down.
9
CO-ORDINATION OF POLICE SERVICES
There is a strong argument that the operational effectiveness of police services in the
GTA is best established on the foundation of the existing regional forces including Metro.
However, there is a case to be made that co-ordination of police functions could be enhanced
by formal mechanisms. While the Chiefs and other executive officers of the GTA forces meet
formally and informally from time to time, this is most often in response to some critical issue
and there is no practice of regular meetings. Permanent co-ordination of major crime and
intelligence activities province-wide is carried on through an umbrella organization called
Canadian Intelligence Service Ontario (CISO). CISO has a staff of officers seconded from the
participating major services. Its offices are situated in the city of Toronto. CISO is the focal
point for permanent and temporary joint forces operations targeting major organized crime and
major crime threats of a more transient nature. All projects carried out by CISO involve
interjurisdictional police operations. The province of Ontario provides annual funding for these
activities and supporting infrastructure to the amount approximating $8 million annually.
Regional participation varies with activity patterns. As of August 23, 1995, PRP was
contributing 12 officers to joint forces and the central office.
Should some future form of political co-ordinating body be established for the GTA as
suggested by some of the position papers, then a more permanent and possibly expanded role
could be given to a police co-ordinating body. While the true mandate of a metropolitan crime
control organization should ultimately include all municipalities in the Golden Horseshoe
extending from Durham through to Niagara, co-ordination of the GTA group would represent
a beginning. The functions of the co-ordinating organization could be:
Oversight of the current functions of GTA projects within CISO, and expanded
to interjurisdictional serial murders; major frauds; major commodity crime;
environmental crime; and international crime syndicates in co-operation with
provincial and federal police.
10
Co-ordination of major order maintenance challenges:
- riots/ public order events
- disasters
- disaster planning
Aerial services for fixed wing, helicopter and marine services along the
waterfront of the GTA.
Co-ordination extended to include management services, ie: co-ordination of
policies and procedures (consistency with best practices) and information
management.
This option, if considered, must make use of existing resources, especially existing
management resources. A central management committee composed of the regional Chiefs
would meet regularly to direct activities, with other executive officers assigned to functional
management roles on a part time or seconded basis. Permanent staff should be kept to a
minimum, possibly a secretariat. The co-ordinating police body would be responsible and
accountable to the co-ordinating political body as proposed by some GTA position papers. Since
policing is a very strong culture, there would be concern for the legitimacy and acceptance of
this structure. Survival strategies should include continuity of the existing CISO organization;
the establishment of joint management teams and the employment of highly experienced officers.
The timing must be right. The impetus for change must overcome natural inertia. The time
span for acceptance of this type of change by governance and the police culture is medium to
long term (two to five years).
11
LET THE PROVINCE DO IT
Beyond the co-ordinated model there is a proposal within the realm of speculation that
the provincial police could assume responsibility for tier two policing responsibilities over the
GTA, ie: criminal intelligence, major crimes, etc. All theoretical and practical rationale
militates against this. Policing is a highly integrated and interactive process. Everything is
connected to everything else, and it is the front line officer who possesses the access to local
knowledge and informants that is so essential to success. Vertical integration remains the best
means of ensuring co-ordination. Any discontinuity which represents an impediment to the flow
of information is detrimental. A discontinuity in management and accountability is the most
formidable of barriers.
The regional forces of the GTA have their roots in an urban and suburban culture and
are attuned to city life. The culture and organization of the provincial police is predicated by
a dispersed rural and small town experience with specialization in the regulation of highway
traffic.
Governance issues remain unanswered. Would the public and municipal representatives
of the GTA be satisfied with the imposed policing priorities of the Provincial Government? The
provincial police are accountable to the government through a ministry which is also responsible
for oversight of all aspects of provincial policing. There is no provision for control of budget
or priorities by local municipalities. Would the services be provided free or by contract? If the
disentanglement of provincial and municipal responsibilities remains an objective of this process,
then this option should be abandoned.
12
GOVERNANCE
The case for independent police services Boards is primarily an issue for elected officials,
currently constituted Boards, and the public. The police are subject to the governance which
is imposed upon them and in a democratic state there should be no inference that the police have
a powerful influence in the design and implementation of that system. From an official point
of view, it is the position of Peel Regional Police that the service respects and is committed to
the system of governance prescribed by the Police Services Act of Ontario 1990.
On this point only, I will digress to a purely personal view, based on experience. I have
functioned in a senior management capacity in the federal force where responsibility and
accountability flows upward to the government of Canada. Provincial and municipal policing
is provided on a contract basis and although in some instances police commissions or local
councils and committees exist, they have no direct legal authority over their contract police and
in many cases minimal influence on police priorities. This is the least responsive of systems and
instructively, this occurs where scale and scope is the largest in Canada. I was next responsible
for twelve years to a local police commission composed of a minority of elected aldermen and
a majority of citizens at large appointed by Council. This system assured a high degree of
sensitivity to local concerns and an equally high degree of accountability to local government
on issues of economy and efficiency. In a third situation I worked for three years as a City
Commissioner in a jurisdiction with no police services Board or commission where the Chief
of Police reported through the City Commissioner to a committee of Council which was also
responsible for a variety of other vital civic services. This configuration was the least effective.
Membership on the Council committee was constantly changing as members rotated through the
standing committees; they never remained in place long enough to understand policing issues and
in every case of crisis or when faced with a major organizational decision, they equivocated and
failed to act decisively. It proved very difficult for elected councillors to give direct instructions
to the Chief of Police, given the apprehension of the public for the intrusion of political decision
making into justice matters, and the watchful and sceptical omnipresence of the media. The
situation in Ontario and in Peel offers the advantage of the independent role of an oversight
13
Board coupled with the locality connections of members both elected and appointed.
Municipally appointed representatives reflect local concerns, while provincially appointed
representatives reflect the priorities of the provincial government. Independently appointed
governing bodies have the respect of the Canadian police community, and are viewed as
providing much more stability than the strong mayor or city manager systems adopted in many
cities of the United States.
CONCLUSION
The provision of police services has not received detailed attention in the GTA
governance submissions available to this date. Of the commentary available, three alternative
proposals are described: consolidation; devolution; and a hybrid model featuring two tier
policing. Assuming that cost effectiveness is a major objective of any change process, in no
case has it been established that any of these three models would produce the desired result. On
the other hand, experience has established that the current structure of regional policing is cost
effective and responsive to the needs of the local communities. Analysis suggests that policing
across the GTA would benefit by the creation of a more structured system of co-ordination than
currently exists. Desirably, any new police co-ordinating body should be responsible and
accountable to some form of civilian governance.
RFL:jrh
September 25, 1995
14
REP ORT TO COUNCI L
FROM: C. M. Timothy Sheffield DATE: September 26, 1995
Town Manager
REPORT NUMBER: M 22/95
SUBJECT: Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
- File: IG31OO
RECOMMENDATION:
A Resolution should be made identifying the issues and concerns of the Council of The
Corporation for the Town of Pickering respecting the future of the Town of Pickering in the
context of the Greater Toronto Area, for forwarding to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force,
chaired by Dr. Anne Golden.
ORIGIN:
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force has invited submissions from interested parties, to be
forwarded to it no later than September 30, 1995.
AUTHORITY and FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS: Not applicable.
BACKGROUND:
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force, chaired by Dr. Anne Golden, has invited submissions from
interested parties identifying issues and concerns respecting the future of local government in the
context of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and possible reforms related thereto.
Mayor Arthurs (in discussions and debate with other GTA Mayors and GTA Regional Chairmen,
and following debate at the Region of Durham) and the Town Manager (following a review of the
literature available to date respecting this subject) have identified eight matters that appear to
warrant attention and debate by Town Council:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Economic Development Opportunities in the GTA.
Municipal Finance and Tax Reform
Disentanglement (Provincial/Municipal)
Education Reform
Governance Reform
Special Purpose Bodies Under Lower Tier Jurisdiction
Pickering as Part of a GTA Organization
Implementation Before the End of 1997
Each of these subjects is addressed briefly in this Report to enable Town Council to debate the
issue(s) surrounding it, and to propose any recommendation(s) relating to it. For Councils
assistance, proposed recommendation(s) accompany each subject.
Report to Council M 22/95 Page 2
September 26, 1995
1. Economic Development Opportunities in the GTA.
The future of the communities that make up the GTA and of the GTA itself, is far more
dependent upon the economic vitality of the area than upon political boundaries or governance
models. Consequently, the primary issue that must be addressed is the issue of economic
development opportunities in the GTA.
For a number of years in the 1960s and 1970s, economic development, as a municipal function,
was largely a Metropolitan or Regional fiction. With the advent of local municipal promotional
activity in the mid- 1970s, many area municipalities, including Pickering, undertook economic or
business development activities in an effort to attract the necessary industrial and commercial
ventures to ensure employment for their residents and a balanced and stable assessment ratio.
Those area municipalities achieved various levels of success, Pickering fortunately being among
those to achieve better-than-average results.
However, the competitiveness of the 1990s and the increasingly global nature of the GTAs
economy has resulted in most of the GTA municipalities pooling resources to promote and
develop the area as a whole. While this has not meant that any area municipality has abandoned
its own efforts, it has resulted in a unique strengthening of the GTAs ability to attract business
through the efforts of such unofficial groups as the Committee of GTA Mayors and Regional
Chairmen, the GTA Economic Partnership, the Greater Toronto Coordinating Committee, and the
provincial Office for the Greater Toronto Area.
It is therefore recommended that, as a first priority,
The Provincial Government should strengthen and formalize the existence of the Committee of
GTA Mayors and Regional Chairmen, the GTA Economic Partnership, the Greater Toronto
Coordinating Committee, and the provincial Office for the Greater Toronto Area, for the
purpose of economic development within the existing Greater Toronto Area.
2. Municipal Finance, Tax and Assessment Reform
There is no doubt that the system of municipal finance and taxation within the Province of Ontario
in general (and the GTA in particular) is inequitable and requires reform. Municipal finance and
taxation policies should support strong local government.
Municipal finance and taxation
policies, and provincial transfer policies, should be developed and implemented to ensure equity
among municipalities and to avoid artficial advantages in attracting economic development.
Further, municipal finance policy should support the concept of accountability of the municipal
government to its ratepayers.
It is therefore recommended that, as a second priority,
In the short term, the Provincial Government should,
. implement a fair and equitable assessment system for each Region within the GTA,
. to achieve fairness within arid between classes
. to attain the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential assessment mix
across each Region
. to utilize variable mill rates to phase and control tax burden shifts between property
classes,
. shift the assessment function from the Province to the Regions, with the power in the Regions
to privatize the function should they wish to do so,
. utilize improved technologies to maintain assessment records, and
. continue to investigate the range of assessment methodologies.
In the long term, the Provincial Government should consider the implementation of the
recommendations made by the Fair Tax Commission.
Report to Council M 22/95
Page 3
September 26, 1995
3. Disentanglement (Provincial/Municipal)
The Province and the municipalities should continue the disentanglement process.
Disentanglement should occur, however, only. where
local or both) and where there will be an identifiable
province (and thereby the taxpayer).
It is therefore recommended that, as a third priority,
it will strengthen municipalities (regional,
savings to both the municipalities and the
The process of disentanglement should continue, so that,
,
. municipalities will finance certain hard services (i. e., those that are property-related),
including roads, wrote management, sewer and water, health inspection, and property
assessment,
. the province will finance soft services (i. e., those that are not property-related), including
welfare, childcare (including children aid societies), public health, and homes for the aged,
. municipalities and the province will joint finance certain other services (i.e. those that are
primarily property-related but over which the province wishes to maintain an element of
control - pay for say"), for example, transit and policing,
B
education costs will be utilized as a means of balancing the process,
unconditional grants will be discontinued, no provincial or municipal tax will be increased, and
there will be an identifiable savings at both the provincial and municipal levels.
4.
The reform of the education system in the
Education Reform
GTA is beyond the scope of this report; educators and
their advisors are in the best position to make recommendations respecting the system. However,
the means of financing the system is another matter. It is becoming increasingly clear that the
property tax base can no longer support the increasing cost of education. Nor should it. Firstly,
property owners are not the only beneficiaries of the system and, secondly, the notion of taxing
perceived property wealth for such an expensive social program is inappropriate when there are
more equitable taxation sources (e.g., income tax) available.
It is therefore recommended that, as a fourth priority,
The Provincial Government should lessen dependency on the municipal tax base as a means of
raising funds to support the education system, preferring instead a more equitable tax source
such as the (graduated) income tax.
5. Governance Reform
The issue of the reform of governance is important, and should not be proceeded with in the
absence of a specific public consultation process to review all the issues and options.
In any event, the Town of Pickering does not support at this time any consideration of boundary
or other jurisdictional (i.e. regional dissolution) changes affecting it. The Town continues to
discuss the sharing of fictions with other entities within the Region of Durham, including the
Region. Cost-saving opportunities are being and will be implemented as they are identified.
It is therefore recommended that, as a fifth priority,
The Provincial Government should refer the matter of governance to a public consultation
process intended to deal specifically with that issue.
Report to Counc i l M 22/95 Page 4
September 26, 1995
6. Special Purpose Bodies Under Lower Tier Jurisdiction
The special purpose bodies under lower tier jurisdiction in Pickering (The Pickering Public
Library Board and The Pickering Hydro-Electric Commission) are both operated under the
direction of council-appointed bodies, many of whose functions are subject to Town Council
approval. Accountability and economy may be enhanced if each of them became a department of
the Town. (The benefit of the appointed-board fiction could be maintained through the
establishment of advisory bodies. ) However, a specific public consultation process should be
undertaken to review all the issues before any action is taken.
,
It is therefore recommended that, as a sixth priority,
J
The Provincial Government should refer the matter of special purpose bodies to a public
consultation process intended to deal specifically with that issue before taking any steps to
amend legislation to enable local municipalities to consolidate certain speciaI purpose bodies
(public libraries and hydro-electric commissions) as municipal departments.
7. Pickering as Part of a GTA Organization
It has been proposed by others that the GTA be defined and formalized as a new level or style of
government (either as a corporation or a federation), and that Pickering be included within it,
either in Pickerings present form or as amalgamated with the Town of Ajax.
On this subject, three very important points need emphasizing:
1. Municipalities should not be so large that citizens are not permitted adequate access to the
political and administrative systems or that the local government loses sensitivity to its
citizens issues and concerns.
2. Municipalities should be both small enough to know what services and amenities their
citizens want, and large enough to supply them cost-effectively.
3. Boundaries of municipalities should align with natural geographic barriers or significant
linear landmarks, respect historic communities and neighbourhoods, and define proper
servicing areas.
With respect to appropriate size, it is suggested that the maximum population of a municipality
that will allow it to continue to meet the criteria set out in 1 and 2, above, is 150,000. Pickerings
projected population for the year 2020 is 140,000.
There is therefore no need to consider
amalgamation; in fact there are-compelling reasons to reject it.
With respect to appropriate boundaries, it is suggested that the Towns existing boundaries
already meet the criteria set out in 3, above.
Lastly, it is evident that many of Pickerings existing residents chose to relocate from the Metro
environment to the west. The small town environment in Pickering is attractive to them. They
enjoy the small-town atmosphere. They do not have Metro concerns with their quality of life.
It is therefore recommended that, as a seventh priority,
The Provincial Government should take no steps to remove the Town of Pickering from the
Regional Municipality of Durham, nor to amalgamate it with any other municipality, in or out of
the Regional Municipality of Durham.
Report to Council M 22/95
Page 5
September 26, 1995
8. Implementation Before the End of 1997
It has been suggested by the Province that the implementation of proposals put forward by the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force ought to occur prior to the next regular municipal elections (in
the fall of 1997).
This timing appears to be unduly hasty, given the nature and extent of the issues being canvassed,
and their importance to the persons and entities affected. It would be preferable not only to
consider each issue individually, but also to review its potential effect upon other issue, before it is
implemented. That process cannot be done until the recommendations
known.
It is therefore recommended that, as an eighth priority,
of the Task Force are
The Provincial Government should take no steps to implement any proposal put forward by the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force until such proposal has been fully considered and its effect
upon other issues reviewed. Further, the Province is urged to consider implementation only
after 1997, i.e. during the period 1998-1999.
C. M. Timothy Sheffield
CMTS:jh
Submission to the
September 27,1995
RECOMMENDATIONS
(addendum to Town Managers Report M22/95 - Resolution 198/95)
1. Economic Development Opportunities in the GTA
The Provincial Government should strengthen and formalize the existence of the Committee of
GTA Mayors and Regional Chairmen, the GTA Economic Partnership, the Greater Toronto
Coordinating Committee, and the provincial Office for the Greater Toronto Area, for the purpose
of economic development within the existing Greater Toronto Area.
2. Municipal Finance, Tax and Assessment Reform
In the short term, the Provincial Government should,
. implement a fair and equitable assessment system among the municipalities within each Region
within the GTA,
. to achieve fairness within and between classes
. to attain the benefits of an optimal residential to non-residential assessment mix across
each Region
B to utilize variable mill rates to phase and control tax burden shifts between property
classes,
B
shift the assessment function from the Province to the. Regions, with the power in the Regions
to privatize the function should they wish to do so,
. utilize improved technologies to maintain assessment records, and
B
continue to investigate the range of assessment methodologies.
In the long term, the Provincial Government should consider the implementation of the
recommendations made by the Fair Tax Commission.
Town of Pickering
Submission to the
September 27, 1995
3. Disentanglement (Provincial/Municipal)
The process of disentanglement should continue, so that,
. municipalities will finance certain hard services (i. e., those that are property-related), including
roads, waste management, sewer and water, health inspection, and property assessment,
. the province will finance soft services (i. e.,
those that are not property-related), including
welfare, childcare (including childrens aid societies), public health, and homes for the aged,
B
municipalities and the province will jointly finance certain other services (i.e. those that are
primarily property-related, but over which the province wishes to maintain an element of
control - pay for say), for example, transit and policing,
. unconditional grants w-ill be discontinued,
B no provincial or municipal tax will be increased, and
B there will be an identifiable savings at both the provincial and municipal levels.
4. Education Reform
The Provincial Government should lessen dependency on the municipal tax base as a means of
raising funds to support the education system, preferring instead a more equitable/progressive tax
source.
5. Governance Reform
The Provincial Government should refer the matter of governance to a public consultation process
intended to deal specifically with that issue.
6. Special Purpose Bodies Under Lower Tier Jurisdiction
The Provincial Government should refer the matter of special purpose bodies to a public
consultation process intended to deal specifically with that issue before taking any steps to amend
legislation to enable local municipalities to consolidate certain special purpose bodies (public
libraries and hydro-electric commissions) as municipal departments.
Town of Pickering
Submission to the
September 27, 1995
7. Pickering as Part of a GTA Organization
The Provincial Government should take no steps to remove the Town of Pickering
Regional Municipality of Durham nor to amalgamate it with any other municipality, m
the Regional Municipality of Durham.
from the
or out of
8. Implementation Before the End of 1997
The Provincial Government should take no steps to implement any proposal put forward by the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force until such proposal has been fully considered and its effect
upon other issues reviewed. Further, the Province is urged to consider implementation only after
1997, i.e. during the period 1998-1999.
9. Improved Municipal Act
The Provincial Government should enact an improved Municipal Act with permissive authority
and with an enhanced range of revenue generating options.
September 25, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden,
Chair,
GREATER TORONTO AREA TASK FORCE,
20th Floor, Suite 2001,
Toronto, Ontario.
M5G 1E6
Dear Doctor Golden:
Re: Submissions of G.T.A. Police Associations
Please find enclosed the submissions on behalf of the following Police Associations - Durham, Halton,
Peel and York. If you have any questions concerning these submissions or would like an opportunity to
meet with representatives of these Associations, please do not hesitate to contact one of the undersigned.
The Associations appreciate the opportunity to make submissions and await the reply of the Task Force.
Sincerely,
DURHAM REGIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION
Brian Curtis, Administrator
HALTON REGIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION
Paul LaCourse, Administrator
PEEL REGIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION
Stu Campbell, Administrator
YORK REGIONAL POLICE ASSOCIATION
Paul Bailey, President
Public Safety, Efficiency and the Police
A Report to the Task Force
on the
Future of the Greater Toronto Area
submitted by
The Police Associations of
Halton, Peel, York, and Durham Regions
September, 1995
2
Introduction
Profound social and demographic change has swept through Ontario in the past decade and
nowhere has this been more apparent than in Metropolitan Toronto and the regions of Durham,
York, Halton and Peel.
Explosive population growth, the need for fiscal restraint and rapidly changing social dynamics
have caused the residents of the GTA and their elected representatives to seek new and more
effective ways to deliver the community services which are funded by their taxes.
The Task Force on the Future of the Greater Toronto Region, the Golden Commission, has been
vested with the principal responsibility of providing options for the future of this area and its
political organization. As part of this process, the Police Associations of Halton Peel, Durham
and York Regions have prepared and submitted this report. Within it, the Associations have
outlined their proposal for police organization within the GTA that will best serve the citizens of
the area for the present, the near future and into the next century.
It is our hope that the model recommended in this report will be seen as the most realistic,
efficient and cost-effective method of delivering policing services to the residents of the
After careful analysis, the police Associations of Halton, Peel, Durham and York Regions have
concluded that the most efficient and cost-effective means for providing policing services to the
residents of the GTA is a further refinement of the existing regional model.
The correct choice is one that can maximize the number of police officers on the beat for any given
geographic area or population. We believe the current system clearly out performs any other
proposed model with respect to this key criterion.
3
Principles
innovation inter-jurisdictional cooperation and seeking new
services have led the way in organizational-
ways to deliver their services better.
This submission supports a policing organizational
structure that will provide the maximum service levels
at the least cost. Specifically, the As
sociations are proposing a plan that will reflect the following
principles:
B Public Safety
B Cost Efficient
B Community- oriented Policing
B Effectiveness of Service
B Government Accountability
B Fairness and Balance
B Di versi t y
Regional Policing Historv in Ontario
Police experience in Ontario with regionalization pre-dates what we know as Regional Governme
this province. In 1957, the City of Toronto began the process when it amalgamated 13 separate p
departments into one city-wide force.
Following the recommendations of a 1974 task force report, regional forces were formed through
province. The principal rationale for this move was the reduction of duplication overlap and frag
responsibility.
After reviewing the regionalization initiative, in 1978, the Ontario Policing Commission conclude
significant operational benefits had been achieved including:
. 17 per cent lower policing costs per capita
. increased police coverage (hours per capita and police-to-population ratios)
. lower increase in crime per 1,000 people
B
a lower percentage of officers assigned to management and non-operational duties
B greater flexibility in the deployment of officers
During the implementation phase, regional services reported a number of problems, most stemming fro
the challenges of integrating separate Police Services.
However, the majority of such problems have been reduced or eliminated overtime. These tidings were
confirmed by the 1993 Commission of Inquiry into the Niagara Regional Police Force.
The available empirical evidence supports the conclusion that after working with the regional model for
more than 20 years, Ontarios police forces have learned how to make the system work.
Far from being stagnant, the regional model continues to be adapted, modified improved and although not
perfect, the current regional model provides efficient and cost-effective policing to the residents of On
5
In its efforts to achieve maximum policing efficiency and effectiveness, the Golden Commission is
considering a variety of organizational models, including the Town model, the Super Region
the so-called Super City Plan.
It should be emphasized that the current regional policing model is not dependent on any particular
government - either regional or municipal. Rather than a political model, it is in reality a
regional/geographical model, serving defied boundaries and communities.
Today, each regional police service covers its own unique blend of municipalities, ranging from
cities in Metro Toronto to suburban/urban communities in HaIton, to the dispersed towns and large rural
areas located in York, Durham and Peel who have their own unique patterns of development. The
regional police model provides optimal service.
6
The Town Model
The Town model prescribes a return to the pre-regional government organization that existed before the
1970s. It argues that regional government in Ontario has proven to be an expensive experiment in
overgovernment, and that essential services can be most efficiently and cost-effectively supplied by
individual municipalities. In addition, proponents say, municipal organization of policing will provide
municipalities with greater control over policing resources and how they are allocated.
While these arguments have substantial grass roots appeal, they are not supported by the empirical
evidence gathered in Ontario over the past 20 years.
As mentioned earlier, the adoption of a regional/geographic organization for policing in Ontario has
delivered what was expected: the reduction of duplication, overlap and fragmented responsibility. The
overall benefits to Ontario citizens have been lower per capita policing costs and a higher level of public
safety.
To revert to a Town model would undo all the efficiencies that have been achieved to date. Individual
municipalities would be forced to duplicate existing services or cut back on the number and level of
services provided. The overall quality of policing would suffer, and hence, so would the level of public
safety in the Regions of York Peel, Halton, and Durham.
Although the desire for greater public input into policing is understandable, it must be tempered by
economic realism. Even today, many small Ontario municipalities are disbanding their own police forces
and contracting policing services from the Ontario Provincial Police. If the province were to revert to the
Town model, this trend may well be heightened and accelerated with the probability of additional costs
being incurred by the Province.
7
The Super Region Model
costs to taxpayers. The arguments by the proponents for this model are essentially an extension of
forward for the regional model, i.e. a further reduction in overlap, duplication and fragmentation
responsibility. If regionalization reduced the presence of these conditions in the 1970s, the argum
then super-regionalization will deliver the same benefits in the 1990s and beyond.
However, this optimistic premise does not seem to be borne out by real-life experience. In fact, th
appears to be a definite limit to the efficiencies and economies of scale that can be reached in a pol
After the Service reaches a certain threshold size, economies of scale are transformed into diseconomi
and potential savings and efficiencies disappear.
According to the final report on Policing in British Columbia prepared by Justice Wallace Oppal
the diminution of scale economies beyond the optimal threshold size maybe attributed to three fa
policing is labour-intensive
there are few fixed capital expenditures to be shared by a larger group of residents
reductions in administrative costs will be offset by increases in police and civilian members sa
result of amalgamation.
The Oppal Commission concluded that, in general, the hoped-for savings to be accrued from furth
amalgamation of forces appear to be illusory. According to his report:
There is little empirical research on the relationship between police agency size and the quality of
delivery.... a configuration of small to medium size police departments may actually provide a bet
quality of service than one large department... Rather, investigative effectiveness depended more o
of region in which the department was located.
In Ontario, there is a widely-held, but largely fallacious belief that significant savings can still be achieved
through further rationalization of administrative overheads. In part, this is because of the lack of
standardized accounting procedures among the provinces police forces. The adoption of such a system
would improve the effectiveness of inter-regional planning
and analysis.
8
Today, most regional policing operations are functioning with relatively low administration costs
Therefore,
forces.
Additional
there is little, if any potential for increased savings through further amalgamation of pol
savings can and should be achieved through universal joint purchasing programs and o
concluded-operative ventures. Several ongoing police initiatives, including AFIS (Automatic Fi
Identification System) and the PSC (Policing Styles Committee), would be delivered more efficie
unified and coordinated approach had been taken from the outset. This could be achieved through
cooperation, and does not require reorganization under the Super Region model.
It has previously been discussed by representatives of the Government and the Policing communi
immediate measures should be implemented to ensure that all municipalities in Ontario be require
for the provision of police services within their communities. This avenue should be explored and
taken to ensure it is occurring.
In addition where such practice is not already occurring within the Police Service, consideration
given to billing commercial and private organizations and individuals for non-core police service
would assist with the recovery of some costs.
The Super Region Model and Communitv Oriented Policing
Although Justice Oppal was critical of regionalization in his report, he was examining a situatio
British Columbia that is similar to the Ontario context of the 1970s. Ontario police forces have h
years to develop and refine the current system and eliminate its weaknesses. Justice Oppals reserv
about the dangers of further regionalization should be interpreted in Ontario as a caution against
regionalization.
The Oppal Commission has concluded that larger forces do not necessarily translate into more co
effective policing. In addition, the commission has concluded the continued concentration of polic
resources into larger forces may have serious negative repercussions on the ability to deliver com
oriented policing services.
Since its first widescale implementation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, community-oriented
has been touted as an innovative and effective approach to reducing the incidence of crime.
Community-oriented policing is a philosophy or style of policing which calls for a partnership bet
police and the public in order to produce a secure and peaceful environment for our communities.
9
active in nature, in contrast to conventional police methods, which are reactive. Both policing ph
can and must work hand in hand to be successful.
To be achievable, community-oriented policing relies on problem solving, and attempts to deal wi
social, economic, political and environmental causes of crime within a specific manageable geogr
area.
Although individual models may vary, all truly community oriented policing programs stress the
elements:
B problem solving. A pro-active approach to maintaining public order, problem solving emphasiz
need to respond to community concerns in order to prevent criminal incidents.
B
accountability and authority. Authority for community-based policing is entrenched in the princ
of the Ontario Police Services Act, of 1990. The legislation prescribes a high level of co-oper
between the providers of police services and the communities they serve. Internal and external
organizational openness allows the community to participate in defining problems, and in the
development and implementation of services.
B
service orientation. Community police services exist to provide an essential service. The citizens
the community are the primary customers of this service and performance is measured by ci
satisfaction.
By adopting this approach, communities become more involved in establishing their policing prio
This new approach has struck a chord with the Canadian public, which has consistently expressed
to participate with the police in efforts to decrease crime and create safer communities.
Community-oriented policing can bean effective method of providing police services. However, si
predicated on close police-citizen interaction, community-oriented policing would be jeopardized b
to super-regionalization. In its place the more conventional reactive policing would be the only
Prioritv policing prescribes the concentration of police resources in high crime areas, usually dow
cores. It is a reactive approach to the maintenance of order, emphasizing intervention and apprehen
opposed to crime prevention.
10
In his report, Justice Oppal stated:
B
One of the strongest arguments against the regionalization of policing services is that it may be
detrimental to community-based policing.
B
Community-based policing has been accepted more and more as a strategy to combat increasing crime
rates and fear of crime. Hence local communities are concerned that, if policing resources are drawn
away from them if policing priorities are determined at a super-regional as opposed to a local level,
and if police lose identification with their community, the aims of community-based policing cannot be
met.
*
Police from a larger regional force will be transferred frequently, will not develop community ties
and will not understand or respond to the needs of the particular community.
B
The emphasis on professionalism in the regional police force may have adverse effects if it creates
police officers who are exclusively law eforcement-oriented, formal and distant from the communities
they serve.
According to the Oppal Report, other potentially harmful effects of increased amalgamation of police
Services include:
Loss of local control. Under this system, local governments would turn over control of policing to a super
regional authority. Local citizens would then have considerably less say in local policing policy.
Loss of local resources. If super regionalization results in the allocation of resources according to the
distribution of reported crime, the smaller, more stable communities will suffer the effects of reduced
service levels.
Loss of local police identity. Communities and members of the individual organizations who want to retain
their unique local identity will be unable to do so.
11
In its review of other Canadian police jurisdictions, particularly in Quebec, the Oppal Commission found
that greater amalgamation had indeed translated into a loss of local control and a loss of local resources.
The Quebec example also confirms some of the arguments against regionalization. For example, after the
formation of the Montreal Urban Community Police force, there was a redistribution of police personnel
from suburban areas to the downtown core. . . . This resulted in considerable public dissatisfaction with
policing services in suburban areas, and the growth of private security and parallel public safety services to
meet the policing needs of those communities.
An expansion of the current regional policing model will not preserve the ability of the local Police Service
to ensure the continued protection of life and property, promoting a safe environment for our communities.
When one thinks of New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago, the safety and community spirit of the Police
Services is not the philosophy that comes to mind rather, these departments are considered to be nameless,
faceless armies of officers.
12
The Super City Model
Recently a plan, commonly known as the Super City model, has been proposed as a formula to reform
the GTA.
In its simplest form, the Super city model would:
B
reduce the number of municipalities in a region
. eliminate the regional tier of government completely
. make police forces directly accountable to local municipal councils
Under this plan, the number of separate municipalities would be reduced through forced amalgamation.
The benefit of this, proponents say, is to achieve a larger critical mass, while de-layering, decreasing and
simplifying the government bureaucracy,
By adopting the Super City model, supporters say, economies of scale can be achieved, government is kept
small and accountable, and municipal identities are, for the most part preserved. This is, in effect, a best
of both worlds scenario, selecting the benefits of the Town model and the regional model now in place.
In reality, if policing were organized under the guidelines of the Super City model, policing would be
the worst of two worlds.
. For the past 20years, the Ontario experience has been to refine its regional services. In that time,
the provinces police services have led the way in seeking and finding ways to achieve greater
regional cooperation and operational efficiencies. Inter-regional contracting and other co-operative
initiatives have increased operational economies of scale to a point where they are approaching
their optimum.
If the Super City model is unable to create the uniform critical mass to achieve the required
economies of scale, a deterioration of service quality in some Ontario jurisdictions, particulatev
specialty policing services such as C. I. S. O., Homicide, Identification etc., may result in both public
safety and economic efficiencies being compromised.
13
However, if a decision is made by the political leaders of the province to adopt the Super City model,
the current regional/geographical policing system, which existed before the implementation of
Regional Government, can be fitted to the new model. The current system is designed to provide quality
policing services for a number of municipalities within a defined geographic area, and the adoption of
the Super City model would not fundamentally change the polices mandate. Only the reporting
structure would have to be worked out.
Policing is a unique public service, governed by provincial statute. We support the current Police Service
Board model as it has proven to be an effective means for ensuring necessary provincial representation as
well as community representatives.
14
Conclusions and Recommendations
The opportunity to review the current status and future direction of policing in Ontario as facilitated by the
Golden Commission has proven to be a valuable and thought-provoking exercise.
A number of models for the GTA are under consideration, and the merits of the three principal proposals
have been considered in this submission.
B
B
B
B
B
After careful analysis the police Associations of Halton, Peel, Durham and York regions have
concluded that the most efficient and cost-effective means for providing policing services to the
people of the GTA is a further refinement of the existing regional model.
The correct choice for public safety is one that can maximize the number of police officers on the
beat for any given geographic area or population. We believe the current system clearly out
performs any other model on this key criterion.
The available empirical evidence indicates that the regional police services of the GTA have reached
a point where service effectiveness and cost efficiencies arising from economies of scale are close
to optimal. In other words, the current system is the right size and of the right type for the
communities and populations it serves.
Creation of a Super Force as prescribed in the Super Region plan would result in the creation of
diseconomies of scale, organizational inefficiencies, and a reduction of public safety.
The institution of a Super Region police force would make the implementation and practice of
community oriented policing unattainable. High-crime areas would receive a disproportionate
number of the available police resources, to the disadvantage of other areas.
The adoption of the Super City model would reduce the opportunity to build on the cost efficiencies
that have been achieved in the GTA over the past 20 years. However, of all the alternatives to the
current regional model, The Super City model is the most compatible with the current system. If the
Super City model is adopted as the overall plan for political organization in the GTA, we recommend
that the current regional/geographic organization of police services remain intact.
The Town model under consideration would lead to the inefficient and un-coordinated delivery of
policing services throughout the GTA. The economies of scale that have been achieved over the past 20
years would disappear and the capacity for inter-force co-operation and coordination would be
15
seriously compromised. In addition, the current trend toward greater reliance on the Ontario Provincial
Police for provision of police services in smaller communities would be accelerated.
While we are recommending an enhanced system, we are not claiming that the current
regional/geographical model is the ultimate state of policing in the GTA. For the past 20 years,
Ontarios police forces have been constantly seeking ways to refine the regional/geographic model..
Far from being a stagnant blueprint, it has proved to be a dynamic system, capable of being adapted,
modified and improved. We welcome this continuing challenge.
We believe the current regional/geographic model used by the police should be applied to the
provision of fire, hydro, transit, garbage and other municipal services. The current system has
proven effective for policing in the GTA, and its principles can be used advantageously by other
municipal service organizations.
July 13, 1995
Golden Task Force
for the Greater Toronto
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Ms Golden:
Area
Administration
(416) 396-7775
Fax: (416) 396-7665
Emergency . ........911
FIRE SERVICES MODEL, GREATER TORONTO AREA
Several options for the delivery of fire services are open for consideration including
the status quo up to and including a provincial fire service. However, delivery of
essential services such as the fire service is a fundamental requirement within the
Greater Toronto Area (G. T. A.) and as such should be delivered in the most cost
effective and efficient manner. The following is the personal and professional
opinion of Fire Chief Thomas L Powell, City of Scarborough and is not intended to
reflect the position or opinion of the city of Scarborough.
The current system of providing eme
efficient and is filled with duplication
gency services and inspection service is not
The need to consolidate such aspects of the
essential emergency service that will have a direct impact on the delivery of the
services to the public is evident, Each municipal fire department is independent of
the adjacent fire department and have developed separate support systems.
Emergency dispatch and communications
Each department has its own emergency dispatch systems and communications
centres for the operational aspects of the fire department, operating on radio
frequencies that are not necessarily compatible with the neighboring department,
it is not unusual to have fire trucks on the same street that are incapable of talking
to each other,
Fire Fighter Training
Each department has its own training standards and training facilities. Training
standards in the province are the responsibility of the Ontario Fire Marshal, no
provincial standard exists therefore the standard of training varies with the ability
of the municipality to fund and support the individual fire departments. This is the
case across G.T.A. however a reasonable level of training is maintained by the
G.T.A. fire department notwithstanding that each department operates under
different levels of commitment by the local municipality in terms of financial
support. The need to consolidate the training programs and the training facilities for
use by all of the G.T.A. fire departments is in the best interests of public safety
and makes sense.
Fire Inspections and Fire prevention
Fire prevention and inspection services delivered by fire departments varies across
the G.T.A. as each department has its own method of conducting fire inspections
and interpretation of the fire code. Often the level of inspections for public fire
safety is effected by the financial ability of each municipality together with the
degree of commitment to the need for fire inspections within the various
municipalities that make up the G.T.A. In order to provide a uniform inspection
program and a level playing field for all the business owners in G.T.A. it is in the
best interest of public safety and important for the education of the public that this
function be a consolidated service.
2
Fire response and Fire station location
The operational aspect of the service is determined by the political boundary it is
not unusual to have fire stations located close to the political boundaries and as
such closer to adjacent municipalities street system than the municipalities own fire
station. However there are no agreements among the municipalities to permit the
fire department to cross the boarder on automatic response to the incident. This
should not be confused with the mutual aid agreements that are prolific in the fire
service as automatic response is the closest station to the call being the first to
respond regardless of political boundaries. The reason that automatic response is
not popular is that municipalities have developed the fire department for the
protection of their residents and have no responsibility to supplement the adjacent
fire department considering that the service they are responsible for are in place to
assist the citizens of their host city first and foremost.
Fire department administration
Central administration and central purchasing has proven to be cost effective in all
kinds of situations the fire service should be treated no differently. Duplication of
services and inconsistent purchasing processes is common place. Amalgamation of
these functions should be considered in the interest of fiscal responsibility.
3
Alternative models
Examples of larger jurisdictions can be found all over the world, an example of this
can be found in the United Kingdom a comprehensive report on the subject of
restructuring the British fire service was produced in May 1970 the Report Of The
Departmental Committee On The Fire Service, was presented by the chairman Sir
Ronald Holroyd, the report was also known as the Holroyd report, this report
initiated major change and reduction in the numbers of fire departments, by
consolidation and amalgamation of the services. The British fire services operates
under a system that allows for a local authority system outside of the municipal
government. The model contained in this report is taken from the concepts of the
British model.
In order to provide a fiscally responsible and efficient emergency fire and rescue
service to the G.T.A. consideration could be given to the appointment of a G.T.A.
fire commission. Responsible for the integrated fire department incorporating all of
the densely populated areas of the municipalities in and around metropolitan
Toronto. For example the six fire departments of metropolitan Toronto could be
combined with the fire departments from the urban and populated areas of the
surrounding municipalities for provision of one consolidated fire service.
The fire commission would consist of appointed members by the councils of the
municipalities that the new fire department serves. The commission would be
structured in a similar format to the Metro Toronto Police services board. With
appointments being directly controlled by the participatory municipalities.
When considering the provision of emergency services to the G.T.A. the role of the
fire service should not be restricted to fire operations the current fire departments
respond to a mix of calls including traffic accidents, Industrial accidents, chemical
incidents, medical assistance and of course fire calls.
The possibility of the fire service providing the emergency medical ambulance
service is certainly not uncomprehensible as the first response to all medical calls in
Metro Toronto is the fire service along with the Police and Ambulance service and
obvious area of duplication that needs to be addressed. The concept of providing
medical response and transportation by the fire service is not a new concept this is
practiced in many areas of the province and is certainly a viable and cost effective
option for the G. T. A..
5
Conclusion
In conclusion there are six fire departments within Metropolitan Toronto ranging in
size from less than two hundred fire fighters in East York to the Toronto fire
department with over 1300 fire fighters. When considering the G.T.A. there is no
reason to consider that current metropolitan boarder is restrictive when considering
emergency services.
The following model
over the G.T.A. in a
capable of including
is one method of providing consolidated emergency services
consistent and efficient manner, the model is flexible and is
such current departments as is considered appropriate in
conjunction with or independent from the political boundaries and can include such
numbers that are considered expedient depending upon or independent from the
political municipal system that may come out of the current review of the GTA as
current fire departments
the model as desired.
or portions of their areas could be added or deleted from
6
FIRE COMMISSION MODEL
OPTIONS
Option One
Create Metropolitan Toronto fire commission
Etobicoke
Scarborough
North YorK
Toronto
East York
York
Option Two
Create one G.T.A. fire commission
Defining the GTA as incorporating the populated areas of adjacent towns and cities to the
current Metropolitan Boundaries.
Toronto
North York
Scarborough
Etobicoke
York
East York
Mississauga
Brampton
Pickering
Ajax
Markham
Richmond Hill
Vaughan
Note: Extending the Metropolitan Toronto boundary from Steels Avenue to Major
Mackensie Drive to incorporate only the areas of the three municipalities Markham,
Vaughan and Richmond Hill that are densely populated.
Option three
Create four fire Commissions as follows.
Peel Durham York Toronto
Mississauga Oshawa Vaughan Toronto
Brampton Pickering Richmond Hill North York
Burlington Ajax Markham Scarborough
Whitby Newmarket Etobicoke
Aurora York
East York
Option Four
Create three G.T.A. fire commissions using geographical and population criteria
West East Central
Etobicoke Scarborough Toronto
Mississauga Pickering Vaughan *
Brampton Markham* North York*
Burlington Ajax Markham*
Oakville* East York* York
North York* Richmond Hill*
Toronto*
Note:
Portions of the municipality indicated by * incorporated within the boundaries indicated
below.
West:
The Western Fire Commission could include those areas included in the borders of
Mississauga, Brampton, Etobicoke and Burlington. as well as those areas densely
populated in Oakville
East:
The East Fire Commission could include those areas east of Hwy #404, South of
Major Mackensie Drive, West of Pickering and Ajax eastern Borders.
Central:
The Central Fire Commission could include those areas east of the western borders
of Toronto, York, North York and Vaughan, South of the Major Mackensie Drive and
west of Hwy #404.
8
METROPOLITAN TORONTO FIRE COMMISSION
SCARBOROUGH
GREATER TORONTO AREA COMMISSION
Mississauga
Toronto
North York
Scarborough
Etobicoke
York
East York
Brampton
Vaughan
Richmond
Markham
hill
Ajax
t he GTA :
Re-TooIing to Manage
Growth, Ensure Tax
Fairness and Improve
Local Accountability
Proposals to Further Discussion
Submitted by the Regional Chairs of
Durham
Halton
Peel
York
June 1995
June, 1995
Dear Reader,
The Regional Chairs of Peel, Halton, York and Durham are pleased to provide this
paper to continue the discussion on how to make the GTA work well. We recognize
that there have been, and will continue to be, new positions and briefs added to this
discussion. Our goal in this effort is to further the discussion in a constructive and
thought provoking fashion.
Clearly, there is no single, simple solution to the problems that exist within the GTA.
The problems have developed slowly over time and they have been studied. We
believe corrective action must begin now, and to ensure success, we will have to
collaborate on the solutions. While everyone involved in the governance of the GTA
may generally agree on the list of problems we face, our strategies and proposed
solutions are based on our differing perspectives. There is no question that this paper
reflects a 905 regional perspective, although every effort has been made to recognize
and value different points of view.
We make four straight forward proposals for change that include aggressive growth
management practices, a financial swap, greater accountability in governance with
improved intergovernmental co-ordination, and tax reform. We have submitted this
paper to the Golden Task Force for its consideration.
Your comments and suggestions are most welcome on this discussion paper. Please
send them to us c/ o Emil Kolb, Regional Chair, 10 Peel Centre Drive, Brampton,
Ontario L6T 4B9.
Yours truly,
Em i l Ko l b
Chair, Region of Peel
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Reforming the GTA:
Proposals to Further Discussion
Table of Contents
Page
Executive Summary
The 905 GTA - Profile In Urban Growth And Diverse Communities 3
Managing GTA Growth - Fixing The Planning/Financing Problem 5
Principles For Re-Tooling The GTA 6
GTA Governance Reforms: Proposals For Discussion 8
GTA Service Financing Reforms: Proposals For Discussion 11
GTA Tax And Assessment Reforms: Proposals For Discussion 1 4
Summation - Practical And Ambitious Reform For The GTA 17
Figure 1- GTA Growth Profile 3
Figure 2- Diversity in 905 GTA 4
Figure 3- Land Use Planning - The Key 5
Figure 4- Provincial-Municipal Service Finance Swaps 11
Figure 5- GTA Unconditional Grants/Household 13
Figure 6- Assessed Value Relative to Market Value (GTA) 15
The Greater Toronto Area
Lake Ontario
Executive Summar y
Background
Metro Toronto and the four surrounding regions of the Greater Toronto Area [GTA] will
face many common challenges in the future that will require close cooperation. As the
GTA continues to grow in the years to come, most of the growth will occur in the
Regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York, creating distinct growth-related pressures for
those Regions.
It is this common agenda centred on growth management that has prompted the
preparation of this joint discussion paper. Any GTA reform agenda must be broad enough
todeal with the core issues of Metro Toronto, as well as the growth-related challenges
of Durham, Halton, Peel and York.
In essence, GTA reform is an issue whose time has come.
The overall reform must be guided by clear and unequivocal principles, namely:
Proposals
B Improved planning and growth management through a hard service/soft service
financing swap with the Province (Assumption that provincially mandated/funded
services continue to be delivered by municipalities, most likely on a fee-for-service
basis]
B Enhanced political accountability achieved through a clean two-tier municipal system
featuring significantly fewer special purpose bodies
B Greater fairness in allocating property tax burdens among and between property
classes, achieved by adopting both assessment reform and variable mill rates in each
of the five GTA regions
This paper has been developed by the Regional Chairs of Durham, Halton, Peel and York
in order to further constructive dialogue on reforming the GTA. While many of the ideas
in this discussion paper are not new, they are presented as part of a coherent and
practical reform package. The paper is not intended to be a magical solution, but rather
a starting point that will lead to a resolution of these complex issues.
The Chairs of Durham, Halton, Peel and York look forward to playing an active role in
the governance reform process and will work diligently to ensure governance changes
work to the benefit of all residents of the GTA.
1. TRE 905 GTA - A PROFILE IN
URBAN GROWTH AND DIVERSE
COMMUNITIES
The five regional governments of the
Greater Toronto Area [GTA] will face a
number of common challenges in the
coming years the reality of provincial
fiscal cutbacks, the inevitability of
escalating service demands from an aging
population, the need for more compact
nodal urban form, the promotion of
sustainable economic development.
These challenges will be of critical
i mpor t ance t o t he r esi dent s and
businesses of the GTA. The GTAs regional
governments will need to work together
i n r espondi ng t o t hese common
challenges. The GTA regions must
maximize the efficiency and effectiveness
of service provision while maintaining
clear political and fiscal accountability to
their respective taxpayers. Many of the
challenges of the future will bind together
the interests of Metropolitan Toronto and
the surrounding area code 905 regions
of Halton, Peel, York and Durham.
Without minimizing the need for GTA-wide
co-operation on a broad range of issues,
the regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and
York are also acutely aware of distinct
challenges they must grapple with.
Foremost among these challenges is
growth management. It is the challenge of
growth management, and the need for a
clear provincial understanding of the
nature of thi s chal l enge, that has
prompted the preparation of a common
discussion paper on GTA reform. Any
GTA reform agenda that fails to address
growth management will have been cast
far too narrowly and will not enjoy broad
support across the entire GTA.
There is no doubt that the GTA is going to
grow in coming years. Most of this
growth will occur in Durham, Halton, Peel
and York. Figure 1 displays population
data pertaining to both Ontario and the
GTA, prepared by the Ontario Ministry of
Finance. This data indicates that the GTA
will account for an increasingly
share of the total Ontario population
by year 2021 ). The forecast
FIGURE 1- GTA Growth Profile (Ministry
60%
60%
40%
30%
20%
10%
o%
60%
5 0 %
40%
30%
20%
10%
o%
large
[44%
also
indicates that the relative share of the

GTA population living in the 905 regions
will significantly increase in future years.
The GTA reform agenda should be
defined, in large part, by this looming
population growth and the resulting need
to re-tool existing approaches to
planning, municipal finance, the service
responsibility mix, and governance
institutions. This discussion paper will put
forward ideas and proposals on the scope
and nature of re-tooling required to shape
the coming growth into a positive force
that enhances the quality of life and
economic circumstances of the entire
GTA. Durham, Halton, Peel and York
understand the importance of the core
Metro Toronto municipalities without a
healthy urban core the social, fiscal and
economic vitality of the entire GTA will be
at risk. The four 905 regions are
confident that the core Metro Toronto
municipalities understand the importance
of proper growth management in realizing
the common goal of a healthy and vibrant
GTA. The GTA reform agenda needs to be
broad enough to address issues affecting
both the urban core and the surrounding
growth regions.
While growth management
pressures have prompted
Durham, Halton, Peel and York
to advance a common agenda
for GTA reform, it is
not ewort hy t hat t hei r
respective communities are a
study in diversity in terms of
how they have managed past
growth, and how they will
manage future growth. Take
the issue of urban form. The
reality of the 905 urban form
defies t he superfi ci al
stereotype of monolithic urban sprawl
that some critics incorrectly assume
exists. In fact, Durham, Halton, Peel and
York feature a diverse assortment of
urban forms and historical communities.
The diversity of urban form and historical
communities is complemented by other
sources and types of diversity. For
instance, Figure 2 illustrates significant
di fferences among regi ons in
Persona Per
I
327 598 267 164
Square KM
I
GWA Special& Supp. 5 12 8 26
Spending/HW
Police
I
376 458 345 370
Spending/HW
Childcare
I
61 51 90 70
Spending/HW
B 1994 spending ($), 1993 Households
residential/non-residential assessment
balance, population density, discretionary
welfare spending, police spending per
househol d and chi l dcare
spending per household.
It is important to recognize
the merits of diversity within
the GTA. Differences in urban
form, economic structures,
demographic profiles, and
public service levels reflect a
clear expression of choice
a val ued di ver si t y t hat
r es ponds t o individuaI
communi ty needs and
preferences.
2. MANAGING GTA GROWTH: FIXING
THE PLANNING/FINANCING
PROBLEM
The challenge of managing growth is well
understood by the municipalities of the
GTA. A great deal of effort has already
been invested in public consultations and
expert studies on how best to manage
growth. The various official plans and
strategic plans have grappled with growth
related issues. An important consensus
has emerged from this concentrated
muni ci pal ef f or t at GTA gr owt h
management:
. successful growth management must
result in communities characterized by
economic vitality, environmental
sustainability, and a high quality of life
f eat ur i ng balanced work/1 live
relationships;
B significant re-tooling of governance
i nsti tuti ons, servi ce
responsibilities, and the
municipal finance system
will be required to meet
the growth management
challenges of the future.
Experience also indicates that
insightful land use planning is
t he key ingredient f or
successful growth management
in the GTA. As Figure 3
illustrates, planning largely
determines a communitys
urban form. The nature of its
FIGURE 3- Land Use Planning the Key
Land Use
Planning
Infrastructure and
Service Delivery
pressures
Financing/Affordability
Impacts on Taxes/Rates
pressures faced by the local government
sector. This simple causal model illustrates
the importance of farsighted planning and
the symbiotic nature of planning decisions
and servi ce fi nanci ng/affordabi l i ty
pressures. Major capital infrastructure
investments actually precede the expected
assessment growth that must eventually pay
the bills clearly a risk if the
desired amount/composition of
assessment fails to materialize.
This front-end risk must be
balanced with insightful planning.
The i mpor t ance of good
planning is not limited to
muni ci pal governments or
municipal servi ces. The
Province must understand that
approval of an official plan in a
growth municipality carries
with it an implicit agreement to
supply the necessary provincial
urban form
(live/work relationship, housing mix,
infrastructure schools, highways, social
services, perhaps even hospitals. The
residential/non-residential assessment
balance] defines the communitys growth
Province cannot continue to permit
related infrastructure and service delivery
growth, reap tax revenues generated by
growth, and encourage growth while
pressures. These infrastructure and service
delivery pressures will, in turn, largely define
simultaneously avoiding the capital and
the affordability limits and financing
operati ng i nvestments requi red to
properly manage growth, A
provincial growth management
st r at egy and/ or cost of
development study needs to
be devel oped to manage
growth in tandem with regional
and area official plans. In the
absence of a pr ovi nci al
commi t ment t o meet i t s
growth related responsibilities,
growth oriented municipal
official plans should simply not
be approved, Municipalities
understand that it is possible
for a community to collectively
prosper from well managed
growth. It is also possible for poorly
managed growth to become a fiscal and
quality of life burden that weighs down the
community. Growth is not necessarily good
or bad it depends on the composition of
the growth, the nature of the urban form,
and growth management strategies.
Planning is always the root of good/bad
growth management and i ts fi scal
consequences.
The current system of managing growth
and development does not recognize the
symbiotic planning/financing relationship
i l l ustrated i n Fi gure 3. Too often,
provincial and municipal officials/agencies
empowered to make planning decisions
do not adequately consider the long-term
financial implications of their decisions.
The failure to consider the long-term cost
of development is not terribly surprising
because the planning decision-makers
are not required to act as the financiers
who must subsequentl y rai se the
revenues required to pay for the full cost
of their decisions. Currently, provincial
capital grants and cost-shared programs
di l ut e and f r agment t he nat ur al
planning/financing linkages that should
guide municipal planning and development
decisions. This fragmentation
of the naturally integrated
pl anni ng/fi nanci ng causal
relationship makes for poor
growth management.
If successful growt h
management is going to occur
in the future, a mending of the
now fragmented planning/
financing relationship should
result from proposals to re-
t ool GTA governance
i nsti tuti ons, service
responsibilities, and financing
systems.
3. PRINCIPLES FOR RE-TOOLING
THE GTA
A discussion of re-tooling in the GTA must
begin by acknowledging the existing
political consensus that has developed
around the allocation of population and
empl oyment growth, the meri ts of
sustainable development, the importance
of balanced work/live relationships, the
advantages of nodal settlement patterns,
and the need for seamless delivery of
inter-nodal services like transit. The Office
of the Greater Toronto Area (OGTA] has
played an important role in facilitating this
political consensus. This GTA vision
provides the broad framework within
which re-tooling principles should be
discussed.
As noted previously, Durham,
Halton, Peel and York believe that growth
management is a key issue that needs to
be discussed within the framework of the
GTA governance debate. Mending the
cur r ent l y f r agment ed I and use
planning/financing relationship in the GTA
wi l l ensure that the ful l costs of
development and redevelopment decisions
are pr oper l y t aken i nt o account .
Successful growth management will
result, and should provide the fiscal
breathing room required to efficiently and
effectively deliver services to our taxpaying
customers in an era of ongoing fiscal
restraint. Only through proper growth
management can the al l -i mportant
municipal commitment to customer
service good service at a good price
be realized.
The following principles will guide this
papers deliberations on how best to re-tool
the existing GTA governance institutions,
service responsibility and financing
systems:
1, Diverse urban forms, municipal
service levels, and region/area
service mixes are desirable in the
sense that they offer residents and
businesses choices in terms of quality
of life and cost of doing business;
2. Municipal governments in the GTA play
a key role in determining the nature
and composi t i on o f g r o wt h /
redevelopment and should therefore
be required to finance the principal
share of related costs;
3. Income redistributive services like
General Welfare Assistance should be
funded from progressive revenue
sources like the income tax rather
than the property tax;
4. Muni ci pal governments are the
appr opr i at e vehi cl e t o del i ver
provincially mandated human services
because of their ability to combine
bot h economi es of scal e and
economies of management proximity,
and the relative ease of customer
access to services;
5. Municipalities should be encouraged to
utilize user pay/beneficiary pay
financing mechanisms to self-finance
utility style services like environmental
sewer, water supply and waste
collection/disposal. These services
are characterized by the ability of
users to make consumptive decisions
that affect overall program costs.
Such costs should not be absorbed by
the property tax;
6. Governance changes should promote
political accountability by reducing the
current proliferation of special purpose
bodies (SPB) and ensuring municipal
majority representation on the boards
of any SPB that levy them for budget
purposes;
7. The GTA should retain the
components of the governance,
service responsibility, and financing
systems that have proven to be
effective over time.
8. Changes in current governance,
service responsibility, and financing
arrangements should be based on
fact, as opposed to anecdotes or
untested perceptions;
9. The GTA should operate without any
inherent structural disadvantages vis-
a-vis the rest of the province
governance and finance tools should
be comparable.
10. The documented net outflow of
provincial revenues from the GTA to
the rest of the province should be
reduced.
4.
i]
GTA GOVERNANCE REFORMS:
PROPOSALS FOR DISCUSSION
Assessing Competing Governance
Models
- -
The task of assessing possible GTA
governance models (i.e. who does what
for whom] is a controversial and complex
issue. This undertaking only becomes
manageable when:
1] service responsibility/delivery
function is allowed to determine
institutional form and
2] optimal service delivery catchment
areas and scale economies are
considered.
Some services [e.g. parks and
recreation] are amenable to
significant diversity and local
variation. Other services [e.g.
wel fare, pol i ci ng] l end
t hemsel ves t o broader
standardization. Service level
diversity and standardization
are each appropriate in an
urban area as l arge and
complex as the GTA the
degree of di ver si t y or
standardi zati on simply
depends on the nature of the
area [unit costs increase with size of
catchment area) may suggest service
delivery via a local, as opposed to regional
or GTA-wide, catchment area. Economies
of management proximity may suggest
that GTA-wide catchment areas produce
institutions that are too large/complex/
multi-layered to yield the economies
associ at ed wi t h hands- on seni or
management oversight.
When competing governance models are
assessed using the concepts mentioned
above, a number of cautious observations
can be made:
B The existing collection of two-tier
systems in the GTA generate significant
particular service being considered. The
size of appropriate catchment areas is a
function of this diversity/standardization.
Achieving optimal service delivery and
management economies also requires
an institutional form that features
differing catchment areas. Economies of
scale may suggest a given service should
be delivered at a regional or GTA-wide
catchment area, in order to lower per
unit costs. Diseconomies of scale
associated with too large a catchment
economies of scale at the
regional level, while
reflecting the need for
service level diversity and
var i at i on at t he ar ea
municipal level. Economies
of management proximity
are currently being achieved
as illustrated by relatively
flat organization structures
al t hough r oom f or
further streaml i ni ng i s
possible;
A multiple single tier
har dshi p coul d r esul t f or some
GTA t axpayer s i f t h e n e w
harmonized service level reflected
the highest previous service level
standard. Presumabl y, GTA-wi de
tax base harmonization would have
to occur simultaneously across the
new single tier catchment area.
Wh e n t h e s e a d mi t t e d l y c a u t i o u s
observations about competing governance
models are taken into account, the virtues
of the existing two-tier model become fairly
clear. Together, the two tiers act in concert
to deliver a blend of scale efficiencies and
democr at i c par t i ci pat i on, of
st andar di zed ser vi ces and
locally tailored services, of tax
base sharing and beneficiary
pay philosophies. Co-ordination
bet ween t he t wo t i er s i s
expedited through the indirect
election of regional councillors
f r om wi t hi n ar ea muni ci pal
councils. The scale economies,
account abi l i t y, a n d c o -
or di nat i on t hat char act er i ze
two-tier government make it a
ii] Expanding Municipal Powers
The reform of the existing multiple two-
tier governance model for the GTA starts
wi t h a r ecogni t i on t hat f undament al
change must begin at the Province. A
shift in the provincial-municipal paradigm
needs to occur a shift in provincial
a t t i t u d e t h a t a c k n o wl e d g e s GT A
municipalities as legitimate governments
abl e to responsi bl y wi el d permi ssi ve
legislative authority. The children of the
Province are now fully grown, and their
ascent into adulthood requires provincial
recognition through a new Municipal Act.
A s t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f
Municipalities of Ontario (AMO]
has obser ved i n a r ecent
p u b l i c a t i o n , . . , a n e w
Municipal Act should adhere to
the principle that municipalities
shall have a general right to
act on their own initiative with
regard to any matter which is
not exclusively assigned to any
o t h e r g o v e r n m e n t o r
specifically excluded from the
c ompet enc e of muni c i pal
gover n mer i t . On c e t h e e x i s t i n g
framework of municipal powers has been
reformed to recogni ze the real i ti es of
municipal governance in Ontario in the
late 20th century, progress is possible on
other reform questions.
iii] Rationalizing Special
Purpose Bodies
Institutional reform in the GTA must take
into account the publics overall perception
of too much local government that costs
too much. GTA municipalities understand
and sympathi ze wi th publ i c frustrati on
concerning the apparent excess of local
government in the GTA. Taxpayers are
correct in noting that too many public
agencies seem to be involved in making
local decisions, spending public funds and
delivering services. The problem of too
much government is best understood as a
pr obl em of t oo much unaccount abl e
government. The municipal landscape is
dotted with numerous non-elected Special
Pur pose Bodi es [ SPBs] i nvol ved i n
municipal issues. Consider the following
list:
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Library Boards
Police Service Boards
Transit Commissions
Housing Authorities
Childrens Aid Societies
Multi-Service Agencies [MSAs]
for Long-Term Care
Hydro Commissions
Whi l e t hi s l i st i s not exhaust i ve, i t
demonstrates the nature of the problem.
The abundance of SPBs causes confusion
and di l utes the accountabi l i ty of dul y
elected municipal governments. Currently,
SPBs account f or appr oxi mat el y t wo-
thirds of each GTA regions property tax
levy a fact of great concern for elected
regional councils. The 905 regions do
not accept the proposition that taxpayers
are overwhel med by the compl exi ty of
electing local councillors, who in turn sit
on a regional council. Those who suggest
a clean two-tier system [not muddied by
an excess of SPBS] is too complex seem
to display a rather condescending attitude
t owar ds t ax pay er s . Tax pay er s ar e
certai nl y capabl e of understandi ng and
appreciating the rationale behind a clean
two-tier system of local government that
features the indirect election of upper-tier
counci l l or s. The chal l enge bef or e t he
Provi nce i s to rati onal i ze the current
assor t ment of SPBs i nt o t he desi r ed
clean two-tier system. A clean two-tier
system would see the functions carried
out by many of these SPB assumed by
elected municipal councils.
iv] Coordinating GTA-Wide Growth
Management
There i s one fi nal pi ece to the GTA
institutional reform puzzle that still needs
to be put in place a new
mechani sm/structure to ensure proper
pol i cy and pr i or i t y co- or di nat i on bot h
wi t hi n t he Pr ovi nce and bet ween t he
Province and GTA municipalities.
Informed discussion concerning the co-
ordination of growth and redevelopment
pri ori ti es wi thi n the GTA, and i ndeed
cr oss t he ent i r e pr ovi nce, begi ns by
acknowl edgi ng the key rol e pl ayed by
senior levels of government, The federal
government drives population growth in
Canada [and by extension the GTA] via
immigration policy, while the Province can
i mpact the depl oyment of thi s growth
through its own infrastructure investment
decisions, If growth priorities are to be
considered within a rational framework,
the Province needs to develop an Ontario
growth management strategy describing
where growth should ideally be steered
whenever possi bl e London ver sus
Ki t chener - Wat er l oo- Cambr i dge ver sus
Ottawa versus GTA versus Ni agara ?
Pr ov i nc i al i nf r as t r uc t ur e f i nanc i ng
decisions should be made according to
this strategy.
Once the Province has exercised best
efforts at steering growth according to
i t s st r at egy, i t s pl anni ng r ol e shoul d
normally focus on broad cross-boundary
dispute arbitration. Municipalities across
Ontario should determine the urban form
det ai l s of t hei r c ommuni t i es and
plan/phase development accordingly. In
the case of the GTA, the provincial role is
10
more complex. The nature of the GTA
megalopolis and the magnitude of its
future growth challenges suggest that a
more indepth provincial co-ordination role
may be required.
The province should establish a forum for
GTA co-ordination which would serve as a
non-i nsti tuti onaI oppor t uni t y f or
muni ci pal and pr ovi nci al el ect ed
representatives to formulate solutions to
inter-municipal servicing issues and
discuss GTA-wide development and
i nf r ast r uct ur e pr i or i t i es. Such a
forum/committee should include Regional
Chairs, Mayors and appropriate provincial
Ministers and MPPs. The forum could be
co-chaired by a new Minister responsible
for the GTA and an appropriate municipal
representative. The Minister would be
charged with the integration of various
ministrys initiatives and policies into a
coherent GTA framework. The Minister
would also act as an advocate of GTA
interests in Cabinet much in the same
Centrepiece of 905 Reform -
Provincial-Municipal
Service Financing Swap
Municipalities absorb Province absorbs
following grants: following costs:
Regions:
GWA
Roads
Child Care
Sewer/Water Public Health (General)
Health Inspection
Homes for Aged
Waste
Unconditional Grant
New Police Public
Security Grant
Area Municipalities:
Roads Properly tax supported
Storm Sewers Education (balancer)
Transit
Unconditional Grant
New:
Property Assessment
B Region/Area/School Board tax shifts eliminated through
mill rate restatement
earlier and includes both regional, area
municipal and education services. The
st r uct ur e of t he pr oposed swap
recognizes that municipally delivered
services feature varying degrees of
provincial interest. In two cases, the
provincial interest in a given service
results in continued provincial-municipal
cost-sharing. In most cases, the re-tooling
principles dictate that one level of
government assume total financing
responsibility for a given service. A
description of the proposed service
financing swap follows.
In an effort to closely align the costs of
growth/redevelopment financing with
municipally driven planning
decisions, the 905 regions
recommend the elimination of
al l provi nci al capi tal and
oper at i ng gr ant s f or t he
following hard municipal
services local and arterial
roads, sanitary and storm
sewers, water and wastewater
distribution/ collection, waste
management, local health
inspections. Transit cost-
sharing with the Province
should be re-negotiated to
allocate a higher proportion of
t ot al pr ogr am cost s t o
municipalities. The costs of
property assessment in the
GTA would also be completely
absorbed by municipalities.
the widely held belief that municipalities
are well equipped to continue delivering
these provincially mandated/funded
human services probably on a fee for
ser vi ce basi s. Fee f or ser vi ce
arrangements with the Province should
include comprehensive management
incentives clauses that preserve the
existing municipal commitment to cost
control and efficient management.
Local property tax support for education
would be reduced by the amounts
necessary to balance new municipal
costs with new provincial costs.
While simplifying the financing and
In return, the Province should assume
100 per cent financing responsibility for
human services that redistribute income
and t hose t hat f eat ur e a pr i mar y
provincial interest welfare, child care,
homes for the aged, and public health
[ except heal t h i nspect i on] . Thi s
component of the swap is consistent with
accountability structures for
many services, the proposed
swap also recognizes the
merits of maintaining shared
financing for two specific
servi ces t hat f eat ur e
si gni fi cant provi nci al and
municipaI i nt er est s. I n
recognition of the provincial
i nt er est i n GTA t r ansi t
[especially inter-nodal transit],
amended cost-shari ng
mechanisms would remain in
place. Municipal policing is a
second ser vi ce t hat has
traditionally featured a strong
provincial interest witness
the provincial insistence on
mai ntai ni ng the power to
appoint a majority of police
board members. In order to give concrete
financial expression to the Provinces
legitimate interest in municipal policing, it
is proposed that the existing unconditional
grants for all GTA municipalities be
replaced with a new conditional public
security policing grant. Existing upper
and l ower-ti er uncondi ti onal grant
r evenues woul d f i nance t he new
FIGURE 5- GTA Unconditional Grants/Household
240
220
200
180
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
conditional public security policing grant.
An important issue associated with the
proposed public security grant for
policing is the treatment of growth. The
GTA will continue to attract an increasing
share of province-wide population growth
As well, the lions share of future
population growth in the GTA will be
focused on the four 905 regions.
However, current unconditional grant
entitlements are calculated in terms of
year-over-year percentage changes that
do not recognize growth. The current
unconditional grant allocation in the GTA
also features significant per household
grant variations that can no longer be
justified by a now obsolete historical grant
formula. Figure 5 illustrates the variance
in per household unconditional grants for
the GTA regions. For Peel and York, a
1993 per
Metro level
household allocation at the
would translate into an annual
mill rate decrease of roughly 2 per cent ($
million). The proposed public security grant for
policing will need to be structured in a way that is
sensitive to growth pressures as well as non-
growth factors.
The proposed swap makes good sense from a
number of perspectives. It would result in GTA
municipalities raising 100 per cent of needed
capital financing for their road, waste, sewer and
water infrastructure and an expanded share of
transit financing the key long-term growth
management costs that arise from municipal
planning decisions. The swap would also result in
100 per cent municipal financial responsibility for
the hard service operating cost pressures that
also arise from these same planning decisions.
The Province would gain 100 per cent financing
control over social and health services that are
often income targeted and redistributive in nature
thus ensuring funding from more progressive
revenue sources. Meaningful progress could also
be made in reducing the existing reliance
on property taxes to fund primary and
secondary education.
Better muni ci pal pl anni ng and an
enhanced emphasis on responsible
growth management decision-making
would also be much needed byproducts
of the swap. The province would still
approve regional official plans and would
thus be in a position to ensure that
municipal planning and development
decisions did not adversely affect its own
human service cost structures. The
province could also consider a different
deployment of growth across Ontario, if it
believed a redeployment could improve its
return on existing human
infrastructure.
It is readily acknowledged that
more analytical work remains
t o be done shoul d t hi s
proposal prove t o be of
i nterest to the Provi nce,
Whi l e t he 905 regi ons
understand the need for some
rough measure of fi scal
neutrality in implementing
such a swap, they are not
adverse to any reasonable
modification of this proposal
servi ces
The 905 regions are sensitive to existing
inequities in the property tax/assessment
system , and feel meaningful and timely
reform is essential if successful growth
management is going to occur.
Province-Wide Inequities
The provincial-local finance system in the
GTA features a variety of problems. Many
of these problems are well documented in
both municipal and academic circles. The
most serious, all-encompassing problem
in the provincial-local finance system has
recently been documented by the Greater
Toronto Co-ordinating Committee [GTCC]
in its study Rethinking the Fundamentals:
Provincial-Local Finance in the Greater
Toronto Area, This GTCC study
assuming it is consistent with the above-
mentioned ten re-tooling principles.
6.
REFORMS: PROPOSALS FOR
DISCUSSION
This papers proposed swap of service
financing responsibilities between the
regions and the Province will result in
significant improvements in GTA planning
and growth management, but may not
materially reduce or reallocate the existing
property tax burden within each region.
documents the annual outflow
of $2,400 per household in
provincial revenues [generated
wi thi n the GTA] to other
economi c regi ons of the
province. The study notes the
outflow trend has worsened
throughout the 1990s despite
the disproportionate impact of
the recession on the GTA and
the unique port of entry
pressures faced by GTA
service providers. All GTA
municipalities support the conclusion
reached in the GTCC study that current
levels of revenue redistribution are simply
not sustainable given the relatively high
property tax burdens and relatively low
per househol d pr ovi nci al subsi dy
allocations that characterize local finance
in the GTA.
GTA Assessment Inequities
Aside from the economic development
disadvantages inherent in having the
highest per household property tax burden
in the province [see Rethinking the
Fundamentals), the property
tax/assessment system in the GTA
features a variety of fairness problems both
within and between property classes. A
brief discussion of these problems follows.
Within any of the five GTA regi ons,
properti es wi thi n the same cl ass,
featuring identical market values, do not
pay the same property taxes for school
board and regional services. This obvious
unfairness occurs because the area
municipalities within each region run on
differing market value base years. These differing
base years make it necessary to calculate
multiple school board and regional mill rates in
order to raise the required property tax revenues
from each area municipality in a given region. For
instance, in the case of York region, nine mill
rates are used to raise property taxes from nine
constituent area municipalities. There is simply no
such thing as a single regional mill rate applied to
each class of property.
Fairness problems also extend to tax burden
allocations between classes of property. Within
any of the five GTA regions, each property class
represents a certain percentage share of total
market val ue. Each property cl ass al so
represents a certain percentage share of total
taxable assessment. Perfect fairness in allocating
tax burdens among classes would demand that a
given class of property represent identical relative
shares of both market value and taxable
assessment. In reality this type of fairness simply
does not exist in any (GTA municipality. Single
family residential properties are under-assessed
(for tax purposes] relative to other property
classes given their share of total market
value. Apartments and commercial/ industrial
properties are over-assessed [for tax purposes]
given their respective shares of total market
value. The magnitude of the between class
unfairness depends on the percentage of market
value used to calculate taxable assessment for
each class, within each municipality.
Figure 6 documents the magnitude of the
between classes assessment unfairness for all
GTA municipalities. Figure 6 data should be read
across the chart for each municipality in order to
appreciate the extent of the problem. For
instance, in the City of Toronto single family
residential property is assessed at a percentage
of market value that is almost five times lower
than apartments and three times lower than
commercial property. In Mississauga single
family residential property is assessed at a
percentage of market value almost twice as low
as apartments but only slightly lower than
commercial property. It should be noted
that this problem is particularly acute in
Metro Toronto, but also exists in the rest
of the GTA. The challenge in the 905
GTA is to pre-empt any further erosion in
tax fairness.
Proposed solutions to the existing fairness
problems within and between property
classes must pass a litmus test that
includes the following criteria:
B Is the solution timely?
B Is the solution practical?
B Is the solution comprehensive?
. Does the solution promote
accountability?
A range of possible solutions to
property assessment and tax
policy inequities have been
considered, and the following
broad conclusions have been
reached:
Assessment Reform
GTA assessment reform should
result in a series of region-wide
property tax bases that feature
caused by the Business Assessment Tax
[BAT) should be addressed as soon as
possible, ideally by eliminating the BAT
and expanding the remaining owner
targeted realty component of business
taxation.
Variable Mill Rates
The Province should eliminate the current
legislative requirement that forces non-
residential mill rates to be set 17.6 per
cent higher than residential mill rates. In
place of the existing requirement, the
Province should permit municipalities to
set variable mill rates for each property
class, with said mill rates to be struck by
t he t ax col l ect i ng l evel of l ocal
within class fairness i.e. properties in
any gi ven cl ass wi t h i dent i cal
assessments should experience identical
tax burdens for upper-tier and school
services. Any proposed new assessment
system should meet the above- mentioned
litmus test of timeliness, practicality,
comprehensiveness and accountability.
The assessment system need not
address between class fairness issues.
Fairness and administrative problems
government. A variability
band could conceivably be
set to limit the degree of mill
r at e vari abi l i ty among
classes, thus avoiding any
efforts to use tax burden
differentials as bonusing
inducements.
Variable mill rates would
provide timely relief to those
muni ci paIi ti es facing
particularly acute between
class fairness problems. Variable mill
rates would also promote accountability
by providing the flexibility for each
municipality to solve its own made at
home fairness problems in a transparent
fashion. Municipal councils would gain
control over the distribution of the
property tax burden between classes, and
would exercise this control in a clear and
accountable fashion undistorted by
complex assessment discount factors
that are invisible to the public.
7. SUMMATION - PRACTICALLY AND
AMBITIOUS REFORM FOR THE
GTA
GTA reform is an issue whose time has
come. The existing system of service
responsibilities must be re-tooled to
ensure improved planning and growth
management. The existing property
tax/assessment system must be re-
tooled to ensure taxpayer fairness and
economic competitiveness. The existing
governance model must be re-tooled to
promote clarity and accountability. The
overall reform effort must be guided by
clear and unequivocal principles
respect for local diversity, the need to
preserve the elements of the status quo
that already work, the importance of both
core Metro Toronto and 905 agendas,
t he enhanc ement of political
accountability, the efficacy of two-tier
service delivery.
In summary, the 905 GTA reform
proposals would re-tool the GTA in a
fashi on that i s both practi cal and
ambitious:
B i mpr oved pl anni ng and gr owt h
management achieved via a hard
service/ soft service financing swap
with the province (a swap fiscally
balanced by removing education costs
from the property tax];
B enhanced political accountability
achieved through a clean two-tier
municipal system featuring significantly
fewer special purpose bodies;
assessment reform and variable mill rates in
each of the five GTA regions;
B necessary co-ordination of GTA-wide growth
management priorities via a new GTA forum
for co-ordination composed of provincial and
municipal politicians.
It is the hope of the 905 Regional Chairs that
this discussion paper, and its proposals, will
balance and strengthen the current dialogue on
GTA reform. While many of the ideas in this
discussion paper are not new, they are presented
as part of a coherent and practical reform
package. The Chairs are convinced that GTA
reform needs to be relevant to the entire GTA -
from Burlington to Clarington and north to
Georgina. The Chairs recognize that a strong
core city is essential, as is a viable growth
management strategy for the evolving towns and
cities surrounding the core.
The regions of Durham, Halton, Peel and York
look forward to playing an active role in the
ongoing governance reform process, and will
work diligently to ensure governance changes
work to the benefit of all the residents of the GTA.
B greater fairness in allocating property
tax burdens among and between
property classes, with said fairness
achieved by adopting both region-wide
September 29, 1995
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
In June of this year, the Regional Chairs of Peel, Halton, York and Durham collaborated on the development of a
Since June, each of us have met with a wide variety of stakeholders on the issue of GTA reform, using the 905 paper
as a focus for discussion. We have also worked with the GTA Mayors in an effort to gain consensus on a range of
proposals for fixing what needs to be fixed in the GTA. Accompanying this package is a letter with attachments,
from Mayor Robertson, who led the GTA Mayors Governance Sub-Committee. As you will see the Mayor has
worked hard with the Mayors to garner considerable support from Mayors across the GTA for the recommendations
contained in this paper. The product of our cumulative efforts is attached.
The proposed solutions and strategies contained in The Seven Point Plan to Reform the GTA - Leading by
Example with Meaningful Change provide a range of viable, common sense solutions that the Province can imple-
ment. Our focus has been to provide solutions that enjoy the support of most municipal political leaders across the
GTA. As you review the individual submissions of municipalities, you will see that their common threads are
woven into this paper. What is proposed promotes actions that will radically improve municipal governance and
administration across all municipalities in the GTA.
In our view this report is the beginning point for discussions and negotiations on provincial /municipal arrangements
into the future. We look forward to working with the Province to establish a framework for implementation of the
seven point plan.
Yours truly,
Emil Kolb Eldred King
Chair, Region of Peel Chair, Region of York
Cc. Mayor Peter Robertson, Chair, GTA Mayors Sub-Committee for Reform
Premier Michael Harris
The Honorable Al Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing
THE SEVEN POINT PLAN FOR GTA REFORM
LEADING BY EXAMPLE
WITH MEANINGFUL CHANGE
SEPTEMBER 1995
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This paper is intended to advance the discussion of the long-term development of the GTA. It
does so by focusing on what we believe are the real problems faced by the GTA and by
expanding upon our solutions to address those problems.
The GTA faces four key problems:
property tax inequities,
inappropriate services funded through property taxes,
clouded program accountability, and
cross-boundary service co-ordination,
We strongly believe that meaningful long-term change will come through accountability, not
through simply changing the structure of governance in the GTA, The services provided by
municipal government in the GTA through the present two-tier structure cost money. They will
still cost money. The majority opinion suggests that removing a level of government will not make
the costs of public services go away.
We propose seven fundamental changes to clarify and simplify the role of municipal government
in the GTA and to enhance the direct accountability of each level of government for the services
they provide and the burden of taxation which they generate.
Page i The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
Under this Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform, the GTA Regions and Municipalities would work
with the Province to implement an inter-related reform program consisting of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Page ii The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
We believe that implementation of the Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform will provide for greater
clarity and accountability to our taxpayers and will allow the long-term sustainable improvements
in service delivery and taxation levels which will flow from that accountability.
I
The Seven Point Plan provides immediate savings in administration of local government services,
without the high transition costs across the GTA caused by eliminating and/or creating
governments, It also establishes clear opportunities for very significant long-term savings.
I
Improving our accountability to the taxpayer will bring the most meaningful and sustainable change
to the governance of the GTA, We believe many political leaders within the GTA share this view
and we look forward to participating further in the improvement of local government in the
Greater Toronto /Area.
Page iii The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
INTRODucTION
This paper focuses on what we
believe are the real problems
faced by the GTA
Page 1
The Seven Point P/an for GTA Reform
WHAT ARE THE REAL PROBLEMS FACING THE GT A?
Four key problems face the GTA:
B property tax inequities
B inappropriate services funded
through property taxes
B clouded program
accountability
B cross-boundary service co-
ordination
We believe that reviewing the experience to date in the development of the GTA and proposing
viable solutions to the real problems facing this part of the Province can lead to the most effective
solutions to the delivery of services in the GTA and thus enhance the GTAs competitive position
in the global economy.
Page 2 The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
Is SI MPLY CHANGI NC THE STRUCTURE OF GOVERNANCE THE AN S WE R?
Simply removing a level of
government will not make the
costs of public services go away
Agreed upon development
forecasts are presently in place
for the GTA
Many of the other submissions to the Golden Task Force have focused on changing the structure
of local government in the GTA some implying innate benefits of creating larger governments,
others implying innate benefits of reducing the number of governments assuming that changes
to the structure are beneficial in and of themselves, We do not support this view,
If we want real and sustainable improvements in the provision of local government services in the
GTA, it is not enough to simply say Remove a level of government! and expect the problems
to be solved. The services provided by municipal government in the GTA cost money, They will
still cost money, And the presence of a two-tier local government structure does not necessarily
imply duplication, In the great majority of cases, the two governments are doing different things
(police service at the upper-tier; fire service at the lower-tier) and if functions are shared there are
clearly defined responsibilities (sewage trunk and treatment facilities at the upper-tier in York for
example; sewage collection systems at the lower-tier). Simply removing a level of government will
not make the costs of public services go away.
Others have questioned whether the present structure can effectively manage the growth of the
GTA in a way that makes efficient use of our land and creates healthy, vibrant and diverse
communities, while still strengthening the role and contribution of Metropolitan Toronto and the
central core,
Agreed upon development forecasts are presently in place for the GTA with individual population
and employment targets for each of the municipalities. These population and employment
forecasts are supported by the municipalities in the GTA.
Page .3 The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
As the 905 Regions
development matures, densities
will be comparable with most of
Metropolitan Torontos local
municipalities
The present two-tier structure
has accommodated growth of
more than 1 million people and
500,000 jobs over the past 20
years
These projections are also supported by the Province of Ontario, Achieving these objectives is
critical to the Province if the GTA is to continue to serve as the primary engine of growth for the
Ontario economy over the next 25 years,
These plans do recognize the local visions of the role each community should play in the GTA
from the predominantly rural nature of municipalities in the north portion of York Region, for
example, to the strengthening of the urban centres to the south.
The long-term development of the 905 Regions will not create vast, land intensive bedroom
communities surrounding Metropolitan Toronto, In fact, as the 905 Regions development matures
early in the next century, it will result in communities with densities of housing units and
employment opportunities which are comparable with most of Metropolitan Torontos local
municipalities.
These plans for the GTA do not, however, ignore Metropolitan Toronto, Metropolitan Torontos
role as the dominant population and employment base in the GTA is recognized and reinforced.
Over 400,000 new residents and 300,000 additional jobs are forecast within Metropolitan
Toronto by 2021, This will represent nearly one-fifth of the population growth and over one-fifth
of the employment growth in the five Regions comprising the GTA. The agreed-upon
development forecasts clearly recognize the key role for Metropolitan Toronto in the long-term
development and vitality of the GTA.
With an ultimate population of nearly seven million people in the GTA, the quality of life and
economic opportunities will depend on vibrant nodes of business and social interaction, This nodal
growth model is incorporated within the plans of the GTA municipalities, These plans are the
result of sound and careful planning, the weighing of priorities and the evaluation of each
communitys vision for the future which were undertaken by each of the municipalities in the GTA,
To restructure boundaries and
start another round of planning
the GTA, in the midst of a
fragile economic recovery,
would not appear to be in the
best interest of the GTA
Meaningfu/ long-term change
will come through
accountability, not through
simply changing the structure of
governance in the GTA
The present two-tier governance structure in the GTA has successfully accommodated growth
of more than I million people and 500,000 jobs since its inception two decades ago, Through
sound planning at the local municipality and Regional and Metropolitan levels and through effective
co-ordination among the Regions, Metropolitan Toronto and the Province, this governance
structure has established a comprehensive development forecast to manage the growth of the
GTA into the next century, to keep Metropolitan Toronto and its central core active and vibrant
and to build healthy, diverse communities in the 905 Regions.
These plans are not sitting on shelves waiting to be implemented, These are not simply
tomorrows plans. They are approved and already in process. Under the present structure and
within the present municipal boundaries and approved development areas, billions of dollars of
private and public sector investments have been and are being made to implement these
development objectives, Land has been acquired by the private sector for development now and
in the future. Services have been installed by the public sector to accommodate its development
into the future, including major roadways and sanitary sewerage and water trunk and treatment
facilities. To effectively freeze these plans, while we restructure governance bodies and political
boundaries in the vague promise of a better solution, to now start another round of planning the
GTA, in the midst of a fragile economic recovery, would not appear to be in the best interest of
either the private sector or the public sector and its taxpayers across the GTA.
Meaningful long-term change will come through accountability, not through simply changing the
structure of governance in the GTA, We must address the major opportunities to enhance local
such as
The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
These opportunities are reflected in the pressures on local government finances, In recent years,
property tax increases in the 905 Regions have been driven by these three forces (as depicted in
Figure I).
The opportunities to enhance local accountability must be addressed.
Figure 1
905 PROPERTY TAX PRESSURES
Share of Mill Rate Increase (1 991-1 995)
Education
OUR PROPOSAL: THE SEVEN POINT PLAN FOR GTA REFORM
We propose The Seven Point
P/an for GTA Reform
THE SEVEN POINT PLAN: ASSESSMENT/ PROPERTY TAX REFORM
The property taxation system in
the 905 Regions is not placing a
burden on Metropolitan
Toronto
Page 8
This latter
inequities
perception, that the property taxation system amongst the Regions creates the taxation
within Metropolitan Toronto, is simply not true.
Single family residences pay a
lower share of the taxes in
Metropolitan Toronto relative
to their value than they do in
the 905 Regions.
Page 9
The imbalance between the classes of properties is greatest in Metropolitan Toronto and this is
the prime cause of the inequities. Single family residences pay a lower share of the taxes in
Metropolitan Toronto relative to their market value than they do in the 905 Regions. This is why
other classes of propertiies pay more relative to their market value than in the 905 Regions (see
Figure 2).
Figure 2
UNBALANCED ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS
If the inequities within
Metropolitan Toronto are first
addressed, comparable Region-
wide reforms should be
implemented within each of the
905 Regions
The objective of assessment/property tax reform should be to ensure equitable treatment of
properties in all classes and in all lower-tier municipalities within a Region, This would mean
comparable taxation for upper-tier services on comparable houses in all area municipalities within
a Region, It would also mean comparable treatment of similar valued properties of any class within
each municipality, as shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3
PROPERTY TAX FAIRNESS
Comprehensive phase-in
mechanisms are necessary when
implementing
reform
assessment
I
I
If the inequities within Metropolitan Toronto are first addressed through assessment and property
tax reform, comparable Region-wide reforms should be implemented within each of the 905
Regions to ensure equity for all taxpayers within the GTA.
It is recognized that property tax reform may create significant shifts among taxpayers. This is
understandable since the present assessment system is rooted in valuations which are, in many
cases, 50 years old with no updating over that period, Comprehensive phase-in mechanisms must
be implemented in conjunction with the reform, including the use of variable mill rates by property
class to ease the transition over time,
We also propose shifting the assessment function from the Province to the Regions and utilizing
improved technologies to update and maintain assessment records. Research into other potential
property assessment methods, such as unit value assessment, would be undertaken in the future.
Because a municipality is the direct beneficiary of assessment, they would have the incentive to
update and improve the efficiency of the local assessment function, This direct relationship and
incentive does not exist when the Province is in control of assessment.
THE S EVEN P OI NT P L A N: PROV I NCI AL/ MUNI CI PAL S ERVI CE FI NANCI NG S W A P
1
It is critical that we address
those areas where the
municipalities and the province
are sharing the responsibility
and funding for a service
Page 12
We believe that it is critical for the cost-effective delivery of public services in the GTA that we
address those areas where the municipalities and the Province are sharing the responsibility and/or
the funding for a service, We believe that each level of government needs clear program authority
and clear funding responsibilities if it is to be accountable to the taxpayer, Each level of government
should also be responsible for funding those services which are appropriate for its tax base.
On this basis, we propose the following exchange of funding responsibilities (Financing SWAP)
between the municipalities and the Province within the GTA,
Figure 4
FINANCING SWAP SPECIFICS
(Revenue Neutral Disentanglement)
Municipalities to finance and Province to finance soft services and
deliver hard services municipalities deliver the services
Roads Welfare
Transit Childcare (includes CAS)
Eliminate all Unconditional Grants
Property Assessment
Education capital and physical Education operating costs as balancer
plant maintenance
The Financing SWAP = revenue neutral formula, no provincial or property tax increases.
Hard services will be a
municipal funding responsibility
Soft services, such as health
and welfare, will become a
Provincial funding responsibility
The Financing SWAP must
balance in each Region for the
taxpayers of each Region as a
whole
We believe that the implementation of a service funding SWAP, similar to that outlined here, will
ensure that the funding source for each serice is most appropriate. Hard services will be a
municipal funding responsibility and will be financed through property taxes and direct user
charges. Soft services, such as health and welfare, will become a Provincial funding responsibility
and will be financed through progressive taxation sources, such as the income tax. This is
appropriate given the income redistribution aspects of most of these programs,
It should be noted that the Policing Grant, identified as a Provincial funding responsibility, is related
to the Provincial control and management of the police function through their majority
appointments to the special purpose Police Service Boards. This grant would not be required if
our proposal to eliminate or revise membership on these special purpose bodies is implemented,
It is our belief that the Financing SWAP must balance in each Region for the taxpayers of each
Region as a whole, In each of the 905 Regions, a higher percentage of Education operating costs
would be subsidized by the Province to achieve the necessary balancing of impacts before and
after the Financing SWAP. With the transfer of funding responsibilities balanced for the taxpayers
of each Region as a whole (including the lower-tier municipalities of that Region), adjustments
would be made to the prior years mill rates among upper-tier and lower-tier municipalities within
each Region so that future changes in budgets and levels of taxation in each municipality would be
presented on a comparable basis. An example of the redistribution of the property tax bill in a
typical 905 Region is shown in Figure 5,
Page 1.? The Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform
Figure 5
The Financing SWAP will
generate large administrative
savings
Education
64.0?o
-
FINANCING SWAP
1994 Tax Shift Trend
Before Swap After Swap & Education
two budgets every year (municipal & Provincial)
cumbersome approval processes at the Provincial level
subsidy claim processing at both levels
two audits (municipal & Provincial)
In addition to these immediate savings, long-term cost reductions are possible through the
significantly enhanced accountability achieved through the Financing SWAP, Program and service
decisions would be made by one level of government and it would be fully accountable for the
Long-term cost reductions are
financing and taxation for those services. No longer would spending decisions be influenced by the
possible through the
presence of 50% or 75% funding from another level of government. No longer would the
significantly enhanced
taxpayer be unclear as to whom to hold accountable for a patiicular program and its costs.
accountability achieved through
Decisions would be made by one organization which would be directly accountable for those
the Financing SWAP
decisions.
In most reorganizations of service responsibilities and in many proposals to restructure
government in the GTA, high transition costs are present as formal organizations have to be
established to deliver the program in a new manner. This is not the case with the proposed
service funding SWAP.
I
The municipalities already have administrations in place which deliver these hard services in the
I
GTA. No transitional costs are expected, And there is no need to create a new Provincial soft
There is no need to create a
service delivery network to administer its responsibilities for health and social services. We
new Provincial soft service
propose that the present Regional and municipal service delivery systems be used to deliver the
delivery network to administer
Provincial programs, under Provincial direction, on a fee for service basis. Should the Province
its responsibilities for health and
develop a more cost-effective delivery system in the future, it would be free to choose to
social services
implement it but the presence of the existing delivery system means that high transitional costs are
avoided in implementing the Financing SWAP,
This proposed SWAP of funding responsibilities requires a detailed review between the
municipalities and the Province of the actual costs of the various programs at the present time.
We recognize the need for detailed analysis and discussion to finalize an exchange of service
funding responsibilities, such as we have proposed. We would also encourage the Province to
work with the municipalities to review other services which could be delegated by the Province.
We believe this review should include all regulatory functions performed by the Province with
respect to municipal services and all aspects of Provincial involvement with respect to planning and
servicing approvals,
The Financing SWAP would eliminate shared funding responsibilities and would immediately
remove the need for Provincial staff to administer subsidy programs for these services. Savings to
the Provincial taxpayer are immediately available through the adoption of the proposed Financing
SWAP.
THE SEVEN POINT PL A N: PERMI SSI VE MUNI CI PAL LEGI SLATI VE AUTHORI TY
Page 17
We propose that the Province work in close consultation with municipalities to implement
permissive legislation for Ontario municipalities at the earliest possible time, The legislation should
provide municipalities latitude in utilizing different revenue sources as well as flexibility in policy
setting for municipal programs,
We also propose that the Province review ministry functions and amend all necessary legislation
with a view to eliminating costly Provincial checking of municipal operations and right-size
Provincial operations to encompass only Provincial programs,
I
THE SEVEN POINT PLAN: REFORM OF SPECIAL PURPOSE BODI ES
A number of special purpose
bodies should be reviewed and
restructured or eliminated
significant savings are possible
through combining support
functions
Page 18
In addition, in certain cases, the structure
clarify and enhance its accountability.
of the Special Purpose Body itself should be changed to
Figure 6
Regional Municipalities Local Municipalities
B District Health Councils
B Childrens Aid Society B Library Boards
B Ontario Housing Corporation B Hydro Commissions
(Housing Authorities)
B Police Service Boards
THE SEVEN POI NT PL A N: SI GNI FI CANT REFORM I N EDUCAT I ON
We propose a thorough review
of the possibility of eliminating
Boards of Education and
transferring the School Trustee
and non-classroom education
functions to Regions
The responsibility for all aspects
of building and maintaining
school facilities and for school
busing would transfer to the
905 Regions
Page 19
THE S EVEN P OI NT P L A N: MUNI CI P AL L Y- DRI VEN R EVI EW W I THI N E ACH R EGI ON OF
SERVI CES, BOUNDARI ES AND REPRESENT AT I ON
Municipally-defined solutions
continue to offer the best
opportunity for viable
service improvements
long-term
Page 21
Commitments from the Province are necessary if this process is to succeed, The Province would
set the time frames for these reviews so that recommendations could be implemented in time for
the 1997 municipal elections. In addition, the Province must commit to implement municipally-
achieved solutions when they are recommended. Finally, the Province must commit to delaying
any externally imposed changes and work with municipalities to find solutions that are acceptable
to the affected municipalities,
THE S EVEN P OI NT P L A N: GTA CO-ORDI NATI NG FO R U M
There are many examples of
successful co-ordination across
municipal boundaries
We propose the creation of a
GTA Co-ordinating Forum to
address cross-boundary issues
on a formal and regular basis
Page 22
There have been many examples of successful co-ordination and co-operation across municipal
boundaries over the past 25 years, with some involving considerable Provincial assistance or
direction. Sewer and water servicing systems have been effectively developed across boundaries
in Peel, York/Durham and York/Metro. Improvements have been made to inter-municipal transit
service, conservation authorities have succeeded with shared financing between numerous
municipalities, and an overall development plan for the GTA has been developed including
population and employment targets for each municipality to name a few notable inter-
municipal arrangements,
The present system has worked effectively in developing the GTA to date, but significant issues
remain, some requiring Provincial involvement and direction, to achieve a co-ordinated approach
to the completion of the GTAs development. Formal co-ordination is required on issues which
may extend beyond Regional boundaries, such as planning, economic development, sewer,
water, public transit and waste management,
We propose the creation of a GTA Co-ordinating Forum to address cross-boundary planning and
co-ordination issues on a formal and regular basis. This GTA Forum would be a consultative, non-
executive body, with no powers of taxation, It would be supported by a small secretariat within
the Cabinet office,
The Provincial involvement and
commitment to this co-
ordinated approach is
fundamental
Page 2.?
The Provincial involvement and commitment to this co-ordinated approach is fundamental as
resolution to many of the cross-boundary issues (such as sewer and water capacity) is critical to
the development of the entire GTA and, therefore, the Provinces overall growth objectives. We
propose that the Province create a GTA Cabinet Committee to deal with GTA issues and the
GTA Forum in a co-ordinated manner, This would be one step in reversing the current lack of
co-ordination among Provincial ministries when dealing with issues of importance to municipalities.
An acceptable dispute resolution mechanism and the Provinces role in such a mechanism would
be incorporated to assist in the co-ordination if consensus could
consultation,
The present two-tier structure local government structure in the GTA
by limiting the number of issues which cross boundaries and in part
not be reached through
has served us well, in part
by keeping the delivery of
service at a manageable scale, Through the proposed formal co-ordination structure involving the
municipalities and the Province, it can continue to serve us well into the future by effectively
addressing the issues of importance to the overall development of the GTA.
CONCLUSI ONS: THE BENEFITS OF THE SEVEN POINT PL A N
Long-term sustainable
improvements in service
delivery and taxation levels will
flow from greater clarity and
accountability
Immediate financial savings can
be achieved without high
transition costs across the GTA
Page 24
These recommendations represent a very significant streamlining of government in the GTA. They
are driven by the need for greater clarity and accountability for the taxpayers and by the
opportunities for long-term sustainable improvements in service delivery and taxation levels which
will flow from that accountability.
Our Seven Point Plan for GTA Reform will also bring immediate financial savings in administration
for Provincial and municipal taxpayers. And these benefits will be achieved without the high
transition costs across the GTA caused by eliminating and/or creating governments, without the
increased costs across the GTA caused by averaging up of service levels under one large
government, and without the increased costs across the GTA caused by splitting services (creating
10 to 15 police chiefs, for example) if five Regions did not exist.
This paper set out to propose solutions to the real problems facing the GTA as we move into the
next century, It is based on the fundamental belief that long-term sustainable change will flow from
improved accountabilit
y
of government to its residents and ratepayers.
We believe that this paper does concretely address the real problems facing the GTA. It proposes
assessment reform within each Region and a SWAP in service funding responsibilities which will
improve and clarify Provincial and Municipal roles in the GTA and enhance the accountability of
government,
It responds to cost concerns, generating significant savings to the property tax payer and to the
Province of Ontario;
the service funding SWAP will eliminate the need for costly duplication of cost-shared grant
administration, particularly at the Province,
Improving our accountability to
the taxpayer will bring the most
meaningful and sustainable
change to the governance of
the GTA
The proposed solutions will
enhance the future economic
vitality and quality of life across
the entire GTA
review and restructure or elimination of Special Purpose Bodies will generate savings in
administrative overheads,
education administration and Board costs would be significantly reduced,
the GTA Forum will facilitate partnerships and collaboration, generating opportunities for
further savings,
greater municipal control over municipal service levels would result from permissive municipal
legislative authority and reduced Provincial regulation and policy interference, generating
additional savings, including significant savings at the Provincial level through the right-sizing of
Provincial ministries, and
municipally-driven reviews of services, representation and local government structure will
provide further opportunities for cost reduction.
We believe this paper demonstrates clear leadership and a willingness and ability to continuously
improve municipal government in the GTA, By addressing the challenges facing the GTA and by
providing for local choice and diversity, it proposes solutions which will enhance the future
economic vitality and quaiity of iife across the entire GTA,
We believe many political leaders within the GTA already share our view that improving and
clarifying our accountability to the taxpayer will bring the most meaningful and sustainable change
to the governance of the GTA. We look forward to participating further in the improvement of
local government in the GTA.
Page 25
B
Improving the
encouraging the
economic
important
competitiveness of the GTA as a whole while
role of the core or inner area.
B
Improving urban governance
of municipal services.
B
Improving the efficiency of
management.
airmed at improving the efficiency and effectiveness
the function of the GTA through effective urban
B
Recognizing the importance of greenlands systems and rural areas to the health
of the GTA.
B
We believe none of the above can be accomplished without a passionately held vision of
what the GTA should be like in 30-50 years.
1
B
Our vision includes a GTA with:
B
a very strong and mixed use central core;
B
large mixed use nodes based on historic urban cores at selected points on the
existing or proposed transit system;
B
a system of identifiable urban areas ranging from hamlets and villages to Metro
Toronto;
B
liveable communities generally at higher densities than typical suburban densities,
with a good range of facilities to which one can walk or bike;
B
well defined areas protected from development for their environmental or
resource values including headwaters and valleys and corridors;
B
improving public access and increased recreational opportunities with publicly
owned green areas including the Lake Ontario Waterfront to provide public
access and recreation;
B
a transportation system which shifts a proportion of trips from the car to transit,
walking and cycling.
B
This vision differs from the trend based on the experience in the last 15 years in the
following ways:
B
greater proportion of development in the central core and the nodes;
B
higher density communities through both increasing numbers and proportion of
redevelopment, infilling, intensification of already developed communities and
application of reduced development standards in new development;
B
increased proportion of medium and higher density housing;
B
increased opportunities for development on brownfield sites;
B
increased provision of alternatives to car travel (telecommuting, walk, bike,
improved transit);
B
greater emphasis on greenlands as an integral part of planning for the GTA.
Summary Position of Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario
2 August, 1995
Our summary position on the 4 areas identified for improvement based on the vision is as
follows:
1.
B
Regions have proved themselves to be excellent financial managers. GTA
Regions have AAA credit ratings, better than the Federal and Provincial
Governments. This is a real strength which should be built upon, not dismantled.
B
Part of this strength comes from the concentration in one level of government of
the ability to plan for growth, plan and design the necessary infrastructure, raise
the money and build the infrastructure at the right time. This should not be lost.
Weaknesses in the current situation include:
The urgent need for GTA wide property tax reform. The current system of
Provincial funding formulae and transfer payments precludes a municipal solution.
Furthermore, given the current inequities and therefore the enormous change
required, the 3 year term of municipal councillors makes it unlikely municipalities
will tackle the problem. We believe the Province must take a leadership role.
The tax system must achieve a goal of GTA wide equity in providing a high level
of services throughout and a fair distribution of expenses and revenues.
The heavy reliance on provincial transfer payments and subsidies for the delivery
of some services e.g. social services, roads and transit.
The impact of current ways of funding infrastructure (subsidy, property tax,
contributions, user pay and development charges) on development patterns and
density. We suspect the current situation favours greenfield development and
indicated we would prepare some additional work for you on this topic. This
clearly impacts on our ability to implement the vision.
As a principle, we believe property tax reform and changes to development
charges should be neutral from point of view of implementing the vision i.e. level
playing field.
3 August, 1995
2. Improving Economic Competitiveness
3.
B
We are told inter-municipal competition is hindering economic development of
the GTA - clearly this should be a responsibility of Regions for provision of
infrastructure investments to enable economic development to take place or a
GTA wide body for marketing the area as a functional entity.
B
Property tax reform will make a big contribution.
B
Continuing improvements in the development approval process are essential. We
believe the roles and responsibilities of upper and lower tiers should be more
clearly distinguished with a greater emphasis on neighbourhood planning and
urban design at the local level. Furthermore, having the same development
approval procedure Region wide would improve competitiveness i.e. do not treat
Metro Toronto differently from other Regions.
Improving Urban Governance
To provide a context, we believe changes to the current system of municipal governance
should:
B
build on the strengths of the existing system;
B
look to the future i.e. implementing a vision for the 21st Century, not back to the
19th Century. The Task Force should recognize the importance of the City/
Region as economic unit with growth going to 6 1/2 million in 30 years and
beyond as the century unfolds;
B
have a clearly articulated role for the Province;
B
provide a way for GTA wide issues to be discussed, have alternatives considered
and decisions made and implemented. The failure of previous GTA wide
planning exercises e.g. Design for Development, COLUC, has been the inability
to get consensus and implement the plans. In our view, this can best be
accomplished with either a GTA wide municipal government or a Provincial
Ministry or a special purpose body which is responsible and accountable with an
ability to act and make decisions;
B
reduce the number of lower tier municipalities;
B
more clearly articulate and differentiate between the roles and responsibilities of
upper and lower tier municipalities to reduce overlap and duplication.
Accordingly, based on your suggestion there should not be another level of municipal
government, we propose the following models for your consideration. We believe there
is no one right answer, all have strengths and weaknesses, but all would be an
improvement over the current situation.
MODEL 1
B
Establish an upper tier government for the GTA.
B
Convert the existing regions to lower tier municipalities.
B
Abolish the existing lower tiers.
MODEL 2
B
Establish an upper tier government for the GTA.
B
Abolish the existing regions.
B
Establish a smaller number of lower tier municipalities than today based on,
among other considerations, the nodes in the vision.
MODEL 3
B
Establish a GTA Ministry at the Province to co-ordinate and make decisions.
B
Strengthen existing regions.
B
among other considerations, the Nodes in the vision.
5
August, 1995
MODEL 4
B
Establish a GTA wide special purpose body to co-ordinate and make decisions.
B
Strengthen existing regions.
B
In Models 1 & 2, the GTA wide region would have the power of the existing regions
plus the additional responsibilities discussed in Part 4 (below). As such it may be
perceived as being too large and distant to administer and ensure effective service
delivery, - however, it would be elected and accountable.
Model 3 provides GTA wide co-ordination and decision making through a GTA
provincial ministry. In this model, we would see the GTA Ministry take over the
responsibilities of all other Ministries in the GTA so there would be no overlap. It
provides a mechanism for a strong Provincial role. However, a concern would be even
one Ministry voice at a Cabinet of 20 may not be heard sufficiently.
Model 4 on the other hand would result in a much weaker Provincial role. The GTA
wide co-ordinating body would be made up of senior administrators from the Regions
and the Province. It would have strong planning and policy development function, along
with financing and infrastructure. It would recommend plans, priorities and financing.
The role of the administrators would be to ensure a political commitment to the plans,
priorities and financing at their respective tables at the Regions and the Provincial
Cabinet.
In this way, GTA wide planning would be achieved but the Regions (with the help of the
Province) would be responsible for delivering the infrastructure and the implementing of
plans.
It is our view that while Models 1 & 2 may result in a more accountable system, the
difficulties of getting agreement may prevent any action. Our view would be that Model
4 provides the best way forward at this time.
Models 3 & 4 would see the powers of existing regions strengthened and the arrangement
at the lower tier changed. These are discussed in 4 below.
6 August, 1995
4. Improving the Functioning of the GTA through effective urban management
Effective urban management requires:
B
a clear vision of where things should be headed;
B
clear division of responsibilities;
B
accountable politicians;
B
financial resources to implement the responsibilities,
In the GTA we believe there is a large measure of consensus around the vision we have
described. We urge the Task Force to base its conclusion on this vision.
When looking at roles and responsibilities we see the need to strengthen the upper tier
i.e. the GTA wide Region in Models 1 and 2, the Regions as currently constituted in
Models 3 and 4. The Task Force should add the following to the responsibilities of the
upper tier; 1) transit, 2) economic development, 3) responsibility for ecosystem
protection and open space systems including the Lake Ontario Waterfront. In addition,
the Task Force would explicitly recognize the importance of Strategic Planning,
infrastructure planning and planning for growth management (distribution of population,
jobs and development) as components of Regional Planning.
We see a need to strengthen the lower tiers responsibilities in the area of neighbourhood
planning and urban design, with the objective of having a much clearer separation in
planning responsibilities between upper and lower tiers.
For politicians to be accountable, they should be elected directly to the office, not
indirectly through another position. This leads us to believe politicians at each level
should be separate and distinct i.e. separately elected.
The Task Force should fairly assess the financial resources available to implement the
responsibilities at each level of municipal government. We are not experts in this field,
but suggest the following for your consideration:
B
reform of the property tax system to get rid of its regressive nature, allow costs
to be related to services consumed, introduce greater equity and moderate over
the long term the cyclical effects of growth and development, economic expansion
and contraction throughout the GTA.
B
review existing costs and benefits relating to the provision of infrastructure to
ensure there are no distortions (unfair subsidies) which might make
implementation of the vision more difficult;
B
consider whether mechanisms should be put in place to transfer investments from
one area in the GTA to another to ensure implementation of the vision and what
role the Province should have in that;
B
consider more opportunities for a user pay based system so people can make
choices based on the costs of providing the service or facility.
The Task Force asked us for other views on boundaries of the constituent municipalities
within the GTA. We believe:
B
The boundary of the GTA as a whole (Metro and the 4 Regions) is
administratively convenient. GTAs influence probably extends beyond this
boundary but it would be imprudent to extend the boundaries.
B
Boundaries of existing Regions although based on the old county system, do make
some administrative sense - i.e. they incorporate the main urban areas and a
substantial rural area around each. However, consideration might be given to
consolidating Peel and Halton who are west of Metro Region.
B
We see the greatest opportunity for change at the lower tier, where the current
30 + municipalities could be consolidated into 10-15 municipalities having a
larger population and administrative capability. While we have not looked at this
in detail, we suggest the following major nodes would provide the nucleus for the
consolidation. Metro Toronto, North York City Centre, Scarborough Centre,
Pickering/Ajax, Whitby/Oshawa/Courtice, Markham, Richmond Hill,
Mississauga, Brampton, Burlington/Oakville.
Di r ec t al l c or r espondanc e t o
t he of f i c e of t he Chai r man
N. Tunnac l i f f e, M.C.I .P.
Chai r man
111 Li sgar St r eet
Ot t aw a, Ont ar i o
K2P 2L7
Te l : 6 1 3 -5 6 0 -2 0 5 3
Fax : 613-560-6006
26 September 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M5G lE6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Please find herewith a copy of a Second Summary Position of Regional Planning
Commissioners of Ontario to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
Following our meeting on 25 August, we submitted a Summary Position paper on 29
August 1995. On 8 September 1995, we met to further consider our ideas and the enclosed
paper is a result. I hope you find it useful.
Yours sincerely
N. Tunnacliffe, MCIP, RPP
Chairman Regional Planning Commissioners
Encl.
Dur ham Mr . A. Geor gi ef f Musk ok a Mr . J . Gr een Peel
Hal di mand-Nor f ol k Mr . L. Kennal ey
Mr . P. Al I en
Ni agar a Mr . A. Veal e Sudbur y Mr . B. Laut enbac h
Hal t on Mr . R. Mohammed Ot t aw a- Car l et on Mr . N. Tunnac l i f f e Wat er l oo Me. S. Thor sen
Hami l t on-Want w or t h Mr . J . Thoms Ox f or d Mr . K. Whi t ef or d Yor k Mr . M. DeAngel i s (ac t i ng)
Met r opol i t an Tor ont o Mr . J . Gar t ner
SECOND SUMMARY POSITION OF REGIONAL PLANNING
COMMISSIONERS OF ONTARIO TO THE GREATER TORONTO
AREA TASK FORCE
Following a meeting with Dr. Anne Golden and her staff on 25 August, 1995,
Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario (RPCs) submitted a summary position
paper on 29 August, 1995. On 8 September, 1995, RPCS met to further consider their
ideas at which time it was decided to submit a second summary position paper to
elaborate on aspects related to implementation. In our first paper we described 4
models for reforming municipal governance in the GTA. These were:
MODEL 1
. Establish an upper tier government for the GTA.
B Convert the existing regions to lower tier municipalities.
. Abolish the existing lower tiers.
MODEL 2
B Establish an upper tier government for the GTA.
. Abolish the existing regions.
. Establish a smaller number of lower tier municipalities than today based on,
MODEL 3
. Establish a GTA Ministry at the Province to co-ordinate and make decisions.
MODEL 4
. Establish a GTA wide special purpose body to co-ordinate and make decisions.
B Strengthen existing regions.
We suggested that while Models 1 and 2 may result in a more accountable system,
the difficulty of getting agreement to either of the models may prevent any action. We
concluded by saying Model 4 provides the best way forward at this time. In this paper,
we discuss the major issues as we see them relating to each of the models. We have
not discussed Model 3 in further detail as we do not believe a Provincial Ministry for
the GTA can be sufficiently responsive to the needs of the GTA. This has already been
tried and found wanting.
The major issue relating to Models 1 and 2 in our view would be what responsibilities
would be given to the GTA Region and what would be given to the lower tier
municipalities (however constituted).
Based on the fact the GTA is an economic entity, we would start with economic
development. In our view, successfull economic development requires vision and a
good knowledge of where the GTA is headed. This leads us to recommend regional
planning including a strong research and information component be at the GTA
Region. By Regional Planning we mean forward looking planning to establish urban
boundaries, urban form and structure, the distribution of population, jobs and major
activity centres and community facilities, resource protection, open space and
greenspace and the rural economy including agricultural production and resource
extraction. In addition it would deal with the major components of infrastructure and
its affordability and financing required to implement the plan. Subsequently in this
paper we refer to this as the GTA Growth Strategy.
Implementation of a GTA Growth Strategy and the furtherance of GTAs economic
development requires two key responsibilities, infrastructure and financing. In
infrastructure, we include not only the traditional hard services or roads, transit,
water and sewer, but also waste, health and safety, and of the educational facilities
which we see as being part of the responsibilities of a GTA Regions.
Finally, given the extent of the GTA Region and the increasing dependence and inter-
relationship between urban and rural components of the GTA, we recommend the
special projects e.g. Conservation Authorities, Hydro Commissions within the GTA be
abolished and their responsibilities assumed by the GTA region. This may require
some small changes to the boundaries of the GTA so they more closely reflect
watersheds.
Other municipal functions could be given to the lower tier however constituted. In our
Model 1, the existing lower tier municipalities would be abolished and existing Regions
would become the lower tier in terms of responsibility. Some have argued that this
will result in a lower tier far removed from the people. We would like to draw the
distinction between the size and extent of the municipality and the way in which it
might deliver its services. There would be nothing to prevent a lower tier for example,
in the area of planning from delivering the building permit, site plan approval and
zoning functions from well located local offices, so improving service over what might
be provided now.
Model 2, in addition to creating a GTA type region, would reconfigure the lower tier
and the existing regions into 10-12 unitary authorities ie single tier municipalities of
approximately 500,000 each. They would be based primarily on the nodes chosen as
part of the GTA nodal concept.
The major issue relating to Model 4 in our view is the form of co-ordinating bo
which would be established and how to give it teeth. In this model, the existing
Regions would retain their existing powers and be strengthened with the additio
responsibilities of transit, economic development, ecosystem protection and ope
systems.
The GTA coordinating body needs to have defined responsibilities and powers
would be made up of politicians who are accountable. We suggest the 4 or 5 R
Chairs (4 if Peel and Halton are combined).
The responsibility of this Authority (Greater Toronto Area Planning Authority)
be to prepare the GTA Growth Strategy to be implemented through the Region
way we see this happening would be for the GTA to recommend the GTA Gro
Strategy to Provincial Cabinet which would adopt it as a Policy Statement unde
Section 3 of the Planning Act. Regional Official Plans would then have to be am
to be consistent with the GTA Growth Strategy. Having the Cabinet adopt the
Strategy (and subsequent amendments) would create a Provincial buy into it an
financing of the very large infrastructure program required as the GTA growth
41/2 to 61/2 million people and more.
The GTA plan will require staff and funding to do its work. We suggest a stee
group made up of GTA Regional Planning Commissioners and senior provinci
with staff seconded from the regions and province to do the actual work. We s
funding be provided equally by the Regions and the Province with the Regions
apportioned by assessment.
Naturally one expects contentious issues surrounding the development of a GT
strategy. One way of resolving them would be to allow the Ontario Municipal
hold a hearing but to submit its report to Cabinet for final disposition.
What do we want from a municipal governance system
When evaluating our models and any others which may be under consideration
you to evaluate them from the point of view of what improvements the public w
We suggest some of the criteria areas follows:
B Accountable - best achieved we believe by directly but separately elected po
to the regional and local councils.
municipal government that most closely covers the influence area of the
responsibility e.g. economic, housing and retail markets are all GTA or Region-
wide in scope.
Affordable - attained by achieving economies of scale, by clearly assigning
responsibilities to the level of government best able to cover the service area of the
responsibility in question so that duplication is eliminated.
Understandable - best achieved by assigning responsibilities to one level of
government so the public knows whereto go for specific service delivery.
Consistent - i.e. having one jurisdiction dealing with responsibilities which cover
similar areas.
Simple - best achieved by reducing the number of municipalities and particularly
special purpose bodies e.g. Hydro Commissions, Library Boards.
e opt on of the status quo i
Some might suggest that we have muddled along for so many years, why not just keep
muddling. To that we say:
B The GTA has been fortunate in the last 30 years. In a world of global
competitiveness the status quo is not an option.
. The status quo is in effect a step backwards as other urban regions around the world
modernize their municipal governments to make them more efficient and more
responsive.
conclusion
This conclusion is based on this submission and our earlier submission.
The GTA needs a municipal government system which looks forward to the twenty-first
century, not back to the nineteenth century. Such a system should be based on the
concept of the city-region as the driving generator of economic development and wealth
in our increasingly globalized society.
At the GTA level, the ideal would be, in theory, a GTA level regional government
with defined responsibilities such as economic development, regional planning,
infrastructure (defined very broadly), financing, regional open space systems,
conservation and the rural economy including agricultural production and resource
extraction.. We realize this maybe too much for some to agree with. Our more
practical recommendation would be the establishment of a Greater Toronto Planning
Authority to prepare a Growth Strategy.
Regardless of whether a regional level of government or co-ordinating body is the
chosen vehicle for delivering GTA wide services directly or indirectly through a legally
enforceable Growth Strategy, we fundamentally believe the number of municipal
governments in the GTA needs to be substantially reduced. Having a limited number
of large municipalities (in excess of 500,000 people) should be the goal in order that
delivery of services will be efficient, effective and delivered with economies of scale.
Outside Metro Toronto, given the size of existing regions, both geographic and from a
population standpoint, suggests they should be the basis of these municipalities although
their boundaries may need adjustment to correspond with sub-watershed boundaries.
Accordingly, we recommend:
.
The GTA governance be based on either:
1.
2.
A GTA wide Region with responsibilities defined in legislation to include
economic development, regional planning, infrastructure, financing, regional
open space systems, conservation and the rural economy including agricultural
production and resource extraction and a limited number of lower tier
municipalities based on existing regions (with potentially minor boundary
changes) to deliver other services, or;
The establishment of a Greater Toronto Area Planning Authority made up of
the Chairs of the Regions comprising the Greater Toronto Area. The authority
would prepare a Growth Strategy (defined in the text) and have it approved by
Cabinet. It would then become enforceable through the official plans of the
Regions.
26 September, 1995.
July 4, 1995
Dr. A. Golden Chair
20th Floor - Suite 2001
Toronto, ON M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
The Town of Richmond Hill
I J
R i c h m
i i i ! =
RECEIVED 25Emt B.aver CkxkRoad
Further to our conversation of June 27th, regarding municipal government reform and the GTA
the following are my comments as requested.
Municipal government is the bedrock upon which Canadian democracy rests. By being the
closest to the people and representing a geographically concentrated are~ municipal councils are
able quickly to discern needs and respond to them without delay. With responsiveness has
coming growing demands for services, ranging from policing through housing to recreation and,
in some provinces, social services. In addition, because of the scaling down of federal and
provincial programs, even more responsibilities have been directly and indirectly off loaded onto
In part because of poor communications arising from the outdated status of municipal
governments, federal policies and programs are often out of step with local realities and needs,
resulting in duplication waste and negative results for municipal government and taxpayers.
Municipal governments are challenged by the widening gap between the recognition of their role
and political and economic realities. Canadians rightly expect all orders of government to
cooperate in the delivery of public services.
The debate over the need for recognition of the status of municipal governments pre-dates
Confederation. Lord Durham in his 1839 Report, argued in favour of guaranteeing municipal
institutions in the Canadian Constitution. Lord Durhams recommendations were never embodied
in Canadas constitutional law. The Constitution Act, 1867, established the parameters of current
federal and provincial relationships with municipal governments. Section 92 of the Act set out
exclusive powers of provincial legislatures in 16 areas, with section 92(8) giving the legislature of
each province exclusive responsibility for making laws relating to the provinces municipal
institutions.
.../2
Page 2 GTA Task Force
For years municipal governments have criticized the institutional restrictions on their decision
making powers and ability to raise revenue. They have worked to simplify the complex
intergovernmental matrix of shared responsibilities and resources in favour of transparency and
accountability. Throughout the country, municipal governments have tried to find alternatives to
the current system which would provide greater autonomy. In a number of provinces, municipal
governments have engaged in exercises aimed at disentangling municipal responsibilities and
revenue sources from the provinces.
Recognition of municipal governments has a distinct order of government in the constitution
would be the ideal constitutional change. Failing such a bold and dramatic step - the development
of a Charter of Rights (a new Municipal Act) clearly stating what is not within the jurisdiction of
municipal governments and thus everything else would give them the freedom to respond to
issues in their own communities.
While Canada is one of the most urbanized nations on Earth, the constitutional gulf which
separates our municipal and federal orders of government is wider than that of any other
developed nation. The federal presence is felt in municipalities through a multitude of areas
ranging from tax policy to economic development to criminal law. The federal government must
acknowledge the effect of its policies on municipal governments.
The provinces and territories have frequently proven themselves unable or unwilling to promote
the interests of municipal governments in intergovernmental processes. A recent example is their
unwillingness to allow municipal government representatives to join as full and equal partners on
the management committees overseeing the national municipal infrastructure program. This
occurred despite the fact that municipal governments are paying one third of the costs of the $6
billion program. Another example of poor intergovernmental cooperation is the federal and
provincial practice of excluding municipal governments when discussing fiscal policies in the
interest of the overall Canadian economic performance. Despite the compelling fact that the
budgets of several of our largest cities are greater than the budgets of several provinces, not a
word is mentioned of the first order of government.
Canadians want governments to be responsive and efficient and they want to control their
institutions. Canadians expect all orders of government to cooperate in the delivery of public
services. Unless the role of municipalities in the Canadian political system is recognized, the
quality of our democracy, the efficiency of our public services and the equitable treatment of
taxpayers are all compromised.
In terms of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the need to review the governance of the area.
The Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO), released a paper entitled Better
Government - Lower Cost the New Municipal Mandate.
.../3
This document which was released in March 1995, outlines the issues surrounding municipal
government in Ontario and a framework of recommendations as the basis of reform of provincial-
municipal relationship. The recommendations were the result of numerous efforts by task forces
and committees and from the direct efforts of municipalities AMO represents.
This paper is something that is worth reviewing and considering in terms of governmental reform
for the GTA. A critical need is the development of a new Municipal Act (Charter of Rights)
which would free municipal governments from the restrictive yoke of the present Act. Alberta
brought in a new Charter which is a good example of what is needed to provide municipal
government with the ability to respond to issues as we approach the next century.
Replace the Municipal Act with a new simplified Act which would allow municipal governments
the ability to take action on issues and to carry out the purposes of municipal government, unless
specifically prohibited by the Act.
The fundamental issues facing the people living in the GTA is:
. what type of municipal government institutions do we need to service the community
. how should these municipal units be financed
. what type of structures should be put in place to coordinate major servicing issues in the
GTA
. who should provide the services
The Greater Toronto Area is an economic region. The Province has recognized that community
based-economic development is the preferred direction in building the local economy.
In the old industrial economy based on the older technology symbolized by production line,
economies of scale through amalgamation or regionalization made some sense. However, it is
interesting to note that, with new information based technology, the private sector is now finding
it is more effcient and cost effective to decentralize large corporations into smaller units, usually
around common processes or products.
Government has been slow to respond to the new economy. There were still people in the
previous Ontario government who felt that streaming and making local governments more cost
effective was to concentrate on Regional administrations. This is not consistent with the new
economy based on information technology.
In the GTA today, the urban municipalities are sufficiently large and mature that they do not
require Regional planning which was important at an earlier stage. Regional planning can be
effective through a cooperative method as has been illustrated through the Crombie Regeneration
Trust in its creation of the Waterfront Trail.
.../4
Page 4
GTA Task Force
The concept of regional governments established in some areas of the province in the 1970s
needs to be reassessed in light of the GTA discussions. Do regional governments work? Are they
relevant in the context of the major economic and social changes of the 1990s?
My conclusion is no. There is a need to coordinate areas such as transportation water and
sewage.
However, we do not need regional governments, a regional bureaucracy, a regional political
structure in order to achieve coordination of services.
Regional governments have not acquired a sense of identity with the public. Most people do
not know what regional governments are charged to do and do not relate to this upper tier
authority. They have become the Senate of Municipal Government in their lack of a defined
role. In the Region of York, Regional Councillors still tend after 30 plus years to act in a
procedural manner - tribalism - not thinking in regional terms.
The public cannot afford both regional and local municipal government. The cost of government
today requires that an elimination of one of these authorities is required. Regional government
can be replaced with a coordinating authority for the GTA - not a new level or bureaucracy.
The local or city level of government which is the closest to the people and represents the local
community should be strengthened.
Consider the following areas for change:
Regional Official Plan: Discontinue so that there is only one Official Plan - the Local Government
Official Plan. In areas where there are no regional governments presently such as London they
have only their Official Plan. The Office of the GTA could act as a coordinating and facilitating
agent with area municipal governments to develop broad regional planning principles for the
GTA, particularly in terms of infrastructure and transportation.
Economic Development: Discontinue Regional Economic Departments and recognized that
economic development can best be achieved by the Local Municipal Government. A GTA
Economic Development Agency could be established to help develop regional economic
initiatives among municipal governments in the GTA.
Roads: Responsibilities for roads should be at the local level with a formula arrived at to
distribute Regional tax dollars/Provincial tax dollars to the municipalities to assist with roads
which have some regional function.
.../5
The development of a GTA Office for Coordination does not mean the development of a major
new bureaucracy nor does it mean the development of a new layer of government. The failure of
regional government lies in the fact that it is only now seeking to takeover areas such as
transportation economic development, and yet for years it failed to provide the type of leadership
necessary to establish itself as a leader of municipal government and a true representative of the
public.
People want less government. People want more effective government. People want less
participants in terms of dealing with issues. The planning process is an excellent example of how
the public becomes quickly illustrated when they attend a meeting an it is not the local council that
calls the shots but other players such as the various provincial ministries (Housing, Municipal
Affairs, Natural Resources and Environment) or the Metro Toronto Region Conservation
Authority.
The Ontario Municipal Board (OMB) should be eliminated. Its role and purpose are no longer
relevant today. People want to know that local government has the power and the responsibility
for making planning decisions in their own communities. The unallocated OMB is increasingly
making planning decisions that affect the quality of life in the community. This is unacceptable.
If the OMB is not eliminated, then the powers of the Board should be restricted to appeals dealing
with matters of provincial interest.
A major issue for people living in the GTA is the issue of assessment reform. The current
assessment situation in the GTA reflects Market Value Assessment, some assessment based on
1967 figures etc. The Ontario Government in conjunction with AMO drew up the Fair Tax
Commission Report which recommended significant changes to assessment. Removing the cost
of education from the property tax was a major recommendation. Property taxes are a very
regressive form of taxation unlike income tax which at least in theory is based on the ability to
pay.
The removal of a significant portion of the education bill from property taxes would be a step in
the right direction. Property taxes should help to assist in the financing of services derived from
property only. The Ontario government should consider providing local municipal governments
with access to Provincial income tax.
Making the GTA competitive in an economic sense has to be the number one priority.
Municipal governments need the economic tools to help finance government.
.../6
GTA Task Force
Page 6
Keep in mind the following:
We need to better define the roles and responsibilities of authority between the provincial and
municipal government. We need to eliminate the existing duplication of services. We need to
streamline decision making.
We need to eliminate costly special purpose bodies - this is the late 20th century not the early 20th
century.
There is too much bureaucratic red-tape in the existing provincial-municipal relationship.
Municipal government particularly in the GTA needs to be liberated from the political bureaucrats
at Queens Park. If Alberta can develop legislation that treats municipal government as a grown-
up and not a creature of the province so can Ontario.
In summary:
a new Municipal Act - more simplified legislation that allows municipal government to do
more with less.
define clearly municipal responsibilities - untangling provincial and municipal government
roles
integrate the functions of local special purpose bodies, such as library boards with municipal
governments
eliminate Regional Government - too cost and not very effective in meeting the needs of the
public
the establishment of a GTA Coordination Office - to work with municipal governments on
areas such as transit, piped services and roads
assessment reform - restructuring of property taxes
The public does not want to see the creation of a maga government stretching from Oshawa to
Mississauga including the southern tier of York Region. The protection of individual
communities, the preserving of individual identities are important to the average citizen.
Municipal governments are the most cost efficient of all governments. Providing services in the
most cost efficient way is critical. Bigger is not necessarily better.
.../7
The effectiveness of municipal government depends on having the powers to respond. The scope
of powers and method of obtaining them is clearly outdated and must be reformed. This is
especially true for the GTA municipalities.
We maybe looking at radical thinking in terms of the development of a Charter for the GTA are
specifically. The Province would recognize local government as an order of government and be
committed to maintaining a legislative framework to allow local governments full authority to
meet community needs. The basic role of the provincial government and provincial legislation
would be to enable local governments to meet community. The province would only restrict or
regulate local government where it is in the provincial interest.
Preserved as a founding principle of local governments would be the requirement that any local
government would conform to the following:
. no deficits
. debt limits
. due process to respect rules of natural justice
The province would provide to local government in legislation, responsibility to manage all areas
of community life expect those areas that it or the federal government has occupied or specifically
reserved. The province would agree to respect areas of local government jurisdiction to the
extent of provincial interest.
A Charter would recognize that local government must be provided areas of taxation and revenue
authority requisite to its responsibility. It would also ensure that when the province wished local
governments to take on new responsibilities they would be provided additional revenue sources.
A Charter would recognize that the Province and local governments (this is particularly necessary
in the GTA) were partners in providing essential services to the public and include a commitment
to consultation and cooperation; including the rights of local governments to:
. guaranteed access to provincial decision-making (particularly in terms of issues affecting the
GTA)
B an amending formula for local government legislation
. negotiation of conflicts
. ensuring local government jurisdiction is respected by provincial ministries, Crown
corporations and agencies
. joint decision-making in areas of shared responsibility
What the Charter would provide is a bridge - bridge between the federal constitutional recognition
of local government and the provincial statutes that establish those frameworks.
.../8
The Charter would include the general powers of local government to manage their communities.
These powers to act in economic development, resource management, social development, healh,
environment etc. would only be limited if there were provincial or federal legislation and by
conformity to the constitutions.
General powers would be enacted by by-law.
An example might be the regulation of tree cutting (which would fall under the general powers to
manage the communitys development and environment) which a local council could decide ought
to be a local decision, provided the provincial (forestry) interest was respected and any
constitutional, common-law, private property rights were also respected.
This would be detailed enabling powers covering much of the current scope of the Municipal Act
or Vancouver Charter.
A principle would be established to allow municipalities to vary or supplement the detailed
provisions of local government statutes where specifically authorized.
Although the Greater Toronto Area needs reform, it should also be viewed in the context of
larger reform across the province for municipal governments.
It may be concluded that a special Charter needs to be created for the GTA and that further
reform and legislative changes could be applied in other areas of the province at a specified later
date.
Immediate reform and empowerment for municipal governments needs to take place now. The
economic engine of the province cannot afford to wait any longer. Immediate and decisive action
needs to take place.
I trust that these suggestions will be helpful in achieving this goal.
Yours truly,
TO: GREATER TORONTO TASK FORCE
ATTENTi0N : ANNE GOLDEN
FROM : BI LL ROBERTS - - [ 4 1 6 ) 7 6 9 - 3 1 6 2
BRIEF BACKGROUND
I a m t a k i ng t he t i me t o wr i t e t o y ou ba s e d on my ov e r t we nt y
y e a r s e x pe r i e nc e a s a me mbe r of a l oc a l r a t e pa y e r s a s s oc i a t i on ( t he
Swa n s e a Ar e a Ra t e p a y e r s As s n . ) , my i n v o l v e me n t wi t h a c i t y wi d e
f e de r a t i on ( t he Conf e de r a t i on of Re s i de nt a nd Ra t e pa y e r As s ns . ) a s
a d e l e g a t e a n d o f f i c e r a n d a s a l a w y e r w h o h a s
r e p r e s e n t e d
r a t e p a y e r a n d r e s i d e n t a s s o c i a t i o n s b e f o r e t h e On t a r i o Mu n i c i p a l
Boar d. My c o mme n t s c o me f r o m t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e a n d s h o u l d n o t b e
v i e we d a s b e i n g o n b e h a l f o f a n y o f t h o s e o r g a n i z a t i o n s .
I t i s a l s o d r a wn f r o m my me mo r i e s o f t h e a ma l g a ma t i o n o f
Swansea, Tor ont o a nd For e s t Hi l l i nt o t he Ci t y of Tor ont o, a nd wha t
t r a n s p i r e d t h e r e a f t e r , A s a r e s u l t I a m a w a r e o f t h e p o t e n t i a l
i mp a c t s t h a t a ma l g a ma t i o n c a n h a v e o n i d e n t i t y a n d a c c o u n t a b i l i t y .
I t i s f o r t h i s r e a s o n I w i s h t o d r a w i n t o t h e d e b a t e t h e
I s s u e s o f a c c o u n t a b i l i t y , a n d t h e n a t u r e o f l o c a l g o v e r n me n t .
THE DEFI NI TI ON OF LOCAL
I n t he de ba t e ov e r t he GTA a nd r e f or m of t a x e s one i mpor t a nt
c o mp o n e n t s e e ms t o b e f o r g o t t e n . T h e Wo r d L OC A L a s i n l o c a l
government . Co l e s Conc i s e D i c t i o n a r y c o n t a i n s t h e f o l l o w i n g
d e f i n i t i o n l . r e l a t i n g t o a p l a c e , 2 . o f , c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f , o r
c o n f i n e d t o a p a r t i c u l a r p l a c e o r d i s t r i c t . . . T u r n i n g l o c a l
g o v e r n me n t s i n t o r e g i o n a l g o v e r n me n t s r e mo v e s t h e c o n c e p t t h a t
g o v e r n me n t s h o u l d h a v e a r e a l l o c a t i o n t o a r e a l p l a c e .
GENERAL OBJECTS
Loc a l gov e r nme nt s houl d be de s i gne d t o a dv a nc e t he a t t a i nme nt
o f c e r t a i n g o a l s w h i c h i n c o r p o r a t e p o l i c i e s t h a t a r e g e n e r a l l y
a c c e p t a b l e .
T h e f o l l o wi n g p r o v i d e a b a s i s f o r my v i e w a s t o wh a t g o a l s
s houl d be pur s ue d:
1. LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE POLITICALLY AND FISCALLY
ACCOUNTABLE TO THE ELECTORATE IN THE AREA IT GOVERNS
2 . LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE DESIGNED TO EFFICIENTLY
PROVIDE LOCAL SERVICES
3 . LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE ABLE TO DEVELOP LOCAL
1
SOLUTIONS TO LOCAL PROBLEMS
4 . LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD PROVIDE GOOD GOVERNMENT,
EFFI CI ENTLY WI TH FI SCAL RESPONSI BI LI TY
5 . LOCAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE OPEN AND ACCESSIBLE TO
THE PUBLIC AND SHOULD BE PERCEIVED BY THE PUBLIC TO
HAVE DEFINED AND RECOGNIZABLE BOUNDARIES RATHER THAN
ARTIFICIAL ONES NOT RELATED TO GEOGRAPHY, ECONOMICS
OR OTHER FACTORS
6 . A CLEAR DIFFERENTIATION BETWEEN LOCAL AND REGIONAL
SERVICES
7 . PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT SHOULD SUPERVISE AND PROVIDE
ASSISTANCE TO THE LOCAL LEVEL BUT NOT TRY TO RUN AND
CONTROL THE DAILY OPERATIONS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
REDUCTION OF THE NUMBER OF POLITICIANS AT REGIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS
ha s be e n mut e d a s de s i r a bl e .
WHAT HAS BEEN THE EFFECTS IN THE PAST
I t i s m y b e l i e f t h a t a c o m m o n m i s c o n c e p t i o n I S t h a t b y
r e d u c i n g t h e n u mb e r o f p o l i t i c i a n s t o t h e g e n e r a l e l e c t o r a t e we
r e d u c e t h e c o s t s o f g o v e r n me n t a n d ma k e I t b e t t e r .
T h e i s s u e i s n o t t h e n u mb e r o f p o l i t i c i a n s p e r c e b u t t h e
a mo u n t p a i d t o t h e m a n d t h e i r a s s i s t a n t s . Re duc i ng t he numbe r of
p o l i t i c i a n s d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i l y r e s u l t i n s i g n i f i c a n t s a v i n g s a n d
i n s ome c a s e s a c t ua l l y i nc r e a s e s t he c os t whe r e t he s a l a r i e s of t he
r e ma i n i n g p o l i t i c i a n s a r e i n c r e a s e d t o r e f l e c t t h e i n c r e a s e d
wo r k l o a d a n d a d d i t i o n a l a s s i s t a n t s a r e a d d e d t o t h e i r s t a f f s .
Let me expl ai n f r om my knowl edge of what happened at t he Ci t y
o f T o r o n t o . Swa ns e a wa s a ma l ga ma t e d wi t h t he Ci t y of Tor ont o a nd
t h e V i l l a g e o f F o r e s t H i l l i n 1967. S wa n s e a h a d b e e n o v e r
r e p r e s e n t e d b y T o r o n t o s t a n d a r d s w i t h p o l i t i c i a n s b u t u n d e r
r e p r e s e n t e d b y b u r e a u c r a t s . As a r e s u l t o f a ma l g a ma t i o n o u r t a x e s
i nc r e a s e d I mme di a t e l y a nd our s e r v i c e s de c r e a s e d I n a di r e c t r a t i o.
Wi t h e a c h n e w e x p e r i me n t b y t h e P r o v i n c e t h e n u mb e r o f
p o l i t i c i a n s a t t h e C i t y l e v e l d e c r e a s e d .
Mo s t r e c e n t l y wi t h t h e d i r e c t e l e c t i o n t o Me t r o t h e n u mb e r o f
p o l i t i c i a n s a t t h e C i t y l e v e l d r o p p e d f r o m 2 4 c o u n c i l l o r s a n d o n e
mayor t o 16 counci l l or s and one Mayor . Of cour se t her e wer e 8 Met r o
c o u n c i l l o r s . T h i s me a n t t h e t o t a l n u mb e r o f p o l i t i c i a n s I n c r e a s e d ;
however , a c c o u n t a b i l i t y d e c r e a s e d b e c a u s e t h e r a t i o o f v o t e r s t o
p o l i t i c i a n s i n e a c h j u r i s d i c t i o n I n c r e a s e d .
2
Be f o r e t h e r e we r e t wo c o u n c i l l o r s p e r wa r d . T h e o n e g e t t i n g
t he mos t v ot e s s a t on Me t r o Counc i l a nd on t he Ci t y c ounc i l ; whi l e
t h e n u mb e r t wo c o u n c i l l o r s a t o n l y a t t h e C i t y l e v e l . T h e r e wa s
c ommuni c a t i on, a n d wh i l e t h e c i t y wa r d s we r e l a r g e r t h e r a t i o o f
g e n e r a l p o p u l a t i o n t o C i t y c o u n c i l l o r s wa s l o we r .
A s a r e s u l t o f t h e r e d i s t r i b u t i o n M e t r o C o u n c i l l o r s n o w
r e p r e s e n t 5 0 , 0 0 0 t o 8 0 , 0 0 0 r e s i d e n t s , and local councillors (City)
r e p r e s e n t e d b e t we e n 3 0 , 0 0 0 a n d 5 0 , 0 0 0 r e s i d e n t s . T h e r e s u l t wa s
t h a t c o u n c i l l o r s became over whel med w i t h t h e i r d u t i e s t o
c ons t i t ue nt s a nd l e s s a bl e t o obs e r v e t he bur e a uc r a c y . At t he s a me
t i me t h e c o s t o f g e t t i n g e l e c t e d I n c r e a s e d t o t h e p o i n t t h a t t h e
powe r of s pe c i a l l obbi e s a nd pa r t i e s i nc r e a s e d t he r e by r e duc i ng t he
a c c o u n t a b i l i t y t o t h e l o c a l e l e c t o r a t e .
T h e n u mb e r o f C i t y b u r e a u c r a t s i n c r e a s e d , t h e c o n f u s i o n
i n c r e a s e d a n d c o mmu n i c a t i o n s b e t we e n Me t r o a n d C i t y p o l i t i c i a n s
l e s s e n e d s i n c e t h e y c e a s e d t o me e t a t t h e l o c a l c o u n c i l l e v e l .
I n a d d i t i o n t h e l o c a l p o l i t i c i a n s o n t h e b a s i s t h a t t h e y
we r e n o w r e s p o n s i b l e f o r mo r e p e r s o n s h a d e x e c u t i v e a s s i s t a n t s
a d d e d t o t h e i r s t a f f . I n t h e p a s t s u c h a s s i s t a n t s we r e a s s i g n e d
o n l y t o me mb e r s o f t h e Ex e c u t i v e a n d Ma y o r b e c a u s e o f t h e i r e x t r a
d u t i e s . I t w a s a s s u me d t h a t c i t y c o u n c i l l o r s s h o u l d b e a b l e t o
d i r e c t l y d e a l wi t h t h e i r c o n s t i t u e n t s a n d t h e p r o b l e ms wi t h i n t h e i r
wa r ds . T h e t o t a l s a l a r i e s i n c r e a s e d a n d i n e f f e c t t h e e l e c t o r a t e
n o w p a y s f o r p e r s o n s wh o t h e y c a n n o t d i r e c t l y t u r f o u t a n d t h e
pol i t i c i a ns ha v e be c ome mor e r e mot e .
I t i s p r o b a b l e t h a t i f you r e d u c e t h e t o t a l n u mb e r o f
p o l i t i c i a n s a t l o c a l a n d r e g i o n a l l e v e l t h a t y o u w i l l s i mp l y
i n c r e a s e t h e t o t a l n u mb e r o f b u r e a u c r a t s a n d a s s i s t a n t s t h e r e b y
mi l i t a t i n g t h e s a v i n g s .
T h i s d o e s n o t me a n t h a t y o u n e e d t o k e e p e i t h e r l e v e l o f
g o v e r n me n t b u t c a r e s h o u l d b e t a k e n i n d i r e c t e l e c t i o n t o a n y
r e gi ona l or l oc a l gov e r nme nt t ha t t he wa r ds do not be c ome s o l a r ge
t h a t t h e y c e a s e t o r e p r e s e n t r e s p e c t i v e l y t h e r e g i o n a l I n t e r e s t s
o r l o c a l i n t e r e s t s o f t h e e l e c t o r a t e .
I t s h o u l d b e r e me mb e r e d we l i v e i n a d e mo c r a c y . T h e r e a r e
c e r t a i n c o s t s r e l a t i n g t o t h i s f o r m o f g o v e r n me n t . T h o s e wh o wi s h
t h e n u mb e r o f p o l i t i c i a n s t o b e r e d u c e d a r e a t t a c k i n g t h e c o n c e p t
t h a t p o l i t i c i a n s a t t h e l o c a l l e v e l s h o u l d r e f l e c t t h e l o c a l
communi t y. I f y o u t a k e t h e a r g u me n t t o i t s l o g i c a l c o n c l u s i o n y o u
s h o u l d e l e c t o n e p o l i t i c i a n f o r l i f e t o s a v e mo n e y . Of c o u r s e t h i s
i s h i s t o r i c a l l y c a l l e d a d i c t a t o r s h i p . D i c t a t o r s h i p s ma y s a v e
p a y i n g p o l i t i c i a n s b u t t h e r e a r e t h e i n c r e a s e d c o s t s i n f o r m o f
p a r a mi l i t a r y p o l i c e , a r my u n i t s a n d c o u n t e r i n t e l l i g e n c e u n i t s t o
be c ons i de r e d. E x c u s e t h i s l i t t l e h y p e r b o l e b u t I c o u l d n o t r e s i s t
i t .
3
I n t h e c a s e o f l o c a l g o v e r n me n t d e c r e a s i n g t h e p o l i t i c i a n s
d i s t a n c e s t h e m f r o m t h e e l e c t o r a t e a n d wi l l o n l y r e s u l t i n I n c r e a s e
i n t h e i r s t a f f a n d t h e b u r e a u c r a c y .
LOCAL WARDS AND LOCAL MUNI CI PALI TI ES SHOULD REFLECT THE PROPER
ECONOMIES OF SCALE
Wi l l t h e i n c r e a s e d wa r d s b e t h e p r o p e r s c a l e t o p r o v i d e a n d
o p e r a t e wa r d s e r v i c e s a n d wi l l t h e l o c a l mu n i c i p a l i t y b e t h e p r o p e r
s c a l e t o p r o v i d e i mp r o v e d s e r v i c e wi t h o u t l a r g e n u mb e r o f mi d d l e
manager s. T h e a s s u mp t i o n t h a t b i g g e r i s b e t t e r i s a n o u t d a t e d
bus i ne s s c onc e pt . Mo s t b u s i n e s s e s n o w s e t u p a d mi n i s t r a t i v e u n i t s
t h a t r e l a t e t o t h e t a s k s t o b e p e r f o r m e d . T h e p r o b l e m w i t h
i n c r e a s e d u n i t s i z e i s t h e t e n d e n c y t o i n c r e a s e mi d d l e ma n a g e me n t
a nd i nc r e a s e r e d t a pe a s t he c ha i n of c omma nd l e ngt he ns .
F o r e x a mp l e t h e C i t y o f T o r o n t o iS t o o l a r g e t o b e a l o c a l
gov e r nme nt . Wh i l e Me t r o i s t o o s ma l l t o d e a l wi t h r e g i o n a l i s s u e s .
A s a r e s u l t y o u n o w h a v e t h e c r e a t i o n o f t h e GT A wh i c h b e f o r e
Me t r opol i t a n Tor ont o c a me t o be , had been done t hr ough t he Regi onal
Pl a n n i n g Bo a r d f o r t h e T o r o n t o .
Co- or di na t i on f unc t i ons c a n now be done by c omput e r a nd f a x .
The 9 1 1 syst em u s e s l o c a l f i r e d e p a r t m e n t s , p o l l e e ( r e g i o n a l
s e r v i c e ) a n d a mb u l a n c e ( r e g i o n a l s e r v i c e ) . I t i s n o t n e c e s s a r y t h a t
f i r e de pa r t me nt s be c ome Me t r o de pa r t me nt s t o pr ov i de t hi s s e r v i c e .
SAVE COSTS BY ELIMINATING LOCAL GOVERNMENT
T h i s f a l l s i n t o t h e r u b r i c t h a t c o n c e n t r a t i o n and
c e n t r a l i z a t i o n s a v e s mo n e y . A s a l r e a d y d i s c u s s e d t h i s i s n o t t h e
s u r e t y t h a t i t s s u p p o r t e r s c l a i m f o r i t . Y o u n e e d t o l o o k a t
g e o g r a p h i c a n d e c o n o mi c ma t t e r s t o d e c i d e wh e t h e r t h e r e a r e t r u e
s a v i n g s . I n a d d i t i o n w i l l t h i s r e s u l t i n a n a l i e n a t i o n o f t h e
p o p u l a c e f r o m l o c a l g o v e r n me n t . I f y o u k e e p t h e s a me n u mb e r o f
Me t r o p o l i t i c i a n s a n d t h e s a me wa r d s i z e s y o u wi l l s t i l l h a v e a
l a r g e c o u n c i l b u t t h e wo r k l o a d o n t h o s e r e ma i n i n g wi l l i n c r e a s e t o
t h e p o i n t t h a t e l e c t e d l o c a l p o l i t i c i a n s w i l l b e r e p l a c e d b y
e x e c u t i v e a s s i s t a n t s who a r e n o t d i r e c t l y a c c o u n t a b l e t o t h e
e l e c t o r a t e . T h i s c o u l d b e r e s o l v e d b y d e c r e a s i n g t h e wa r d s i z e s o
t h a t t h e wa r d s wi l l r e s e mb l e l o c a l mu n i c i p a l wa r d s b u t t h i s wi l l
i n c r e a s e t h e Re g i o n a l Co u n c i l t o a Co u n c i l c o n s i s t i n g o f o v e r 1 0 0
c o u n c i l l o r s . Ho w wo r k a b l e wi l l t h i s b e ?
SAVE COSTS BY ELIMINATING REGIONAL GOVERNMENT
Thi s ma y ha v e a dv a nt a ge s but how wi l l r e gi ona l ma t t e r s be c o-
o r d i n a t e d s u c h a s i n t e r u r b a n h i g h wa y s , s e we r s , dumps, p u b l i c
t r a n s i t , p o l i c e t o n a me a f e w. I t c o u l d b e d o n e b y c o o r d i n a t i n g
c o mmi t t e e s o f l o c a l mu n i c i p a l i t i e s a n d w h e r e t h e r e i s n o c o -
o p e r a t i o n a me c h a n i s m t o me d i a t e d i s p u t e s a t t h e Pr o v i n c i a l L e v e l .
4
A n a l t e r n a t e o p t i o n i s t o e l i mi n a t e r e g i o n a l g o v e r n me n t a n d
i n c r e a s e t h e n u mb e r o f P r o v i n c i a l p o l i t i c i a n s ( M. P . P . o r M. L . A . ) ,
a nd ha v e t he m me e t i n c ommi t t e e s f or a r e a s l i k e t h e GT A . Ov e r a l l
envi r onment al , t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , a n d t r a n s r e g i o n a l i s s u e s c o u l d b e
d e a l t w i t h b y p r o v i n c i a l m i n i s t r i e s w i t h b r a n c h e s t h a t w o u l d
c o r r e l a t e t o t h e a p p r o p r i a t e g e o g r a p h i c / e c o n o mi c z o n e s . R e g i o n a l
d u mp s wo u l d b e a p r o v i n c i a l i s s u e b u t h a n d l e d b y M. P . P . s a n d
M . L . A . s . Co n f u s i o n wo u l d b e r e mo v e d i n t h e s e n s e t h a t i f i t s n o t
l o c a l i t s r e g i o n a l / p r o v i n c i a l . I n de c i di ng how ma ny M. P. P, s a nd
M. L . A. s w o u l d b e t o l o o k a t t h e t o t a l s a l a r i e s p a i d t o p r e s e n t
p r o v i n c i a l and r e g i o n a l r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a n d d i v i d e it by the
e x i s t i n g p r o v i n c i a l s a l a r i e s .
A f u r t h e r o p t i o n wo u l d t o s p e c i f y wh a t t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s
o f l o c a l g o v e r n me n t s a r e . Wh a t wo u l d n o t b e c o v e r e d u n d e r l o c a l
g o v e r n me n t wo u l d b e a Pr o v i n c i a l ma t t e r u n l e s s d e l e g a t e d b y t h e
P r o v i n c e t o a r e g i o n a l e n t i t y , a ppoi nt me nt s t o whi c h woul d be by
t h e l o c a l g o v e r n me n t s . S p e c i f i c r e g i o n a l ma t t e r s s u c h a s p o l i c e ,
a mbul a nc e , t r a ns ur ba n r oa ds , s e we r s , r e g i o n a l p a r k s , p u b l i c t r a n s i t
c o u l d b e g o v e r n e d b y s e p a r a t e e n t i t i e s a p p o i n t e d b y l o c a l c o u n c i l s
o r b y a r e g i o n a l c o u n c i l wi t h j u s t t h o s e s p e c i f i c d u t i e s . Re g i o n a l
b o d i e s w o u l d b e more s e c r e t a r i a t s r a t h e r t h a n f u l l bl own
b u r e a u c r a c i e s .
PRESENT STRUCTURE
Loc a l gov e r nme nt i s gov e r ne d by t he Muni c i pa l Ac t , The Ac t i s
c onv ol ut e d a nd ba s e d on a n 1 8 5 0 s Ac t wi t h upda t e s . I t i s t i me f or
a ne w Ac t t ha t s pe c i f i e s wha t l oc a l gov e r nme nt s c a n do. I n a ddi t i on
t h e r e a r e p r i v a t e A c t s w h i c h g i v e s p e c i a l p o w e r s t o d i f f e r e n t
mu n i c i p a l i t i e s . T h e s e a r e n o t r e a d i l y a v a i l a b l e a n d p r o v i d e a r c a n e
k n o w l e d g e t o t h e v a r i o u s l o c a l mu n i c i p a l i t y s s o l i c i t o r s . The
p u b l i c d o e s n o t k n o w. T h i s i s wr o n g . T h e r e i s a r i s k i n a ma s s i v e
r e s t r u c t u r i n g o f l o c a l g o v e r n me n t . We ma y n o t g e t i t r i g h t , o n t h e
o t h e r h a n d t h e p r e s e n t s y s t e m i s br ok e n. No o n e k n o ws wh o i s
r esponsi bl e f or whom or what wi t hout an ext ensi ve backgr ound i n t he
f i e l d . C o n f u s i o n a l l o w s d u p l i c a t i o n . We h a v e c r e a t e d b e t we e n
r e g i o n a l a n d l o c a l g o v e r n me n t t h e s a me i s s u e s o f p a r a mo u n t l y t h a t
e x i s t s b e t we e n P r o v i n c i a l a n d F e d e r a l r e g i me s e x c e p t t h e s e c a n
o f t e n c o - e x i s t wi t h n o me c h a n i s m f o r r e s o l u t i o n .
LOCAL VERSUS REGIONAL SERVICES
We n e e d t o g e t c r e a t i v e .
T h e b e s t me c h a n i s m iS t o c r e a t e a
r e g i o n a l e n t i t y wi t h l i mi t e d p o we r s t h a t a r e c l e a r l y r e g i o n a l . A l l
o t h e r mu n i c i p a l ma t t e r s wo u l d b e t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f t h e l o c a l
gov e r nme nt s .
MORE NOT FEWER LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
Ra t he r t ha n r e duc i ng t he numbe r of muni c i pa l i t i e s a s s ome ha v e
s ugge s t e d, I s ugge s t we i nc r e a s e t he numbe r but e ns ur i ng t ha t wha t
5
i s c r e a t e d ma k e s ge ogr a phi c , e c onomi c a nd c ul t ur a l s e ns e ba s e d on
t h e e f f i c i e n t p r o v i s i o n o f s e r v i c e s a n d t h e c o n n e c t i n g o f s i mi l a r
a r e a s i n t o g e o g r a p h i c u n i t s t h a t ma k e s e n s e .
E x c e p t f o r a c t s o f h i s t o r y , w h y d o e s t h e C i t y o f T o r o n t o
s t r e t c h f r o m t h e H u m b e r R i v e r t o V i c t o r i a P a r k , and have a
p a n h a n d l e s t i c k i n g n o r t h i n t o N o r t h Y o r k . Wh y i s No r t h Yo r k t h e
f o r m i t i s . A cl ose exami nat i on of t he boundar y bet ween Tor ont o and
Yor k a t Bl oor St r e e t We s t wi l l s how t ha t t he bounda r y c ut s t hr ough
a pa r t me nt bui I di ngs t o s uc h a n e x t e nt t ha t s ome of t he t e na nt s v ot e
i n T o r o n t o a n d o t h e r s i n t h e C i t y o f Y o r k . A r e o r g a n i z a t i o n o f
l oc a l bounda r i e s t o r e f l e c t a c t ua l phy s i c a l bounda r i e s a nd e c onomi c
z one s woul d pr ov e mor e e c onomi c a l . Wh y n o t p i c k r i v e r b o u n d a r i e s
a n d r a i l r o a d t r a c k s ? T h e e x a c t s i z e o f a mu n i c i p a l i t y a t t h e l o c a l
l e v e l s houl d be l a r ge e nough t o pr ov i de e c onomi e s of s c a l e but k e e p
a c c o u n t a b i l i t y i n p l a c e .
Why not 30 or 40
r e p r e s e n t a t i v e a p p o i n t e d
gover nment ?
ELECTIONS
l o c a l g o v e r n me n t s wh o s e ma y o r s a n d o n e
b y e a c h l o c a l c o u n c i l f o r m t h e r e g i o n a l
Wh y t h r e e y e a r t e r ms ? T h e s e r e d u c e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y . I t wo u l d
b e b e t t e r t o c o n s i d e r r e q u i r i n g v o t e r s t o r e g i s t e r a t t h e l o c a l
l e v e l r a t he r t ha n t he pr e s e nt e x pe ns i v e me t hod of e nume r a t i on. Thi s
wo u l d r e d u c e c o s t s a n d i n c r e a s e a c c o u n t a b i l i t y .
Wh i l e I r e a l i z e n o t a l l o f t h e s e s u g g e s t i o n s ma y f a l l wi t h i n
y o u r mandat e, I m a k e t h e m s i m p l y t o a s s i s t
que s t i ons I woul d be pl e a s e d t o a ns we r t he m.
PROPERTY TAX
T a k i n g n o t e o f t h e f u r t h e r f l u c t u a t i o n s
you. I f y o u h a v e
c a u s e d b y a p p l y i n g
ma r k e t v a l u e t o p r o p e r t i e s a s s h o w n i n r e c e n t r e p o r t s t o t h e
gover nment shows t h e i n s t a b i l i t y c r e a t e d by t h i s s y s t e m.
Mu n i c i p a l i t i e s s h o u l d b e a l l o we d t o o p t f o r o n e o f s e v e r a l s y s t e ms
whi c h ma y be a c c e pt a bl e .
( 4 1 6 ) 7 6 9 - 3 1 6 2
6
Michael Rosenberg
73 McCaul St. #327 Toronto Ont M5T 2x2
(416)971-9428 fax (416)781-0249
Anne Golden
393 University Ave. Suite 2001
Toronto Ont. M5G 1E6
Sep 29, 1995.
There are current pressures for reform of the GTA region. These mostly
centre on business tax levels and the need to do something about the general
state of the economy.
The competitiveness direction so far taken by the GTA Task Force is a
response to the way
thinking, and is no
economy and quality
much worse economic
The main error
these problems are seen within the context of recent economic
doubt honestly intended to result in an improvement in the
of life in the region, but will actually result in a
and social situation if carried any further.
being made is in asking the question How can we be
more competitive? rather than Is competitiveness beneficial?
The consequences of continuing to pursue competitiveness are not purely in
the realm of economic theory. The magnitude of the harmful consequences for
the ecoonomy have been greatly underestimated because the advantages and
disadvantages of competitiveness have been discussed in purely financial terms,
leaving out the much larger effects of the acceleration of technology on low
wages and unemployment.
It is important to understand that it really isnt going to matter what we
do about governance and tax formulas if the present trend towards low wages
continues. It is not t he case that high-tech produces high wages. Productivity
and value added do not determine wage levels; wages are determined by the
margi nal value of labour, which will soon be as low as one dollar per hour
when computer systems already in existence in university and private research
centres get into the workplace in the next five years.
Tax structure
1) Tax reform should not be allowed to reduce taxes to the lowest level
currently in existence; an approach to equalization of tax levels should be
revenue neutral, Consideration should be taken of the following: the regions
outside metro will likely have to raise their taxes in any case because they
have kept rates artificially low by funding operating expenses out of
development fees; the tax rate in Toronto will always be higher than in the
2
other regions because of the greater concentration of public and cultural
facilities in the central city; property taxes should be based on land and
building areas and not market value; business rates should be significantly
higher than residential rates, with the exception that residential rental units
should have the residential rate; there may be a need for a regional or city
percentage on the income tax as is current done for the province.
2) In order to achieve recommendation 1, some Metro or GTA government will
be needed. Assessment pooling is necessary more than ever today, not only
so the rich can support the poor, but to prevent each city from competing
to reduce rates to unrealistic levels. It is clear that no reasonable level of
public life and civilization would be maintained if the entire GTA had to
support all its public activities on the lowest levels of taxation currently
in the region.
3) The OMB should not be setting or overturning tax rates set by elected
bodies, If there is a dispute about tax levels it should be dealt with at the
city or regional council, not at the OMB. The OMB should either be eliminated
or restricted to cases which do not remove the councils ability to make
political decisions.
Competitiveness and technology
4) The GTA Task Force report should state the following problems with
competitiveness:
4a) Tax levels are continuously under pressure to be reduced to well below
what is needed for a sustainable society.
4b) Competitiveness does not mean that one region will get ahead of another;
it means all regions get low wages and less economic output going to people
(more goes to business-to-business trade and capital projects).
4c) The continued promotion of new technology, especially advanced
computerized automation, depresses the marginal value of labour. Low wages
and unemployment of a scale unheard of up to now (with wages falling to
one dollar per hour or less) are the result of the expendability of labour.
At a minimum, by stating the negative as well as positive affects of
competitiveness, the report will be doing something towards asking the question
of whether competitiveness is beneficial to society. However, what is needed
is a reversal of the whole approach to competitiveness, with the report stating
that competitiveness will result in economic and social ruin for society.
The decline of the middle class as people lose high paying jobs and have
to take low paying jobs, even when professional qualification is expected, is
going to be greatly accelerated as automation moves into the service and
professional industries. What concerns me most is the consequcnes of the
advances in integrated planning, retail and manufacturing systems combined with
voice recognition, From my experience in the computer industry, I can assure
you that we will not want these technologies to be allowed to be used in the
workplace. Within ten years the consequences will be even worse than the
worst poverty existing today.
3
5) There needs to be a study of the effects of new technology on worklife and
society with specific reference to the following terms:
5a) The effect of computerized automation on low wages and unemployment, and
the effect of low wages and unemployment on society.
5b) Primary focus on new technologies of the next ten years, especially on
automation technology (i.e. downsizing), which will have a larger effect than
communication technology.
5c) Consideration of the magnidude of the consequences, and the need to reduce
the amount of automation if it is found that the policy of expecting benefits
from technology turns out to at best be a way to turn the situation from bad
to merely less bad, but does not prevent the decline in the social and economic
standard of living.
A full study of this kind should probably occur at the federal level, but
these issues must also be considered now when preparing the economic proposals
in the GTA Task Force report. In addition, the GTA report should state the need
for a full study under these terms of reference.
I believe we can have more confidence in the future if the recommendations
1-5 are made a part of the Task Forces report. I would be ready to meet with
the task force members or staff for further discussion of these issues.
Yours sincerely,
Michael Rosenberg.
Attached:
Letter to UN Social Summit (March 1995) on Technology and Unemployment.
Toronto Star article on London England (Sep 24, 1995).
TREATMENT
TORONTO
Wa t e r a n d Se wa ge Ca p a c i t i e s p r e d e t e r m i n e a l l GTA De ve l op m e n t
a n d Gr owt h Pla n n i n g: Only water and sewage capacity stands in the way of
devastating the best Agricultural land in the province and exploiting it for the
development of Urban Sprawl.
Dear Anne Golden;
The Safe Sewage Committee is a public interest group that is concerned
only with water and sewage infrastructure. Informally sine 1989 and formally
since 1992, we have done more research in this area than any other public
interest group in Canada.
I personally have attended all but one of the Metro Works Committee Meetings
for the past 4 years. I confess that I have witnessed millions of dollars being
approved for water and sewage projects by Metro Councillors who hardly
understand the treatment processes they are saddling the public with. The
long-term economic burden and environmental and planning impacts their
decisions will cause are not accounted for.
Re c omme n da t ion 1 : That the Golden Task Force request Public Hearings into
the landuse and development plans already being requested by the Regions
and inventory of what remaining agricultural land exists, so that the GTA is
not just sustaining development but instead a dynamic way of life that the
people of Ontario have come to know as Southern Ontario for hundreds of
years. This is a place where agricultural land should be a major focus of the
economy and not the dead industry that speculators have created by only
valuing this prime resource as a paved suburb.
Sprawl is eating away at the fabric of Southern Ontario and the GTA will
escalate this destructive influence so long as greed for tax money drives
development rather than the kind of fundamental planning that is required
for the future existence of biological needs (water, close food sources, and a
health oriented living system of communities).
Re c om m e n d a t i on 2: A forum be held on the potential for agriculture land as
an agricultural resource, the needs of people in the farm communities of the
GTA Regions, and the urban market needs, to ensure the needs of the GTA are
met before it is lost to development.
At present we destroy the Oak Ridges Moraine for example to extract gravel to
pave the way for urban sprawl. To a great extent GTA is already beyond its
sustainable limits, and part of the problem has been that no forum has ever
existed to enable the average person to gain a perception or big picture, of
the extent of change we have already imposed on the GTA, what local
page 2
developers and politicians have already approved, and what the long-term
plans for the GTA might be.
The Future of the GTA belongs to the over 4 million people living here. It must
not be what is left for us all to pay for once the politicians and developers have
carved up our land, our economy, and spoiled our heritage. There is a need for
a forum, (not another level of government to challenge the province itself),
but a reality check.
It is time to say no to sending the groundwater of the Regions to the Lake as
sewage, and then send ever more contaminated lake water back up to the
regions (at great expense) and call it drinking water. It is time to really
understand the dynamics of growth in terms of how we diminish our resources
and have no plans to restore or clean up the mistakes of past urban
development. The envelope might need closing. It is important to know when
to close the urban envelope before we lose our ability to service the needs of
the GTA within the boundaries of the GTA, and that includes protecting the
food we need from our own agricultural resources.
Metro Government is an unknown level of government and does not function
in the democratic sense. It is at best a service agency. A service agency does
not require elected politicians, a Board of Management model would be more
effective and have the opportunity to have public interest and non-
government input into decisions.
It is our view that infrastructure is more efficient in older city models such as
the City of Toronto. The City of Toronto has also paid for over a hundred years
for the water and sewage treatment it needs. The Ashbridges Bay Sewage
Treatment Plant for example was designed for the 700,000 people of the City of
Toronto. When Metro was formed in 1953 it was given to Metro for $1, I have
been told by politicians who were there. There has to be a mechanism that is
not based on market value but begins to shape growth and brings down the
costs of urban living so that agricultural land does not continue to be devalued,
or continue to provide cheap suburban land. The older cities and
municipalities must be able to go into a maintenance mode for taxes and costs
that is quite different than the initial and true costs of providing new services
to expanded sprawl.
In Florida something called an impact tax was introduced to not only prevent
cheap sprawl but to also preserve older neighbourhoods. The costs for roads,
schools, hospitals etc., that follow the water and sewage hook ups, all cost big
dollars that developers do not really pay the full cost for, even in terms of
planning alone, nor are new residents in sub-divisions paying the true costs
for all new services. When Metro consents to pay $100 million to subsidize the
water supply to York-Durham, the City of Toronto is being asked to pay, all
over again for water and sewage. No wonder the old towns and cities are
fighting to keep people when the new suburbs are so heavily subsidized. If
general tax subsidies were stopped for roads, water and sewage alone, the true
costs of regional development may begin to produce an economic incentive to
page 3
revive the already serviced areas. The city of Toronto has approximately
100,000 fewer people than lived here in 1976. Where is the economic incentive
for people to stay in Toronto? All we seem to get are tourists and the
environmental degradation of the regions in terms of air pollution from their
sewage being incinerated and discharged along the waterfront, their
workplace waste, and their cars grid-locking our neighbourhoods.
Some kind of public discussion is necessary to review your GTA Task Force
Report. Please send me a copy.
Enclosed are a couple of articles that I think may make some of our points
more clear. An appendix or two may follow, as I need more time to find them
and send them as I have just moved house.
Sincerely Yours,
I
Karey
PUBLIC
COMMITTEE
for
SAFE
. SEWAGE
TREATMENT
METROPOLITAN
TORONTO
Re : En vir on me n t a n d Pu blic Spa c e Commit t e e Age n da Se pt e mbe r 1 1 , 1 9 9 5 .
It e m 2 4 , Wa t e r Su pply t o t h e Re gi on of Yor k
Dear Chair and Members;
It is in the interests of the whole GTA for Metro and other lakeshore municipalities, to
stop subsidizing and offering up lake Ontario as a regional water supply and subsequent
sewage disposal sink.
York Region and the other GTA Regions need immediate plans to recharge their aquifers
and contain their needs within their own unique geological drainage basins. We are aware
of no plans to recharge their groundwater supplies and all this rhetoric about so called
sustainable development in the Regions is nothing more than a contradiction in terms.
What should we be Sustaining in the Regions -
Agricultural Land or Urban Sprawl?
It is virtually impossible, with the population of the Regions today even, for
them to be sustainable, given the present ground water supply - and that will
be gone if there are no proposals to recharge the aquifers by some sort of
infiltration basins.
To think that Lake-Based water and sewage will make the Regions and the Oak
Ridges Moraine area Sustainable will instead transform a groundwater- based
agricultural geographic piece of Ontario into literally an artificial or virtual
and paved urban satellite.
What eliminates agricultural land faster - Landfill
sites or sewer capacity? Sewer Capacity of course!
Many of us in Metro do not understand how the Regions can successfully stop
Landfill proposals on the basis this will consume scarce acres of agricultural
land while they are willing to put up $111 million, and rake million of dollars
off the Metro tax base, for what - consuming vast tracts of agricultural land,
for urban sprawl and paved development.
Metro must stop subsidizing Regional development. We are placed in double
jeopardy: we need the agricultural market gardens of the region and cannot
withstand the erosion of the Metro tax base .
page 2
Di s a d va n t a ge s of La k e -Ba s e d wa t e r a n d Se wa ge
1.) Degradation of Lake Ontario
B As the Regions collapse their tertiary sewage treatment Plants and replace
them with pumping stations directed to the waterfront, only secondary sewage
treatment is provided. It is not the conventional oxygen demand and fecal
coliform that are a problem here - It is the concentration and accumulation of
all the untreated and untreatable toxic metals, and persistent toxics that will
build up in Lake Ontario. On the one hand the rural municipalities are saying
they cannot afford to enforce the more stringent Sewer-Use By-Law that
Metro Toronto has, but they will have to - or will the Regions depend on Metro
and Ajax to enforce the Sewer-Use By-Law?
2.) Degradation of the Drinking Water Supply
. It is already apparent that water purification is no match for the many
chemical contaminants in Lake Ontario. Further accumulation will raise the
cost and reduce the quality of drinking water. Removing lindane, dieldrin and
other toxics is difficult if not unaffordable or impossible.
3.) Higher Costs for Removing Higher concentrations of Sewage-born
contaminants.
4.) Higher costs for water transport and water disinfection,
5.) Huge increases of chlorine may be necessary to to overcome the delivery
time to the Regions and would require boosting and additional chlorine.
6.) Pumping over the Oak Ridges moraine is not cost effective.
Benefits of Infiltration Basins, Water Reuse and
Water Reclamation Plants
1.) No degradation to Lake Ontario water quality.
2.) No accelerated degradation to lake Ontario drinking water supplies.
3.) More stable costs for water purification for the existing urban envelope.
4.) Reduction of costs for transportation, disinfection.
5.) Reduced need for chemicals for disinfection, primarily chlorine.
6.) Reduced energy required to not need to pump water sewage up-hill in
many cases and all over the regions.
page 3
7.) Secondary water supply plants provide water for:
a) irrigation needs
b) agricultural fertilizer needs, close to the end user
c) potential water recreation opportunities
d) the stormwater Iagoon/ infiltration basins in Winnipeg suburbs, since the
mid 1960s are 1/ 4 the cost of total in-pipe drainage to sewage plants
e) source of a secondary piping system to meet institutional and non-potable
water needs, such as for water fountains, parks and swimming pools, toilet
flushing and lawn watering etc. see attachment re: Marin County.
f) infiltration basins can recharge the groundwater
g) pollution prevention and source control is far more effective at source. It is
obvious that the regions will respond to the contamination of their own water
supplies and will care less if they are degrading a lake, Lake Ontario, some 60
or more kilometers away.
Recommendation:
It wou ld be of gr e a t in t e r e s t for Me t r o t o in s is t t h a t Yor k Re gion
or a n y ot h e r Re gi on a l Mu n i c i p a l i t y fi r s t p r e s e n t a l on g t e r m p l a n
for t h e ir wa t e r s u pply t h a t a s a fir s t c on dit ion mu s t s olve a s mu c h
of t h e ir own wa t e r a n d s e wa ge n e e ds in t h e ir own a r e a s a n d
d e m on s t r a t e t h a t t h e y h a ve , i n op e r a t i on , fa c i l i t i e s t h a t wi l l
r e c h a r ge t h e i r gr ou n d wa t e r a n d c on for m t o t h e Wa t e r s h e d a n d
Su b-Wa t e r s h e d Pol i c i e s of t h e Fe d e r a l a n d p r ovi n c i a l Gove r n m e n t s
be for e a n y m on e y or wa t e r fl ows t h r ou gh t h e Me t r o s ys t e m t o
c o n s u m e a gr i c u l t u r a l l a n d t h r o u gh u r ba n s p r a wl .
-.
Metro Councillors Form
New Sub-committee
to Study Sewage Sludge
N
OBODY HAD ANY ANSWER
On January 13, Karey Shinn of Safe
Sewage and Aine Suttle of Citizens
for a Safe Environment presented a deputation
to The Metro Works Committee [this com
prises those Metro councillors, plus senior
members of the Works Department, who are
responsible for the sewage treatment system]
Shinn and Suttle were enquiring into the
alleged need for $51 million of incinerator
spending at the Main Treatment Plant [see
box below], Because no adequate reason was
forthcoming, Councillor Anne Johnston pro
posed the establishment of a sub-committee
look into sludge input and incinerartion
Works Committee Sub-Committee on Sewage
Sludge Management is: Ila Bossons [Chair]
Joan King, Paul Christie, Anne Johnston
Alan Tonks and Dick OBrien,
Several meetings of the Sub-Committee
have been held. New voices are being heard
such as Dr. R.E. Jervis, Dean of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Toronto, who
reported his findings that sewage incineration
does nothing more than kill pathogens and
boil off water; that its the wrong technology.
On this new sub-committee, Councillors
are devoting time and effort to understanding
:
the issues. This will enable them to supply the
informed leadershi
p
that has been lacking.
Through, then Taken Back for "Clarifications"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
T
HE MTP received a Certificate of Approval
million, and new emission controls, at $29 mil-
lion, from the Approvals Dept. of the Ministry
the Environment on S ept. 22, 1992. Ruth Grier
then Environment Minister who bad already
passed legislation against garbage incineration,
as not informed. S afe S ewage was not alone in
Sludge Fudge
How new sewer-use by-laws encouraged
of hazardous waste into a system. that
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
And how Works Department statistics
the dumpin
g
can't treat it
obscured the
resulting surge in sludge flow at the Humber plant
M E T R O T O R O N T O S L U D G E F L O W
1985- 91
S. m
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
,365 ,!4 ,9s1 ,S!a ,989 ,M ,$q,
Fig. I:A dramatic trend...
t.Ei!?o TORONO SLUDGE OlS?CS_4L ; 982 1991
m
. . . -
D . - - m - 1 . .
Fig 2... that Metro Works faiLd to notice.
might have triggered thi
5
s
o
li& ]
Oa
di
ng
?
, . .
IC appears dl~t [he new Ontario and Merro
S ewer-UJ e By-Lawr are responsible. Heres why:
In 198\ the Minisr
V
of the Environment
reviewed its by-law prorecrin
g
rhe quali~ of
Con:inwdon Ptzxc~
discharges into sewers, focusing on Persistent
toxic materials. Concurrently, and quite
independently, conditions were issued to
accompany the Certificate of Approval for
sludges bein
g
landfilled at the B
roc
k \V
e5
t
Landfill Site.
Condition #
4
stares that:
in the interim Guideline for the Interpretation of
the Hazardous Waste Definition [regulation 3 0 9 ]
and the "Test Method for the Determination of
Liquid Industrial waste (Sludge Test) of the
Ministry of the Environment shall be disposed at
this site.
Also since 1985, tipping fees have gone up
significantly, and the only hazardous waste
landfill in Ontario is near Sarnia. And then
in 1989, Metropolitan Toronto followed up on
the Ontario by-law, with a more stringent
version of its own, Sewer-Use By-Law #r153-89,
A Logical Reaction
How did the commercial and industrial
sectors respond to this new combination of
Circumstances?
Were these sectors aware of how much
toxic material could be discharged into the
sewers before the Sewer- By-Laws were
publicized, stating qualities?
Did this now present itself as a COn ve-
nient, economical way to dispose of hazardous
and industrial/commercia] liquid waste and
sludges that were no longer being allowed to
enter Brock West
:
too expensive to send to
Sarnia as hazardous waste, and perhaps :00
small to make recycling feasible on a small-
business scale for generators of these wastes?
It woul d a p p e a r s o, i n wh i c h c a s e i t i s
e xt r e m e l y i r on i c that a sewer-use by-l aw
designed to limit toxic waste at source has
actually had the opposite effect.
Putting the New Sludge Stream
in Perspective
The extra 15,ooo-plus tonnes of sludge now
entering the Metro sewers for disposal is a
unique sludge waste stream that was previ-
ously nor captured.
It is a new load of solids that may well be
responsible for the bi
g
increase in some heavy
metals now arriving at the Main Plant from
the Humber.
without further ado, steps should be
taken to control the release of these solids into
the Metro sewer system, with treatment/pre-
treatment technologies co effectivel
y
protect
then~,ironment throughout Metro,
This inept example of sludge manage-
ment goes to show that its one thing to
record data, quite another to interpret it
meaningfully. If the current regime at Metro
Works cant understand the presentas
reflected in its own statisticshow can its
plans for the future be taken seriously?
Safe Sewage Presents Health Stud
y
to Scientists at IJC Workshop
WORKSHOP oN ECOSYSTEM HEALTH: A DIA-
LOGUE BETWEEN SCIENCE & THE COMMUNI TT
S ponsored by the Great Lakes S cience Advisory
Board of the International J oint Commision.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, S ept. 14 15 1992.
H
EALTH 2000, THE EAST TORONTO
Participatory Health Study was pre-
sented b
y
Laura Jones, Kare
y
Shinn,
Betty Vanderwater, and Kathe Walshe.
Our slide show depicted the proximity of
the industrial portlands to residential neigh-
bourhoods. Triggers to community concern,
previous studies, shortcomings of the Board
of Health, information on the health of
different neighborhoods, and the fallacy of
risk assessments were pointed out.
A summary, of the organizational structure
of the stud
y
and the questionnaire procedure
were outlined for the many doctors, bureau-
crats, toxicologists, and epidemiologists at the
workshop. The response was very positive and
members of the scientific community wanted
to know more. Our stud
y
was considered to
be unique, unlike an epidemiological study,
and must be criticized outside that model.
The Health 2000 stud
y
is now completed.
The questionnaires have been run through
computer analysis. The soil restin
g
is done.
We look forward to releasin
g
the results at a
public meeting to be scheduled in late May.
For further information contact: Dr. Rosalie Bertell,
International Institute of Concern for Public Health, 830
Common e r Addr e s s e s Ch lor in e Con fe r e n c e
Phasin
g
out the Chlorine Industry is the only way to
Deal with Toxic Organo-chIorines in the Environment
more resistant, the chemicals more costly and
the economic productivity from a dollar of
these chemicals had been eroded by 70%.
Large scale organic farming could bring a
n
economic renaissance by producin
g
the same
yield without the debt created b), financin
g
agricultural chemical practices.
Commoner proceeded to calculate the
economics of shuttin
g
down the chlorine
industry and concluded that it would cost
less than keeping it going.
The weekend seminars went into the
co; tent of his address in detail. Excellent pre-
sentations were made b
y
Dr. Theo Colborn
of W. Alton Jones Foundation and World
Wildlife Fund, who presented studies on Great
Lakes bird Populations; Dr. Paul Connett, St.
Lawrence University/Work on Waste, discussing
incineration; Tom Webster on organo-chlorine
production; and Gordon Durnil, U.S. Chair,
International Joint Commission.
On the whole it was a great weekend.
More than any-thin
g
else was the sense char
there are lots of people just like us, with the
bigger picture in mind: acting locally by usinS
rational understanding to clean u
p
the p ol l u -
tion and toxic mess inherited from post-war
chemical indusrialization.
Barry Commoners opening address, Breaking the)lanr:c
Trap, is on tape and available from Greenpeace, along
with other printed conference materials on chlorine and
the alternatives.
SA FE SEWAG NEW' SPRING 1 9 9 3 I 3
How Not t o Expand t he Main Plant
Two alt ernat ive ways t o enlarge t he syst em, wit hout addit ional chlorinat ion or incinerat ion
DEMAND
MANAGEMENT
A Water Capacity Credit Option
By Karey S hinn
R
increased treatment capacity to the
municipality Metro Works should
move tO constrain demand. Heres how:
STEP I: Calculate the full costs of expanding
the Main Treatment Plant or any municipal
sewer project, and divide by the number of
gallons of capacity it will buy.
e.g. divide S1.5 billion by 66 million imperial
gallons per day = approx. $23.oo/imperial gal.
At this rate, a permanently installed low
flow toilet would be worth approx. 3 imp. gals./
flush, x 4 flushes/day = 12 gals. x $ 23.oo/gal.
= $276.00
STEP 2: Create an inventory of existing build-
ings, especial), large office buildings and
medium sized industrial/ institutional water
program. (This will lower their water and
hydro costs on a Monthly), basis.]
STEP 3: Audit current water use and estimate
potential water reduction to establish a credit
and cost of the retrofit.
STEP 4: ldentify new development or redevel-
opment projects and the waste water capacity
they require for Permits.
Matching new users with existin
g
capacity
users will hel
p
to stabilize the revenue gener-
ated at the water supply end and hold rates
down. It is questionable if there is an advan-
rage to rapidl
y
cut water consumption only to
find we are stuck with huge water rate increases
to run the existing system. It also makes little
sense for individual municipalities to initiate
sewer pipe separation, if their is nothing in it
for them financiall
y
to free u
p
this volume to
Metro when they have no new development
to use the freed capacity.
STEP 5: Apply this system to the water supply
demand.
In short, the individual Municipalities could
broker volumes within their jurisdictions and
tro could broker them between Municipal-
ties. The system would subsidize irself. Also,
landowners of a number of large real-estate
holdings could be allowed to transfer capacity
to their own redevelopment projects, or
generate new candidates for conservation b
y
SOLAR
AQUATICS
An Inexpensive Way to Treat CSO
By David Done
s
met recently with engineering repre-
sentatives from Ecological Engineering
Associates and Proctor & Redfern Ltd. to
discuss the viability of Solar Aquatics in an
established urban environment. The discus-
sion was encouraging as it seemed that it
might be feasible to use Solar Aquatics [O deal
with Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO) and
stormwater in the river valleys of Metro
Toronto, In particular the cso and stormwater
outfalls in the Don Valley were of specific
concern to the Cornmittee as these impinge
on the City of Toronto Sewer Master Plan
of tunnels and detention tanks to deal with
service area.
,
Not Chemically Dependent
Solar aquatics is a set of natural techniques
employing greenhouses with various endemic
plants and microorganisms to real wastewater
with solar energy and through plant growth
and filtration. It does not create synthetic
organic by-products from added chemicals. It
does have difficulty cleaning heavy metals
from the wastewater; however, with stringent
pretreatment source control and the Harbour
Commissioners soil recycling faciliy to deal with
an
y
sludges this should not pose a difficulty
Prima facie, Solar Aquatics techniques are
environmental significant}
,
better than
collecting cso and stormwater from the Don
Valley outfalls and funneling it to the MTP
for treatment specifically, one can point to
the Don River recharge, no chlorination, no
incineration, less energy requirement, lower
cost, and natural methods.
Spreading the Flow
There are 43 cso and stormwater outfalls in
the City of Toronto with 17 of these in the
Don Valley. The combined flow from these
outfalls is estimated at 19 MIGD or 41 cubic
metres per second. On average this is a
pp
roxi-
mately .446 MIGD per outfall although probably
with wide variance among outfalls.
If a number of facilities were built in the
Don Valley at the site of these outfalls, one or
two acres per plant would be required, and
.
capital costs would be approximately three to
Continued on page 8
Co-op e r a t i on
Expose the Dangers-Promote
Many were disturbed when the Environmental
Assessment document for Sludge Utilization
stated that incineration was considered by the
consultants to be as good an option as any
other sludge management program. This is
not so. In the largest city in Canada, with
the worst urban smog, there is no way that
incinerationa technology that can only
make air pollution worseis anything but the
wrong choice.
To stop the incineration of sludges at
Ashbridges Bay will take leadership and co-
operation. Surely that is the benchmark of
good government, and an important proving
ground for our Metro Government.
The price of (nitrogen-based urea fertilizer has shot up on the world market to
over $400 per tonne from $75 a few years ago. No wonder companies are falling
over each other trying to stop Metro from incinerating its nitrogen-rich sludge.
By David Done
w
HAT I S BE NE F I CI AL U S E? Why has
it become the preferred method of
sludge management?
Beneficial use of sewage sludges or bio-
solids refers primarily to the re-use of nutrients
in sludge for economic and utilitarian purposes
in a variety of land application options. Bene-
ficial use is an environmental optimization of
limited resources in tune with natural processes
and cycles.
The Safe Sewage Committee is interested
in the beneficial use of sludge at the Ash-
bridges Bay, Main Sewage Treatment Plant,
Toronto. The difficulty with beneficial use of
any sludge is the level of toxic contamination
from residential wastewater generation, indus-
trial waste discharge and ground runoff. Stud-
ies at Ashbridges Bay Main Treatment Plant
(ABMTP) in 1988-89 by Zenon Environmental
Inc. give baseline indicators of the contami-
nants at Metro Torontos sewage treatment
plants, includin
g
the ABMTP.
Reducing risks from contaminants
Along with a variety of heavy metals there are
synthetic organic contaminants including
toluene, ethyl benzene, phthalates, lindane,
dioxins, furans, carboxylic acids, phenols,
steroids, oils and greases.l The health effects of
heavy metals are better known than the effects
of the organic contaminants. Some studies
indicate the accumulation of organic contam-
inants in the fatty tissue of various animals.2
Better known is the effect of these organic
contaminants on plant vitality and viability.
Large molecules seem to impede the aeration
and permeability of soils, degrading growin
g
environments and diminishin
g
the optimum
conditions for plant growth. It becomes
imperative to enforce stringent sewer use regu-
lations to ensure and enhance the cleanest
sludge possible for the most beneficial use
possible of this product for a given target site.
In this respect Metro Toronto and its bor-
oughs have been deficient. This is partly the
result of the Works Departments invested
interest in incineratin
g
technology and its atti-
tude that wastewater sludge is a waste product
to be disposed of rather than an organic
Ci t i es ever ywh er e are
cleaning up their sludges and
giving nutrients back to the
land fertilizing agricultural
and reforested areas
resource of slowl
y
releasin
g
nitrates. Also the
judgment that pre-treatment technologies are
too costly for companies to install rather than
close down and transfer their plants must be
resisted. We find this approach to wastewater
pre-treatment unacceptable.~ It is important to
decentralize wastewater treatment capability to
more stringently control toxic sources emanat-
ing from industries near a given site. A smaller
service area per plant site means that pin-
pointing major polluters would be easier.
Beneficial use is not a choice between land
. .
application on the one hand or various alter-
natives comprisin
g
incineration, landfill,
waterway dumpin
g
or inter-jurisdictional
transfer on the other. It is the choice between
land application agricultural uses and non-
agricultural uses such as silviculture or soil
remediation. Depending on the level of inor-
ganic and organic contaminants a compara-
tive risk decision has to be made for land
application. It is the Committees consensus
view at the present time that the quality of
Metros sludge at the Ashbridges Bay Plant
warrants non-agricultural application unless
some technological chain of remediation tech-
nologies can brin
g
about a cleaner product for
farming purposes. But if sludge quality falls
within U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) regulation 503 it is environmentally safer
to apply to land than landfill or incinerate.i
The Toronto Harbour Commission demon-
strated chelatin
g
techniques that can remove
a spectrum of heavy metals from sludge.
Other processes claim to fix heavy metals
by making them basic compounds through
cement kiln dust liming of the sludge. The
difficulty here appears to be the stability of
these compounds in climate acidic conditions
of acid rain.
Certain dilution technologies which kill
pathogens but leave contaminants, such as
vermiculture techniques, are also available. An
elaborate monitoring capability should be
established for any beneficial use option put
in place for agricultural use. Food chain bio-
accumulation and bioavailablity must be rig-
orously monitored.
Request for Proposals: designed to fail?
The recent Request for Proposals b
y
Metro
Works for biosolids beneficial use are promis-
ing in a political sense. These alternatives now
appear to be a real possibility. However th
e
two contractors, Terratec and Harbour Reme-
diation and Transfer Inc., are only taking 50%
of the ABMTP sludge. It is imperative that
a 100% solution be planned in the ABMTP
Environmental Assessment submission to the
Environmental Assessment Board of the
Ministry of Environment and Energy.
We seek closure on the issue of incineration
through beneficial use land application rather
than a protracted public consultation and
tie-in with the Western Beaches Individual
Environmental Assessment, especially with the
Compared with beneficial use, sludge incineration in downtown Toronto exposes the public
to huge, avoidable risks of diseases such as asthma, lead poisoning, and cancer.
SAFE SEWAGE NEWS, SW M M ER 1995 I 3
City of Toronto gets serious
I
Flushing away a fortune
Rationalizing regional government in the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA) would mean bigp+esfiom Vaughan,
Newmarket, Markham, etc., to Lake Ontario
By Debra Kyles
o F AR, the Gr e a t e r Tor on t o Ar e a (G T A)
effluent and overflows into the lake. This is
comprises Metro Toronto, Peel, Halton,
implicit in mos t Polit icia n s visions of a GTA
York and Durham. It has no institutions
government, e.g. Metros Alan Tonks:
other than an office in the Ontario Ministry
Under Tonks plan [for the GTA], the
of Municipal Affairs. What makes it impor-
region takes over control of infrastructure and
tant is that municipal reform is under way,
city services, leaving municipalities to handle
and the Greater Toronto Area could replace
services to people.2
the Metropolitan Toronto Area as the unit of
Expansions of lakeshore sewage treatment
government for the supercity of Toronto. facilities at Highland Creek in Scarborough,
Under the tide of GTA 2021, The Ministry Duffin Creek in Pickering, Ashbridges Bay in
of Municipal Affairs has documented growth Toronto, and Lakeview in Mississauga are all
around Toronto and decided how much targeted to service York and Durham. Capital
expansion is possible. Its a status quo vision costs are often budgeted into the taxes of the
of the future, skewed to
growth, development and
old-tech sewage treatment.
Politicians and devel-
opers seem to know all
about the Greater Toronto
Area vision, but for many
residents it looks like a
nightmare. Local newspa-
pers across the GTA reflect
a growing concern. What
does it all mean? How
will GTA growth impact
peoples lives, lifestyles,
and communities? The
population projections
are frightening, often
doubling in 25 years. For
those who live in the
country to be near forests
The stage is set:
most population
growth will occur
in the regions,
most sewerage
spending will
occur in Metro.
The political
visionsare of
one mind: water
infrastructure is
to be managed
at the GTA level.
waterfront host commu-
nity, adding insult to
injury. So while water-
front communities are
exposed to increasing pol-
lution, odour and health
problems, those benefit-
ing live miles away from
the environmental an?
financial effects.
Towns such as Vaughan
boast of some of the
lowest property taxes in
Ontario, while Toronto
residents pay some of the
highest taxes in North
America. Forced out of
homes and businesses
because they cant afford
the cost of the city, people
.
and fields, for clean air and water, for peace are moving out to where its cheaper and
and quiet, and to escape pollution, traffic jams
and lineups, the encroachments of the city are
upsetting. Rural life will vanish as highways
and sewers are built and urban sprawl and
industrial parks cover agricultural land. Who
was asked if they wanted this?
Piping sewage 50 km for treatment
Infrastructure that services population in the
regions also effects Metro Toronto residents.
The planned development does not have the
water or sewage capacity needed to sustain it.
So, because its cheaper to build pipes than
plants, and easier to expand existing plants
than create new ones, short sighted politi-
cians, developers and engineers look south to
Lake Ontario.
It is an axiom of the planning process that
sewage from new development will be sent
down Big Pipes to be burned on the City of
Toronto waterfront, with massive increases of
SAFE SEWAGE NEWS, SUMMER 1995 I 5
S E W E R U S E B Y - LAW
Dead in the water
limits; and has charged violators.)
Characterized only by suspended solids,
oxygen demand, and in some cases phenols
and nutrients, the By-Law does not tag which
solids are toxic metals, or toxic organic chemi-
cals. In large sewer systems, the accumulation
of small dischargers such as one-hour photo
shops and dry cleaners is not addressed. Pollu-
tion Probe is working to curb the discharge of
mercury from Hospitals into the sewers, and
better understand hospital sewer-user.
Treatment plant operators boast of high
performance levels. But for all the millions of
Industry Either are very proactive in pollution pre-
vention and water efficiency, or they gripe they will
lose money if forced to clean up.
The Association of Municipalities MISA is too
expensive to be comprehensive so water it down so
that everyone can operate under the same By-Law.
The Province MISA is too expensive to enforce, so
only those municipalities that can afford to enforce
MISA must comply (48 out of over 400 in Ontario).
Others need not, even if they host Significant indus-
trial Dischargers,
Municipal Engineers Want toxic organics covered in
the By-Law, see need for monitoring of persistent tox-
ics (have suggested clams), know major advances in
technology can achieve better quality wastewater,
and believe the Sewer-Use By-Law can work.
The Federation of Labour Views the new Sewer-Use
By-Law proposed by MISA as de-regulation, wants
toxics addressed and knows that any relaxation of
the current By-Law will result in more workers being
exposed to more risks. Persistent toxics and organic
chemicals in sewage and the sludges are of great
concern to workers. They want secondary sewage
treatment as a minimum standard for all plants.
Public Interest Wants toxic organics covered in the
By-Law, a focus on control of pollutants at source,
the Sewer-Use By-Law applied to all municipal plants,
phase out of persistent toxics into the sewers, toxics
monitoring, and phase out of chlorine as a waste-
water disinfectant. The public wants the By-Law to
be a progressive instrumenta means to ensure
that sludges are clean enough to meet agricultural
land application at a minimum, and that water being
returned to the environment is best possible, non-
toxic, and without dilution to meet Provincial Water
Quality Objectives in a receiving water.
environment by way of the public sewer sys-
tem. Designed as a biological process, the
municipal treatment plants-are no match for
hazardous pollutants that flow right through.
Club Met r o pr oduct s
Safe Sewage suggests Club Metro product
labels for Metro. A Club Metro label would
identify detergents, cleaners, hygiene prod-
ucts, medications, shampoos, etc. Club Metro
products would go through the sewage treat-
ment process and leave no toxics or pollutants
in water that would be discharged to degrade
the natural environment. Similarly, labels on
untreatable would be like health warnings
on cigarette packages, e.g. This Product is
Hazardous to Human Health and the Envi-
ronment. Do Not Discharge into the Public
Sewer System. Call for a Hazardous Waste
Collection Depot at (phone no.).
T
HE C ITY OF TORONTO h a s b e e n s t o p p e d fr o m r e s i d e n t s a n d On t a r i o Pl a c e (wi t h ove r t wo mi l l i on
going ahead with a plan to build a sewer tunnel visitors a year) should all be relieved to know they now
system along the western shore of the city. have an opportunity to have the City of Toronto and
The first stage was to be a subway size tunnel over Metro rethink their plan and appropriately consider all
five kilometers long, from the Humber Bay to Ontario the new tech alternatives that can solve the old problem.
Place. The tunnel was to carry com-
bined sewer overflow (CSO) that cur-
rently pollutes the Western Beaches,
and discharge it at Ontario Place.
Solids that settled in the tunnel
would have been pumped 12 kilome-
ters to Ashbridges Bay for burning.
Moving t he pr oblem
The Citys plan did not solve the
water pollution problem in the West
End; it just transferred the problem
from twelve outfall pipes to one
large continuous and concentrated
discharge at Ontario Place.
On the basis of an independent
study by the Environmental Assess-
ment Advisory Committee, the
Honorable Bud Wildman, Ontario
Minister of the Environment, halted
the project, calling for a Full Envi-
ronmental Assessment, to be coordi-
nated with Metro under a watershed
Wester Tunnel: 5.5 m dia. \
Subway tunnel: 4.8 m dia.
Proponent.................................City of Toronto
cost. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...........................$60 Million
Diameter. .................................................5.5 m
Length..............................................Over 4 km
Depth.....................5O-6O m below the ground
Capacity...........................................95.OOO ml
Discharge point....... Strachan Ave./Ontario P1.
Solids. . .......................368 tonnes (per annum)
to be burned at Ashbridges Bay
,
Part of a larger plan
The Western Beaches Tunnel was
only a small section of a mega-tunnel
nightmare planned to brin
g
waste-
water from municipalities across
Metro to be discharged and burned
at Ashbridges Bay. Two large tunnels
would run under the Don River
Valley, taking most of the River with
them, and join up with the big tunnel
at the Toronto shoreline. Concerned
citizens and politicians have success-
fully put this on hold.
The only sensible approach, that
has so far been resisted b
y
traditional
engineers, is to have a comprehensive
sewer-wastewater-watershed management
plan for all of Metro.
-
The future of our urban waters is
on the table. For the first time water
related projects can bring all the
sectors together, including community
planning initiative and integrated with the ongoin
g
groups who want our rivers restored, pavements removed
Environmental Assessment of the Ashbridges Bay plant. from open spaces, and water made to function as a
Yacht owners, recreational water users, Toronto Island resource, not a waste.
The nature and origin of combined sewer overflow (CSO)
c
ombined sewers carry both
sanitary waste and storm-
water drainage.
Combined sewer overflows
are a major source of pollution
to streams, rivers and lakes in
most older cities, Ironically, they
are also a heritage of societys
early efforts to reduce pollution
In the 19th century, running
water and indoor toilets were
introduced to cities before sewage
treatment plants.
At that point in time, sanitary
waste was piped from buildings
to the existing drainage system,
a network of ponds and streams,
augmented by gutters, pipes
and ditches, which carried both
stormwater and sanitary waste
down to river, lake or ocean. So,
when the first sewers were built
to reduce pollution by piping
sewage to treatment plants, they
were attached to a system with
mixed sanitary waste and storm-
water throughout, They were,
de facto, combined sewers.
Overflow devices (see below)
were necessary to prevent the
new, enclosed system from back-
ing up during wet weather,
sewers fell into disfavour, being
replaced by separate systems
f or sani t ary wast e and st orm-
wat er. However, many remai n i n
t he Ci t y of Toront o.
How a combined sewer
overflow works
In this simplified illustration,
the combined sewer line is
After World War II, combined blocked by a low weir, or dam,
Combi ned Sewer l i ne
Combi ned Sewer Overf l ow
. - .
St ream (l ake) /
I
Int ercept or Sewer l i ne t o Treat ment Pl ant I
SAFE SEWAGE NEWS, SUMMER 1995 I 7
T H E T U N N E L
How to solve the CSO problem
A pre-emptive program to clean up the Western and Eastern Beaches
T
HE PROBLEM is caused by an overloaded
interceptor sewer. The Mid-Toronto
Interceptor (MT I) is always full of
sewage and solids being pumped from the
Humber Plant to Ashbridges Bay, and cant
accommodate the large wet weather flow from
the combined sewers located to its north.
Rainfall causes the MTI t o over flow in t o t h e
ot h er in t er cept or s , wh ich in turn overflow and
spill raw sewage into the Western Beaches and
harbour areas. At the end of the MTI, over flow
surges into the Ashbridges Bay plant, frequently
causing bypasses which discharge vast amounts
of raw sewage into recreational waters on the
East Side of the city also (see box).
A pr e-empt ive st r at egy
To stop overflows from the MTI would require
a twofold strategy:
I) Rcmoval of growing tonnages of Humber
sludges from the MTI . Instead, a beneficial use
program to take away dewatered sludges from
the dewatering site previously used to truck
Humber sludges to the Brock West landfill.
2) Reduce volumes in combined sewers north
-- of the MTI. Use mandatory water meters, low-
flow toilet installations, and a downspout dis-
connection and rain barrel program. If done
north of High Park, Grenadier Pond would
also be cleaned.
Pre-emptive planning would allow a
variety of new initiatives to kick in. For
instance, separating the cso system from
8 I SAFE SEWAGE N EWS, S U M M ER 1995
T H E T U N N E L
A stormwater/CSO system at ground level is much
cheaper than one 180 ft. below. Here are some alterna-
tives to the Tunnel, to help cleanup the Western Beaches,
Sewer Separation. The City of Toronto has already
separated 70% of its combined sewers.
Downspout disconnection. A house-by-house program
would reduce overflow volume.
Exfiltration. In Etobico/re, Orrf,, exfiltration (porous pipes)
is returning groundwater locally, reducing CSO.
Enhanced maintenance. Ottawa-Carleton has cut CSO
by 25% by focusing on repairs and leaks, cleaning and
inspections, and lowering some sewer levels,
Swirl concentrators. These use the hydraulic energy
of stormwater centrifugally, to separate pollution. Big or
small, installed anywhere in the system, No moving parts,
Brampton, Ont. and Edmonton, Alberta: Stormceptor
units remove solids, oil and grease from parking lots,
service centres, commercial/industrial sites and street
allowances. Located at site, Columbus, Georgia uses H.I.L.
Stormings to treat discharges to the Chattahoochee
River, at savings of 40% over older methods, Scarborough,
Oflt. IS testing a Vortex Separator to spin out solids coated
with pollutants.
Daylighting. Most of Torontos streams and creeks have
been built into sewers, Daylighting would bring them
back to the surface, removing their flow from the system.
In Toronto, architects Brown& Storey propose daylighting
Garrison Creek, and landscaping it into an attractive
system of ponds, wetlands, parks, and waterways.
One big fix, like the Tunnel, is not possible, As one
engineer put it, Many improvements can be made to
urban drainage at only modest cost. Once we abandon
the thought that any problem can only be solved by pro-
viding a 100% solution, then interim steps can be taken.
M. Mansfield, P. Eng., Stormwater Management, Envi-
ronmental Science and Engineering, Nov. 1993.
------ - -----------------------
Don } m k s t h e n ext
S a f e S ewa ge Nws
S UBS CR I BE NO W
.L@ Sewgc NeruJ is pu blis h ed by the Pu blic Commit t ee
for Safe Sewage Treatment in Metropolitan Toronto,
P.O. Box 833, 22$3-B Queen St. Fast, Toronto, Onrario,
Canada M4E I G3. Tel. (416) 698-6680. Editor/Co-Chair:
K. Shinn; Co-Chair & Treasurer: D. Kyles; Secretary:
D. Done; Esecutive Commitcee Assistants: M. Bryden,
Mary Arm Atell, I? Lush, J. Shakky.
sam: .%@ .%wagc Nrws is free to members. Tbe annual
membership fee for individuals and citizen groups is $ro.
Sub5cripti0n rates for others: $20 per annom for gov-
ernment agencies, $mo for businesses and professionals.
In U.S.A. and Mexico, add $6.00; in all other countries,
add $11.00. All payments in Canadian funds.
NAME
ADDRSSS
CITV
PROV, POSTAL
CODF.
Make chque payable to: Safe Sewage, P.O. Box 833,
22$$-B Queen k &at, Toronto, Ont., (hnada WE 1G3.
I
1
1
T H E T U N N E L
The public responds
A Natural S ystems Group and a Clean Water Coalition have formed
in opposition to the City of Toronto Western Tunnel mega-project
F
ORGED FROM t h e ma n
y
groups and indi-
viduals opposed to the City of Toronto
Western Tunnel, a Clean Water Coalition
and a Natural Systems Group are meeting and
accomplishing what the City of Toronto failed
[o do: I) establish collaborative public involve-
ment and 2) propose and discuss alternatives
to the tunnel.
The Natural Systems Group, headed b
y
John Sewell, is a hands-on, projects-up plan-
ning group. A Natural Systems Conference
was held on June 16 and 17 at the Old Swansea
Town Hal l , and an i mpr essi ve at t endance of
Envi r onme nt a l Engi ne e r s , Muni c i pa l Engi -
neers, Provincial Officials, Landscape Archi-
tects, John Todd-Living Machine Technology
supporters, Urban Water Restoration groups
such as Garrison Creek Community Group,
and many informed members of the public
met and discussed their views. A conference
report is in the works.
A Cl ean Wat er Coal i t i on , headed b
y
members of the Green Coalition and Safe
Sewage, is working on the missing policy
directives for water related projects. Although
every level of government agrees it would be
good to have policy on stormwater and com-
bined sewer overflow, there isnt any, with
the exception of a Federal-Provincial outline
called Policy A1.3, for planning on a watershed
and subwatershed basis.
Please help us develop a new strategy: study
the ideas below and write your comments to
Safe Sewage or E-mail: ssewage@web.apc. org.
LEADERSHIP
& CHANGE
City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission
Its Time for Change...
Implement a Fair Taxation System
Reduce the Cost of Government
through Structural Reform
Enhance Governments Ability to Meet
the Needs of Our Customers
Scarboroughs Vision
September 1995
Frank Faubert
Mayor
CITY OF SCARBOROUGH
150 Borough Drive
Scarborough, Ontario
Canada M1P 4N7
Tel: (416)396-7222
Fax: (416) 396-4286
MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR
On behalf of Scarborough City Council
and the citizens of
Scarborough, I am pleased to present our vision on the future of
the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The residents of the City of Scarborough have made it clear that
their priorities are less taxes,
less duplication and more
effective local government.
Therefore, tax reform, amalgamation,
disentanglement, and the elimination of red tape must be the
foundation of any plan to restructure the GTA.
Our proposal contains a number of recommendations that relate to
the GTA in its entirety.
Existing inequities give neighboring
municipalities an immense advantage,
and must be addressed as part
of any restructuring of the GTA.
However, we also believe that
each region,
particularly Metro,
must put its own house in order
before embarking upon a
re-alignment of
boundaries
and
responsibilities across the GTA.
The failure to do so will inhibit
our ability to create the type of structure,
partnerships and
responsible government that will address the future needs of all
residents in the Greater-Toronto Area.
Scarborough supports the process and the timeframe for change. The
time for discussion
has ended.
The time for action is upon us.
Frank Faubert
Mayor, City of
Scarborough
The City of Scarboroughs Council and staff have completed a lengthy
strategic process through which we examined the issues, trends and op-
portunities facing Scarborough and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Our
process focused on the future and where we want the City and the GTA to
be in that future.
The objective of this submission is to present to the GTA Task Force and
the Province of Ontario a well-reasoned proposal to
address the issues facing the GTA over the long
term - a proposal based on the good of
r
the whole.
Brock
The Greater Toronto Area
Now is the Time for Change...
B The vitality of the entire GTA is being threatened by inequities and
inefficiencies in finance and government.
B Strong and decisive leadership is required - Now! Scarborough sup-
ports the mandate of the Task Force and the intent of the provincial
government to act to make major changes to taxation, assessment,
and governance in the GTA.
The Inequitities In Our Taxation System Must Be
Addressed!
The first priority is to deal with finances - to reform the assessment and
taxation system.
Property taxes are meant to be related to properly value. Thats a simple
idea that the average person can understand and support. But thats not
the way it works today.
Similar houses in different parts of the GTA are assessed using dra-
matically different factoring mechanisms to arrive at the final assess-
ment value, so some have a lower assessment value and thus pay
dramatically different property taxes.
Owners of very expensive houses in some areas have a lower assess-
ment value and thus pay less property tax than owners of modest
houses in other areas.
Businesses can save over 50%0 in property taxes by simply moving
across the street.
Businesses in Metro Toronto pay a much higher share of the total
property tax burden than businesses outside Metro.
Throughout the region, business pays a higher portion of its property
value in taxes than residential property.
inequities are exacerbated by inequities in the provincial grant sys-
tem.
The very economic and social viability of the region is threatened.
The principles of fair taxation demand a change to the existing assess-
ment and property tax system.
The Cost of Government Must Come Down!
Dealing with finances also means dealing with the overall cost of govern-
ment, including its structures, and its agencies, boards, and commissions.
The inequities of how we collect the taxes to provide the vital municipal
services should not disguise the fact that when you add it all up, Govern-
ments are spending too much. We in Scarborough are very proud of our
record but our taxpayers are still telling us that governments are still spend-
ing too much!
The cost must come down...
By rationalization,
By elimination and consolidation.
By streamlining and disentangling all services, including education and
services delivered by special purpose bodies.
By freeing up municipalities from the restrictions of the Municipal Act
Principles & Trends
Any changes that are made should recognize existing trends and the fol-
lowing important principles.
Healthy Region
Our future prosperity and well-being will be based on a single regional
economy and not one that is divided up into smaller parts based on mu-
nicipal political boundaries. Any changes we make have to support a strong
GTA economy. One of the keys to a strong GTA economy is the regional
infrastructure on which it is based - roads and highways, transit, telecom-
munications, water, sewers, waste disposal.
Growth
The GTA will continue to grow:
B another 2 million people and 1.5 million jobs by 2021.
B most of the growth will be in the areas outside Metro.
Community and Neighbourhood
Citizens belong to communities that reach across the whole of the GTA
but their neighbourhood and its local services are still a cornerstone of
their lives.
Financial Constraints
Governments will have less money to spend on services. Provincial grants
to municipalities will be reduced, and municipalities will have to provide
some of the services now provided by provincial and federal governments.
Role of Government
Governments must ensure equal access to a basic quality of life for ail
citizens, and manage our common social, economic and physical envi-
ronment Governments should act more as catalysts or facilitators for
change than as implementors. They should define problems and put to-
gether the resources necessary to address those problems.
Qual i t y vs. Efficiency
The drive for greater efficiency and cost-cutting by governments has to be
balanced against the ability to provide high quality services that are sen-
sitive to local needs and recognize variations in needs, tastes and desires.
Accountability
Governments must be accountable to their citizens and taxpayers. Direct
election to Metro Council and the myriad special purpose bodies in the
GTA diffuse accountability for spending property taxes.
Ex i st i ng t r ends and
i mpor t ant pr i nc i pl es:
Any c hanges made have t o
suppor t a st r ong GTA
ec onomy
Nei ghbor hoods ar e st i l l a
c or ner st one of our l i ves
Gr eat er ef f i c i enc y and
c ost -c ut t i ng must be
bal anc ed agai nst qual i t y of
ser vi c e
Gover nment must be
ac c ount abl e
Munc i pal gover nment %
st r engt h i s i t s ac c essi bi l i t y
t o c i t i zens
Loc al gover nment s ar e k ey
bui l di ng bl oc k s
Accessibility
The great strength of municipal government is that it is accessible to citi-
zens - so they can have their say about the types of services they want and
are willing to pay for.
Funding
Funding sources for government services must be:
B adequate to meet the costs.
B stable to support long-term planning and capital investment.
B paid for by the beneficiaries of the service.
Local Government
Local Governments are the key building blocks for delivering local serv-
ices - efficient, accessible, accountable and responsive to local needs.
CONCLUSI ON
Fiscal reform is the first priority!
The property tax system is the primary vehicle for financing the vital local
services that we provide. But, it has broken down. It is not fair or equitable.
It must be fixed. This will require:
B taxation and assessment reform
B eliminating the business occupancy tax
B reducing the business tax differential
B equalizing provincial grants
Government must be simple, understandable,
efficient and accountable.
accessible, responsive,
Changes in the GTA must strike a balance between the goal of supporting
a healthy region, and the goal of supporting healthy neighbourhoods and
local communities. This must include:
retaining and restructuring the Metro/Regional level
creating a collaborative GTA-wide federation of Regions and Cities
disentangling and restructuring service delivery
rationalizing Special Purpose bodies
Implement A Fair Taxation System
Assessment and fiscal reform is the first priority!
The unfairness in the present property tax system in the GTA arises be-
cause:
B
B
B
1.
Metros assessed values are based on market values of the 1940s.
Since then residential property values in Metro have increased at a
greater rate than commercial and industrial values. Assessed values
in other parts of the GTA are based on a patchwork quilt of more
recent market values, so they dont have such a large built-in histori-
cal distortion.
Provincial grants are distributed inequitably within the GTA, with the
result that property taxes in Metro pay for a higher proportion of the
cost of some services. For example, the Province pays 40% of munici-
pal public health costs in Metro, but 75% elsewhere in the Province.
Greater concentrations of social need in Metro lead to higher de-
mands for some services. Property taxes in Metro bear a larger share
of these social costs (e.g., welfare, child care) than is the case in other
parts of the GTA
Implement a Section 58 Re-assessment across the GTA
1.1
1.2
By June 1996, the Province should initiate an impact study under
Section 58 of the Assessment Act for a re-assessment within each
class of property across the GTA. Scarborough Council believes
that Market Value remains the best assessment system, and as
such, remains our preferred assessment method.
The assessment practices should be changed to eliminate neigh-
bourhood and/or vicinity factors, different categories within a class,
and to make all assessment information public.
1.3 In order to mitigate the impact of the re-assessment, it should be
phased in over a 5-year period beginning January 1998.
2. Combine the Business Occupancy Tax with the Non-Residen-
tial Realty Tax
2.1 The Province should conduct a full review of the impacts of elimi-
nating the Business Occupancy Tax and combining the business
and non-residential property taxes as the base for the Section 58
reassessment
3. Reduce the Business Tax Differential
3.1
3.2
In conjunction with Recommendation 2.1 above, the Province
should review the business tax differential and consider increas-
ing the residential mill rate factor (the ratio of residential mill rate
to non-residential mill rate) by a legislated annual fixed amount
over the 5-year implementation period, in order to address the
taxation differentials between classes of property. The change in
the differential should be based on the targeted cost savings from
rationalizing, eliminating duplication, and restructuring service
responsibilities which are proposed below. Recommendation 2.1
must be implemented before Recommendation 3.1.
Municipalities should not have the flexibility to adjust the resi-
dential mill rate factor. Property taxes should not be used as an
instrument of inter-municipal competition for business within the
GTA.
4. Equalize Provincial Grants
4.1 By March 31, 1997 the Province should review all Provincial op-
erating and capital grants, including education grants, and es-
tablish fair and equitable distribution criteria which take into
account assessment differences between municipalities.
5. A mandatory review of Assessment to ensure ongoing fairness
and equity
5.1 The Province should update the base year for the assessment
every 5 years, and review the resulting residential mill rate factor.
The continuing goal of this review should be to keep commercial
property taxes throughout the GTA competitive with other regional
economies.
Reduce the Cost of Government By
Rationalizing Service Responsibilities
Taxes are too high. We are over-governed, and the different levels of gov-
ernment in the GTA often provide overlapping services. We must find ways
to cut the costs of government.
The system of government in the GTA has become too complicated. Too
much money is being spent on political, administrative and bureaucratic
systems and processes. Ultimately, bringing taxes down may involve cut-
ting services to the taxpayers, but first we must make sure we eliminate
duplication and streamline the effective delivery of services and decision-
making.
Service provision should be allocated to one level of government only on
the following basis:
B the level able to provide the service more efficiently and effectively...
...should provide the service
B the level best able to respond to the needs of the customer...
...should provide the service
6. Retain Metro in a restructured format
6.1
6.2
The Metro level of government should be retained in a restruc-
tured format The lines of communication and accountability be-
tween Metro and the local councils must be re-established. The
Metro/regional level is needed to deliver some services. But serv-
ice responsibilities must be disentangled and clearly delineated
between the various levels so that duplication and overlaps are
eliminated.
Eliminate the present system of direct election of Metro Council-
Iors in order to focus local tax spending accountability on fewer
politicians. Metro councillors should be appointed from local coun-
cils on a rep-by-pop basis. Local councils should make the ap-
pointments. There should be fewer Metro councillors than at
present, resulting in cost savings and more effective decision
making.
7. Disentangle service responsibilities
7.1
7.2
7.3
Disentangling means assigning responsibility for each service to
one level - either the Province, the Metro/Regional level or the
local level.
Special purpose bodies should be included in the review of serv-
ice responsibilities with the objective of assigning their service
functions to the government able to de-
liver the service most effectively
and efficiently.
Although excluded from the
erence, Education should be in-
cluded in the review of service re- _
tunities for efficiencies in spending local taxes
(over 50% of w hi c h are spent on education). The review should
consider mechanisms to allow municipalities and school boards
We ar e over -t ax ed and
over -gover ned.
El i mi nat e dupl i c at i on and
st r eaml i ne pr oc esses
Ret ai n Met r o i n a
r est r uc t ur ed f or mat .
Re-est abl i sh
c ommuni c at i on and
ac c ount abi l i t y bet w een
Met r o and t he l oc al
c ounc i l s.
Di sent angl e and del i neat e
ser vi c es r esponsi bi l i t i es
Assi gn spec i f i c
r esponsi bi l i t i es t o eac h
l evel of gover nment
I nc l ude spec i al pur pose
bodi es i n t he r evi ew of
ser vi c e r esponsi bi l i t i es
I nc l ude educ at i on i n t he
r evi ew of ser vi c e
r esponsi bi l i t i es
Revi ew Pr ovi nc i al
oper at i ons
Cl ar i f y Met r o/Regi onal
and l oc al r esponsi bi l i t i es
Cr eat e a GTA-w i de
Feder at i on f or pl anni ng
and c o-or di nat i on
pur poses
Thi s f eder at i on shoul d be
r esponsi bl e f or pl anni ng
i nf r ast r uc t ur e
The f eder at i on shoul d be
r esponsi bl e f or pr omot i ng
t he GTA
to enhance and broaden their existing arrangements for sharing
facilities and administrative functions.
Provincial responsibilities should include programs with a strong
income redistribution component, such as welfare, subsidized
child care, grants to Childrens Aid Societies, and social housing.
This will also address one of the causes of unfairness in the prop-
erty tax system. Local Municipalities should be able to supple-
ment provincial spending and delivery in these areas, if they wish.
The Province should review its operations in order to disentangle
services and reduce provincial involvement in municipal func-
tions (e.g., eliminate the need for provincial approval of munici-
pal Official Plan Amendments; eliminate provincial approval of
stormwater drainage arrangements, etc.).
The Metro/Regional level should be responsible for
Police
Transit
Water and Sewage treatment plants and Waste Disposal fa-
cilities
Major facilities (Zoo, CNE, OKeefe, Convention Centre, etc.)
Assessment
Emergency services
Fire departments should be amalgamated with ambulance
service into one emergency service to be run at the regional/
metro level.
The local level will provide all other services.
8. Create a GTA-wide Federation for Planning and Co-ordination
8.1
8.2
A GTA-wide federation of local municipalities and Metro/Regional
governments should be created for planning and co-ordination
purposes. This federation should not be another level of govern-
ment, but should have the authority to broker binding agreements
between federation members.
To recognize the integrated nature of the GTA-wide regional
economy, major infrastructure should be planned on a GTA-wide
basis, and the GTAs economy should be promoted to rest of the
world on a GTA-wide basis.
The GTA Federation should p/an and co-ordinate:
regional road system
transit
trunk sewers and sewage treatment
water mains and water treatment
major hydro facilities
public telecommunications networks
The operation and maintenance of these systems should be pro-
vided by the local municipalities and the Metro/Regional level
with appropriate GTA-wide policies, including arrangements for
funding. With the GTA-wide planning function there will be no
need for Metro/Regional level planning.
8.3 The GTA Federation should also be responsible for promoting the
GTAs economy to the rest of the world.
This federation will not deliver services (except for economic pro-
motion). It will not be another level of government. It will serve as
a GTA-wide forum for inter-municipal and inter-regional co-or-
dination and co-operation in cross-boundary service delivery. It
will have the authority to broker inter-municipal and inter-regional
agreements so that its planning function and policies will bind all
its members.
9. Legislative revisions will be needed
9.1 Revise the Municipal Act, to allow for the above changes and to
give municipalities the flexibility to provide these services effi-
ciently and to enter into partnerships with the private sector.
9.2 Revise the Fire Departments Act, the Assessment Act and other
relevant provincial legislation and regulations to give municipali-
ties greater flexibility to provide services and to respond to chang-
ing needs and the required service levels.
10. Establish targets for savings
10.1 The Province should, in consultation with the municipalities and
the Metro/Regional level, establish targets for the savings that
will result from service rationalization, and use these savings to
mitigate the impacts of changes to the finance and assessment
system.
11. Review Municipal boundaries
11.1 Review the number of local municipalities in the GTA in view of
the need to deliver local services efficiently, while keeping in mind
the objective of meeting local needs and respecting local com-
munities. Proposals to consolidate local municipalities should be
supported by their taxpayers and residents.
12. Further Review
121 Review service delivery and governance in the GTA every 10 years.
LEADERSHIP
& CHANGE
City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission
Its Time for Change...
Reduce the Cost of Government
through Structural Reform
Enhance Governments Ability to Meet
the Needs of Our Customers
Scarboroughs Vision
September 1995
The City of Scarboroughs Council and staff have completed a lengthy
strategic process through which we examined the issues, trends and op-
portunities facing Scarborough and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The
process focused on the future and where we want the City and the GTA to
be in that future.
The objective of this submission is to present to the GTA Task Force and
the Province of Ontario a well-reasoned proposal to address the issues
facing the GTA over the long term - a proposal based on the good of the
whole, not just self-interest.
In the broadest sense, we are planning the future of the Greater Toronto
Area. To do this, we have to know what kind of region we want. We have to
take into account the major trends that will shape the region. And, we
also have to know what is wrong today. Besides offering proposals for
reform, our report also provides the Task Force and the Provincial Govern-
ment with a clear statement of the major issues and trends, a clear picture
of the kind of city and region we want to live in in the future, and the
principles upon which solutions should be based.
Report Outline
5
9
9
11
12
12
13
14
15
29
Whats Wrung Today
Change and the Future
Trends and Implications
Assertions of Principle
The Role of Government
Our Vision for Scarborough
A Healthy Region
Facing the Future
Scarboroughs Recommendations
Appendices
Whats Wrong Today?
1.
2.
3.
High Taxes
Taxes are too high. Government in the GTA costs too much. The aver-
age taxpayer will not pay more. Government must find ways to reduce
costs. Reducing costs does not mean passing them to another level of
government.
Scarborough has one of the lowest per capita spending rates of all
the municipalities in the GTA (see Appendix 1). But its property taxes
are amongst the highest in the GTA. This is partly because it chooses
to provide higher levels of service in some service areas, and because
Metro provides a higher level of service than other GTA regions for
some services such as transit. But it also results from inequities in the
assessment and provincial grants systems in the GTA
Unfair Assessment
The assessment system is unfair Assessment and taxes paid on a prop-
erty are meant to be related to the propertys market value. Since the
property market is a region-wide market, all property taxes should be
equally fair throughout the region. But thats not the way it works
today:
B Assessment, as a proportion of market value, varies within mu-
nicipalities, between municipalities, and across the region for all
property types. Some homes are assessed at less than one quar-
ter of other similarly valued homes in other parts of the region.
B Throughout the region, non-residential property and high-rise
residential property are assessed at a higher proportion of their
market value than single-family residential property.
B Within Metro, businesses pay a much higher share of the total
tax burden than businesses outside Metro.
B Businesses in Metro have a much higher effective tax rate than
businesses outside Metro.
The main reason for the heavy burden borne by business in Metro is
that Metros assessments are based on market values of the 1940s.
Since then, residential property values have increased at a greater
rate (7% per year) than non-residential property values (4-5% per
year). For example, a residential properly worth $25,000 in 1953 would
be worth $375,000 in 1993, whereas a commercial property worth
$25,000 in 1953 would be worth only $145,000 in 1993. Yet both would
be paying taxes based on their value of $25,000 in 1953. Assessments
in other parts of the GTA are based on a patchwork of more recent
values, so they dont have such a large built-in historical distortion.
The longer we go without a re-assessment, the worse the problem
will become.
Inequitable Grants
The Provincial grant and subsidy system does not treat all municipalities
equitably. Houses and businesses on the north side of Steeles have
their municipal services, and therefore their taxes, subsidized to a
significantly higher level than those on the south side of Steeles.
B Metro municipalities receive a health grant of only 40%, while the
rest of the Province receives 75% funding.
Gover nment must f i nd
w ays t o r educ e c ost s.
The assessment syst em i s
unf ai r
Assessment var i es w i t hi n
muni c i pal i t i es bet w een
muni c i pal i t i es and ac r oss
t he r egi on f or al l pr oper t y
t ypes
Met al s assessment s ar e
based on mar k et val ues of
t he 1940 s.
The l onger w e go w i t hout a
r eassessment , t he w or se
t he pr obl em w i l l bec ome.
The gr ant syst em needs a
maj or over hauL
4.
Busi nesses i n Met r o have
a muc h hi gher ef f ec t i ve
t ax r at e t han busi nesses
out si de Met r o.
The t ax gap i s c ausi ng
busi ness t o r el oc at e t o
ar eas out si de Met r o.
As mor e busi nesses move
out , t hey l eave a l ar ger t ax
bur den behi nd t o be
absor bed by f ew er
t ax payer s
Four l evel s of gover nment
-
r esul t i n dupl i c at i on of
ser vi c es, hi gher c ost s and
c onf usi on.
B Metro is the least subsidized transit authority in Ontario.
B Metros grant is comparatively lower than the rest of the GTA for
ambulance services.
B Grants for education are virtually non-existent in Metro.
B Metro receives 500/o provincial funding for infrastructure projects,
while the other regions receive more.
Clearly, the grant system needs a major overhaul, so that it will meet
real needs fairly and equitably throughout the region, and in particu-
lar not place an unfair burden on local property taxes to meet service
needs.
The Tax Gap
The Tax Gap is driving businesses out of Metro. Businesses in Metro
have a much higher effective tax rate than businesses outside Metro
(see Appendix 2). For example, a good quality industrial building in
Scarborough pays about $2.00 per sq. ft. in taxes, which is over 80%
higher than the $1.10 paid by an equivalent building in Markham. The
differential between commercial buildings is even greater.
The tax gap is caused by four main factors:
B the inequities in the assessment system (see above);
B the inequities in the provincial grant system (see above);
B higher levels of service in Metro (see above); and
B greater Concentrations of social need lead to higher demands for
some social services. Property taxes in Metro bear a larger share
of these social costs (e.g., welfare, subsidized child care) than is
the case in other parts of the GTA For example, Metro has over
75% of the welfare cases in the GTA, but only about 54% of the
population, and the Province requires that the Metro/regional level
of government pay 20% of welfare costs.
The tax gap is causing business to relocate to areas outside Metro
and reinforcing the movement of jobs and economic opportunities
out of Metro. We lose revenues, job opportunities, multiplier busi-
nesses, and broader business contribution to community life (spon-
soring little league teams, joining business clubs, etc.).
The tax gap creates a vicious circle. As more and more businesses
move out, they leave a larger tax burden behind to be absorbed by
fewer and fewer taxpayers (Appendix 3). Resulting tax increases or
service cuts cause more businesses and mobile middle class taxpay-
ers to move out of Metro..... resulting in further tax increases or service
cuts....... and so on.
Service Duplication
Four/eve/s of government provide services in the region- Federal, Pro-
vincial, Regional, Local Municipal. This results in duplication of serv-
ices and higher costs, and confusion over which level of government
is responsible for what services [see Appendix 4). Service responsi-
bility must be rationalized and more clearly delineated between the
three levels subject to change through this process - Provincial, Re-
gional, Municipal. Eliminating overlaps will cut costs and reduce taxes.
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission o September 1995
6. Special Purpose Bodies
7.
Duplication is compounded by the large number of special purpose
bodies, agencies, boards and commissions - conservation authorities,
utility commissions, police, library, health boards, transit authorities,
and so on.
A new structure of service delivery must address this issue.
B It could assign their responsibilities to an elected level of govern-
ment.
B It could make them more accountable to one elected level of gov-
ernment and therefore to the taxpayers.
The GTA Task Forces Terms of Reference specifically excluded edu-
cation from the review. Education spending accounts for 560/o of the
property tax dollar in Metro, and an even higher proportion outside
Metro. Because they are responsible for spending a majority of the
property tax bill, the mandate and the operations of the Boards of
Education should be examined along with those of other special pur-
pose bodies.
Major cost savings will be available if school and municipal facilities
and services can be shared. The boards of education and the local
municipalities both operate parks/playgrounds, libraries, gymnasiums,
swimming pools, meeting rooms, recreational and adult education
programs, etc. They both have staff for functions such as maintenance,
personnel, information systems, finance, and security.
Paternalistic Province
The present Provincial-Municipal relationship is too paternalistic Mu-
nicipalities are constrained by the way in which provincial legislation
proscribes, prescribes, and limits their ability and flexibility to address
many issues and concerns. A new approach to governance in the
GTA must give municipalities broader permissive powers to address
local and regional issues and services.
There is far too much direct provincial involvement in the regulation
and review of regional and municipal activities and initiatives. Exam-
ples include provincial involvement in stormwater management and
provincial approval of municipal official plans and official plan amend-
ments. Municipalities in the GTA have the technical and economic
sophistication to be able to handle these kinds of activities. Provincial
involvement should be limited to ensuring that clearly stated provin-
cial policies are being implemented. Provincial withdrawal from these
kinds of activities will not only recognize the regional or local respon-
sibility for them, but also result in cost savings for the provincial gov-
ernment and the municipalities.
8. Lack of GTA Co-ordination
The present regional government arrangement in the GTA is at odds
with economic, social and ecological reality in the GTA. The regional
boundaries cross watershed boundaries and divide up the Toronto
social and economic region. Oakville, Brampton, Richmond Hill,
Scarborough and Ajax are all part of the Toronto social and economic
region, yet they are all in different regional municipalities.
The regional governments of today are not setup to provide co-ordi-
nation across this GTA-wide social and economic region, or to pro-
mote a healthy region.
9.
10.
11.
B Major regional infrastructure crosses Regional Government
boundaries
B Promotion of the regional economy is lacking
In lieu of a single effective GTA agency, the Province has provided the
regional planning and co-ordinating function:
B It plans, funds, even builds and operates, major infrastructure
(highways, transit lines, water, sewers, waste disposal, etc.]. Lately,
the areas outside Metro have been the main beneficiaries of this
planning.
B It has undertaken major regional environmental initiatives (Wa-
terfront Trust, Rouge Park).
Direct Election
Within Metro Toronto, direct election to Metro Council compounded
the confusion about whos responsible for what Without clear deline-
ation of service responsibility, the new council began to get involved
in local issues. The regional Government began to lose its regional
co-ordination focus. This resulted in confusion for the public, disrup-
tion for local municipal councils, and wasteful overlap of government
activity. This confusion was partly responsible for the City of Torontos
voters favouring by 60% to eliminate the Metro level of Government.
Direct election, ostensibly implemented to enhance political account-
ability, has merely diffused and confused it
Inefficient Small Municipalities
The present local municipalities in the GTA range in size from over
600,000 to under 20,000. Efficiencies and cost savings would result
from consolidation of some of the smaller municipalities to form larger
units. However, this drive for lower costs must be balanced against
the principle of accommodating and recognizing local needs and lo-
cal history.
Vulnerable Economy
The Toronto regions economy was hit harder than most other
parts of Canada by the recession of the early 1990s. This reces-
sion showed how the prosperity of the region may be at risk It sug-
gests that in the future we must be in a better position to support a
strong and prosperous regional economy, which is competitive on the
world stage.
The recession was particularly severe on Metros economy. It showed
that the old model of growth, whereby the core subsidized the growth
of the suburbs, may no longer be appropriate.
Trends & Implications
The GTA Task Force recommendations and provincial government deci-
sions must acknowledge and accommodate the following major trends:
1. Population growth
The GTAs population will grow from 4.2 million today to 6.6 mil-
Iion in 2021 (2.4 million more people, a 57% increase).
Most of the growth will be in the areas outside of Metro, unless
there is a concerted strategy of directing new infrastructure and
growth to Metro rather than the other areas of the GTA (building
Highway 407 and canceling subway construction are not con-
sistent with such a policy).
Immigration will continue to be a major component of growth,
with origins from around the globe. This will bring skilled immi-
grants seeking opportunities, and refugees fleeing persecution,
war, and famine.
Baby Boomers will be less important in the age structure of the
population. Age-related needs will be more evenly spread across
the population.
2. Community
Since 1945, community has become less-and-less neighbourhood-
based, and more-and-more interest-based. Communities of interest
spread across large areas - throughout municipalities, across mu-
nicipal boundaries and throughout the whole region.
This process will continue, supported by auto-based mobility, popu-
lation growth outside Metro, innovations in computer-based commu-
nication, and the immigrant-driven diversity of ethnic and religious
groups in the region.
Although people will be less-and-less committed to neighborhoods
as communities, they will still live in neighborhoods and require
basic services in their neighbourhoods. The quality of the local resi-
dential environment will still be a cornerstone of their lives.
3. Financial Constraints
The total revenue available to all governments for expenditure on serv-
ices will shrink as a result of:
B The increasing cost of servicing and retiring the public debt.
B Taxpayer dissatisfaction with high taxes.
B Likely downloading of federal and provincial services to mu-
nicipalities.
Maintaining or even preventing drastic declines in the quality and
quantity of services will require greater efficiency in production and
delivery, and better management of our resources.
By 2021:
The GTAs popul at i on w i l l
r eac h 6.6 mi l l i on.
Most of t he growth w i l l be
out si de of Met r o i f t oday%
t r ends c ont i nue.
I mmi gr at i on w i l l c ont i nue
t o be a maj or c omponent
of gr ow t h.
Age-r el at ed needs w i l l be
mor e evenl y spr ead ac r oss
t he popul at i on.
Peopl e w i l l st i l l l i ve i n
nei ghbour hoods and
r equi r e basi c ser vi c es i n
t hei r nei ghbour hoods.
The t ot al r evenue avai l abl e
t o al I gover nment s f or
ex pendi t ur e on ser vi c es
w i l l shr i nk .
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission September 1995
4. The Economy
B The globalization of the world economy will continue, resulting
in major adjustments in the GTAs economy. Its strength has been
based on its role as the core of a trade-protected Canadian na-
tional economy. As trade barriers comedown, its economic health
will depend on its ability to be a competitive regional economy in
the global economy. A skilled and diverse Iabour force and mod-
ern infrastructure will be essential foundations of a competitive
economy.
B Employment is expected to grow from 2.3 jobs to 3.9 million jobs
between 1991 and 2021. It is estimated that 1.3 million of the 1.6
million new jobs will be outside of Metro.
5. Distribution in the Region
B By 2021, most of the population and jobs will be outside Metro.
Jobs 1991
6 0 % 40%
2021
43% 57%
Population 1991
54% 46%
2021
41% 59%
hip and
east in the short run, social need will be concentrated in Metro.
In 1991, unemployment rates were higher in the 6 Metro mu-
nicipalities than in all the other 24 GTA municipalities except
Oshawa.
In 1990, 19% of Metros population lived in low income fami-
lies, compared with 8% in the rest of the GTA. The levels of
low income were higher in each Metro municipality than in
all the other 24 GTA municipalities.
Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission * September 1995
Assertions of Principle
The GTA Task Force recommendations and Provincial decisions should be
guided by the following principles and guidelines:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Government should provide services and manage its operations effi-
ciently.
Government services, regulations and policies should be sensitive to
local needs and recognize variations in needs, tastes, and desires.
Governments must be accountable to their citizens.
Municipal Government in the GTA must offer citizens immediate and
direct access to elected officials and municipal administration.
Governance in the GTA must meet needs for GTA-wide planning and
co-ordination in the provision of infrastructure.
Any changes to the way the GTA is governed must relate to practical
solutions for the issues and problems. They must be solutions that will
be broadly accepted by the residents of the GTA and by the Provincial
government.
Any changes to the way the GTA is governed must recognize that the
GTA is the most important region in Ontario. Its governance must be a
vehicle which will support the social and economic goals and policies
of the Provincial Government.
Funding sources for government services, programs and activities must
Adequate to meet the costs.
Stable, to support long-term service planning and capital invest-
ment.
Paid for by all the beneficiaries and consumers of the service,
roughly according to levels of consumption, and recognizing both
direct and indirect consumers.
Direct consumers actually use the service (have their garbage
picked up, visit the OKeefe Centre, get a welfare cheque or hous-
ing subsidy].
Indirect consumers benefit through the provision of service to di-
rect consumers (recreation programs for youth keep them off
the streets, fire fighters protect the house next door to a house
on fire, transit reduces congestion for road users).
Gover nment pr i nc i pl es and
gui del i nes:
Pr ovi de ser vi c es and
manage i t s oper at i ons
ef f i c i ent l y.
Be sensi t i ve t o l oc al
needs.
Be ac c ount abl e t o t he
c i t i zens.
Of f er c i t i zens i mmedi at e
and di r ec t ac c ess.
Meet needs f or GTA-w i de
i nf r ast r uc t ur e pl anni ng and
c o-or di nat i on.
Rec ogni ze t hat t he GTA i s
t he most i mpor t ant r egi on
i n Ont ar i o.
Ensur e t hat f undi ng
sour c es ar e adequat e,
st abl e and pai d f or by al l
t he benef i c i ar i es and
c onsumer s of t he ser vi c e.
We bel i eve t hat
gover nment shoul d:
Ensur e equal ac c ess t o a
basi c qual i t y of l i f e f or al l
c i t i zens.
Manage " t he c ommons .
Ac t mor e as a c al al yst or
f ac i l i t at or f or c hange t han
as i mpl ement or
Our Vi si on For
Sc ar bor ough:
Cl ean, gr een, and saf e.
A c i t y of nei ghbor hoods
A heal t hy l oc al ec onomy
Lean, ef f i c i ent , f l ex i bl e
l oc al gover nment
A gover nment w hi c h i s
r esponsi ve t o t he evol vi ng
needs of i t s c i t i zens.
The Role of Government
Proposals to change the way the GTA is governed must be based on an
understanding of what government is for - what its role should be. We
believe that government should:
1.
2.
3.
Ensure equal access to a basic quality of life for all citizens.
B By providing services.
B By setting regulations and standards, and enforcing them.
Manage the commons - the economic, social and physical environ-
ments that are created by us all, but owned by none of us. We are all
worse off if these commons are not well managed.
Act more as a catalyst or facilitator for change than as implementor. It
should define problems and put together the resources necessary to
address those problems.
In this role, government makes choices about what is good or bad, right
or wrong, too much or not enough, individual responsibility or collective
responsibility, who benefits and who pays. These are political choices, not
administrative or technical decisions.
Local Governments are key building blocks for delivering local services -
efficient, accessible, accountable, and responsive to local needs.
Our Vision For Scarborough
We have a vision for Scarborough. It builds on our strengths today.
It will be clean, green, and safe.
It will be a city of neighbourhoods. Most of them have been built
already. They will continue to provide a quality environment for rais-
ing families.
It will have a healthy local economy, providing jobs for the citys resi-
dents and playing an active part in community life.
It will have a lean, efficient, flexible local government.
It will have a government which is responsive to the evolving needs of
its citizens. as less than 40% of the people who will be Iiving in
Scarborough in 2010, live here today.
The GTA Task Forces recommendations and those
of the Provincial government should recognize this
vision and allow for its realization.
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission * September 1995
A Healthy Region
This vision for Scarborough will only be realized if it is part of a healthy
region. In order to achieve a healthy region, we need the following:
1. A healthy economy will be a competitive regional economy on the
world stage. It is based on:
a well-educated, trained, flexible Iabour force; and
infrastructure to support business activities: water, sewage, gas,
hydro, highways, roads, telecommunications, etc.
The economy of the GTA is a single integrated regional economy whose
benefits should be shared by the whole region.
2. A healthy population and social environment based on:
infrastructure to deliver clean water and remove waste;
emergency and safety services (fire, ambulance, police);
employment in well-paying jobs; and
opportunities for leisure, education, and healthy lifestyles.
3. A healthy natural environment based on the recognition that environ-
mental systems do not recognize political boundaries.
4. In a healthy region, all communities share the responsibility of ensur-
ing that all communities are healthy communities. In particular, a
healthy Centre City or regional core is the responsibility of the whole
region. An unhealthy core will act like a cancer which will eventually
weaken the whole region.
Municipalities within the GTA must help each other for the benefit of
the whole. This means joining together to promote the GTAs economy
to rest of the world, rather than competing against each other for
company re-locations. We will prosper or stagnate as a region, not as
a group of separate communities; but healthy local communities are
the building blocks of a healthy region.
We need:
A w el l -educ at ed t r ai ned,
f l ex i bl e I abour f or c e.
I nf r ast r uc t ur e t o suppor t
busi ness ac t i vi t i es.
I nf r ast r uc t ur e t o del i ver
c l ean w at er and r emove
w ast e.
Emer genc y and saf et y
ser vi c es.
Empl oyment i n w el l -payi ng
j obs.
Oppor t uni t i es f or l ei sur e,
educ at i on, and heal t hy
l i f est yl es.
Facing The Future
The first priority is to deal with the tax gap. But there is no simple solution.
It is not possible to simply lower the tax rate for business and think the
assessment problems will be fixed. This would transfer an unacceptable
burden onto the residential taxpayers. In order to reduce the non-resi-
dential property tax, while at the same time creating a system that is pal-
atable to voters, the overall property tax bill must be reduced And this
means reducing the cost of government.
Taxpayers are over taxed already. Simply shifting the property tax burden
onto a sales tax, gasoline tax, income tax, or some other tax is not a satis-
factory alternative to making the necessary cuts to the cost of government
to maintain property taxes at an affordable level. Other forms of taxation
may on the surface seem more attractive, but any movement to new taxes
would move us away from the close connection between property-related
services and property taxes. Significant duplications exist within govern-
ment, and major savings can be found by eliminating these duplications.
The cost savings can be used to reduce the Provincial deficit [through
lower grants) and to reduce the overall property tax bill (through expendi-
ture reductions). Changes in how services are provided must go hand in
hand with changes to the assessment system.
Assessment and Tax Reform is the First Priority!
The property tax system is the primary vehicle for financing the vital local
services that we provide. But, it has broken down. It is not fair or equitable.
It must be fixed. This will require:
taxation and assessment reform
B eliminating the business occupancy tax
reducing the business tax differential
B equalizing provincial grants
The Cost of Government Must be Reduced Through Structural Re-
form
Taxpayers want government to be simple, understandable, accessible, re-
sponsive and accountable.
Changes in the GTA must strike a balance between the goal of supporting
a healthy region, and the goal of supporting healthy neighbourhoods and
local communities. This must include:
B retaining and restructuring the Metro/Regional level
B creating a GTA-wide federation
B disentangling and restructuring service delivery
B rationalizing special Purpose bodies
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force submission September 1995
Summary of Recommendations:
1. Implement a Section 58 re-assessment across the GTA.
2. Combine the Business Occupancy Tax with the Non-Residential Re-
alty Tax.
3. Reduce the business tax differential.
4. Equalize provincial grants.
5. A mandatory review of assessment to ensure on-going fairness and
equity.
Reduce the Cost of Government by Rationalizing Service Responsi-
bilities
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Retain Metro in a restructured format.
Disentangle service responsibilities
Create a GTA-wide Federation for planning and co-ordination.
Legislative revisions will be needed.
Establish targets for savings.
Review municipal boundaries.
Further review every 10 years.
1. Implement a Section 58 Re-assessment across the GTA.
The present assessment system needs to be fixed. We believe the so-
lution must bring fairness to assessment across the GTA, and not just
in Metro. The new system must allow residents and businesses to
easily compare property taxes between properties in different parts
of the GTA
The real issues are: what system to use, and how to transfer to this
new system with as little upheaval as possible. Obviously, an up-dated
system must establish a common base year for all property and it
must be understandable to the average taxpayer.
Assessment System
Should the new system be based on the market value of a property or
on some other measure of property value?
Scarborough prefers market value. It is understandable to taxpayers,
who tend to know what their home is worth. It is independently veri-
fiable, and it is objective. A propertys market value has been the ba-
sis used in all reassessments in Ontario since 1974, involving 84% of
the municipalities in the Province.
The Fair Tax Commission has proposed a unit value assessment,
which would be based on size of building, lot dimensions, type of
building, and rental value. The City of Toronto has proposed a modi-
fied version of this unit value method.
Through all their research into MVA, the worst thing that the Fair Tax
Commission could say about it was that it was not perfectly corre-
lated with income. And some of the Fair Tax Commission commis-
sioners had difficulties with the recommendation to go with unit value
assessment Vice-chair Neil Brooks in his Personal Comments in the
final report indicated that: it is difficult to know how this scheme
[unit assessment) would work since the details are not worked out in
the report and I do not know of any jurisdiction where it has been
used. However, it appears to have almost no advantages over fair
market assessment and has a considerable number of disadvantages.
A Unit Value Assessment system will require an impact study. It has
not been used elsewhere so there are no models to learn from. It
would likely take many years to implement Meanwhile, the inequities
would continue, and businesses would continue to flee Metro. On the
other hand, Market Value Assessment can be enacted quickly. We
need change soon. We cannot wait another 10 (or 40) years for change
to occur.
Overall, market value is still the best system.
Type of Re-Assessment (Section 58 vs. Section 63]
In a perfectly fair assessment system, all properties would be assessed
at their market value (a Section 63 re-assessment). This would likely
result in large tax increases for owners of single family houses in
Metro, especially the City of Toronto. Any assessment reform, there-
fore, must recognize this potential impact on the residential sector.
The major beneficiary of a Section 63 re-assessment would be the
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission * September 1995
non-residential property owners, who would see their share of the
overall property tax burden decrease significantly right across the GTA
This large a shift in tax burden would be disruptive and unacceptable
to voters.
A Section 58 re-assessment for the region would re-assess each
property at its market value within each property class, so that the
total revenue from that class doesnt change when the new assess-
ments are used. A region-wide Section 58 would reduce much of
the unfairness in the present system. However, the business sector
will still bear a greater tax burden than its share of the market value of
property - an inequity that must also be addressed.
Assessment Practices
Many existing assessment practices and procedures appear to be ar-
bitrary. In addition, many of these practices are hidden to the public
until a property comes under appeal. Reassessment on a common
market value base will provide an opportunity to discard these prac-
tices. There will be no need, for instance, to use four size categories
to assess industrial buildings, or to use neighbourhoods as one of
the bases of the assessment of homes.
Implementation
Any change to the assessment system will mean tax increases for
some and decreases for others. To mitigate the impact of the increases
and enable taxpayers to adjust to them, changes should be phased in
over a finite and relatively short period.
Scarboroughs Position:
1.1
1.2
1.3
By June 1996, the Province should initiate an impact study under
Section 58 of the Assessment Act for a re-assessment within each
class of property across the GTA. Scarborough Council believes
that Market Value remains the best assessment system, and as
such, remains our preferred assessment method
The assessment practices should be changed to eliminate neigh-
bourhood and/or vicinity factors, different categories within a class,
and to make all assessment information public
In order to mitigate the impact of the re-assessment, it should be
phasedi n over a 5-year period beginning Jan. 1998.
2. Combine the Business Occupancy Tax with the Non-Residen-
tial Realty Tax
The Business Occupancy Tax is difficult and expensive to administer
and to collect. Combining the Business Occupancy Tax and the Non-
Residential Realty taxes would eliminate this duplication and save
money. The rate categories for Business Occupancy tax were designed
in 1904. They bear little apparent relationship to present day business
activity.
Combining the business tax with the realty tax on commercial and
industrial properties would involve decreasing the present 85% resi-
dential mill rate factor between residential and industrial-commercial
rates, so that the residential mill rate would be set at a level much
lower than 85% of the industrial-commercial mill rate. The proposed
reassessment by property class would thus be based on the total re-
alty and business tax revenue for commercial and industrial proper-
ties.
2.1 The Province should conduct a full review of the impacts of elimi-
nating the Business Occupancy Tax, and combining the business
and non-residential property taxes as the base for the Section 58
reassessment.
3. Reduce the Business Tax Differential.
After the Section 58 re-assessment and the review of the Business
Occupancy Tax are completed, businesses will still have a higher ef-
fective tax rate than residential properties - their taxes will represent
a higher proportion of their market value. If this inequity is not ad-
dressed, businesses may leave the GTA
There must be a continuing goal of keeping industrial and commer-
cial property taxes within the GTA competitive with other regional
economies.
Scarborough has, in the past, supported the concept that residential
and non-residential taxpayers should have the same net burden after
income tax. Since businesses can write off their property tax pay-
ments against income, while homeowners cannot, non-residential
property taxes should be relatively higher than residential property
taxes. Combined with paying the Business Occupancy Tax, businesses
at present pay more in property tax. If the Business Occupancy Tax is
to disappear, a new relationship must be determined. Given the present
income tax rates, this new residential mill rate factor would be ap-
proximately 55%. This relationship should be reviewed periodically,
and changed if necessary to take into account changes in the income
tax rates.
-
We suggest a review every five years.
The Residential Mill Rate Factor
A cursory analysis indicates that after, the GTA-wide Section 58 re-
assessment is completed and after the Business Occupancy Tax is
combined with the Non-Residential Realty Tax, the residential mill
rate will be approximately 35% of the non-residential mill rate. If the
goal is 55%, there is a significant gap. This gap can be bridged by
increasing the residential mill rate factor through a legislated annual
fixed rate over the 5-year implementation period. Local municipal
councils will have the option of levying this lost revenue through mill
rate increases, or of cutting costs enough to hold, or even reduce,
residential taxes.
The savings that will occur as a result of the ending of duplication
within the municipal sector will help to offset the impact of adjusting
the residential mill rate factor. But, this can only occur after a re-
assessment has been implemented.
This proposal would gradually move non-residential properties to the
same effective tax rate as residential properties (the goal of a Section
63 re-assessment). Other municipalities proposals may cause some
properties assessment to go down under a Section 58 re-assess-
ment, and later to increase by even more under a full Section 63 re-
assessment Our methodology would avoid this type of fluctuation.
No Municipal Adjustment of the Residential Mill Rate Factor
(Variable Mill Rates)
Municipalities should not have the flexibility to adjust the residential
mill rate factor, so they can lower their non-residential tax burden.
Equal i ze ~vi nc i al gr ant s:
l he I ?mvi nc e shoul d
r evi ew al l pr ovi nc i al
oper at i ng and c api t al
gr ant s by Mar c h 31, 199z
and est abl i sh %ai r and
equi t abl emdi st r i but i on
c r i t er i a.
A mandat o~ r evi ew of
Assessment t o ensur e on-
goi ng t i i r ness and equi t y:
7he t i vi nc e shoul d
updat e t he base year f br
t he assessment ever y 5
year s and nw i ew t he
r esul t i ng n?si dent i al mi l l
t at e t i mt o~
This would encourage municipalities to compete against one another
for business, rather than competing with the rest of the world to bring
business to the GTA. This kind of inter-municipal competition has no
place in a co-operative Federation.
In the short-term, allowing municipalities to adjust the residential mill
rate factor may encourage less efficiency and cost control in the local
municipality, and in the longer term, they may lead to the same kinds
of business re-location decisions based solely on tax savings that we
are seeing today.
With a proper, fair Market Value assessment system in place, variable
mill rates, are by definition, not necessary. Our goal of a system that is
fair and equitable to all classes of property does not permit variable
mill rates.
3.1
3.2
In conjunction with Recommendation 2.1 above, consider increas-
ing the residential mill rate factor (the ratio of residential mill rate to
non-residential mill rate) by a legislated annual fixed amount over
the 5-year implementation period, in order to address the taxation
differentials between classes of property. The change in the differ-
ential should be based on the targeted cost savings from rational-
izing, eliminating duplication, and restructuring service responsi-
bilities which are proposed below Recommendation 2.1 must be
implemented before Recommendation 3.1.
Municipalizes should not have the flexibility to adjust the residen-
tial mill rate factor. Property taxes should not be used as an instru-
ment of inter-municipal competition for business within the GTA.
4. Equalize Provincial grants.
The inequities in Provincial grants to municipalities in the GTA are
outlined earlier in this report. The Province must undertake a study of
all Provincial grants with the goal of establishing fair and equitable
distribution criteria for grants, after taking into account differences in
local assessment. This review should include all grants, and should
not be limited to education, health, ambulance, and transit grants.
The goal is to end the present significant tax subsidy caused by the
grants, and not to undermine the Provinces role in ensuring that mini-
mum standards of service can be delivered by municipalities. The grant
system should not result in property taxes funding an unreasonably
higher share of service in some municipalities.
4.1 By March 31, 1997, the Province should review all Provincial oper-
ating and capital grants, including education grants, and establish
fair and equitable distribution criteria which take into account
assessment differences between municipalties.
5. A mandatory review of Assessment to ensure on-going fairness
and equity.
[n order to maintain the integrity of the assessment system, regular
re-assessments must occur at fixed intervals. We suggest 5 years. This
re-assessment could be a computer-based re-assessment employing
a sampling process, coupled with a physical re-assessment at longer
intervals. The re-assessment interval must be set in Provincial legisla-
tion, and not subject to change on the whim of the local or regional
council. The cost of this re-assessment would be borne by the level of
government responsible for the assessment function. This will pre-
vent municipalities from putting off the re-assessment, so the distor-
tions in Metros assessment system today will not be repeated.
As indicated earlier, the expected difference between residential and
non-residential property classes will still not be fair even after Rec-
ommendation 3 is implemented. After the first five-year period, the
residential mill rate factor will have to be reviewed and if necessary, a
schedule established to implement further changes to this factor.
5.1 The Province should update the base year for the assessment every
5 years, and review the resulting residential mill rate factor. The
continuing goal of this review should be to keep commercial prop-
erty taxes throughout
economies.
the GTA competitive with other regional
Reduce the Cost of Governrnent by Rationalizing
Service Responsibilities
6. Retain Metro in a restructured format-
The regional government system, including Metro, has generally served
us well during the rapid growth of the GTA over the last 40 years. The
Metro/Regional level is still required to deliver some major services
which can be provided more efficiently and more effectively to areas
larger than the local municipalities.
Some might argue that Metros boundaries should be expanded to
take in the existing urbanized area of the GTA (with some room for
growth], and replace the five regional governments with one regional
government. This would represent a major change and require exten-
sive impact analysis and review before it could be implemented. It is
more important to effect change now, especially to rationalize service
delivery in order to support our first priority: assessment reform. It is
more practical to do this within the existing Metro/Regional struc-
ture. In the long term, however, more fundamental changes to the
structure of service delivery and governance should be explored. The
reforms we are proposing should be seen as the beginning of the
process - not the end.
For the present, however, it is important tore-establish the concept of
Metro as a co-operative federation of local municipalities, with a coun-
cil that is accountable to the local municipalities. This can be done by
eliminating the present system of directly electing Metro councillors,
and replacing it with a system of appointing local councillors to Metro
Council. The number of Metro councillors from each municipality
should reflect its population ("rep-by-pop). This also focuses account-
ability for property tax spending on fewer politicians, and on politi-
cians who are making decisions about local expenditures as well as
Metro expenditures. The size of Metro Council could also be reduced,
resulting in further cost savings.
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission B September 1995
Di sent angl e ser vi c e
r esponsi bi l i t i es:
Assi gn r esponsi bi l i t y f or
eac h ser vi c e t o one level.
I nc l ude spec i al pur pose
bodi es i n t he r evi ew of
ser vi c e r esponsi bi l i t i es.
I nc l ude educ at i on i n t he
r evi ew of ser vi c e
r esponsi bi l i t i es
Pr ovi nc i al r esponsi bi l i t i es
shoul d i nc l ude pr ogr ams
w i t h a st r ong i nc ome
r edi st r i but i on c omponent .
Revi ew pr ovi nc i al
oper at i ons i n or der t o
di sent angl e ser vi c es and
r educ e pr ovi nc i al
i nvol vement i n muni c i pal
f unc t i ons
Cl ar i f y Met r o/Regi onal
and l oc al r esponsi bi l i t i es
6.1
6.2
The Metro level of government should be retained, but in a restruc-
tured format The lines of communication and accountability be-
tween Metro and the local councils must be re-established. The
Metro/regional level is still needed to deliver some services. But
service responsibilities must be disentangled and clearly deline-
ated between the various levels so that duplication and overlaps
are eliminated
Eliminate the present system of direct election of Metro Council-
Iors in order to focus local tax spending accountability on fewer
politicians. Metro councillors should be appointed from local coun-
cils on a rep-by-pop basis. Local councils should make tie ap-
pointments. There should be fewer Metro councillors than at present,
resulting in cost savings.
7. Disentangle service responsibilities
Rationale for Service Allocation
The objective is to eliminate duplication in service delivery so that one
level of government clearly carries the major responsibility for the
delivery of the service. The service should be allocated to a level of
government based on the following criteria:
B the level able to provide the service more efficiently and effec-
tively should provide the service;
B the level best able to respond to the needs of the customer should
provide the service.
All services must be on the table - Provincial, regional, local, and spe-
cial purpose bodies, including education. Assigning special purpose
body responsibilities to provincial, regional or local levels will result
in administrative savings. It will also focus accountability for public
spending on fewer politicians by requiring them to weigh the com-
peting demands of many services. In the case of education, munici-
palities and school boards share recreational and community facili-
ties today. We think major savings would be available through identi-
fying further opportunities for sharing of administrative functions and
facilities.
The chart on the next page shows our proposed allocation of service
responsibilities.
Provincial Responsibilities
Social programs involving income redistribution, such as welfare, sub-
sidized child care, grants to Childrens Aid Societies, and social hous-
ing should be Provincial responsibilities. If these programs are fully
funded by the Province, municipalities with higher concentrations of
need will not have to levy higher property taxes. The concentration of
need in Metro is one of the causes of the tax gap. Social programs
should be a provincial responsibility, although local municipalities
should be able to choose to supplement provincial spending and pro-
gram delivery if they wish.
Queens Park could attack its deficit by eliminating its involvement in
the regulation and review of those activities and initiatives which mu-
nicipalities in the GTA can provide unaided as a result of their own
technical and economic sophistication. This will allow the Province to
focus its resources on other services and other areas of the Province
where municipalities dont have the technical resources of munici-
palities in the GTA. This would also enable municipalities to reduce
their costs. Examples could include:
B eliminating the need for provincial approval of municipal Official
Plan Amendments;
B eliminating provincial approval of stormwater drainage arrange-
ments.
Metro/Regional Responsibilities
Metro should be responsible for services which can be provided most
efficiently and effectively on a region-wide basis - especially those
services where the costs of inter-municipal co-ordination in the ab-
sence of Metro would significantly add to their cost or reduce their
quality. These services include police, transit, emergency services, and
major water and sewage treatment plants and waste disposal facili-
ties. Metro should also operate major regional scale public facilities,
such as the Zoo, the CNE, and the Convention Centre.
Local Responsibilities
All other services should be assigned to the local level. This will re-
flect the basic principles of accessibility, accountability and respon-
siveness to local needs. These services include the operation and
maintenance of all roads, sewers, water supply, parks and recreation
facilities. Community planning and economic development are key
municipal functions to ensure that neighborhoods and local com-
munities meet the needs and aspirations of their residents and busi-
nesses.
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
7.5
Disentangling means assigning responsibility for each service to
one level - either the Province, the Metro/Regional level or the
Iocal level.
Special purpose bodies should be included in the review of service
responsibilities with the objective of assigning their service func-
tions to the government able to deliver the service most effectively
and efficiently
Although excluded from the GTA Task Force's Terms of Reference,
Education should be included in the review of service responsibili-
ties in order to find opportunities for efficiencies in spending local
taxes (over50% of which are spent on education). The review should
consider mechanisms to allow municipalities and school boards to
enhance and broaden existing arrangements for sharing facilities
and administrative functions.
Provincial responsibilities should include programs with a strong
income redistribution component, such as welfare, subsidized child
care, giants to Children's Aid Societies, and social housing. This
will also address one of the causes of unfairness in the property tax
system. Local municipalities should be able to supplement provin-
cial spending and delivery in these areas, if they wish.
The Province should review its operations in order to disentangle
services and reduce provincial involvement in municipal functions
(e.g., eliminate the need for provincial approval of municipal Offi-
cial Plan Amendments; eliminate provincial approval of stormwater
drainage arrangement.)
7.6 The Metro/Regional level should be responsible for
-
Police
Transit
Water and Sewage treatment plants and Waste Disposal facili-
ties
Major facilities (Zoo, CNE, OKeefe, Convention Centre, etc.)
Assessment
Emergency services - fire departments should be amalgamated
with ambulance service into one emergency service to be run
at the Metro/regional level.
7.7 The Iocal level will provide all other services.
8. Create a GTA-wide Federation for planning and co-ordination.
In order to meet the objective of supporting a healthy region (economy,
society, ecosystem), a mechanism for GTA-wide co-ordination and plan-
ning of infrastructure and promotion and marketing of the regional
economy is required. This would recognize the integrated nature of
the GTA-wide regional economy.
A GTA-wide Federation of local municipalities and Metro/regional gov-
ernments should be created to plan and co-ordinate the major infra-
structure, which is the physical framework for the regional economy,
and includes roads and highways, transit, trunk sewers and major
treatment plants, water mains and major treatment plants, major hy-
dro facilities, and public telecommunications networks. We stress that
the federations function will be to plan these facilities and networks,
and not to operate them. The local municipalities and the Metro/Re-
gional level will operate them, within clearly defined areas of respon-
sibility.
The Federation would not be another level of government, but merely
a co-ordinating body, with limited legislative authority. It will have to
have the ability to broker inter-municipal and inter-regional agree-
ments to bind all its members to its plans and policies. The federation
will also serve as a GTA-wide forum for co-ordination and co-opera-
tion in the delivery of other services. For example, some of the major
quality of life facilities operated by Metro (e.g., the CNE, Metro Ref-
erence Library, OKeefe Centre, Metro Zoo) benefit the entire GTA. A
GTA-wide federation would bean appropriate forum in which to de-
velop to arrangements for sharing the costs of these facilities across
the whole GTA
The present GTA covers a larger area than is required to plan infra-
structure to support a healthy regional economy or to promote the
regional economy on the world stage. In the longer term, the bounda-
ries of the present GTA should be reviewed so that they reflect more
closely the region needed to support the planning and co-ordination
function and a GTA-wide assessment system. Future boundaries should
be based on watersheds, and on the extent of the existing urbanized
area while providing some room for growth. These kinds of boundary
issues can be contentious and block other reasonable and necessary
reforms. In view of the need to act now to reform the assessment
system and rationalize service responsibilities, review of the GTAs
boundaries should be deferred until the present round of reform is
substantially completed.
8.1
8.2
8.3
A GTA-wide Federation of Iocal municipalities and Metro/Regional
governments should be created for planning and co-ordination pur-
poses. This Federation should not be another level of govemment,
but should have the authority to broker binding agreements be-
tween federation members.
To recognize the integrated nature of the GTA-wide regional
economy, major infrastructure should be planned on a GTA-wide
basis, and the GTAs economy should be promoted to rest of the
world on a GTA-wide basis.
The GTA Federation should plan and co-ordinate:
regional mad system
transit
trunk sewers and sewage treatment
water mains and water treatment

major hydro facilities
public telecommunications networks
The operation and maintenance of these systems should be pro-
vided by the local municipalities and the Metro/Regional level with
appropriate GTA-wide policies, including arrangements for fund-
ing. With the GTA-wide regional planning function there will be no
need for Metro/Regional level planning.
The GTA Federation should also be responsible for promoting the
GTA's economy to the rest of the world.
This federation will not deliver services (except for economic pro-
motion). It will not be another level of government It will serve as a
GTA-wide forum for inter-municipal and inter-regional co-ordina-
tion and co-opetation in cross-boundary service delivery. It will have
the authority to broker inter-municipal and inter-regional agree-
ments so that its planning function will bind all its members.
9. Legislative revisions will be needed.
After service delivery has been disentangled, legislative/regulatory
authority should also be disentangled to reduce duplication between
the Province and the local municipalities/regions.
A recent Association of Municipalities of Ontario policy paper ("Ontario
Charter: A Proposed Bill of Rights for Local Government? clearly ex-
pressed the problems with the present Municipal Act:
"
. . . . in most instances it provides a single standard of perform-
ance for all local governments in all circumstances. Most of the
legislation does not express a purpose, goal, or objective but rather
describes responsibilities as a series of tasks.
This erodes the responsibility or accountability of municipal councils.
We support the A.M.O. papers proposals:
that the Municipal Act and other legislation regulating local gov-
ernment be replaced by legislation that is permissive rather than
prescriptive in nature; and
that legislation should set objectives, and that specific directions,
where necessary, should be set by regulation.
Provincial legislation should ensure that public and private partner-
ships, sharing, and co-operation in service provision will be permitted
9.1
9.2
Revise the Municipal Act, to allow for the above changes and to
give municipalities the flexibility to provide these services as effi-
ciently as possible.
Revise the Fire Departments Act, the Assessment Act and other
relevant provincial legislation and regulations to give municipalities
greater flexibility to provide services and to respond to changing
needs and the required service levels.
10. Establish targets for savings.
Our proposals present a format to reduce the cost of government by
rationalizing, streamlining, and eliminating duplication in service pro-
vision. We envisage a continual process of cost-cutting to support
our assessment reform proposals. We do not expect to generate all
savings overnight, as we anticipate generating the bulk of the savings
by not filling retirements, operating joint facilities, and amalgamating
functions and services over at least a five-year period.
To ensure that savings from service rationalization support assess-
ment reform (lessening the business tax burden), or are passed onto
the taxpayer, targets for savings could be established by the Province,
in consultation with the municipalities. Such targets would give mu-
nicipalities a clear set of objectives on which to base their long-term
budget planning.
10.1 The Province should, in consultation with the municipalities and
the Metro/Regional level, establish targets for the savings that will
result from service rationalization, and use these savings to miti-
gate the impacts of change-s to the finance and assessment sys-
tem.
11. Review Municipal boundaries.
Rationalization of municipalities and municipal boundaries both within
Metro and within the rest of the GTA should be considered in the
pursuit of cost reduction, efficient service delivery, and economies of
scale. Rationalization should balance these efficiency goals with those
of accessibility and accountability,
Local municipalities are often based on distinctive communities, some
with a long history. Their residents may be willing to pay higher taxes
to retain their distinctive identity. The public should be consulted about
any proposals to amalgamate municipalities.
11.1 Review the number of local munitipalities in the GTA in view of the
need to deliver local services efficiently, while keeping in mind the
objective of meeting local needs and respecting local communi-
ties. Proposals to consolidate local municipalities should be sup-
ported by their taxpayers and residents.
12. Further Review.
The Greater Toronto Area will continue to grow and change. The world
around it will continue to change. Regular review of the GTA will be
needed to meet the goals of assuring fair and equitable taxation, de-
livering cost-effective services, and maintaining an appropriate gov-
ernance structure. The Province must ensure that these issues are
monitored and reviewed regularly.
121 Review service delivery and governance in the GTA every 10 years.
Commercial and Business Assessment in the GTA
(in $000s)
Change
Muni ci pal i t y 1992 Di f f . 1993 Diff. 1994 Diff. 1995 1992- 95
Metro
Scarborough 542,906 -1,92% 532,506 -3.50% 513,855 -0.120/0 513,250 -5.46%
North York 870,096 -4.56% 830,387 -0.68% 824,763 -1.66% 811,039 -6.79%
Etobicoke 590,056 -4.50% 563,529 -1.29% 556281 -1.29% 549,124 -6.94%
Toronto 2,112,567 -5.45% 1,997,406 -2,78% 1,941,964 -0.77% 1,926,999 -8.78%
East York 73,867 -3,18% 71,517 -3.62% 68,825 -7.57% 63,709 -13.75%
York 79,596 -2.81% 77,356 -1.930/0 75,866 -6.31% 71,080 -10.70%
Total 4,269,087 -4,60% 4,072,701 -2.240/o 3,981,655 -1.17% 3,935202 -7.82%
Yolk
Markham 660,126 0.83%1 665,618 1.68% 676,803 2.27% 692,144 4.85%
Vaughn 737,790 -1,30% 728227 4.50% 760,987 2.31% 778,551 5.52%
Richmond Hill 236,102 5.49% 249,054 0.13% 249,372 426% 259,996 10.12%
Newmarket 105,578 429% 110,108 -0.34% 109,735 2.78% 112,783 6.82%
others 159,814 1.77% 162,642 -0.44% 161,832 4.51% 169238 5.90%
Tot a l 1,899,409 0.86% 1,815,651 225% 1,958,830 2.75942,012,711 5.97%
Durham
Pickering 146,758 2.95% 151,087 2.15% 154,336 2.11% 157,599 7.39%
Ajax 112,884 -0.99% 111,868 2.12% 114,243 3.75% 118,528 4.91%
Oshawa 260,417 -0.60% 258,863 -4.11% 248,219 -0.62% 246,663 -5.27@
Others 58,601 -2.59% 57,063 2.36% 58,430 2.12% 59,671 1.83%
Total 578,761 0.02% 578,900 -0.63% 575228 1.26% 562,483 0.64%
Peal
Mississauga 2,565,845 2.05% 2,618,513 1.35% 2,653,808 5.31% 2,794,698 8.81%
Brampton 914,695 2.46% 837,176 0.74% 944,078 1.65% 959,612 4.91%
Caledon 61,771 1.50% 62,697 628% 66,633 3.80% 69,166 11.97%
Total 3,542,411 2.14% 3,618,385 1.27% 3,664,519 4.34% 3,823,476 793%
Halton
Oakville 121,107 3.92% 125,858 1.12% 127.262 121% 128,799 6.35%
Burlington 128,781 -1.92% 126,311 -022% 126,027 0.40% 126,537 -1.74%
Others 50,380 026% 50,514 -0.01% 50,509 -1.57% 49,715 -1.32%
Total 300,268 0.80% 302,683 0.37% 303,798 0.41% 305,052 1.59%
Grand Total 10,589,836 -0.96% 10,488,320 -6.04% 10,484,030 1.67% 10,658,824 0.65%
Overlaps in Government
Service City
Elected Officials
Roads
Road Maintenance
FleetVehicle Maint.
Facility Maintenance
Snow Removal
Refuse Disposal/Recycling
Parks
Sports Fields
Recreation Programs
Recreation Facilities
Transit
Water Supply
Sewer Treatment
Planning
By-Law Enforcement
Day Care
Libraries
Econ. Dev.
Tourism Services
Tourist Attractions
Payroll Services
Info. Sys. Function
Personnel Dept.
Animal Control
Training
Printing
Health Promotion
Disease Prevention
Dental Program
Audit Function
Legal Services
Elections
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Metro
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
school
Board
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Provincial Private Other
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y
Y - MTRCA
Y - SPUC
Y
Y - MTRCA
Y - MTRCA
Y
Y - SPUC
Y
Y - MTCVA
Y
Y
Y - SPUC
Y
Y
Y
Y
Cost and Staff Comparison
Annual Reports
Net Budget
Municipality Population Budget Per Capita
($ millions)
Employment
Total Employees
per1OOO residents
Metro
Scarborough 550, 000 131.0 $238 2035 3.70
York 141, 000 40. 1 $284 627 4.45
North York 563,000 157.8 $280 3000 5. 33
East York 99, 000 29. 9 $302 418 4. 22
Etobicoke 310, 000 95. 1 $307 1554 5. 01
Toronto 591, 000 333. 8 $565 6132 10. 38
Peel
Mississauga 500, 000 124. 3 $249 2679 5. 36
Brampton 270,000 71.7 $266 1131 4.19
Y o r k
Markham 162,000 34.7 $214 613 3.78
Vaughan 129,000 36.2 $281 650 5.04
Richmond Hill 97, 000 31. 2 $322 415 4. 28
Durham
Pickering 74,000 14.9 $201 350 4.73
Ajax 59, 000 17. 3 $293 247 4. 19
Oshawa 133,500 62.3 $467 650 4.87
Halton
Burlington 134,000 56.1 $419 649 4.84
Oakville 126,000 59.5 $472 686 5.44
Leadership and Change: City of Scarborough GTA Task Force Submission Appendices September 1995
Ta xes P la yi n g a La r ger Role
As market conditions have forced lease rates to the lowest
possible levels, taxation becomes an inc reasingl
y
important
c omp onent of total oc c upanc y c osts.
The most common opinion is
that property taxes, especially
in Metropolitan Toronto, are too
high. We can credit our local
governments for showing great
restraint in industrial realty tax
increases (in man
y
cases there
was a tax reduction), however,
there is still a great challenge to
provide necessary services at
a reasonable cost.
An ev en gr eat er c hal l enge i s
for high taxation areas such
as Etobicoke, North York, and
Scarborough to compete with
the lower taxes in Mississauga,
Oakville, Brampton, Vaughan,
1985 1990
Markham, and other suburban
areas. The accompanying graph
and table examine realty taxes
in these areas during the past
ten years. It is difficult to ascertain
whether this gap is widening
or narrowing, and the subiect
continues to be a topic of debate
b
y
loc al politic ians.
Although the higher tax areas
feel an urgency for change, we
have not yet seen an acceptable
solution. Realty and business
taxes will continue to be a very
important consideration in a
corporate site selection.
% Cbange 10 Year
1994 1990- 1994 % Change
Brampt on
Et obi c ok e
Nort h York
Sc ar bor ough
Tor ont o
York
East York
Vaughan
Ri chmond Hi l l
Markham
Pi c k er i ng
28. 74%
34. 94%
20. 13%
33. 09%
29. 03%
27. 45%
34. 48%
26. 62%
28. 74%
13. 73%
29. 41%
27. 71%
86. 67%
89. 83%
68. I8%
65. I 8%
69. 49%
47. 73%
69. 57%
77. 27%
103. 64%
93. 33%
100. 00%
76.67%
Burl i ngt on
Oakvi l l e
Mi ssi ssauga
Brampt on
Et obi c ok e
Nort h York
Sc ar bor ough
Tor ont o
Yor k
East York
Vaughan
Ri chmond Hi l l
Markham
Pi c k er i ng
Source: Toront o Real Est at e Board Average Real t y Taxes (per sq. f t . ) os al January 1, 1995
Scarborough Volunteer Citizens BudgetAdvisory Committee (SVCBAC)
September 28, 1995
On September 24th the Community Resource Centre of Scarborough held its annual meeting, The agenda
included a Panel discussion on the Metro and Scarborough visions of options from the future of assessment,
taxation and governance in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).
As Chairman of the SVCBAC, 1 was asked to act
as moderator.
As your office was very supportive of Ms. Lois James in her efforts to organize the meeting, we would like to
report on the results of the public discussion. In addition, you may find our comments helpful, in light of Peter
Smalls article titled Give public a say on GTA labor urges in yesterdays Toronto Star.
The panel consisted of two staff from Scarborough and two Metro Councillors. We would like to have had a
mcmber of the Scarborough Councils Budget Committee on the panel. Regretfully, our invitation was not
accepted. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, not all members of the audience were able to present their
questions and concerns. AIthough the city staff and Metro Councillors presented their positions on some of the
issues that your Task Force is attempting to address; it was very apparent that the amount of public input into the
work that is being undertaken should be increased.
In addition, in reading the Task Forces Terms of Reference and Fax Newsletters it does not appear that ongoing
public participation in the municipal and provincial budget processes has been considered. Public input into the
work of the Task Force should only be a starting point. On March 9, 1994, members of the SVCBAC, along with
our former Chairman, David Hogg made a presentation to the Provincial Municipal Task Force. A copy of our
presentation is attached. Since you have identified municipal finance as your number one priority, we believe
that consideration should be given to promoting the creation of Citizens Budget Advisory Committees.
If you would like to receive additional feedback and comments, you may contact me at (905) 847-7937 or Lois
James at (416) 284-6409. We would be pleased to work with other groups that might want to organize similar
panel discussions. Based on our experience we would recommend several changes to the format and make-up of.
the panel, with the focus being on questions and comments from the public.
Community Resource Centre of Scarborough
Scar bor ough Volunt eer Cit izens Budget Advisor y Commit t ee
by
David A. Hogg B.Sc., D.I.C., P.Eng., C.G.A.
Chairman
I have been asked by our Committee to thank the Task Force for agreeing to hear our
remarks and comments.
We appreciate that the purpose of the Provincial Municipal Task Force is . . . to identify
the duplication and overlaps in provincial legislation, regulations and or policies which
could be eliminated to enable municipalities to reduce expenses. Our Committee
believes the establishment of t he Task Force is most appropriate and very timely. Our
Committee, along with many other people in the province, are keenly interested in
reducing expenditures at all levels of government as a means of reducing taxes.
The concentration of our Committee has been at the municipal level. It is from this
perspective we want to share our experiences wit h you. They are, as we realize, an
extension of your mandate. We expect that our experiences will convince you, as it has
our members, that there is a place for independent volunteer citizens to participate in
budget deliberations. We are all only too well aware that deficits flow upwards:
Municipal and School Board deficits, through the transfer payment process, become
provincial deficits which in turn become federal deficits. The end result is a huge national
debt quite remote and distant from the cause or causes.
Our committee was formed in early in 1993 in a response to a concern expressed in our
local community newspaper. A number of concerned unpaid volunteer tax payers, a
number retired, felt it was time to contribute to their community by participating in
Scarboroughs budget process. The objective expressed at that time, April, 1993, was
to help provide services efficiently through participation in the (Scarborough) budget
process and continual monitoring of actual expenditures.
One of the members of the Citys council, Councillor Faubert, was sympathetic to this
participation. Others were less sure since they considered they had been given a mandate,
through the election process, to control and direct expenditures for the city. It appeared
some Councillors believed, in regard to t heir budget, they did not need help or
interference depending on the perspective!
After observing two budgeting cycles in Scarborough, our committee is more convinced
than ever of the need for some independent monit or ing of municipal budgets. There is
What has been said above about municipalit ies applies equally to School Boards.
A close working relationship between elected officials and their staff is understanab
and generally desirable. The two entities need to rely on and support each other so tha
the municipal operation is focused and directed, not fragmented. But when therelianc
and support become too pronounced and too close, the best interests of the community
can be severely compromised. It is at this point that independent input from tax payer
observers can restore some balance to the process,
I would like to lead you through some of our findings on the growth of Scarboroughs
administrative staff costs. We believe this is a prime example of the value of our
independent review for 1993 which is contained in a 74 page report. We asked that ea
one of you be given a copy of that report.
It is somewhat gratifying now, to note that this year the staff establishment will be
reduced by 107 full-time employees or 4.6% The question comes Up as to why this
establishment reduction did not happen last year. We hope it does not sound too cynical
to consider this year an election year,
Another serious concern raised in our committees report on last year's (1993s) budget
process, was the absence of actual expenditures from the deliberations. The process base
was a budget to budget comparison This is what we budgeted or planned last year and
this is what we are planning this year. The question But what did you actually spend?
was rarely raised and not on significant issues.
There is an extension to that concern this year. We still do not see actual expenditures
being probed at a level we would consider minimally adequate. As well, in the course of
Councillor questioning rather large surpluses of budget over actual expenditures have
been revealed. We did not see or hear penetrating questions being asked as to how the
surpluses arose or what happened to them.
In addition, we now find, one year after expressing concern about actual expenditure=
consideration that the system which contains budget figures and t he system which
contains the actual expenditures do not interact. This makes tracking of actual
expenditures to planned budgets particularly difficult.
In our Councils budget deliberations, reduction in expenditures frequently equate to
reductions in service, not always, but frequently. So the final point we want to make in
this presentation is the lack of performance or service data and relevant statistics in the
presentations made by department heads during the budgeting process. We consider this
to be key information to answer the question: What did you do with the money we voted
you last year and what do you intend to do with the money you are asking us to vote you
this year? We wonder if this is an indication that the decision makers may not be
appropriately informed and skilled. They may not in fact, be in possession of the
requisite data to make fully informed decisions.
We use the above examples to indicate the need for formal unpaid volunteer independent
participation in municipal budget processes. There is a great deal of talent available in the
ret ired communit y. If there was truly an open budget process, what a wonderful
opportunity for this talent to be employed for the benefit of the community. Our sense at
this time, based on our experiences when we tried to get free and open access to
information, is that the incentive to participate is not yet warm and welcoming. We have
only had one response to four recent requests.
This is not to suggest Scarborough is different from other municipality= in this regard,
We merely bring our experiences to you to suggest that:
We respectfully ask that you give this some consideration when making your
recommendations.
393 University Ave., 20th Floor
Dear Anne,
Some time ago you had written asking if I would submit a vision for the GTA exercise
you were undertaking. Rather than develop a vision statement, I would simply like to pass on
some observations from outside the GTA. I also acknowledge they reflect the views of a
Regional Chair who has had 10 years of experience in the position. Perhaps they maybe of
some assistance to you.
Our regional frameworks are the envy of many other jurisdictions in the USA and
Europe. It seems ironical that we seem poised to dismantle or destroy systems that are the
envy of so many. I have satin forums with some of other major regional and economic units
in both Canada and the USA. In them, virtually all of these area people looked enviously on
the framework we had established here and wished they could copy or build on them. They
saw the political grouping of regional areas providing an accountable, cooperative, and
functioning grouping of communities actually able to carry out and deliver on regional
services. This ability, they felt, positioned Ontario Regions much better in the competitive
economic climate. Other regional jurisdictions in Europe are also looking for better
frameworks.
Destroying the Regions and passing authority over to local councils would be a major
step backwards. Many mayors, by the very nature of their office, are there to defend local
interests. There are many examples of some rising above this, but all too often we see in the
GTA mayors who look to the power and prestige of their own local municipalities over the
broader interests of the area or region. If there were major flaws in Peel or York, it was the
inability of the Region to develop broad regional plans over lower tier objections. I believe
many of the transit problems of the GTA can be traced directly to the multiplicity of transit
bodies, especially within the Regions. If transit had been handled regionally in each of the
GTA Regions, there would have been a vehicle in which to do better co-operative planning
with GO and the TTC.
Smaller units will fragment services and see a loss in staff quality and/or an increase
in local costs. The Regions, with their combined resources, have been able to build specialized
staffing components which allow higher degrees of specialization and competency. A
- 2 -
breakdown into smaller units will see the loss of these resources. If they have to be replicated
at many local levels, costs will increase. In fact, many of the smaller units may be inclined to
go with less qualified staff at the same time and the level of expertise may suffer accordingly.
Lower tier councils in Metro have looked with envy on their upper tier counterparts.
With the large salaries and staff available to them, they seek to expand their roles. What
Metro really needs is a clear rationalization and definition of the roles of both tiers.
The role and impact of the Toronto media over the past year has been significant in
the Metro debate. One needs to step back from it and analyze the validity, the biases, and,
at times, the extreme lack of neutrality, when dealing with some of the issues. It would be
a shame if responsible people allowed themselves to be stampeded into destructive, long term
answers driven by less than balanced media attacks.
Failure to carry out property tax reform cannot be blamed on Metro. No solution will
work without property tax reform.
Special purpose bodies should only be used where absolutely necessary. Special
purpose bodies function as clubs, provide no accountability, and operate in a shadowy
netherland. Regional governments have taken over many of those roles, placed the functions
in open and accountable forums, and provided good service. It would be a shame to see
them re-emerge except where absolutely necessary to accommodate major inter-regional
services.
Regionalized services should not be broken down. For example, one need only
compare the costs of separated health units in Metro compared to the health units in the
Regions to see the value of regional level health units.
The GTA solution should build on the strengths that are already there. There is no
need to destroy the current framework. There is a need to further rationalize services and
service delivery, clarify roles of each of the bodies involved, find the appropriate vehicle to
co-ordinate cross-regional services once they have been rationalized within the member units,
and ensure equity in property taxation. The framework is there already, much admired and
much envied by other jurisdictions. Please do not recommend the destruction of this excellent
foundation simply to satisfy some media or political agenda.
I have attached an address which 1 prepared in 1989. Many of the points are still
valid today and
please feel free
may be of some assistance. If you would like to discuss any of these matters,
to call.
Yours sincerely,
KES:ibf
Attach
Ken Seiling
Regional Chair
Remarks: Ken Seiling,
Regional Chairman
A.M.O Annual Conference
Date: August 22, 1989
Topic: Future Directions for Upper Tier Governments
The purpose of this session is to address the future
directions for upper tier governments in Ontario. I should
preface my comments by stating that the opinions expressed
are my own and in no way
reflect the opinions
of my
Council or my other regional colleagues. I am sure that
there would be disagreement on a number of the points and
in some cases, some of my points
are made simply to
encourage further discussion.
I should also qualify my
remarks by saying up front that I have avoided getting
into the issue of lower tier governments and their future
roles. My comments are not specific to the Region of
Waterloo but are intended to be more general in nature.
My own background has given me a unique perspective I
believe. For twelve years,
I worked in an unrestructured
County and for nine of those years, I also was actively
politically in a
restructured Region as a local
councillor,
mayor, and regional councillor. I had feet in
both camps so to speak.
For the past three and one half
years, I have
served as the Regional Chairman for
Waterloo.
To understand
the current state of tier
government in Ontario,
one has to understand what has
happened over the past few years. The first area of the
Province to feel the pressure of urban growth was Toronto.
The establishment of a metropolitan government for Toronto
in 1954 set the stage for further reviews in the Province
as it experienced major growth and projected growth in the
1960s.
The Ontario Committee on
Committee)
Taxation (the Smith
of 1967 and the 1968 Design for Development:
Phase II set the stage for the major regional reviews
which resulted in the formation of a number of regional
governments.
These studies and reviews
were the result of the
growth and rapid urbanization of many parts of Ontario,
the pressures
being felt not unlike those being felt in
many areas of the Province today (perhaps deja vu). It is
not surprising that the County Government Review should
appear now at a time when the pressures
of growth are
again impacting on more and more areas of the province and
also when many of the problems once
thought to be only
- 2 -
"city" problems were being experienced in even the most
rural parts of the province.
Although the formation of regional governments created
a political backlash which saw the process of reform
stopped, the legacy did survive and I believe has proven
itself in
every hope for regional
government has been realized,.
but I simply cannot imagine
how the Province would look or how it would operate today
without those reforms. One can look
~ .
-*
areas of the province have or have
growth pressures to realize how much
have been had they had the means to
on a wider county or regional basis.
at how unrestructured
not dealt with major
better off they would
deal with the issues
carried out by the
The Liberals of the
with many aspects of
The last major reforms were
previous Conservative governments.
day, reflecting public unhappiness
restructuring and perhaps reflecting their
-
more rural
electoral base of the day, vigorously attacked the
reforms. While in opposition,
they talked of dismantling
the new Regional governments. However, once in power, they
soon realized that reality dictated otherwise.
The term
regional government
is still used as a whipping boy in
some circles. However,
the recent reports on County reform
represent an acknowledgement that for many areas of the
province. the old system dating
back basically to the
Baldwin reforms of the 1840's is not appropriate to the
problems of a province entering the 1990's.
I am not here to say that there is a single master
plan for each and every upper tier government, but I do
say that the problems of today call for each area upper
tier to examine itself and see whether or not it is well
equipped for the years to come.
I am of the opinion that the Province fully recognizes
that it also needs strong upper tier government (perhaps
in some areas,
a strong single tier) in order that many of
its plans and objectives can be carried out. If one is to
read the documents of the 1960's which formed the basis of
much of the reform of later years, one would find that the
objectives set out there are even more important today:
-viable
municipalities
with better financial resources
capable of carrying out the planning and service needs of
their respective areas;
-meaningful boundaries which allow for proper planning and
service delivery which also ensure accessibility to
services and the political system;
-accountability for political actions;
- 3 -
-a balancing of the needs of the various units within the
county or region.
Some of the objectives of the 60's have taken on new
meaning as we approach the 90's.
Major program delivery,
whether it be of hard or
soft services, cannot be
effective without larger scale areas.
In. addition, the
problems of federal and provincial finances are being felt
by all of us. As the senior levels of government are
unloading or divesting themselves of past
responsibilities, they need strong financially capable
municipal governments to pick up some of the load. Larger
units of government are seen to be capable of delivering
economies of scale as most of the Regions found out when
their grants on
most hard services were reduced
substantially.
There is no question that the Province would like to
see more area planning done for land use, transportation,
sewage and water, social and health programs., and other
concerns. Such planning, service delivery, and
construction requires increasingly competent municipal
staffs at both levels, a
strong financial base, and
perhaps more importantly,
a strong local political body to
operate such a system.
At the risk of being cynical,
I should also say that
the absence of any long term planning for many areas of
concern on a Provincial basis for the past few years is
becoming increasingly obvious
today. In the absence of
this, it is becoming more and more critical that, at a
minimum, County or Regional planning take place.
The growing need to deal effectively with
environmental issues is also an area where a strengthened
upper tier can play an important role. Waste management,
sewage treatment, the implementation of the MISA program,
the designation and protection (and possibly acquisition)
of environmentally sensitive areas will probably best be
achieved through the professional and financial strength
of the upper tier.
Even lower tier governments will
require greater resources to deal with environmental
concerns within their jurisdictions.
Provincial
policies either developed or to be
developed in the future on
matters such as farmland
preservation, wetlands,
housing, health planning, day care
and many others will require a strong and effective upper
tier to carry them out.
While all of this is going on, one can see that the
services of the upper tier governments are becoming much
more front line.
In the counties,
the general public
didn't get too concerned about the county roads or the
- 4 -
suburban road commission, the home for the aged, or the
latest agreement forest. Many newspapers didnt object
much that most meetings were not open to the public. In
regions, there was still a distance from the public even
though the system was much more open. Early years were
spent dealing with sewage plants or fights with local
municipalities as issues between them were still sorted
out. Today, major issues such as day care, new road
projects, waste management,
water quality, and planning
approvals are bringing more and more people to committee
and council meetings.
Given all of this,
where do I see things going in the
next few years? If one were to take some direction from
the Metro reforms, the current regional reviews, the
pending county reviews, and trends in current Regional
governments, one might see some of the following emerging:
Upper tier governments
are coming increasingly in
contact with the public they serve. As a result, they are
having to learn to react to situations quickly and become
more service oriented.
Together with this goes the
question of greater accountability.
The current Metro reforms and the proposals of the
Ottawa Carleton Review to separate the Regional and local
council so that Councillors are both more accountable to
the electorate and more regional in their outlook can only
reflect a desire to strengthen the regional council. I
believe that in the next few years, the Province will
encourage, if not force,
this change on all Regions and
possibly restructured counties.
Where strong area policies
and programs are required,
there is an argument that there
needs to be a Council whose first loyalties and efforts
are to the area government.
The issues facing the upper
tiers are complex and require more time and attention.
Single purpose councillors are seen by some as providing
this time and focus. My personal view is that if the
present system is not made to work and the Councils are
separated, there will be the potential for more conflict
between the two levels.
Although the ultimate decision is
in the hands of the Province, the fate of "double-seated"
Councillors is,
to a certain extent, in their own hands.
As services become more integrated and begin to cross
more local municipal lines,
there will be moves to sort
out further local versus upper tier responsibilities. For
example, a two tiered sewer and water system is good, only
as long as good planning and service can be provided. Once
problems emerge without clear cut responsibilities and
once the public is left confused as
to which level is
responsible, then it will be necessary to consider the
system further.
Independent transit systems may very well
be workable but there will come a point when planning and
- 5 -
operation on a larger basis makes more sense. Demands for
regionally based recreational and cultural facilities will
create new policy questions for some.
We can expect to see a further shifting of financial
responsibility to municipalities whether we agree to it or
not. As units of government are strengthed, the Province
will use this new strength to shift more responsibility to
us (this is a variation on the user-pay philosophy may of
us have developed in our own municipalities)
As municipalities develop greater staff competence, we
can expect to see further delegation of provincial
responsibilities to us. This is not necessarily bad in all
cases but it is something we must watch carefully.
Stronger tax bases will also attract provincial
attention to make up shortfalls in provincial funding in
areas non-municipal areas such as hospital capital
funding.
There will be increasing pressure, not only from the
senior governments but from our own residents, to increase
our activities in the areas of environmental protection.
This will include topics
such as natural environments,
environmental health, waste disposal , and others
There will probably be a shifting of some of the
difficult questions to us as the Province struggles with
its own policy directions.
All upper tier governments will come under increasing
public scrutiny.
Public and media interest together with
freedom of information legislation will see the further
opening of upper tier government,
particularly in the
County system as
it moves to update its structures and
responsibilities.
I have mentioned
the failure of
the Province to
undertake long term planning for many years. We are now
beginning to see the need for examining issues on an even
larger
basis than just a County or Region. The Metro
centered planning for waste and rapid transit are probably
indicators of more that will or should come.
In summary,
I see the upper tier governments becoming
stronger in the areas for which they have responsibility.
They will have to assume greater responsibility for these
areas because the Province will continue to delegate more
responsibility,
more of the financing for local works will
come from this level,
and because the public increasingly
will demand more action on the part of these governments.
These governments will become more
front line in their
- 6 -
work and will be held more accountable as a result. One of
the results of this trend might well be the increased
separation of
the upper and lower tier governments
together with the potential for greater conflict if the
roles are not clearly defined, understood, and accepted.
The next few years will be a period of review and
change for many upper tier governments (and lower tiers as
well) . We need to be aware of the issues and be pro-active
so that we have, where possible, a degree of control over
the changes which will take place in the next few years.
September 12, 1995
GTA Task Force
393 University Avenue, Ste. 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Task Force Chair
Dear Ms. Golden:
I
Please find attached a copy of a letter I sent during the spring Provincial election to the
PC Party in response to their requests for suggestions for the Common Sense
Revolution. I think that the points I brought up in this letter are pertinent to your Task
Force.
* * * *
I would like, at this time, to elaborate on the situation concerning the operation of taxi
cabs in the GTA.
1.) Taxi owners licenses: All taxi owners holding licenses in any of the GTA
municipalities should be re-issued GTA plates on a one-for-one basis. A combined
Priority List would be established for the issuance of new plates based on each drivers
date of application for a position on the list, with each applicant having to fulfil the
qualifications of his original Municipality only, with all subsequent entries onto the list
having to meet the new GTA. standards.
2.) Taxi brokers licenses: All brokers should be re-issued brokerage licenses to operate
throughout the entire GTA.
3.) The GTA Taxi Authority should adopt a Taxi Bylaw modelled on the Mississauga
Public Vehicle Bylaw, which is regarded not only in the Toronto area, or Canada, but
throughout North America, as one of the most progressive Taxi Bylaws in existence.
4.) The separation of airport Iicences from regular taxi licences, and airport limousine
and city livery Iicences should end, Each of the two services should operate on an as
needed basis from the airport compounts, with a gate fee being paid for each free.
Th ere i s n o rea s on wh y t h ere s h ou l d be a qu a l i t a t i ve d i f f eren ce i n t h e l evel of s ervi ces
p rovi d ed t o t h e t a x i u s i n g p u bl i c ba s ed on wh et h er t h ey a re goi n g t o t h e a i rp ort , on on e
h a n d , or s om ep l a ce el s e on t h e ot h er. Th e GTA t a x i i n d u s t ry , i n ord er t o s u rvi ve a n d
p ros p er, m u s t i m p rove i t s d ri ver i m a ge, s ervi ce a n d veh i cl e qu a l i t y ; t h i s wou l d be m ore
f ea s i bl e i f a l l t a x i s were requ i red t o m a i n t a i n a qu a l i t y l evel t h a t t h e a i rp ort t ra vel i n g
p u bl i c h a s com e t o ex p ect , bu t wou l d be on l y p os s i bl e i f a l l t a x i s were s h a ri n g i n t h e
a i rp ort -d es t i n ed t ra d e.
5 . ) With the apparent reduction or termination of Provincial Government. subsidies for
the handicapped-accessible taxis, the GTA Taxi Authority should attempt to make it as
easy as possible for the handicapped to utilize the taxis available:
a) Eliminate any yearly licensing fee for these taxis.
b) Establish separate taxi stands for these taxis in places such as Union Station, etc.
c) Arrange for handicapped-accessible taxis to drop their fares off at subway stations in
the same way as the buses do, with no transfer cost to the passenger.
Trusting that these suggestions may prove useful to your Task Force, I remain,
Yours truly,
Mark Sexsmith
366 The East Mall,
Etobicokc, Ontario
M9B 6C6
#122
May 10/95
To: Mike Harris, Leader, P-C Party of Ontario
Re: Common Sense Revolution
Please accept the following ideas as contributions to the CSR.
1.) A PC government at Queens Park could accomplish major savings
for tax-payers by amending the Municipal Act in relation to the way the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is governed.
Example: -there are sixteen (16) transit systems in the GTA, each with a
bureaucracy that is funded largely by the provincial government. In addition,
there is also GO Transit, whoIly funded by the provincial government. The
overlapping in services is considerable, and the duplication in bureaucracy
and maintenance is in no way cost effective. Public transportation is too
important in the GTA to be divided up into many small services which
service the public poorly. Furthermore, asking the management of these
services to provide seamless transportation has resulted in these
bureaucracies steadfastly maintaining that their own continued separate
existence is, of course, paramount. The only solution is to abolish provincial
funding to each municipality in the GTA for public transport, and establish a
region-wide GO Transit system operated by a Crown corporation. The
increase in the efficiency of this system would reduce the number of cars on
the road, which would save the province money on road construction and
repairs. The need for 16 Chief Executives, buying offices, etc. would end,
also reaping a considerable savings, or at least direct the money where it is
needed--better service at street level. The multiplicitv of transrport systems in
the GTA constitutes a hidden tax which a PC government at Oueens Park
could eliminate.
Example: In the GTA, abolish the multiplicity of municipal licences, and
create one GTA licence for driving school licences, snack truck Iicences, tow
truck licences, taxi licences, etc. [t is ridiculous to see a driving school car
operating with two or three licences in the back window (e.g., Toronto,
Mississaug~ Brampton). The same goes for snack trucks. The same goes
particularly for taxis-tourists are baffled by the fact that a taxi from
Mississauga cannot pick up fares in Toronto, and are suspicious of the fact
that the meter rates vary. The handicapped are astounded that they are
dumped at a municipal border by one municipal handicapped bus service,
and picked up by another municipal handicapped bus service when they are
crossing municipal boundaries for medical service. In addition, the GTA
should take over the licensing of taxis and limousines at Pearson International
Airport. The situation there, with FederaI, Provincial and Municipal
regulators running the business makes for a nightmare of paperwork for the
operators. Once again. a PC government at Oueens .Park could eliminate the
hidden tax that these bureaucracies impose on businesses.
Example: There is no uniform system of traffic lights among the
municipalities of the GTA. A senior citizen, for example, in Mississauga
gets a Dont Walk warning before the amber light comes on, so as not to be
caught in the middle of the intersection on a red light; in Toronto, the Walk
light for pedestrians changes to Dont Walk at the same time as the amber
light comes on for vehicular traffic, often stranding these pedestrians in the
middle of a six lane road, A consolidation of road departments would, in this
instance, provide a uniform system of traffic signs for the GTA, which
would promote safety and reduce accidents. Another group of bureaucracies
imposing a hidden tax on citizens.-
2.) The variance in municipal taxes across the GTA has got to stop. Too
much money is being spent on the jockeying around by municipalities,
developers, 1awyers, etc. on the senseless competition among the parties on
the location or relocation of business. This process is a hidden tax on every
tax-paver in the region and a PC government at Queens Park should end it.
These are not radical new ideas, but merely the common sense application of
ideas that have been studied, reported on, filed, re-filed, forgotten,
rejuvenated, and forgotten again.
If the PC Party of Ontario can demonstrate to me that the time has come for
action on these problems, rather than just more studies, reports, commissions,
hearings, forums, etc., I can give you my support in this election. Leadership
must come from the top: put forward specific plans of action that offer the
voter a real choice, and you will be successful.
Your s,
Mark Sexsmith
366 The East Mall, #122
Etobicoke, Ontario
M9B 6C6
416-626-0705
November 17, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
GTA Task Force
393 University Ave.
RECEIVED
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: Property Taxes
Dear Dr. Golden,
In the City Of Toronto
- 2 -
The City of Toronto's Industrial Advisory Committees, of which SETIAO is a long standing
member, have also written to Premier Michael Harris noting that the key economlc threat
to doing business in the city at present, is the high level of commercial/industrial property
taxes.
Part of SETIAOS mandate is to revitalize and promote the East Bayfront and Port
Industrial area to new businesses. However, the high tax base has been a significant
factor in the exodus of manufacturers, and has acted as a deterrent to many industries
considering locating there. If Toronto is not to become another donut city such as
Detroit, major tax restructuring must take place.
We strongly urge you to make this issue your main priority when you submit your final
report.
Yours truly,
Sandra Perry man
Executive Director
c c Premier Michael Harris
Honorable Al Leach
Honorable Bill Saunderson
Top h a m P a r k Homeown er s Associ a t i on
BOROUGH OF EAST YORK WARD 1
c/o Secr et ar y
Cor por at ion No. 944078
September 24, 1995
ATTENTION : THE GOLDEN TASK FORCE
GOVERNANCE IN THE GREATER TORONTO AREA
GTA TASK FORCE
Unfair provincial education subsidy funding outside Metro Toronto
area is the cause of Metro and City spending reductions (Fact).
East York has managed quite well over the years as Canadas Only
Borough
w
despite the provincial inequity on education subsidies.
East Yorks portion of property tax has not increased for the last
three years. Metro Toronto has had an increase every year. The
Education portion of the property tax has had an increase every
year. The Borough of East York must be doing something right! .
The Borough of East York is a community where citizens have easy
access to their local councillors, mayor and municipal services.
Where else is there a municipality of 100,000 plus citizens where
you can go and speak at local council meetings on any subject
without an appointment.
Being a close community has meant there has been no political
scandals or arbitrary decisions in memory. You cant have
irregularities when everyone is known to everyone in our close knit
atmosphere. Community involvement by the public in East York
enhances the spirit of East Yorkers in their daily lives.
People who are calling for the demise of East York may be jealous
of the attributes and the community spirit that it has. We can't
imagine being part of the faceless municipality of Toronto and
seeing our quality of life degenerate to the lowest common
denominator. Families who move from East York constantly comment
how lucky they were when they lived here. Some move back to East
York to recapture the sense of community. Children who grow up and
marry want to purchase a home and continue living here. Whoever
has experienced the East York experience never want to leave. The
high ratio of seniors who remain in East York is a telling
commentary of the desire to belong. We want to live in a
municipality where everyone is important and has an input as to
what transpires around them. Bigger is by all means not better.
An example of community participation was the attempted school
Board trustee honorarium increase, which was overturned by local
East York citizen public pressure.
East York local by-laws are guided by local public input; eg: No
Pool Halls allowed, No exotic Dancers/Strip Clubs which would have
included Lap Dancing.
Both the East York Board of Education and Municipal Council hold
public meetings on their respective budgets to allow public input.
Rogers Cable televises local council meetings. It also has a
phone-in program to the mayor every two weeks and individual ward
councillors for the community every two weeks.
The programs for the learners in East York public schools are some
of the best in Canada. This can be attested by the number of
parents from outside of East York who want their children to attend
East York public schools.
East York works quite well for the benefit of all its citizens the
way it operates now. You cant improve on the quality of life
here, but the elimination of East York would be detrimental to its
citizens.
Im sure any attempt to amalgamate East York with another
municipality will be met with our usual tenacity towards any
injustice inflicted upon us.
East York will be celebrating its 200th anniversary in
it be its last? We have existed for 200 years,
1996 - will
we want to
continue!
TOPHAM PARK HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION represents
York, owned by people who want the present
maintained, not destroyed.
PRESIDENT:
VICE PRESIDENT:
755-0661
757-0576
Roy Arthur
67 Amersterdam Ave 216 Westview Blvd
755-6020 755-2686
Christine Pawinski Lazena Phillip
51 Tiago Ave 11 Joanith Drive
757-6345
757-1351
TREASURER:
George Hopcraft
22 Westview Blvd
755-0325
576 homes in East
quality of life
SECRETARY:
Marg Hopcraft
22 Westview Blvd
755-0325
Gladys Ovenell
29 Tiago Ave
755-0266
Yours truly,
Allan Ga w
President
TPHA
Tim Tormey
14 Marlow Ave.
East York, Ont.
M4J 3T9
Sept. 28, 1995
Dear Sir or Madame:
It has been brought to my attention that Metropolitan Toronto is
considering taking the Borough of East York into the city of
Toronto and taking away its privileges. I am concerned about this
idea as East York is the area where I was born and raised. The
idea of this has allowed me to realize how lucky I am to be living
in a wonderful community. East York is an incredibly friendly and
comfortable environment with a great deal of community pride.
I work for the Borough in the Parks and Recreation department. It
concerns me that my job will either be in more competition or
completely dissolved due to the proposed amalgamation. This
bothers me because I am a student and my job will help me pay for
my postsecondary education in a years time.
At the start of this summer some alterations were made to Stan
Wadlow park. If it is not already known, Stan Wadlow park is home
to the East York baseball association and the alterations were made
to the diamonds at the park. The diamonds were in dire need of
repair, but along with that the park also received a batting cage.
This would not have been possible without the contribution from
East York. How accessible would money for repairs such as this one
be if East York were amalgamated with the much larger and less
sensitive community of Toronto?
Along with the concerns that I have expressed above, I would also
like to add that I am very proud to be an East Yorker. This
community has served me well in the past eighteen years. I have
played baseball and hockey throuqh East Yorks facilities and I
have been educated through the
-
Lastly, there is over two hundred
community and the residents would
lost.
Sincerely,
Tim Tormey
Borough's Board of Education.
years of history in this great
be very upset to see its status
C I I Y O F
TORONTO
City Clerks Department
Barbara G. CapIan City Hall
Office of the Clerk
City Clerk 100 Queen St., W
Sydney K. Baxter Toronto, Cntario
Deputy City Clerk M5H 2N2
Reply
Christine Dodds
Ref: 9522-51 a.let
Tel ephone: ( 4
Fax: (4
TDD: (4
September 29, 1995
6) 392-7031
6) 392-1879
6) 392-7354
T o r o n t o
The Central City
In The GTA
T o r o n t o
The Central City
In The GTA
City of Toronto Submission to the
Adopted unanimously b
y
City Council,
September 19, 1995
Report prepared by the City of Toronto
Planning and Development Department
T A B L E OF CON T EN T S
Ex ec ut i v e Summar y ......................2
Rec ommendat i ons ..........................4
1. I nt r oduc t i on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Cent r al Ci t y Vi t al i t y ...................7
The Tax Gap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...8
Avoiding the Substitution of One
Problem for Another . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3. Pr opos al s f or Ref or m:
Level l i ng t he Pl ayi ng
Fi el d f or Busi ness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Metro Expansion Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The North York and Mississauga
ProposaIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..........12
City of Toronto Proposals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Assessment I ssues ..................15
The Case Against MVA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
A Positive Alternative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Gover nanc e I ssues ..................19
Benefits of Dissolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Differing Approaches to Dissolution
of Regional Government . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Common Ground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Char t s
Chart 1 Bill of Dissolution Summary ..........20
Tabl es
Table 1 Metro Expansion Proposal:
Tax Impact on Business Properties.. 11
Table 2 Post-1988 Volatility under MVA ...16
Table 3 Impact of Reassessment by
Income Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
At t a c h m e n t s
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
City Solicitor, Bi l l of Di ssol u t i on ,
June 27,1995
Commissioner of Planning and
Development, Pr el i m i n a r y S u bm i ssi on t o
t h e Gr ea t er Tor on t o Ar ea Ta sk For ce,
May 4, 1995
Mayor Barbara Hall, Gr ea t er Tor on t o Ar ea
I ssu es a n d Di r ect i on s, July 27, 1995
Toronto Arts Council, A Cu l t u r a l Vi si on :
S u bm i ssi on t o t h e Gr ea t er Tor on t o Ar ea
Ta sk For ce, September 1995
Deputants Submissions to Executive
Committee, September 12, 1995
For additional copies of this report or copies of the
attachments, please call the City of Toronto City
Clerks Department, Secretariat Division
at 4163927031
1
E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R V
2
This brief outlines the City of Torontos position
on reform of governance and public finance in the
Incorporated in 1834, the City is the historic heart
of a region in which 4.2 million people now reside
almost seven times the Citys population. By
general agreement, the Citys core is critical to
overall health and quality of life in the region.
The City of Toronto is the regions c e n t r a l c it y,
with major concentrations of activity in business,
the arts, education, the media, health care and
government. The Citys pattern of development is
distinct from much of the larger region: its streets
were laid out before the automotive age, and
remain transit-oriented and pedestrian-oriented to
this day.
Central city quality of life has an important bearing
on economic development. If the vitality of this
central city is lost, much of the economic activity
now located there will be lost to the region and to
the province.
In this brief we outline the reforms needed to
ensure continuing vitality of the central city. The
case for these reforms is put forward not just with
the Citys own interest in mind, but with regional
and provincial interests in mind as well.
We urge the Task Force to endorse our
recommendations as ke
y
steps to securing the
future of the region and the province.
A Level Pl ayi ng Fi el d
f or Busi ness
The first proposed reform we are recommendin
g
is
to level the property tax field for business in the
GTA. The central citys economic base and
assessment base are both jeopardized as businesses
disperse to outer parts of the GTA; tax rates there
are about half those in the City. The solution to
this problem of rate differences should be one of
levelling down, not up.
Metro Toronto has proposed a levelling up
estimates of what that approach would entail (see
Table 1): tax increases for businesses in the GTA
outside Metro averaging 45% for commercial
properties and 30% for industrial properties. The
line with North Yorks proposal to the Task Force,
and in line with the Greater Toronto Coordinating
redeplo
y
provincial grant funds so that a greater
proportion of these funds flow to Metro and the
GTA. Pass through the additional grants to reduce
property taxes for Metro businesses.
That approach would not require the rest of
Ontario to subsidize the GTA. Rather, it would
reduce the subsidy the GTA now pays to the rest
can be done despite provincial cutbacks; indeed,
we believe it mu s t be done to secure the provinces
Re t u r n As s e s s me n t
Res pons i bi l i t y t o
L o c a l Go v e r n me n t
The City of Toronto is not prepared to accept a
market value assessment system. Our proposal is to
allow municipalities a choice of assessment systems:
MVA, unit assessment, unit value assessment, and
rental value assessment.
secure its assessment base and maintain services.
We have proposals for reform that provide for
gradual transition and that would eliminate
separate classes for single residences and
apartments. We do not believe an MVA-based
system can achieve either of those goals.
The City is seeking the chance to demonstrate the
viability of alternatives to MVA. Assessment
responsibility should be returned to the local level
of government, permitting the City (and others) to
undertake demonstration projects.
Ref or m t he St r uc t ur e
of Loc al Gov er nment
Along with Mississauga and North York, we
believe that the two-tiered system prevents local
government from being responsive to local
preferences. This rigidity jeopardizes central city
vitality, as well as the vitality of other communities.
At least in Metro, the regional tier of government
should be dissolved and replaced with a service
board under the control of local councils.
Because the present window of opportunity for
restructurin
g
is time-limited, the Citys position is
that the present round of restructuring should take
place within existing regional boundaries. Issues
involved in creating a GTA-wide service board are
complex; resolving all of them b
y
1997 is unlikely.
It is important to focus on reforms that are
realistically achievable within the time available.
Otherwise we may accomplish nothing at all,
Ont ar i o Budget Cut s
I nc r ease t he Ur genc y
of Ref or m
The Ontario government is currentl
y
introducin
g
deep budget cuts reducing transfers to
municipalities and school boards, as well as
reducing its own expenditures. Notwithstanding
these cuts, however, billions of dollars in grant
funds will be distributed to school boards and
municipalities. The province has in its hands the
power to redeploy these finds, to redress the GTA
and central city tax imbalances.
If the province does not undertake this
redeployment of funds, erosion of the central city
economic base will continue. Assessment losses will
mean that services required for central city vitality
simpl
y
cannot be provided. Existing pressure on
services will become far worse.
If the province does undertake the redeployment of
funds, the future of key Ontario economic assets
the GTA central city and regional economy will
be secured. The choice is a fateful one, but making
the right choice does not require any increase in
provincial taxes or reduction in services. It is an
issue of how a given dollar total of grants should
be distributed.
R E C O M M E N D A T I O N S
1 That in its report, the GTA Task Force be
urged to emphasize the critical importance of
the GTA central city the City of Toronto to
the region and province, and to develo
p
recommendations (alon
g
the lines of those
numbered 27 below) to secure its future
vitality.
2 That provincial grant funds be redeployed so as
to reduce significantl
y
the property tax gap
between Metro businesses and businesses in the
GTA outside Metro.
3 That responsibility for property assessment be
returned to the local level of government.
4 That assessment policy be determined by local
governments from a range of options available
province-wide. Such options would include
market value assessment, unit assessment, unit
value assessment, and rental value assessment.
5 That local municipalities be empowered to
adopt transition provisions for reassessment
through balanced phase-in of tax increases and
decreases.
6 That the City of Toronto draft bill of
dissolution be endorsed and the provincial
government be requested to secure legislative
approval of the bill by the end of 1995.
7 That consideration of service boards operating
on a GTA-wide basis take place once
restructuring within existing regional
boundaries has been implemented.
4
1 . I N T RODU CT I ON
A window of opportunities opening for the
Greater Toronto Area. The necessary conditions
for reform of governance and public finance are in
place. A mandate to act has been given, and
impendin
g
change is likel
y
to have profound
impact for a generation or more. As North York
urges in its brief to the Task Force: Do it right, do
it now!
Fifteen months ago, Toronto City Council
resolved to place a question before the voters: Are
you in favour of eliminating the Metro level of
government? The response, delivered November
14, was in the affirmative. The referendum appears
to have sparked a move toward landmark change
in the evolution of local governance.
Today, three of the four largest cities in the GTA
(Toronto, North York and Mississauga) are calling
for elimination of regional government. In June, a
new government was elected to Queens Park, with
key ministers having served on a task force which
reached similar conclusions. Metro Council itself is
proposin
g
radical change (albeit change alon
g
different lines).
New ideas are also being developed in the field of
public finance, to secure the central citys economic
base and to reform the tax assessment system.
The GTA Task Force will soon evaluate the
various options for reform. The completion date
for the Task Forces work has been moved forward,
with a final report now due b
y
the end of this year.
While the new timetable limits the scope of
research, it also offers major advantages:
B Governance reforms recommended b
y
the Task
Force can now be implemented in time for
1997 municipal elections. The original
timetable had the Task Force reporting on
governance toward the end of 1996, leaving
only a few months before 1997 electoral
campaigns would normall
y
begin. Major
restructurin
g
would likel
y
have been delayed,
perhaps indefinitely.
B Taxation and governance issues will now of
necessity be considered together. Much of
Ontarios system of municipal and school
governance was originall
y
designed to meet
public finance objectives. This reality has to be
kept in mind as we consider reforms to either
governance or taxation in the GTA.
This submission outlines integrated City of
Toronto positions on governance and public
finance. These positions originally were set out in
three appended documents. The first of these
documents is a bill of dissolution adopted b
y
Council June 27; this sets out draft provincial
legislation to dissolve the Metropolitan
Corporation and replace it with an Urban Toronto
Regional Services Board, controlled b
y
local
councils. The second document is a draft brief on
public finance, dated May 4 and adopted b
y
Council June 5. The third report, dated July 27
and adopted by Council August 15, indicates how
the proposals of the first two documents relate to a
larger GTA context.
At its meeting on September 19, Council decided
to append a number of additional documents.
First, in recognition of the key importance of the
arts to the Citys quality of life, the Toronto Arts
Council brief to the GTA Task Force is appended.
Also appended are written deputations to the
September 12, meeting
g
of the Executive
Committee.
The Citys proposals to the Task Force have been
developed with extensive input from residents and
businesses. Besides the 1994 referendum, four
public meetings were held this past May and June,
focused specificall
y
on issues within the mandate of
the Task Force. These meetings (publicized via
newspaper ads) were held in various locations
around the City each meeting was chaired b
y
the
Mayor, with council colleagues in attendance. As
well, the Executive Committee heard deputations
from the public at its September 12 meeting.
5
The primary theme of this submission is the need
to reinforce central city vitality in the interests
not onl
y
of central city residents and businesses,
but in the interests of our region and province as
well. Our recommendations are addressed to three
problems which the City believes must be solved to
ensure continuing central city vitality:
(1) distortions in the property tax system which
drive out central city businesses;
(2) an eroding assessment base; and
(3) a structure of local government which no
longer meets central city needs.
The next section defines central city vitality and
introduces the problem of tax-induced business
departures, a problem discussed in greater detail in
Section 3. Assessment reform is discussed in
Section 4, and governance reform in Section 5.
6
2 . CENT RA L CI T Y V I T A L I T Y
The City of Toronto is the jurisdiction most
closely approximatin
g
the GTA central city. The
central city is the regions front door to the world
visitors spend most of their time in the central city,
and out-of-town media are based there. An urban
regions central city shapes that regions image
nationally and internationally.
The link between central city vitality and regional
vitality is well established. A region with a
declinin
g
core is unlikel
y
to succeed economically.
Conversely, a flourishin
g
core tends to make all
parts of the region more prosperous.
The City of Toronto is clearly the centre
and heart of the GTA. The success of the
GTA is linked closely to the success of this
centre.
...CITY OF MISSISSAUGA BRIEF TO THE GTA
TASK FORCE, AUGUST 1995,
What are the components of central city vitality?
These are amon
g
the most important:
BA strong economic base, including tradition
central business district functions, as well as
new economy knowledge-based sectors. The
payrolls generated b
y
this economic base hel
p
support central city retail and entertainment
facilities, with resulting vitality on the street.
The tax assessment associated with this
economic base finances the public services
required for high quality of life downtown.
B Flourishin
g
activity in education, culture and
the arts. This is an integral part of the economic
base, and one that produces particularl
y
high
multiplier effects: raising the citys profile
internationally, attractin
g
visitors, and attractin
g
a skilled, highl
y
educated labour force.
neat downtown, activel
y
engaged in the life of
the central city. If this element is missing,
vitality drains awa
y
after business hours.
B A densel
y
developed network of pedestrian-
oriented streets, with high-quality transit. This
is the all-important public realm, which people
must be able to enter with anticipation rather
than fear.
What we have just sketched in brief is a complex
organism resilient, but not to the degree it can be
taken for granted, The number of North American
urban regions with hollowed out central cities
makes that point eloquently.
The critical economic importance of the central
city organism to our region and province must be
emphasized. Central city quality of life attracts
skilled, educated labour. Those skills are the key to
dynamism and growth in the new econom
y
investment moves to where those skills are found.

That is what the Globe and Mail Report on
Bu si n ess Ma ga z i n e noted in choosin
g
the City of
Toronto one of the top five Canadian cities for
business (August 1995). It was also an important
consideration in Torontos selection b
y
For t u n e a s
one of the top ten cities for business world-wide
(November, 1994). If we lose central city quality of
life, specialized and talented human capital will be
lost to urban regions outside Ontario. Investment
will soon follow.
7
The Tax Gap
Av oi di ng t he Subs t i t ut i on
of One Pr obl em f or Anot her
8
The key economic threat to central city vitality at
present is the high level of commercial/ industrial
property taxes, in relation to levels in the GTA
outside Metro (the tax gap). For some businesses,
the tax gap is not a critical factor because the value
of a downtown location offsets the tax premium.
For other businesses that offset is lacking; they are
leaving, or will leave, unless the gap is substantially
closed.
These relocations have no underlying economic
logic, but are a product of distortions in the
property tax system. They are eroding the
assessment base required to maintain high-quality
central city services. Correcting this problem
should be as important to the Ontario government
as any issue before it.
Some businesses in Metro face taxes that
are up to 2000/ 0 higher than they are in
nei~bouring municipalities.
Understandably, businesses are moving.
This situation is not only a terrible w~te of
existing public and private sector resources,
but as well we are possibly destroying
Canadas premier financial and business
services centre at the same time. A focused
and efficient centre is a key indicator to the
rest of the world. If this core is not strong,
the rest of the region will suffer. If Toronto
loses, Ontario loses. There are no winners if
Torontos health goes sour.
... MURRAY BEYNON, PRESIDENT, BOARD OF
TRADE OF METROPOLITAN TORONTO,
BUSINESSJOUIWLL, JULYIAUGUST 1995.
A primary responsibility of the GTA Task Force is
to recommend a means of closing the tax gap for
business. That said, there are two approaches to the
issue (the made-in-Metro approaches) which
would simply replace one threat to central city
of tax burdens to residents; the other by slashing
services.
Torontos central city is unlike the central cities of
many other North American urban regions in
retaining a strong residential base. Other regions
are seeking to emulate this, to support the vitality
of their central cities.
As is shown in the appended May 4 draft report,
residential effective tax rates in the City of Toronto
are already at least as high as those in the GTA
outside Metro. In other words, even though our
housing prices are relatively high an indicator in
proportional to those higher prices. There is a high
degree of residential mobility within the GTA
urban region. The Task Force should reject
for an exodus of residents.
The inherent cost premium attached to central city
services also needs emphasis. Like other
municipalities, the City is moving comprehensively
cut from a base of 6719. A review of management
structures is now being undertaken to achieve
per-capita costs and achieve equivalent service
levels.
residents, primarily as a result of inbound
commuting and tourism. It has older
infrastructure, narrower streets, and higher
demands on public health services. Even our trees
the City must care for 340,000 ate more costl
y
to maintain due to environmental stresses.
In other countries, the need to meet central-city
cost premiums (at least of major capitals) is well
understood. Paris, for example, has over one half its
municipal budget paid for by the national
government. Visitors are amazed at the citys
immaculate state, and ongoing renewal of
infrastructure. (Why Paris Works, New Yor k
Ti m es Ma ga z i n e, July 19, 1992).
The French governments investment is repaid
man
y
times over through increased tourism and
investment. The Ontario government should
consider this example as it formulates the details of
recently announced cutbacks to municipal
transfers.
Our schools also must incur cost premiums to
match suburban service standards. Relatively high
incidence of poverty, high incidence of pupils
lacking fluency in English factors such as these
make Metro per-pupil costs about 200/ o higher
than in the GTA outside Metro.
U.S. studies indicate that each child from a
disadvantaged inner-city household will require a
3% cost premium to educate to a given level.
Higher proportions of disadvantaged children
attend Metro schools than attend other GTA
schools. It should also be emphasized that Metro,
with 1990 of Ontarios pupils, delivers 44% of
English-as-second-language instruction in the
province, as well as 33% of adult education
services.
Like the City and like Metro, our schools have
already absorbed large expenditure cuts. To assume
that cost premiums in Metro represent unnecessary
waste, and to demand corresponding budget
reductions, would put central city vitality at risk.
You can hollow out a city in four ways: by
high business taxes which drive businesses
out, by high property taxes on mobile
middle class families which cause them to
move out (or deter them from moving in),
b
y
declines in the quality of urban life as a
result of cutbacks in policing or municipal
services, or by financial pressures on schools
that cause the quality of schooling to
decline. Of these, reductions in the quality
of schooling have the most powerful
influence.
Middle class families will consider moving
in response to tax differentials. But their
response to perceived declines in schooling
quality will cause much more dramatic
response. If they perceive it to be necessary
to leave the city to obtain quality schooling
for their children, man
y
middle class
families will move. If you want to make
Toronto go the route of Detroit, the most
efficient wa
y
of doing so is to starve the
schools.
JOHN BOSSONS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS,
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO, BRIEF TO GTA TASK
FORCE, JUNE 1995.
Service reductions are already looming as a result of
provincial budget cuts. These reductions will do
nothing to reduce the GTA property tax gap for
businesses. Even deeper service reductions would
be required if the service-slashing route to closing
the tax gap were followed. The present fiscal
context makes that route still more unthinkable
than it would otherwise be.
The challenge for the Task Force is thus far from
simple. Closing the tax gap for business by the
wrong means will open up new threats to central
city vitality.
9
10
3 . PROPOSA L S FOR REFORM:
L EV EL L I NG T HE PL A Y I NG FI EL D FOR B USI NESS
The City of Toronto views the issue of business
dispersal as critical, and has analyzed many possible
remedies. Metro and some of the major GTA cities
have alread
y
published proposals for consideration
by the Task Force. Among these proposals area
number which appear promising. Other proposals
should not, in the Citys view, be endorsed by the
Task Force.
It is useful to review the ideas others have put
forward, to help set the context for the Citys own
position on the tax gap for business, outlined at the
end of this Section. Our review begins with a
proposal to expand Metros boundaries, recently
endorsed by Metro Council as the basis of its brief
to the Task Force.
Met r o Ex pans i on Pr opos al
Superficially, the Metro expansion proposal may
appear to solve the tax gap problem without
drawing on provincial revenues. On closer
examination, however, difficulties with the Metro
approach bring its viability into question. Before
indicating what these difficulties are, a few
background points should be noted.
For several decades a major focus of Ontarios local
finance policy has been the creation of assessment
pools. This approach has led to municipal and
school board amalgamations, creation of regional
governments, and Metros public school tax
pooling system. From the provincial standpoint,
the attractive feature of assessment pools is that the
assessment rich can support the assessment
poor, thus reducing the draw on provincial
finding otherwise required to help the assessment
poor.
A downside to the pooling approach is that units of
government may be created to serve
redistributional ends, where efflciency
considerations (diseconomies of scale) indicate
these units should not be created. A second
downside aspect of assessment pooling is that it
raises the property tax component of the overall tax
mix a relatively regressive component.
In the GTA, we now have five assessment pools:
the original Metro pool, and the four newer ones
dating from the 1970s. Within each pool,
property tax burdens have limited variation
because 80-85% of the tax bill is pooled. Between
pools, services financed from the Metro pool are
higher in cost, whereas those financed from the
905 pools are lower in Cost the key
contributing cause of the GTA tax gap.
Metro and the 905 GTA have similar levels of
assessment per capita. It is currently the factoring
in of relatively high costs that makes Metro
assessment poor in comparison with the 905
GTA. The result is that effective tax rates for
Metro businesses are almost twice those in the 905
area. Residential effective tax rates (singles and
apartments combined) are also higher in Metro,
but most of the cost premium is reflected in
commercial/ industrial tax rates.
Metros proposal is to create one assessment pool
for the urbanized GTA. Surrounding cities would
effectively be annexed into Metro, and would
contribute to higher-cost Metro services. The
education pool which now operates within Metro
would be extended outward to include the new
territories, whose taxpayers would then contribute
to higher-cost Metro schools.
Because assessment dollars are not comparable
between Metro and the other regions (due to
different base years), either region-wide
reassessment or an equalized assessment approach
would have to be applied in determining cost
shares. While the basis for reassessment could be
either market value assessment (MVA) or an
alternative, the likelihood of a basis other than
MVA being used for an exercise on this scale is not
great, particularly if it is to take effect by 1998.
To close the tax gap for business under Metros
approach would require reassessment by class.
Table 1 indicates the impact of Metro expansion
using 1992 market value data as a basis for
reassessment by class the most recent data
available from the province.
Why would the Metro proposal mean such
massive tax increases for businesses outside Metro?
One reason has been noted already: businesses
outside Metro do not presently contribute to
higher-cost Metro municipal and school services;
under Metros proposal, they would. The chief
additional reason is that businesses outside Metro
are (on average) underassessed relative to businesses
in Metro.
Why would the tax increases outside Metro be so
much larger, in percentage terms, than the
decreases inside Metro? The answer is that Metros
tax base is much larger, particularly in the
commercial class.
While merging GTA assessment pools maybe in
line with traditional provincial policy, we believe
the province should reject such an approach in the
present case. It is not at all clear that Metros
proposal would halt the exodus of businesses from
Metro. Indeed, it might result in an exodus of
businesses from the entire urbanized GTA.
Rather than moving back toward the centre,
businesses might still be able to cut their property
tax substantiall
y
by moving even farther out
beyond Metros new boundary; in some directions
this would be only a few kilometres farther out
than it is now.
Table 1
Metro Expansion Proposal: Tax Impact on Business Properties
Mississauga
Brampton
Oakville
Burlington
Halton Hills/ Milton
Vaughan
Richmond Hill
Markham
Ajax/ Pickering
Oshawa/ Whitby
905 GTR Total
Metro
GTR Total
Commercial
Total Tax
Change (%)
+ 39.2
+ 50.1
+ 64.7
+ 63.6
+ 44.8
+ 101.2
+ 67.6
+ 28.5
+ 42.5
+ 13.4
+ 44.7
-8.5
0.0
Industrial
Total Tax
Change (%)
+41.4
+23.3
+15.5
+24.2
+26.6
+43.5
+41.6
+37.9
+37.3
-8.9
+30.3
-23.4
0.0
GTR = Greater Toronto Region (Metros name for its proposed
expanded area).
Assume: Social assistance costs are not removed from property
tax, or are off-set byother provincial costs downloaded as part of
disentanglement. Metros proposed take-over of fire protection
from local municipalities is also not included in the model.
Metros proposed GTR includes only the urbanized parts of
Halton Hills, Milton and Burlington; however, data Limitations
precluded splitting these areas. Similarly, Metro proposes adding
a small part of Clarington to Oshawa-Whitby. In all these cases,
sensitivity analysis reveals that these boundary adjustments make
no difference to the general pattern of results shown in the table.
SOURCES: MINISTRY OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS BUDGET
DATA; MINISTRY OF FINANCE EQUALIZATION
FACTORS (1992 MARKET VALUE)
11
1 2
Metros proposal relies on protected natural
features to contain sprawl within new boundaries:
the Niagara Escarpment to the west and the Oak
Ridges Moraine to the north and east. What is
likely is that Metros proposals would place new
development pressure on these natural areas; new
tax incentives to locate there would be created if
they are just beyond the edge of a high tax zone.
Of even greater concern is the possibility that once
shaken loose by massive property tax increases,
GTA businesses will relocate right outside Ontario.
The difficulty of redistributing existing GTA
property tax burdens underscores the relevance of a
report published this year by the Greater Toronto
Coordinating Committee (Rethinking t h e
Fu n d a m en t a l s: Pr ovi n ci a l -Loca l Fi n a n ces i n t h e
Gr ea t er Tor on t o Ar ea ). The GTCC report
documented a tax/ subsidy imbalance in the billions
of dollars per year against the GTA and in favour
of the rest of Ontario. This imbalance is dragging
down the regional economy, impeding recovery
from what is by far the longest post-war downturn.
The GTCC report recommended that reforms to
provincial tax/ subsid
y
policies reduce the fiscal
imbalance against the GTA (more on this below).
Under that approach, the GTA would retain more
of the fiscal resources generated here. That would
permit closing the property tax gap by a levelling-
down approach. Commercial/ industrial taxes in
Metro would go down, while taxes in the 905 area
remained at present levels rather than going up.
Metros Ievelling-up approach accepts the fiscal
imbalance against the GTA as a fait accompli, and
then redistributes the excess burden. Rather than
adopting that approach, the Task Force should
follow upon the GTCC report. The Task Force
can act as a strong advocate for the GTA, while at
the same time advancing proposals which make
sense from a province-wide standpoint. The
remainder of this Section outlines possible ways of
doing that.
The Nor t h Yor k and
Mi ssi ssauga Pr oposal s
One promising avenue for reform is suggested in the
North York brief, and that is a switch of education
grants to a block grant basis. At present, the
education finance system is founded on a province-
wide formula (MVA-based), designed to reduce or
eliminate grants to areas with high real estate values
per pupil. The system is one which onl
y
a few
specialists understand; it also produces no
perceptible gain in equity since market value
assessment is such a poor indicator of ability to pay.
The financing system for education is responsible for
a massive drain of fiscal resources from the GTA
GTA taxpayers pay the province approximately
$1.25 billion/ year more for school grants than GTA
schools get back. (The Metro share of that $1.25
billion deficit is approximately $1 billion.)
A block grant approach would distribute per-pupil
grants without the MVA-based adjustment for local
assessment. Per-pupil grant levels could be either
uniform or adjusted for cost differences.
(If adjustment is made, urban and rural cost
premiums should be equitably reflected.)
A compromise approach between the status quo and
the North York approach would adjust education
grants for commercial/ industrial assessment but not
residential. The high cost of housing in large urban
regions indicates inability to pay more than anything
else; the existing systems reduction in grants to areas
with hi@housin
g
prices has an anti-urban bias.
Since per-pupil school grants in the GTA are now
much lower than the provincial average, the block
grant approach would allow the GTA to retain a
higher proportion of its fiscal resources as
recommended in Ret h i n k i n g t h e Fu n d a m en t a l
Preliminary estimates indicate that a pure block-
grant system could eliminate the education
component of the tax gap for business without
penalizing the 905 GTA area, without requiring
services to be slashed, and without increasing
residential taxes in Metro.
The result would be a reduction of the overall tax
gap by about half. A reduction of that magnitude
would probably eliminate most tax-induced
business relocations. Additional grants to Metro
would be passed through in reduced property tax
rates for business; additional grants to the 905 area
would be passed through in reduced property tax
rates for residents.
The City of Mississaugas recommendation relating
most directly to the GTA tax gap is complete
removal of education from the property tax. This
proposal is, of course, much more sweepin
g
than
North Yorks reform of the grant system. Since
education taxes account for 50-60% of the property
tax bill, property tax rate differentials would become
much less significant if education were financed b
y
provincial tax sources.
At least until recently, it was generally believed that
provincial tax sources could not cover even those
education costs now financed b
y
residential
property taxes, let alone those now financed b
y
commercial/ industrial taxes.
With large reductions in provincial taxes being
proposed by the new government, it is conceivable
that enough tax room could be created at the
provincial level to once again consider removal of
education costs from property tax. Such a financing
switch would mean, however, that the forthcoming
provincial tax cuts could be substantially or
completely reversed. Reductions in property tax
would be a compensating benefit.
The issue here seems to be this: if taxes are to be
reduced, which taxes should they be? While the
possibility of a province-wide reduction or removal
of education property tax is conceivable, such a step
is probably at least several years away. It is essential
to look for less sweeping reforms that could help
close the GTA tax gap for business now, and thus
halt business flight before irreparable harm is done.
Ci t y of Tor ont o Pr oposal s
The Citys essential message to the Task Force is
this: the GTA tax gap for business must be cut by
one half or more, by means which do not threaten
central city vitality, and by means which do not
simply redistribute existing property tax burdens in
the GTA.
Action is needed to free the regional economy from
the fiscal drag documented in Rethinking t be
Fu n d a m en t a l otherwise the GTA regional
economy will remain weak. Action is also needed
to level the property tax playing field for business
within the GTA; otherwise we will see continued
hollowing out of the core city. The Task Force
needs to address both problems at once, and the
province needs to act on both problems at once.
It maybe argued that province-wide cuts planned
by the new government rule out significant
correction of imbalances against the GTA ($0.5
billion to $1 billion/ year would likely be required).
Among provincial priorities the poor economic
performance of its premier urban region and
hollowing out of its core city should rank with any
other priorities being addressed. Imbalances can be
corrected (by re-deployment of the pool of grants)
whether the overall fiscal direction is one of
expansion or retrenchment. The grants pool
whatever its level of finding should be
redeployed to correct imbalances against Metro
and the GTA.
In light of the stud
y
findings, the GTCC
makes the followin
g
recommendations:
BThat the province take action to reduce
the net outflow of revenues from the GTA;
BThat the province take action to
rebalance the allocation of municipal
subsidies towards the GTA in any future
changes to overall levels of subsidy funding;
1 3
1 4
BThat the province re-examine the
manner in which municipal subsidies are
calculated;
BThat the provinces review of education
financing proceed as a top priority, and that
reform recognize the unique population and
demographic characteristics driving
education costs and service levels in the
GTA.
... GREATER TORONTO COORDINATING
COMMITTEE REPORT, R ETHI NKI NG THE
FUNDAMENT ALS , JANUARY, 1995.
provincial assistance amounting to about $600
million/ year; the May 4 draft submission proposed
that this assistance be provided and de-pooling be
implemented.
The general case against assessment pooling was
outlined earlier in this brief. In the particular
circumstances of public school finance in Metro,
pooling has led to creation of an unnecessary
seventh public school board (Metropolitan
Toronto School Board), acting as an upper-tier
budgeting authority. A more serious impact has
been poolings contribution to the GTA tax gap
and hollowing out of the central city.
In the Citys May 4 draft submission, a proposal to
de-pool education taxes in Metro was outlined.
This was a key recommendation of the 1977
Robarts Commission report, although the province
has taken no action to implement it. Public
education is the only service in Metro delivered
locally but financed Metro-wide. De-pooling
would shift financing to the local level, in line with
service delivery.
Had Robarts recommendation been implemented
at the time it was put forward, relatively minor
shifts in tax resources would have resulted. A small
amount of provincial assistance to the five Metro
school boards outside the City would have
permitted them to match City per-pupil
expenditures and tax rates. (A Metro-specific
variation from the province-wide school grant
formula would have been required for this.)
Over time, more provincial assistance to the five
boards would have been required in order to
maintain parity with the City, but the rate of
increase would have been gradual.
De-pooling today would mean that the City of
Toronto could maintain current per-pupil
expenditure and cut its commercial/ industrial
school taxes to the 905 level. However, the balance
of Metro could not maintain parity without
De-pooling of school taxes in Metro remains an
important objective, but the current flow of funds
through the pool is so large that dismantling the
pooling arrangement immediately is difficult.
Other measures to increase provincial grants to
Metro schools could reduce property taxes, thus
reducing the flow of funds through the pool and
making de-pooling more readily achieved in the
longer term. The Citys proposed bill of dissolution
makes provision for possible continuation of the
Metropolitan Toronto School Board over some
interim period after dissolution of Metro.
As alternatives to immediate de-pooling,
consideration should be given to other measures
which would permit reduction of commercial/
industrial taxes in Metro. The North York
proposal for block-grant school funding is one
promising alternative. The Task Force should be
open to any proposal which meets the criteria
outlined earlier: new threats to central city vitality
must be avoided, and solutions which simply
redistribute existing GTA property taxes must also
be avoided.
A S S E S S M E N T I S S U E S
The City of Toronto is strongly opposed to market
value assessment. This opposition holds
unanimously on City Council, and among the
great majority of City residents and business
people. A 1991 referendum recorded 77% of
voters as opposed to Metros MVA proposal and
every indication is that at least that number would
be in opposition today.
The City is equally united in believing that
assessment reform is an urgent priority. Assessment
appeals, like business departures, are eroding the
assessment base and thus jeopardizing delivery of
services. The City has developed alternatives to
MVA, and seeks authority to implement them. We
recommend return of assessment responsibility to
the local level of government.
The Cas e Agai ns t MVA
A number of considerations underlie the Citys
opposition to MVA. Housing prices are higher in
large urban areas than in smaller ones; within large
urban areas, the highest housing prices of all are in
the central city. To view those high prices as
signifying ability to pay rather than just the
opposite is unjustifiable.
Businesses in the central city occupy land which, in
boom markets, has redevelopment value far in
excess of levels consistent with existing use. Again,
market value has no apparent connection with
ability to pay.
1 think there is hardl
y
an
y
single thing that
would be more damaging (than MVA).
What I worry about is the effects of this on
small business in particular, by which I
mean not only retail trade . . but also the
many suppliers of goods and services to
other enterprises, which are one of the
things that make the city so economicall
y
important, so viable, and such a producer of
jobs. Metro politicians who say they are so
concerned about increasing jobs, well there
is nothing within their economic power to
produce jobs that could compensate for the
jobs that would be lost through this MVA
...JANE JACOBS, Videotaped NEWS
CONFERENCE ON METRO MVA PROPOSAL,
NOVEMBER 23, 1992
Across property classes, MVA raises the spectre of a
volatile tax system, demonstrated in four impact
studies prepared for Metro by the province over
the past fifteen years.
The combination of MVA tax volatility and the
current non-inflationary environment makes
transition to MVA especially difficult. Transition
to MVA by phased steps would involve tax
increases over 25% per year for many thousands of
taxpayers. Transition via caps (such as those in
Metros 1992 program) amounts to a head-in-the-
sand approach.
There may be techniques available to reduce the
volatility of MVA, but even a reduced level of
volatility is still too much in our present non-
inflationary environment.
Proponents of MVA have argued that market
volatility is a thing of the past, irrelevant to the
1990s. While no provincial data relevant to this
issue are available for the period after 1988, Royal
LePage maintains a quarterly data series for various
standard house types. This series provides an
indication of how a frequently updated MVA
system would have performed after 1988.
Table 2 indicates MVA-based tax changes for
Royal LePages standard 2-storey house in
various districts throughout the GTA. In fact,
Table 2 understates actual tax shifts, because
relative values change over time between property
types as well as among neighborhoods within one
property type.
1 5
Table 2
Post-1988 Volatility under MVA
Ajax
Aurora
Beach District
Brampton/ Bramalea
Burlington
Don Mills East
Downsview
East York/ Danforth
Islington/ Kingsway
North Etobicoke
South Etobicoke
High Park/ Bloor West
Markham
Meadowvale/ Streetsville
Newmarket
North Toronto
Pickering
Richmond Hill
Riverdale/ Cabbagetown
Scarborough Central
Scarborough West Hill
Thornhill
Unionville
Willowdale
% ch a n ge
MVA update update
1988 1990
-20.6 1.6
-23.6 4.9
26.9 -10.9
-5.1
4.9
-10.5 4.8
32.7 -3.1
-7.6 7.6
20.3 -5.0
56.2 -7.7
-15.5 7.2
6.3 13.6
9.6 1.1
1.3 -4.0
-17.7 14.6
-4.7 -1.5
8.7 -2.1
-13,9 -13.5
-16.7 1.2
-9.0 4.7
-10.0 -8.3
-14.4 -6.2
13.5 1.7
1.3 -7.1
-0.1 11.7
1992
4.6
7.6
-14.4
-4.1
8.9
-7.2
-14.3
5.0
-3.1
-6.7
-9.9
9.3
3.8
2.0
17.5
-4.1
2.1
5.1
21.2
9.7
-3.0
1.1
4.9
-8.0
Update
1994
3.5
3.6
7.7
1.1
0.5
5.0
-5.9
13.7
-6.2
-3.8
-3.9
-5.0
6.8
-0.7
-3.5
3.6
2.0
-3.2
-6.8
-3.7
-1.1
-2.7
11.7
-5.1
Equal number of homes in each district assumed.
Column 1 shows change from existing taxes, resulting from a region-wide MVA
in 1988.
Columns 2 4 show the impact of updatin
g
the MVA assessment system every
two years.
SOURCE: ROYAL LEPAGE MARKET SURVEYS
1 6
An example illustrates the volatility problem. The
third row in Table 2 (Beach District) shows that
two years after a 26.9% tax increase to implement
1988 MVA, there would have been a 10.9%
decrease to implement the 1990 update. By 1992,
there would be a further 14.4% decrease for this
district; the initial large increase would be almost
fully reversed 4 years later.
If market volatility were in fact a thing of the past,
all entries in the second, third and fourth columns
of Table 2 would be near zero. Column 1 would
show substantial shifts to implement the initial
1988 reassessment, but subsequent update shifts
would be minimal.
Obviously, the data do not indicate such a pattern.
No matter how frequent the updates, no matter
whether moving averages or other smoothing
techniques are used, there would still be too much
volatility volatility that would serve no purpose.
Despite the evident drawbacks of MVA, the City
has no desire to prevent other communities from
implementing it. Assessment policy should be
determined locally. There are means of reforming
provincial grants (block-grant basis) and regional
apportionment (cost-based apportionment, as
suggested by Mississauga) that avoid any possible
need for province-wide or region-wide assessment
uniformity.
As was noted earlier, the City of Toronto seeks
return of assessment responsibility to the local level
of government. That is where responsibility rested
before Metro was established in 1954. Local
governments should be free to choose their system
of assessment from a provincial menu that would
include MVA, unit assessment, unit value
assessment, and rental value assessment. For
municipalities not wishing to take on the
assessment function themselves, the option of
purchasing assessment services from the Ministry
of Finance should be available.
A Pos i t i v e Al t er nat i v e
The City has developed a non-MVA assessment
system to the point where it is ready to implement.
This alternative system would solve the two key
problems that have so far eluded any solution in
Metro: (1) the need for a rational and viable
transition program; (2) the need to end assessment
discrimination between apartments and single
residences.
Many homeowners are aware that they pay
far lower property taxes than apartment
dwellers. Many of us regard this as unfair,
but even the most fair-minded would not
favour equalizing the tax burden if the
result were to be an immediate and sizeable
increase for homeowners.
... DEPUTATION BY DEER PARK RATEPAYERS
GROUP TO PUBLIC MEETING ON CITY
PRESENTATION TO GTA TASK FORCE,
JUNE 20,1995.
A unit value assessment system for residential
properties permits self-financing gradual transition
(tax increases limited to the 2%-5%/ year range),
and that gradual transition in turn permits single
residences and apartments to be assessed in the
same way.
The argument is sometimes made that unit
assessment is regressive (that is, it would shift
tax burdens from high-income to low-income
taxpayers). That is certainly not the case for the
City of Toronto; see Table 3. Even a pure unit
assessment system (i.e. one with no rental-value
adjustment) ranges from neutral (or within 2% of
neutral) to being more progressive than 1988
MVA. (1988 is probably a peak year for MVA in
terms of progressivity, since it is likely that the
value premium in high-income areas over low-
income areas peaked in that year.)
0
1 7
All residential units in the City of Toronto reassessed in one class.
(1) Land Unit = Assessment based on land area onl
y
(2) 50-50 Unit = Assessment based on unweighed total of land and building area
(3) GTA Unit= Assessment based on building area only: gross floor area (above-grade) not used for parking
(4) Census tracts with median household income less than the median household income in the City
SOURCES: STATISTICS CANADA, 1991 CENSUS; MINISTRY OF FINANCE, 1988 MVA IMPACT STUDY;
CITY OF TORONTO PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
The range of progressivity under unit assessment
depends on how much assessment weight is placed
on land area as opposed to floor area. The greater
the weight placed on land area, the greater the tax
shift in favour of low-income areas. Even with no
assessment weight placed on land area, however,
reassessment would be approximatel
y
neutral
between low and high-income areas, not regressive.
Questions of income distribution aside, there is
one key
v
advantage to placing a high assessment
weight on floor area, and that is a far smaller total
of tax shifts in moving from existing taxes to the
new system. The greater the total of tax shifts due
to reassessment, the more difficult reassessment
becomes politically.
The City is seeking to demonstrate the viability of
alternatives to MVA. If the province permits this,
the City is read
y
to move.
The argument is sometimes made that alternatives
to MVA are unrealistic because they have not been
implemented elsewhere. If this were the operative
consideration, no city anywhere could move to a
non-MVA assessment system. A demonstration
project, such as that proposed by the City, is the
appropriate direction to take. The City has no
doubt whatsoever that it would succeed, preparing
the way for substantial administrative cost savings
in other cities as non-MVA alternatives are more
widely implemented.
1 8
G O V E R N A N C E I S S U E S
The City of Toronto believes that Metro as a level
of government should be dissolved, to be replaced
with a service board under the control of local
councils. A draft bill of dissolution has been
transmitted to the province for consideration,
which the Task Force is urged to endorse. Chart 1
included in this Section summarizes the process
outlined in the bill of dissolution.
Benef i t s of Di s s ol ut i on
The public meetings held in May and June gave
voters an opportunity to elaborate on the opinion
expressed in the referendum. Eliminating a level of
government is not an end in itself they have
pointed out, but a means to an end. Primarily, that
end is the quality of life attainable when city
government is responsive to local preferences.
Two-tiered government means that each city is
run, in large measure, by politicians from
elsewhere.
While a number of services are under local council
control, these services form onl
y
a part of what
citizens expect local government to do. Citizens
expect their local government to be accountable,
but that government has much less power than
they assume. A greater ability to influence events is
in the hands of a remote regional council, with a
majority of members from outside their city.
We find the delivery of municipal services
very complicated. The division of Metro
and municipal, and what tasks they share, is
confusing. We also think that services as
they are fail to meet the needs of a growing
urban centre.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE RESIDENTS
ASSOCIATION, DEPUTATION AT JUNE 29
PUBLIC MEETING RE CITY SUBMISSION TO
GTA TASK FORCE,
Along with North York and Mississauga, we
recognize that some services can be delivered more
efficiently over a regional area, due to economies of
scale or major spillover benefits (service benefits
that cross boundaries). But also along with North
York and Mississauga, we believe that services
requiring regional delivery are limited in number: a
level of government is not required to deliver them.
Rather, a service board under local control is the
appropriate means of delivery.
Such a service board would in no sense be an
unelected special purpose body. As recommended
here it would be made up of mayors, who would
each hold a city-wide mandate from their voters to
represent them on the board. (The bill of
dissolution allows mayors to designate a councillor
as alternate at board meetings.)
Eliminating the regional level of government
should be seen as a positive evolution from the
two-tiered system. By contrast, some have argued
that the GTA must have a unifying voice, and will
suffer if it goes down the road to fragmentation.
How, then, do we explain the success of London
(U.K.), which eliminated its metropolitan
government almost ten years ago?
1 9
Chart 1: Bill of Dissolution Summary
2 0
BILL OF DISSOLUTION
Passed December 1995
Metro Toronto Dissolved (Effective December 31, 1997) B Metro Council and Metros ABCs Eliminated (Effective December 31, 1997)
I
Commission on Dissolution
BInterim Report May 31/96
B Provincial, Local and Regional Services Recommendations
B Provincial Response to Interim Report July 15/96
B Initial Area Municipality (AM) Response to Interim
Report -July 15/96
B AM Find Response to Interim Report in Light of
Provincial Position - Aug 15/96
B AM Final Position Is Find as to Regional Services For
UTRSB on Jan 1/98
B Final Report and Draft Dissolution Regulation
- Dec 31/96
. Implementation Recommendations (Transition and Find)
Draft Dissolution Regulation
B Province Distributes to AM for Comments Jan 15/97
B AM Response to Draft Dissolution by Feb 15/97
Final Dissolution Regulation
BPassed March 1/97
Urban Toronto Regional Services Board (UTRSB)
B Set-up Jan 1/96
BInterim Jan 1/96 Dec 31/97
7 persons - Minister of MA&H (Chair)
6 Area Mayors or Mayor Designates
BFinal Jan 1/98
6 persons6 Area Mayors or Designates
Rotating Chairs and Vice-Chairs
Voting by Population (1 vote per 50,000
people)
Urban Toronto Regional Services Board (UTRSB)
Interim
B Jan 1/96 - Feb 28/97
B Gives Direction to Commission on Dissolution and
Recommendations to Province
Urban Toronto Regional Services Board - (Interim)
B Mar 1/97 Dec 31/97
B Organize Boards and Subsidiary Corporations for Service
Take-Over -Jan/98
B Board and Subsidiary Corporations prepare Draft General
Management Policies By-Law to be approved b
y
AM
Draft circulated to AM Aug/97
B Board and Subsidiary Corporations prepare Draft Initial
Five Year Services Plan to be approved by AM
- Draft circulated to AM Aug/97
I I
Area Municipalities
. Organize for Election (Nov/97) and Organize New
Structure (Mar/97 -Jan/98)
B Response to UTRSB on Draft General Management
Policies By-Law Oct/97
B Response to UTRSB on Draft Initial Five Year Services
Plan Oct/97
BService Delivery Commences Jan 1/98
B Response to UTRSB on 1st Year Borrowing Plan
March/98
B Response to UTRSB on 1st Year Reserve Fund Plan
March/98
Urban Toronto Regional Services Board - (Final)
B Service Delivery Commences for Board and Subsidiary
Corporations Jan/98
B Distribute Final Management By-Law(s) to AM Jan/98
B Distribute Final Initial Five Year Service Plan(s) to AM
-Jan / 98
B Distribute 1st Year Borrowing Plan, if any borrowing, to
AM - Feb/98
B Distribute lst Year Reserve Fund Plan, if any Reserve
Funds, to AM Feb/98
SOURCE: CITY OF TORONTO, LEGAL DEPARTMENT
A big central authority is also likely to
damage, not enhance, Londons long-term
economic interests. The city can continue
to adapt and grow flexibl
y
without central
planning. The exception is its
transportation infrastructure, but that needs
to be thou@out on a far larger scale (the
whole South-East, say). The rule, however,
is that flexibility will be increasingl
y
important for mature cities...
Londons fragmentation... is a source of
strength rather than weakness. Certainly
London has plenty to boast about. It is
home to one of the worlds three main
financial centres and offers a cornucopia of
culture. It is the main attraction for visitors
to Britain... the lesson for rising
megacities? That a central strategic
authority is not essential for prosperous
growth.
. . THE ECONOMI S T AUGUST 20, 1994
Despite the claims of critics who urge restoration
of metropolitan authority, Londons prosperity has
continued to grow in the year since T h e
Econ om i st s commentary was published. Claims
that unification equals prosperity and local
autonomy equals economic decline cart be little
more than platitudes without relevant examples
and analysis to back them up.
Di f f e r i n g Ap p r o a c h e s
t o Di ssol ut i on of
Re g i o n a l Go v e r n me n t
The major difference between our position and
those of North York and Mississauga is that the
City of Toronto does not prescribe a single
governance model for the entire GTA. The City of
Toronto believes a service board model to be
appropriate for Metro. What is appropriate for
Durham, York, Peel and Halton should be
determined on the basis of community
requirements and preferences in each of those
regions.
Comprehensive reform of the entire GTA
governance structure will raise difficult issues, issues
which ma
y
defy resolution in the limited time
between now and the 1997 elections. Rather than
risk losing our present window of opportunity by
taking on too much too soon, the City of Toronto
is proposing practical first steps.
The three most difficult issues requiring resolution
before a GTA-wide service board could be
established are: (1) a cost sharing formula; (2)
relocation of service responsibility for services
delivered by existing regional governments; and (3)
possible amalgamations of smaller local
municipalities.
The approach to cost sharin
g
in the Citys bill of
dissolution is to retain the existing Metro formula;
each city or boroughs share of regional costs is
equal to its share of rateable (existing) assessment.
Assessment rolls would be kept current on the
existing basis for regional cost sharin
g
purposes
even though reformed systems of assessment ma
y
be introduced locally.
A status-quo approach can be used within existin
g
regions, such as Metro, but not GTA-wide. There
is no GTA-wide status quo system of cost sharing,
and assessment dollars across the region are not
comparable; the base-year values which these
dollars reflect vary across the GTA. 2 1
The advantage of the status-quo approach is that it is
read
y
to use immediately. In the long run, a new
basis for regional cost sharing should be developed,
but it is unlikel
y
that the required work could be
completed b
y
1998. The most promising proposal
for a reformed cost sharing system is described in
Mississaugas brief to the Task Force.
Mississaugas proposed basis for cost sharin
g
on a
regional service board does not depend, as the
exsting system does, on assessment shares. Instead
their proposal is to base each municipalitys
contribution on cost of service delivered to that
municipality. There would be flexibility built into
the system, so that each municipality could purchase
higher or lower service levels from the regional
service board. This proposal in the Mississauga brief
should be further considered by the Task Force. If a
cost-sharing arrangement alon
g
these lines could be
developed, it would facilitate local reassessment in
line with local preferences.
One frequently repeated argument for a uniform
assessment system is that only with such a system
can regional costs apportioned according to
assessment shares be equitably allocated.
Mississaugas proposal could sever the connection
between assessment and regional cost sharing.
(While Mississauga recommends region-wide MVA,
their proposed system makes such a step
unnecessary.)
The second difficult issue in designing a GTA-wide
service board is that of relocatin
g
responsibility for
existing regional services. For example, Metro police
services are delivered to the six municipalities in the
416 area. Under a GTA-wide approach, the 416
boundary for service delivery would no longer exist:
services would either be delivered locall
y
or GTA-
wide.
Whichever approach is taken, it would require
major changes to institutions such as Metro police.
The requirement to resolve the issue of service
relocation b
y
1997 is likel
y
to conflict with the
need to ensure continuin
g
delivery of quality
services.
Since the Citys bill of dissolution retains existin
g
regional boundaries, services such as policin
g
can
be left intact as an alternative to localizin
g
services.
Availability of the status-quo option avoids the risk
of deadline-driven reorganizations which could
compromise qualiy service delivery.
The third difficulty with creatin
g
a GTA-wide
service board b
y
1998 is the existence of small
municipalities with limited fiscal resources. These
municipalities, located in areas of the GTA outside
Metro, might be unable to assume responsibility
for services shifted to local delivery from regional.
The Mississauga and North York briefs suggest
amalgamation or other consolidations as means of
strengthening governments at the local level. The
question is, however, whether this extensive
realignment of boundaries can be completed in
time.
The Citys proposed bill of dissolution, operating
within Metro only, would leave six relatively strong
municipalities. Boundary adjustments might be
considered to redistribute commercial/ industrial
assessment, but there is no apparent requirement
for more radical restructuring of local government
within the 416 area.
A GTA-wide service board may well prove
desirable in the longer term. This is an issue which
can be evaluated once the initial round of
restructuring has taken effect in 1998.
2 2
Meanwhile, there are two means available to
deliver services on a GTA-wide basis where
efficiency considerations point to such a catchment
area. The first is provincial service delivery to the
region, as with GO Transit. The second is
informal cooperation, as is already taking place
under the GTA Mayors Committee. For example,
a region wide economic development promotion
agency which some see as essential could be an
initiative of the Mayors Committee.
GO Transit aside, informal cooperation is the
preferred scenario for transit operations even in the
long run. Rather than creating a single unified
transit operator, the Citys position is that existing
transit operators should adopt a federation
approach to integration of schedules and fares,
retaining their current operating boundaries. This
approach permits each operator to tailor services to
specific demands and usage patterns within its
service area.
A similar approach is desirable in the case of road
services. Informal cooperation on issues crossing
municipal lines is preferable to any GTA-wide road
agency. With the exception of provincially
designated highways, each municipality should
have complete control of all roads and streets
within its boundaries.
Co mmo n Gr o u n d
Noting the above reservations, the City of Toronto
would like to emphasize the common ground
among Toronto, North York and Mississauga. All
three are saying: let those services be local which
are most efficiently delivered on a local basis; let
local governments decide which services they wish
delivered regionally; let them arrange that delivery
through a board under their control. Each
communitys ability to achieve its own distinct
identity is then maximized. Where economies of
scale exist, they can be realized. Where
diseconomies of scale exist, the
y
can be avoided.
This approach differs radically from the approach
being taken by Metro. Metro is recommending
outward expansion of its boundaries, and takeover
of even more service responsibility (such as fire
protection) from local municipalities. Metros
approach would dilute still further each
communitys representation on the regional
council, and reduce still further its ability to
control its own affairs.
It has been suggested that an expanded Metro is
needed to act as a counterweight to the province,
particularly in view of impending cuts to social
services. It must be noted, however, that this
expanded regional government could not finance
social services from a property tax base. Yet its
existence could permit the province to evade
responsibility for social service cutbacks.
The Toronto/ North York/ Mississauga approach
also differs radicall
y
from another approach,
proposed as a fallback position b
y
some members
of Metro Council. That approach is amalgamation
of the six Metro municipalities into a single city.
While a majority on Metro Council recently
rejected amalgamation, it is a scenario which ma
y
still appeal to those naively equating efficiency with
head counts of politicians.
2 3
It is no doubt true that an amalgamated city of 2.2
million could be run by fewer politicians than are
needed for six federated cities; however, that cost
saving can be offset many times over by
diseconomies of scale, remoteness from the
electorate, and denial of public choice.
Diseconomies of scale associated with too
large a catchment area (unit costs increase
with size of catchment area) ma
y
suggest
service delivery via a local, as opposed to
regional or GTA-wide, catchment area.
... REGIONAL CHAIRS OF DURHAM, HALTON,
PEEL, YORK, R EFOR MI NG THE GTA: R E-TOOLI NG
TO MANAGE GR OWTH, ENS UR E TAX FAI R NES S
AND I MPR OVE LOCAL ACCOUNTABI LI TY
(JUNE 1995).
I think there has to be more decision-
making carried out at the local level, closest
to the taxpayer. Because creative and
innovative solutions are usuall
y
found b
y
those closest to the issues local decision
makers.
... MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING MINISTER
AL LEACH, ADDRESS TO ASSOCIATION OF
MUNICIPALITIES OF ONTARIO, AUGUST 21, 1995.
Either Metro expansion or amalgamation within
present boundaries would be harmfull for the GTA
central city. Conditions for central city vitality are
optimized with maximum local autonomy. Local
autonomy is also optimal for North York,
Mississauga and other GTA communities. As is
emphasized throughout this brief central city
vitality is a win-win proposition.
2 4
September 29, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
IOth Floor
Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Subject: Report on the Quality of Life in the Greater Toronto Area
It gives me great pleasure to present you with this major study into the quality of life in the
GTA. While this study was initiated by the Greater Toronto Co-ordinating Committee to
serve as background to the GTA Economic Partnership, there are a number of findings that
could help in the deliberations of your Task Force. The Phase I report looks at statistical
indicators identified as important to assessing the quality of life. Phase 11 is a report on an
attitudinal survey of 900 residents from across the GTA, Phase III looks at key issues for the
GTCC drawing on both sources of data. The Executive Summary draws conclusions for
strategic issues and makes recommendations for future action.
Our research points to a high quality of life across the GTA, documenting facets of the
livability of the region that could be used in marketing GTA internationally. We have
characterized this high quality of life as the GTAs comparative advantage. Our research also
points to a major challenge for all GTA municipalities, for the Province, and for your Task
Force as well. That challenge is to maintain this enviable quality of life in light of fiscal
restraint.
With respect to issues of governance, our attitudinal survey did not query people about
preferred models of municipal government. However, there are a number of observations that
could impact on your deliberations with regard to models of governance. First and foremost
is the high degree to which the public associates the quality of their neighborhoods with
their overall quality of life. Furthermore, respondents interviewed were quite happy with their
neighborhoods. This suggests that any model of governance must take into account the
importance of the neighborhood as a focus for service delivery. There was a high degree of
2
recognition of the urban extent of the GTA, with the majority favouring intensification of the
urbanized parts of the region over continued urban sprawl. A sense of general anxiety over
urban living conditions did surface, but this was outweighed by the top three concerns for the
public: the economy, safety, and the environment. It is interesting to note that, according to
our consultants, Environics, this is the first time that economic issues have surfaced as
concerns pertaining to municipal management.
These documents are still considered draft reports until they are dealt with by the GTCC on
October 13th, however, at its meeting of September 8th the GTCC authorized my Steering
Committee to submit these reports to your Task Force along with interpretations and
recommendations pertinent to the future of the GTA. The GTCC will deal with the enclosed
Executive Summary on October 13th and expand on the following recommendations.
I would hope that these reports help in your assessment of the future of the Greater Toronto
Area and in your recommendations to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Should
you wish to discuss these recommendations and the conclusions of the study, please feel free
to call me. If your staff wish to discuss the research material in detail they are welcome to
contact Mr. Tom Ostler of my staff at 392-7863.
Robert E. Millward
\
Chair
GTCC Quality of Life Steering Committee
Atch.
pc: Elizabeth McLaren, OGTA
Michael Garrett, Peel Region
Tim Sheffield, Town of Pickering
Don Roughley, City of Scarborough
AlIan Wells, Region of York
GTCC Quality of Life Technical Committee
GTCC QUALITY OF LIFE STEERING COMMITTEE
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE GTA TASK FORCE
1. That the GTA Task Force be asked to have regard for the importance of the
responsiveness and accountability of municipal service provision on a neighborhood
scale, when considering revisions to the system of governance in the GTA.
2. That the GTA Task Force recognize the finding that, while there may be concern about
municipal taxation and spending patterns, the majority of residents in the GTA prefer that
the level and range of municipal services provided across the GTA NOT be reduced.
3. That the GTA Task Force be asked to have regard for the fact that the majority of the
GTAs residents recognize the need to limit the extent of urban growth and the resultant
need to intensify the level of development within existing built-up areas. This should be
an important consideration with respect to any recommendations to rationalize municipal
boundaries.
4. That the GTA Task Force be advised that broadly based public opinions suggest that
governments in the GTA should give a high priority to:
* measures to address perceptions of safety along with the implementation of
Community-based policing
* Economic development and job creation
* Protecting and enhancing the natural environment and improving the quality of our air
and water
Barbara Hall
City Hall
Toronto, Ontario
Mayor
M5H 2N2
Telephone: 416392-7001
Facsimile: 416392-0026
October 24, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Ttis is in response to your request of September 14, 1995, regarding streamlining
of municipal-Provincial activities. My apologies for not being able to respond to
you earlier.
As you are aware, there are over 150 pieces of Provincial legislation which direct
the operations of municipal government in Ontario. The City of Toronto is also
governed by the City of Toronto Acts. With the exception of planning and zoning
(which are dealt with in the Planning Act), the most significant municipal powers
are set out in the Municipal Act. The Baldwin Act of 1849 which laid out the
framework of municipal government and which is the basis of the Municipal Act
has not undergone any fundamental rethinking since the last century. This is
despite the dramatically different local and global environment within which we
live today.
You have specifically asked for examples of where the Provincial-municipal
interface needs to be streamlined.,. I am attaching to this letter a copy of a
report, City of Toronto - Issues for Presentation to Premier Harris and the
Provincial Government, which was received by Toronto City Council on August
14, 1995. In particular, I would draw your attention to Appendix A, Proposed
- 2 -
Improvements to Legislation, Processes and Procedures. This list was compiled
by our City Clerk, Ms. Barbara CapIan, and should you have any questions on
this, she should be contacted directly. 1 would also direct your attention to
Appendix B of the attached report, Outstanding Requests for Special
Legislation. This list was compiled by our City Solicitor, Mr. Dennis Perlin, and
he should be contacted directly regarding any of these issues.
The body of the attached report describes a wide range of issues which the City
must discuss with the Provincial Government as we are unable to act on these
matters alone, due either to legislative or financial constraint. In a number of these
areas your Task Force might well ask the question whether the Province needs
to be involved under a streamlined and simplified legislative framework
governing Provincial- municipal relations. Obviously, financial capacity is a key
requisite to any realigned responsibilities.
I would also draw your attention to the recommendations of the Provincial-
Municipal Task Force, better known as the PilkeyTask Force. This Task Force,
which released its report in September 1994, has 123 recommendations
regarding eliminating duplication, overlap and wastefulness in the Provincial-
municipal delivery of services. These recommendations, which were prepared
by a team of Provincial and municipal representatives, need close examination
by your Task Force so as not to duplicate efforts that have already been
completed.
Finally, I would draw your attention to work that has been undertaken by the
Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) with regard to this issue. In
particular, you may wish to review AMOS 67-page report, Better Government,
Lower Cost: Implementation Recommendations, 1995, which reviews a number
of potential streamlining initiatives.
I trust this information will be useful to the work of your Task Force.
If you have any further questions, please contact Ms. Roda Contractor, Director
of Special Corporate Studies, at 392-7718.
My best regards.
Yours truly,
Mayor
26
CITY OF TORONTO - ISSUES FOR PRESENTATION TO
PREMIER HARRIS AND THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
The Executive Committee submits, without recommendation, the report (July 27, 1995) from the Committee
of Heads of Departments.
The Executive Committee submits the report (July 27, 1995) from the Committee of Heads of Departments:
Recommendation: That this report be received for information.
Background: Toronto City Council, at its meeting of June 26/27, 1995, adopted the recommendation of the
Committee of Heads, That the Department Heads prepare a comprehensive report to Executive Committee on
outstanding issues involving the Provincial Government.
Department Heads have identified a wide-range of issues.
These are as follows:
*
TORONTOS KEY ROLE IN ONTARIOS AND CANADAS ECONOMY
As Ontarios capital city, Toronto helps shape the Provinces international image for investors. visitors and
prospective immigrants. Torontos economic fortunes are closely tied to those of the province, given its role as
65
1995.City d Toronto Executive Committee Report No. 21
For City Council Consideration at Meeting No. 14 on August 14, 1995
Canada's financial, professional and communications capital. As a result. provincial actions which reduce
economic activity in the City, impact on a much broader area. Considerably more tax dollars flow out of the City
of Toronto than is returned to it by the Province.
Canccllalion of programs in housing translate ansIate into the loss of significant number of jobs and potential economic
activity. Transfer of provincial jobs out of the City further add to the negative economic impact at a time when
the City has experienced the greatest 10SS of jobs within all of Metro during the current recession.
The Province needs to support an economically healthy core and work with the City in taking positive steps to
support both its short- and long-term economic viability.
*
REFORM OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE IN METRO
During a time of government cost reduction, effciency and economy, the elimination of duplication in local
government should be the principal goal to be achieved. City Council has recommended that this goal could be
achieved in Metro by the elimination of one of the two levels of local government. In a referendum during the
last municipal election, the people of Toronto opted for local government at the City level and voted for the
dissolution of the Metro level of government. To that end, City Council has recommended that the Province
introduce legislation to dissolve the Metro level of government. The City is Currently in the process of preparing
a brief to the Greater Toronto Area (Golden) Task Force on matters related to governance and taxation, which will
describe the Citys position more fully.
*
MUNICIPAL FINANCE AND TAXATION
The property lax system needs to be significantly reformed, based on alternatives to Market Value Assessment.
It is also essential to eliminate distortions to business location resulting from property tax differences across the
Greater Toronto Area. Also, the Province should reconsider the level of education funding from the municipal
property tax base across Ontario. The Province should seriously consider the recommendations contained in the
Citys upcoming final brief to the Golden Task Force on these issues.
The City is also very concerned with respect to a possible reduction in transfer payments from the Province to
municipalities. If the Provincial government is considering such reduction, it is hoped that there will be some lead
time between the announcement and the effective date of the reductions, in mder for the City to assess the
implicatioans and implement the necessary program budget reductions.
*
SOCIAL ISSUES
The Province should remove the costs of funding social assistance (general welfare) currently borne by
municipalities. in part, from their property tax base and fund it through other Provincial revenues.
An adequate base income for those citizens requiring social and general welfare assistance remains a critical issue
within the City of Toronto. Implementation of proposals that reduce welfare payments increase the hardship of
low-income families and the many thousands of children that they support
Funding mechanisms for parent-child drop-in centres need to be reviewed to ensure long-term and stable funding
in light of the valuable resource they provide for women who have Iimited supports. Day care spaces and funding
must be made available to ensure quality day care for all children requiring these services.
The on-going problems of family vioIence need to be addressed. The City recommends to the Province that: a)
adequate resources be provided to the criminal justice system so that the police departments. Crown Attorneys
and judges can effectively address family violence cases in a timely and thorough manner, b) when an accused

66
1995 City of Toronto Executive Committee Report No. 21
For,City Council Consideration at Meeting No. 14 on August 14,1995
is convicted of domestic violence, the court should seriously consider a disposition which would include a
prevention treatment program for the offender ~d c), ethno-specific services be developed in the area of family
violence.
The City continues to support reform of Ontario's Long Term Term Care Services, and is interested, through its Board
of Health. in being consulted on any changes in direction that the Minister of Health may consider making to the
existing legislation.
*
PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUES
The City of Toronto strong] y supports the five health goals identified by previous Provincial governments and the
importance of the Province working towards these goals. These goals are: a) to shift the emphasis to health
promotion and disease prevention; b) to foster strong and supportive families and communities; c) to ensure a safe.
high quality physical environment d) to increase the number of years of good health for the citizens of Ontario
by reducing illness, disability and premature death; and e), to provide accessible, affordable, appropriate health
services for all.
The City is concerned about the rise in the incidence of Tuberculosis in the at-risk population, and increased
financial support from the Province for the Citys TB Control programme is required not only to protect Toronto
residents but also arrest the spread of the disease to other parts of Ontario. Drug abuse is also a critical public
health issue within the City. The Province is requested to provide more funds for the alleviation of opiate
dependency, especially methadone treatment. The province should also move forward with Mental Health Reform
along the lines proposed by the Ministry of Health.
The City requests that the Provincial Government funding formula for the Metro area Public Health Units be
increased so that 75% of the costs of Public Health Programs are funded by the Provincial Government. Currently,
Health Units in the Metro area absorb approximamly 60% of tie cost of these programs whereas Health Units
outside the Metro area absorb approximately 2570 of these costs.
*
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
As the central municipality in the most urbanized region of the Province. the City of Toronto is faced with many
housing challenges. The City attracts a disproportionate share of people with social and financial difficulties. The
homeless and the hard-to-house have traditionally migrated to the City of Toronto more than other municipalities
in the GTA. The City has a disproportionate share of shelters, rooming houses and supportive housing situations
compared with other GTA municipalities. There needs to be a greater awareness of the actions which the City
has had to take to meet this situation and the support that is required by the province to respond to these issues.
Some of the unique housing challenges faced by the City of Toronto include: a) the high cost of shelter and lack
of affordable housing; b) the high number of homeless people; C) the increa~ing demand for speciail needs housing
for groups as varied as ex-psychiatric patients, personns living with HIV/AIDS, the hard-to-house, victims of family
violence and low-income singles; and d), an aging housing stock which is reaching a critical point in its life cycle.
The Commissioner of Housing has recently approached the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and housing to explore
the potential of a Municipal-Provincial Housing Co-opration Agreement to address these challenges.
The Province has recently announced severe cuts to the non-profit housing program. For City-owned and
Cityhome sites the result is that only one of fifteen developments continue.The City, however; has expended
a significant amount of money in development costs on sites that have been cancelled and will be seeking
compensation for those costs from the province.
1995 City of Toronto Executive Committee Report No.21
The City welcomes any initiatives from the private sector in providing affordable housing within the City and is
willing to work with both the Province and the private sector in this regard.
*
REDEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL AREAS/SOIL REMEDIATION
The reclamation of industrial land is vital to the future of the City of Toronto. The City wants to work with the
Province in building on the technicaI work aIready done for such projects as the Port Lands redevelopment and
Ataratiri.
The current Provincial guidelines for site decommissioning should be replaced with standards which address the
economic viability of past industrial lands for redevelopment purposes through the introduction of risk assessments
and rational clean-up levels.
The Province needs to review the situation where properties that contain contaminated soil are subject to Tax Sale
by the municipality due to non-payment of property taxes. In many cases, the cost of remediation of
contaminated soil exceeds the value of the property - resulting in no offers for purchase - causing either the
municipality to give upon the payment of taxes or the property to become vested with the municipality with the
risk of being required to remediate the lands. There needs to be greater flexibility in disposing of these types of
lands.
*
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT
A draft proposal for the management of packaging materials was prepared by the Canadian Industry Packaging
Stewardship Initiative (CIPSI) in June, 1994 and was reviewed with municipalities in conjunction with the
Ministry of Environment and Energy. The City, along with other municipalities, made similar comments on the
CIPSI proposal to the Province, noting that it did not address the funding of recycIing items other than consumer
packaging or reduction and re-use. The City requested that the Province review the CIPSI proposal and extend
the concept with a view to converting it into a full product stewardship programme covering 100 percent of the
net costs of collecting and processing all materials currently and potentially recoverable through the blue box and
other recycling programmes, with this funding fully provided by the producers (and purchasers) of products.
The Provinces Municipal Recycling Support Programme (MRSP) expires on March 31, 1996. The cancellation
of MRSP will increase the Citys taxation cost for recycling prograrnmes by approximately $1,400,000.00 per
year. A full product stewardship programme would ultimately remove waste diversion costs from the municipal
and Provincial tax base and provide incentives to product producers to minimize the waste impacts of their
products.
*
HIGHWAY SUBSIDIES
The annual Provincial subsidy allotment for the maintenance and construction of the Citys roads, bridges, and
underpasses has been an ongoing problem to the City since 1972, with the actual shortfall during the period of
1972-1995. inclusive, amounting approximately to $l10,000,000.00. This problem has become even more acute
since 1991 For example, whereas the 1991 allotment was $13,516,200.00, the 1995 allotment is $10,526,500.00,
a decrease of $2,989,700.00, which represents 22% reduction in funding. Inorder to maintain the Citys heavily
used road infrastructure, it is essential that the Province provides sufficient highway subsidy funding.
ENVIRONMENT: WATER QUALITY
68
developed proposals to alleviate the water pollution problem (e.g. down spout disconnection, detention tanks.
Western Beaches Storage Tunnel).
In the past the Province has provided funding for such projects under the Waterfront Waterr Quality Improvement
Program (WWQIP) and, more recently, very limited funding under the Municipal Assistance Programme (MAP)
(0%-15%). The Province is requested to streamline the process of funding through MAP and to increase the level
of funding for projects which meet the RAP objective to a
minimum of 33-1/3 percent as provided previously
under the WWQIP.
*
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: WESTERN BEACHES STORAGE TUNNEL
The Prcmicr has indicated that his governmcnt would review the decision of the previous govermncnt to bump-up
the City.s proposed Western Beaches Storage Tunnel project from a Class Environmental Assessment (EA) to an
Individual EA. The Minister of Environment and Energy should be requested to carry out the review and give a
decision at the earliest opportunity.
Further, the Minister should be requested to complete the review of the EA procedures and accelerate/streamline
the process, so that important environmental projects are not being unduly delayed by the EA process.
*
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT: DISTRICT HEATING
The Ministry of Environment and Energy should be requested to clarify, as quickly as possible, the treatment of
District Heating, Cooling and Co-Generation Projects under the Environmental Assessment Act and ramifications,
if any under the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act.
*
UPDATE BUILDING CODE, FIRE CODE AND RELATED LEGISLATION
The Province should introduce a Standard for Existing Buildings as authorized in Section 34(2) of the Ontario
Building Code Act. Specified standards of maintenance, occupancy and repair would apply universally across
the Province, and would apply to existing buildings even though no construction is proposed. Effective and
enforceable standards are required in light of the Citys aging rental housing stock.
The Building Code should be updated to address the growing concerns of indoor air quality, electromagnetic
radiation and sound transmission as well as to address health and safety concerns of live/work uses of buildings.
Both the Planning and Building Code Acts should be amended to provide enforcement officials with the ability
to enter and inspect land structures, including dwelling, to determine whether the health or safety of the occupants
or persons outside the building are at risk.
With respect to Fire Services. the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs has called for a public inquiry into Fire
Protection Services in Ontario given that Fire Departments are operating with 50-year old legislation which docs
not reflect the needs of the 1990s. The Fire Code and the Building Code of Ontario lag behind national standards
in areas such as hazardous materials, sprinklered buildings and flammable and combustible liquids. Currcnt
legislation does not allow for restructuring of fire services, which is in the best interest of public safety. The Fire
Departments Act has not seen any significant changes since 1949 and is very outdated.
*
REFINEMENTS TO ONTARIO PLANNING ACT
In order to avoid prolonged confusion in Ontarios development approval process, the new Planning Act should
be retained,.but adjustments should be made to make it.work better.. For example, changing the requirement for
Official Plans to be consistent with back.to have regard for Provincial policy statements would eliminate a
69
1995City of Toronto .Executive Committee Report.No.7J
For City Council Consideration at Meeting No. 14 August 14.1995
host of problems raised by the development industry and municipalities. Municipalities should be consulted
regarding the changes that are necessary.
*
FUTURE OF THE TORONTO ISLANDS
The City of Toronto has been involved in planning for this important community - as for many other Toronto
neighborhoods -for a long time. City Council is interested clarifyying the Provinces position regarding
housing and infrastructure issues for the Islands.
*
RELOCATION OF THE NORTH-WEST RAIL CORRIDOR
The City of Toronto has developed a plan to consolidate transportation routes and developable lands in the
King/Bathurst/Dufferin Street area. AS part of the project, the relocation of the North-West Rail Corrider and the
extension of Front Street is being proposed. The project will facilitate and stimulate new development in the area
and improve transportation routes to the downtown area, as well as access to the Municipal/Provincial Trade
Centre at Exhibition Place. The plan has gained widespread acceptance by governments and other interested
paroles and is estimated to amount to $190 miilion. The City requires a funding mechanism, including provincial
funding, to implement this important project.
&
ROUNDHOUSE MUSEUM CONCEPT
The issue of funding and a business and communication strategy for the Roundhouse Museum concept should be
raised with the Province.
*
SUPPLEMENTARY ASSESSMENT CHARGES
As of July 1994, Ontario municipalities were charged for all supplementary assessments added.to the assessment
roll by the Ministry of Finance. This downloading is costing the City over $1 million per year. There needs to be
a mechanism to permit local municipalities to charge back to regional governments and school boards
supplementary costs based on their respective shares of the tax levy. There should also be a credit against
supplementary charges for information provided to the Ministry of Revenue by municipalities. Also, more
accurate information is needed from the Ministry of Revenue if municipalities to be charged. as supplementary
assessments and tax bills have the lowest collection success rate, in part due to inaccurate information.
*
IMPROVEMENTS TO INTERGOVERNMENTAL PROCESSEWPROCEDURES
The City CIerk has compiled an extensive Iist by Ministry, of necessary improvements to legislation, processes
and policies defined by the Province as these affect municipalities. This list is appended to this report as Appendix
A.
*
SPECIAL LEGISLATION REQUESTS
The City Solicitor has compiled a list of the outstanding requests for special legislation. The list is appended to
this report as Appendix B.
70--
APPENDIX A
PROPOSED IMPROVEMENTS TO LEGISLATION, PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES
MINISTRY OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Consolidate and publish all private statutes, including the City of Toronto Acts, rather than just public statutes,
and provide indexes.
Publish and distribute Bills and consolidated legislation in CD-ROM format or make available through the
Internet-
MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AND COMMERCIAL RELATIONS
Amend the Liquor Licence Act to permit all licensed establishments to remain open until at least 2:00 am., but
to prohibit any site or event-specific exemptions.
.-
Amend the Marriage Act to raise the Marriage Licence fee from $53 to $75, with the same cost/revenue ratio as
is presently in effect, to permit municipalities to recover their costs.
Gaming Control Commission:
Return to the former policy of equally sharing Iicence fees, so that municipalities are compensated for their review,
site visits, negotiation with applicants, and completion of documentation for Monte Carlo licences and for licences
issued by the Provincial Government which require municipal permission.
Grant authority to municipalities to issue lottery Iicences, including break-open ticket Iicences, where the sale is
in conjunction with another gaming event (eg. Break-open tickets at a Bingo Hail, or a raffle at a Monte Carlo
event).
Grant authority to municipalities to issue all Super Jackpot bingo licences, which are held at most bingo halls
in conjunction with regular bingos (the City already licences all the individual groups which form the Bingo
Associations that participate in the SuperJackpots).
Office of the Registrar General:
Expedite a more effective, user-friendly birth registration process to minimize delays in the public receiving birth
certificates, and requiring rush temporary proof of birth letters.
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
Amend Regulations 313/$30 and 47/91 of the Education Act to provide that the calculation and determination of
school board trustees is prepared by the appropriate board and approved by the Ministry of Education. This would
transfer the authority to the groups most informed and concerned with this issue, rather than giving the
responsibility to the municipal clerk with the largest population board.
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
..7[.. .
1995 City of Toronto Executive Cornmitee Report No. 21
For City Council Consideration at Meeting No. on August 14, 1995
Amend the tax legislation to include municipalities in the list of agencies which are not considered to be
manufacturers: to clarify the definition of publications which are exempt from provincial taxation:and to exempt
municipal design (art) work from the heavy manufacturers tax.
Amend the Assessment Act to require that all realty owners who become owners after the return of the Assessment
Roll receive a Notice of Valuation, such as is given to new business tenants, so they will be included on the
Supplementary Assessment Roll and have the opportunity to immediate appeal, rather than having to wait until
the following year.
Urgently address and improve the technical requirements for the software in the CD-ROM Assessment Roll
package so that it may be shared by municipalities in a Local Area Network environment. Also, address issues
related to the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy ACt.
Amend the Assessment Act so that the municipal enumeration is moved to September 23 in an election year. and
thus capture on the Preliminary Voters List those electors who move during the summer months.
MINISTRY OF MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS AND HOUSING
Building Code Act:
Introduce a Standard for Existing Buildings as authorized in Section 34(2) of the Building Code Act.
Introduce time-limited or temporary permits for interim uses.
Amend the Ontario Building Code to address the health and safety concerns of live/work uses of buildings and
Main Streets concerns.
Create a Municipal or Housing Court as part of the Provincial Court system to handle only municipal cases such
as Building Code, Planning, Landlord and Tenant and Rental Housing Protection Act issues.
Amend the Rental Housing protection Act to clarify that illegal units are not protected by the Act, to help ensure
tenants have access to safe and legal accommodation.
Municipal Act:
Amend 5.55(7) to include committee of council before the words or local board, so that it is consistent with
5.55(1).
Amend 5.442 by adding a subsection to allow an appeal of incorrect business assessment.
Clarify 5.443 as to whether a tax appeal can be filed under this section in respect of an error in the preparation of
the Supplementary Assessment Roll.
Municipal Elections ACt:
Amend s.9 to provide that all costs incurred by municipalities to
administer elections for a regional government
and school boards be levied against that regional government and those school boards.
Amend s.24- to require that the Preliminary List be delivered to the City Clerk on September23 of a municipal
election year, rather than July 31, so that electors who moved during the,
and electors at universities and
psychiatric hospitals will be included. (See amendment to Assessmen
t Act, try of Finance, @v@
-72.
Amend s.28(3) which sets the Revision period. to reflect the amendment requested for s.24, and reduce the
Revision Period to 5 days, commencing 4 days prior to Nomination Day arid ending at 5:00 p.m. on Nomination
Day.
Delete s.36( 1 ) which provides for a Clerks Certificate. as this would not be required if the requested amendments
to s.24 and s.28(3), above, are approved.
Amend s.37 to require that Registered Candidates must be on the preliminary or Supplementary Voters List to be
nominated (presently only those nominating the candidate must satisfy this requirement).
Amend 2.54(5) to permit electors to change their school support at the polI (presently a qualified elector who is
not on the Voters List can be added and specify their school support. but an elector who is on the List cannot
correct an error in their specified school support).
Amend s.91(1) by adding that the candidate requesting the recount be required to deposit the sum of $200 as
security for costs in connection with the application.
Delete s.98(1 ) which permits an appeal of the decision of the Ontario Court (Provincial Division) on a recount to
the Ontario Court (General Division). (This would still allow two recounts at the taxpayers-expense.)
Amends. 100(1 ) to readUnless a court otherwise orders, the costs of a recount under this Act whether conducted
by a Recount Officer or a judge. shall be borne by the candidate applying for the recount.
Amend s.135(1 ) to read The Minister shall prescribe the forms required for the purposes of the Act, and shall
make these forms available by January 1 of an election year. (when the election period begins)
Prescribed forms should be in clear language and design.
Amend s.150(1) and 194(1) to allow candidates to file financial papers electronically, similar to the procedures
for filing income tax returns with Revenue Canada.
Amend s.151(1) and 19S(1) to require that only a surplus of $200, in funds rather than the equivalent in supplies
and materials, be paid over to the Clerk.
Combine Parts II and III. dealing with registration, finances, access to documents, and the powers and duties of
the. Commission on Election finances, to create common rules for those issues, and eliminate confusion for
candidates, staff, and the public.
Should Parts H and III not be combined, as requested above, amend s.21O to provide guidelines for both Parts to
provide for consistency in administration.
MANAGEMENT BOARD OF CABINET
Review and invite further consultation with municipalities with respect to the final report of the Standing
Committee of the Legislative Assembly on the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy ACt
We have several serious outstanding concerns: among them, a procedure to deal with frivolous and vcxalious
requests, and the clarification of records which car be used as mailing Iists.
73
APPENDIX B
OUTSTANDING REQUESTS FOR SPECIAL LEGISLATION
No. Description
I !
1. - Special Legislation with respect to Municipal Code -to provide that transition provisions of
sections 14 and 15 of the Interpretation Act apply to the Citys by-laws and Code.
2. Alcohol Warning Signs (Bill Pr79)
3. Idling Control Legislation
4. Cable T.V. - imposition of fee for use of highway
5. Adjacent Owner Requirement to Clean Sidewalks and Boulevards and upon failure to do so to
charge costs back
& Traffic Calming Legislation - extension of Bill Pr43 which expired on June 23,1995
1
7. Fencing and other obstruction between houses - regulation of
1
J.8. User Fees - more comprehensive authority
9.). Regulation of MLEO's - distinctions between types of private property and/or Iicensing owners of
property and/or special exemptions for MTHA
o. Liability on Public Highways -to restrict municipal liability for Ice CIearing and CIeaning
1. EWSCO Programme - unpaid energy and water efficiency loans to be treated as unpaid property
taxes
2. St. Patricks Market - extinguish obsolete rights of way given by 1947 City of Toronfo Act
3. Municipal Numbering - mandatory numbering of buildings whether on street, front, side or, in the
case of a lane way, rear
4. In-line skating - Authority to regulate CIasses of skaters and roads
5. Car Alarms - regulation of
I
6. I Liens for Street Allowance Charges - collect like municipal taxes
7. I Public Art - requirement for contribution of public c art or cash on development of land
R I Cat Registration
?. I Prohibiting the disruption of commercial video or audio productions
3.
I
Payment of Administrative Fees out of the pension fund (e.g. honorarium for Chair, LegaI Fees)
Honorarium to Pension Committee members for attending meetings
[. 21I Bad Boy Legislation for screening bidders with previous convictions
74
No. Description
22. Garbage - ability to seize vehicles collecting recyclable illegally - clarification of ownership -
higher fines
The Executive Committee also submits the communication (July 5, 199S) from Councillor Gardner:
Further to your memo of June 29, 1995, I would Iike ,to suggest that the issue of Bill PR 79- Alcohol Warning
Signs be added to the list of key issues to be considered by the Executive Committee on July 17.
You wiil recall that the Standing Committee on Regulation and Private Bills, under the previous government,
voted positively to report the Bill to the legislature on June 1, 1994. The bill was scheduled for second and third
reading and royal assent on June. 23, 1994 however, it did not go forward on the Order Paper because it did not
have unanimous consent.
This BiIl would give the City of Toronto the special legislation necessary to require licensed premises to post signs
warning that health risks are associated with drinking alcohol during pregnancy; -This action was adopted by City
Council on December7, 1992.
The Executive Committee also submits the communication (undated) from Councillor Hutcheon:
Thank you for your memorandum of June 29 regarding issues for presentation to the Premier of Ontario. 1 look
forward to joining you as you lead the Council delegation to Queens Park.
In addition to the Bill of Dissolution, I would like the following issues to be brought to the attention of Premier
Harris.
1. The future of the Western Beaches Storage Tunnel - annulment of the Environmental Assessment. This
engineering project will allow the Western Beaches area to be cleaned up and made suitable for use. As
you may know, even this early in the summer recreation season, the Western Beaches are already closed
to the public.
2. Runnymede Hospital. At the request of the provincial Governmen, the Runnymede Chronic Care
Hospital been working hard to focus its direction on MS and Huntingtons Disease. Our commnity ,
has already raised $10 million to help re-develop this hospital. It is important to our City that chronic
care facilities are located in local communities.
3. The Toronto City Centre Airport - fixed link. It is imperative to the economic health of the downtown
core to be able to have easy air access to the business area of the City. one of the issues that needs to be
discussed is whether the Province will pay for the continued operation of the ferries or support a fixed
link I would like to see the issue of expanding and upgrading w impo~t economic generator
resolvecL
The Executive Committee also submits the communication (July Q 1995) from Councillor Korwin-
Kuczynski:
1 have been informed by P!emier Harriss office that his government is reviewing~e bump up requtxt hy (.IIc
former N.D.P. government in regards to the WesternBeaches Tiunnel. As you arc aware, City Councii hius ahcwly
agreed to proceed with this project without an individual E.A.
75
A A good word by the delegation requestingl to proceed with the Western Beaches Tunnel without any further delay
would be appreciated.
The Executive Committee also submits the communication (July 6, 1995) from Councillor ,Maxwell:
Please add the issue of Blue Box finding.
The Acting Commissioner of Public Works and the Environment will be able to provide you with any information
you require.
The Executive Committee also submits the report (July 21, 1995) from the Assessment Reform Working
Group:
Recommendation: That the issues for discussion by the delegation of Members of Council with the Premier of
Ontario and the Minister of Municipal Affairs be expanded to incIude governance, tax reform and de-pooling of
education taxes.
Other Action: The ARWG also took the following action:
a. requested the Commissioner of Planning and Development to report for the ARWG meeting on August
17, 1995, with a final brief on governance issues for submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force;
b. requested the Commissioner of Finance to attend the August 17 meeting to advise the ARWG of what
is being planned for the mailing of tax information to tenants, the format of the information, when it is
expected to be sent and what other informational pamphlets are expected to be included with the tax
information.
Background: At its meeting on July 20, 1995, the Assessment Reform Working had before it the following
material:
Communication (June 19, 1995) from the City CIerk forwarding Councils action respecting Clause 58
of Executive Committee Report No. 13, titled Draft Submission to Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Communication (June 29, 1995) from the City Clerk forwarding Councils action respecting CIause 46
of Executive Committee Repofi No. 17, tided City of Toronto - Issues for Presentation to Premier Harris
and the Provincial Government.
Peter Tomlinsonson, P!anning and Development Department, provided an update on the above matters.
The ARWG endorsed City Councils action of requesting Mayor HalI to lead a delegation of Members of Council
to meet with the premier of Ontario and the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing to present the City of
Torontos position on the Bill of Dissolution. The ARWG recommended that the issues for discussion be
expanded as noted in the above recommendation . The ARWG also took other action as noted above.
(Clause 46 of Executive Committee Report No.17, titled Cily of Toronto - Issues for Presentation to Premier
Harris and the Provincial Government, is on file in the Department of the City Clerk)
141 Bathrrst Street, Toronto Ontario M5V 2R2
Telephone 416.392.6800 Facsimile 416.392.6920
an arms length agency of the City of Toronto
September 13, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
Further to our upcoming meeting with you at 2:00 p.m. on September 18, I am forwarding copies of
our report, A Cultural Vision for distribution to members of your Task Force and relevant staff.
Attending the meeting with me on Monday will be TACS Board President, Anne Collins, Vice
President, June Clark-Greenberg and Associate Director Anne Bermonte.
If there are any questions regarding any of the information in our report prior to Mondays meeting,
please give me or Anne Bermonte a call.
Yours truly,
Rita Davies
Executive Director
A CULTURAL VISION
Toronto Arts Council Submission
to the Greater Toronto Area Task
Force
Report prepared by the Toronto Arts Council
For additional copies of this report please contact:
Toronto Arts Council, 141 Bathurst Street, #lOl, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2R2 or call 416392-6800
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Recommendation
1. Introduction
An International Cultural Capital
2. Payback
Employment
Economic Impact
the Arts as a Magnet For Tourism and
Business
Taxes Paid by City of Toronto Artists
3. Linkages: The Arts, Cultural
industries and Commercial Theatre
4. Taxation issues
The Arts Case Against MVA
5. impact of Local Government Reform
on the Arts
Municipal Arts Funding Structure in
Toronto Arts Council and Metro Culture
Division - Who Funds What?
Toronto Arts Council
6. Challenges and Opportunities
1986 Greater London Council Abolishment:
What Happened to Arts Funding?
The Challenge: How to Replace Metro Cultural
Grants Budget If Metro is Dissolved?
Funding Options
The Opportunity: Tapping the Future
1
2
3
4
4
5
6
6
7
8
8
9
9
9
10
11
11
11
12
13
The Toronto Arts Council recommends that the
Greater Toronto Area Task Force seriously
consider the significant economic, employment
and quality of life contributions made to the
urban environment by the Toronto arts and
culture community and find ways and means to
ensure that local government reform will en-
hance the artistic life of Toronto and the region
both by ensuring that, at the very least, the
current cultural grants funding level contributed
by The Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
and The City of Toronto is maintained and by
encouraging local level municipal initiatives to
support and foster the arts.
1. INTRODUCTION
The terms of reference of the Greater Toronto Area
Task Force calls for defining a system and style
of governance, appropriate to the Toronto of the
next century, that promotes economic health and
competitiveness, community well-being and a high
quality of urban environment. The terms of
reference state that the first issue for the Task Force
is the apparent and potential further decline in
economic attractiveness of the core of the GTA...It
regards as essential ensuring the continuing
confidence and competitiveness of the single most
important economic and social component of the
region.
The Toronto ArtS Council, in this submission,
argues that the City of Torontos cultural assets are
not only an important social component to the
quality of life of the urban region, but are one of the
most vital of the economic components of the region
and that, at the very least, the current cash grants
funding level of $11.8 million contributed by Metro
and the City of Toronto be maintained.
In a comparable situation in 1986/87 when the
Greater London Council was abolished, the
central government of Great Britain replaced the
previously supplied through GLC funding (see
discussion on p. 11).
We also strongly suggest that the Task Force
consider the enormous benefits that would accrue to
the region through maintaining and enhancing the
current funding arrangements and to this end offer a
number of options which will ensure current levels
of funding are maintained ardor augmented.
Much of the financial data on the Toronto non-profit
arts economy in this report comes from TACS
most recent Financial Trends, a report which charts
2
the economic progress of the citys arts sector.
This data suggests that Torontos arts and culture
community is in fact one of the largest economic
forces in the City of Toronto. The arts and culture
sectors economic contribution includes:
B
B
B
B
B
employment in the Toronto-centred GTA of
160,000 working in the cultural industries
arts related work in industry and self-
employed artists;
non-profit arts and culture revenues totalling
$200 million which have a national economic
impact of $900 million;
a commercial theatre sector with annual
revenues in excess of $130 million;
$1 billion annually in cultural tourism,
according to the Metro Toronto Convention
and Visitors Association ( MTCVA);
attendance annually at Toronto arts and
culture events of approximately 15 million;
11% growth in direct jobs of the Toronto-
centred arts and culture sector between 1988
and 1992, during one of the worst recessions
in recent memory which resulted in a 9%
drop in employment in other sectors in
Metros economy.
An International Cultural Capital
As with other issues facing the Task Fonx, the
cultural vision of the Toronto region can only be
considered in the context of creating and sustaining
a competitive urban centre - an urban centre which
competes as a destination for visitors, as a place to
live in and conduct business, as a place where the
value added components of knowledge, creativity,
design, information and idea-driven industries are
encouraged and nurtured.
Toronto possesses a unique asset which provides not
only the city itself but the surrounding region with
both tangible and intangible benefits:
9
a rich and diverse cultural community which is
made up of more than 100 distinct cultural
communities;
9
an extraordinary web of cultural institutions like
the Art Gallery of (Mario, Massey Hall,
Toronto Symphony and the Toronto
Mendelssohn Choir that have proud origins in
the nineteenth century;
B literally hundreds of theatres, galleries and
orchestras as well as tens of thousands of
individual artists.
Torontos artists and companies such as Tafelmusik,
Toronto Symphony, National Ballet, Opera Atelier,
Toronto Dance Theate, Canadian Opera Company,
the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto International
Film Festival and Harbourfront Reading Series have
bought the city an international reputation and
stature at minimal investment by the taxpayers.
have been created and recreated countless times for
the world by their artists.
Michael Ondaatje, Margaret Atwood, Moyez
Vassanji, Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg,
Norman Jewison, Danny Grossman, Robert
Desrosiers, Karen Kain, Molly Johnson, Lorraine
Segato, Tom Cochrane, Murray McLaughlin,
Gordon Lighfoot, Lillian Allen, Ronnie Hawkins,
Charles Pachter, Alexina Louie, Maureen
Forrester, Joyce Wieland, Michael Snow, Brent
Carver, Cynthia Dale, Paul Gross, Gordon
Pinsent, R.H. Thomson (to name just a few of
Toronto> approximately 40,000 artists) as well as
arts producers like Robert Lantos, Moses Znaimer
and David Mirvish, live, work perform, create,
produce their work in Toronto. Their work
celebrates, and defines this city.
We call on the members of the Task Force to
respond to the challenge of the imaginative potential
of what could be one of the most international of
cultural capitals.
Great cities are fabricated not just from bricks and
mortar but from the imaginative constructs of their
artists. Dublin lives in the imagination thanks to
James Joyce. Paris, London, Rome and New York
3
2. PAYBACK
A report from Metropolitan Toronto to the Novem-
ber 1994 Economic Forum on the Future of the
Greater Toronto Area identified that the greater
Toronto ams biggest selling point is a safe,
liveable, harmonious downtown Toronto core with
a strong entertainment and cultural base to support
bedroom communities and edge cities that have
low taxes but fewer services and recreation. It is a
view echoed by a great many people including
Toronto Star Publisher John Honderich who identi-
fied in his January 7,1995 editorial that the new
vision for the city should be founded on three pillars:
community, culture and commerce.
The fact that the arts play an important role not only
in our sense of ourselves as a community but also as
away of animating the downtown is a factor that a
number of U.S. cities have acknowledged as they
have strategically begun to use the arts in oder to
increase pedestrian traffic and help reclaim derelict
abandoned and unsafe downtown neighbourhoods.
In Toronto, with its lively arts scene, nightime
downtown streets and neighbourhoods are safe as
people spill out of theatres and walk to a neighbori-
ng bar, restaurant or cafe.
The quality of life contributions of the arts is self-
-evident. What may be less known is the enormous
financial contribution that the arts bring to our
community. The following section highlights three
key ways in which the non-profit arts and culture
sector pays back municipal support to Torontos
economy: increased employment substantial
economic impact a crucial draw for tourism and
business and illustrates the return in municipal,
provincial and federal taxes from artists and
economic activity generated by the arts in Toronto.
Employment
The non-profit arts are still the most labour-inten-
sive industry in Canada followed closely by the
cultural industries as a whole. Recently released
employment statistics prove that the arts and cul-
tural industries are one of the citys (and the re-
gions) bedrock industries, particularly during the
last Recession.
During the recession a dollar invested in the arts
produced many more spin off jobs than a dollar
invested in any of the more traditional sectors
chosen for economic stimulation such as financial
services or construction.
Statistics Canada/Canada Council
According to the 1988 Canada Labour Force Study,
the arts and cultural industries work force centred in
Toronto then totalled 160,000 (made up of direct
employment in the arts& culture, self-employed
artists, employment in the cultural industries and
arts-related work in industry). Because of the
recession and because more up to date figures are
not available, we have assumed this remained
constant in 1991. This matches the combined total
of 166,000 for utilities, transportation, manufactur-
ing, business services, finance, insurance and real
estate sectors.
Direct Employment in Toronto
1991 Industry Comparison
Utilities Transportation&
Manufacturing 31,000
Business Services 56,000
Finance, Insurance, Real Estate
79,000
Arts and Cultural Industries
160,000
The non-profit arts and culture community of
Toronto continues as a leading provider of experi-
ence and training for artists and cultural workers
who now alternate employment between the non-
profit and commercial Toronto performing arts
sectors, the cultural industries and the growing
information and communications industries centred
in Toronto.
Metro Parks & Culture, working with StatsCan, re-
cently calculated that between 1988 and 1992, in
contrast to employment in other sectors of the econ-
omy which fell 9% during the recession, arts and
culture industries employment actually grew 11%.
Toronto-Centred GTA Arts Cultural Industrie~
and Arts-Related Work in Other Industry
1981 1981 1991
Total Employment 70,000 125,000 160,000
Sources Canada Labour Force Study
Economic Impact
Thanks to the concentration of first class actors,
writers and technicians in Toronto and with the
additional incentive of the cheap Canadian dollar,
Toronto is now host to film and video producers
who, according to the Citys Film Office, spent
collectively almost $.5 billion here during the past
year, creating employment for suppliers of equip
ment, location caterers, hoteliers, limousine opera-
tors and a spectrum of other suppliers and services.
According to the most recent StatsCan report, the
1992/93 contribution to Canadian Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of the arts and cultural industries
totalled $15.9 billion directly and $7.9 billion
indirectly, and as StatsCan employment data are
demonstrating, these numbers are growing annually
(anincreaseof $2.8 billion since 1991). TAC
estimates that Torontos share of this $23.8 billion in
GDP was at last $10.5 billion in 1992/93 and
growing.
In downtown Toronto itself, the non-profit@ and
culture community generated in 1991 cash flows
totalling $206 million. The total national economic
impact of this sector is estimated by TAC at $909
million while local economic impact in 1991 was at
least $636 million.
Setting to one side the high percentage of self-
generated non-profit arts and culture community
income (admissions, other income, donations-in
1991 about $100 million) coming from persons and
corporations resident outside Toronto, the arts and
culture economy and Toronto as a whole benefits
from support furnished by federal, provincial and
other municipal sources. In 1991 these sources of
community working capital furnished almost $86
million.
Toronto Non-Profit Arts and Culture Communit
Economic Impact for 1991 (in millions of dollars)
National Economic Impact 908.67
Local Economic Impact
636.07
Source: Toronto Arts Council Data Base
5
The Arts as a Magnet for Tourism and
Business Migration
Places Rated Almanac recently rated Toronto as the
fifth most culturally livable city out of 343 surveyed
in North America. Fortune Magazine last year rated
Toronto as the seventh best city in the world in
which to do business. Much has been made of the
influence on migration of business to or from a
locality based on municipal tax levies. A key factor
which determines temporary migration, i.e. tourism,
or migration of a more permanent nature is the
I.iveability of a community - the environmental
factor. A thriving arts district filled with cafes, res-
taurants, theatres, galleries and studios represents
the best of urban living and contributes to a safe and
healthy environment.
The non-profit Toronto arts and culture community
now provides annually some 30 million person
hours of arts and culture enjoyment for Toronto
citizens and visitors. According to the Metro
Toronto Convention and Visitors Association the
ability of the arts to attract visitors results in $1
billion of cultural tourism spending annually in
Toronto.
Graeme MacDonald, former Northern Telecom
executive has stated that:
The biggest gap in businesss array of tools to
improve productivity is creativity. And I think
the way to learn creativity is from artists.
Astute private sector leaders are beginning to
understand that the arts can make an important
difference to their competitive edge in business. In
1988, Peter Drucker suggested that the lean, knowl-
edge-based arts organization is the organizational
model for the future through its expertise in commu-
nication skills, problem solving, and creativity. In
addition, artists are on the leading edge of using
technology and exploring the potential of technol-
ogy.
In the August 1995 issue of the Globe and Mails
Report on Business, Ann Walmsley, in an article
entitled Smart Cities, points out that in addition to
such key factors as access to an educated, knowl-
edgeable work force, to research facilities and to
recreational facilities, businesses are seeking com-
munities with diverse cultural entertainments for
their locations and that Toronto heads the list of
Canadian cities despite its high-cost environment
in part because it can answer the cultural require-
ments. Needless to say, following on Druckers
argument, the arts also contribute to our commu-
nitys pool of expertise in communication skills and
technology.
Taxes Paid by City of Toronto Artists
According to Ontario Arts Council, almost 40,000
persons (26,000 directly employed plus self-em-
ployed artists) earn some or all of their living in
Metro as artists and arts workers. Assuming that
each pays on average only $500 in municipal taxes
(apart from the education potion of the municipal
levy), then the City and Metro receives from them
$20 million which represents 1.67 times the com-
bined amount of the City of Toronto and Metros
total cultural grants budget. This does not include
property taxes paid by the more than 300 non-profit
arts organizations resident in the City of Toronto.
In addition, federal and provincial authorities, whose
governments provide now almost $80 million in
annual support receive annually in excess of $160
million in income and sales taxes thanks to the
economic activity generated by the non-profit@
and culture in Toronto. They receive at least the
same amount thanks to the commercial performing
arts which grew to a considerable extent out of
the non-profit sector.
6
3. LINKAGES: THE ARTS, CULTURAL INDUSTRIES AND COMMERCIAL
THEATRE
But the health of our cultural industries is
inextricably linked to the flourishing of the
arts...[to] the essential role that the arts sector
plays in developing cultural products and in
training and supporting the writers
choreographers, composers, dancers, producers
musicians playwrighter~ filmmakers, designers
actors technicians and others who work in
Ontarios cultural industries. During their
careers cultural workers move back and forth
between the commercia1 and not-for-profit
sectors This flow of talent, skills and experience
is of inestimable benefit to both.
The Business of Culture: The Report of the Advisory
Committee on a Cultural Industries Sectoral Strategy
(ACCISS), August, 1994
As with the cultural industries, there are strong links
between the non-profit arts and the growth of
commercial theatre in Toronto. Commercial theatre
in Toronto grew so quickly because skilled
performers, producers, directors, designers, and
musicians learned their crafts in non-profit
production, creating a pool of talent that prescient
and entrepreneurial producers such as David
Mirvish and Garth Drabinsky could then tap. In a
very real way commercial theatre here can be
considered the offspring of the citys non-profit
theatre and of public subsidy. Since the early
1980s, the City of Toronto has invested more than
$4-million a year in commercial theatre, providing
innovative producers with tax breaks, zoning
changes, grants for heritage renovations and
infrastructure, and regulatory support in areas such
as parking.
Ive never had a grant and Im not looking for a
grant. But Im dependent on what arts granting
agencies do. Over the last 30 years Ive built an
organization of people who have come out of the
non-profit sector, and am now employing 1,345
people. With another ten years investment in the
arts, Toronto could become an exporter of major
shows.
David Mirvish
7
4. TAXATION ISSUES
Cities create wealth, but much of the wealth is
shipped in the form of taxes to higher jurisdictions.
Under the current relationship, cities are creatures of
provincial legislation with limited powers to levy
taxes. Regressive property taxes are the major
source of municipal revenues. As Jane Jacobs
stated in two of her works, Cities and the Wealth of
Nations and The Economy of Cities, cities should
have the legislative power to make economic policies
beyond their traditional hard services role, such as
maintenance of roads and garbage pickup, which
affect the quality of life of its citizens and workers.
Important areas of policy include support of the arts
and culture which traditionally are an integral part
of the life and economy of cities. Changes to the
current taxation system must ensure that the wealth
created by the cities would be equitably distributed
and would support not undermine, the social and
economic well-being of the older inner core which
houses the financial and artistic heart of a region.
Currently, of every property tax dollar the City of
Toronto collects, 82 cents is forwarded for the use
of Metropolitan Toronto (which receives 26.3 cents)
and the Metropolitan-area school boards (which
receive 55.7 cents). The City of Toronto identifies
that because of the pooling of property taxes,
Toronto taxpayers subsidize the education costs of
other Metro municipalities by $300 million.
Progressive, arts-promoting jurisdictions such as
Montreal forgive property and business taxes on
properties operated by artists and arts organizations.
A similar policy should be considered for the City of
Toronto and the region particularly at a time when
all levels of government have reduced cash support
to the arts.
The Arts Case Against MVA
The City of Torontos report to the Greater Toronto
Area Task Force forcefully makes the argument
against implementing market value assessment in
the City of Toronto based on Metros proposals.
We would also like to bring to the attention of
members of the Task Force the negative and disas-
trous impact of market value based reassessment on
the citys artists and arts community.
The test of ability to pay certainly argues against
any rise in property taxes for artists. Updated
market value based taxation, particularly based on
Metros proposals, would create terrible hardship
for atists who rent or own space. Small businesses
related to the arts, instrument repair shops, book
stores, record stems, art galleries, small theatres,
etc., would all be devastated by any updated form of
market value based taxation. An analysis of a num-
ber of properties owned and rented by non-profit
arts organizations indicates that because of their
non-profit status they are levied at a residential tax
rate. Tax reform which shifts the burden from com-
mercial to residential properties would do what the
recession didnt -- that is, drive artists and arts
organizations out of the city or worse, out of
business.
In addition, under market value based reassessment
commercial theatres such as the Royal Alexandra,
the Pantages or the Princess of Wales would lose the
slight competitive edge they currently have over
their Broadway and Chicago counterparts whose
levies are based on turn of the century assessment.
TACS analysis of the implications of MVA on the
arts and culture sector clearly indicates that it would
have a decimating impact on one of Torontos and
the regions key economic sectors.
8
5. IMPACT OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT REFORM ON THE ARTS
Municipal Arts Funding Structure in
currently, within Metro all six municipalities plus
Metro itself provide arts funding either through an
arms length arrangement (the Toronto Arts Council)
or directly.
Area 1995 Budget
Metro
$6,641,925
Toronto
$4,726,198
North York
$ 173,850
Scarborough
$ 64,600
East York
$ 8,500
York
$ 57,600
Etobicoke
$ 120,240
In addition to the above, the City of Torontos
cultural portfolio includes:
B
B
B
B
B
public arts policies implemented through the
Public Art Commission and the Planning and
Development Department
Toronto Book Awards;
St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts;
Market Gallery;
nominal lease arrangements with arts
Young Peoples Theatre, Berkeley Street
Theatre, 12 Alexander Street Theatre,
Alumnae Theatre and Firehall Theatre;
rent grants; and
property tax forgiveness.
The other five municipalities, in addition to cash
grants, offer the following types of support:
B
all have public art policies in force, or under
development
B
all provide arts programming and classes
through their Parks and Recreation deprat-
ments;
B
all but York operate or make available
recreationa.1 arts facilities to local groups;
B
the City of North York owns and operates the
Ford Centre for the Performing Arts;
two (Etobicoke and York) have established
Municipal Arts Commissions to advise
Council.
Metros principle instruments of arts policy are:
Toronto Arts Council and Metro Culture
Division: Who Funds What?
Toronto Arts Council:
Organizations 318 $4.05 million
Individuals 145
$.65 million
Administration 5 7 -
. .
Total 463 $5.27 million
Metro Culture Division:
Organi zat i ons 325
$6.6 million
(Administration costs are not available as they are
part of Metro Parks and culture budget.)
Of Metros 325 clients, 230 are located in the City
of Toronto. Because of historical practice, Metro
Culture Division, and not the Toronto ArtS Council,
provides operating grants to the four largest arts
organizations in the City of Toronto: Art Gallery of
Ontario (AGO), Canadian Opera company (COC),
9
Of its 1994 Cultural Grants budget of $7.1 million,
Metro provided $6.61 million to arts
organizations located in the City of Toronto:
The Toronto Arts Council was established in 1974
as a provincially incorporate non-profit
organization to advise the City of Toronto on the
allocation of cultural grants and on municipal policy
affecting the arts and culture. In 1994, Toronto
Arts Council and the City of Toronto formalized its
working relationship by signing a Grant Agreement
whereby TACS two basic operating principles of
ams length and the process of peer review are
safeguarded
The twenty-six member Board of Directors of the
Toronto Arts Council is made up mainly of
professional artists who are knowledgeable about
the arts in Toronto and who have particular
expertise in one or more arts disciplines. A number
of Board positions are held by persons who are
not artists but have a demonstrated interest in and
experience of service to the arts as well as special
expertise in legal, financial and other useful areas.
TWO City Council members and three citizen
members are appointed by City Council as its
representatives on the Toronto ArtS Councils Board
of Directors.
Standing committees in the areas of dance, litera-
ture, music, theatre, visual arts/film &video,
festivals/special events, and cultural facilities review
and make recommendations on grant applications
and advise the Board on policy issues relevant to
their respective areas of expertise.
Toronto Arts Council is considered a leader in terms
of its grassroots, community-based membership,
its cutting edge policy role and its effective and
efficient management TAC is the most cost effec-
tive of any arts council in Canada with only 11%
spent on administration as compared to 20% at the
Canada Council, 21% at the Montreal ArtS Council
(Conseil des Arts/Service de Culture) and 16% at
the Ontario Arts Council. By comparison, the
United Way, which is also considered a benchmark
in its efficient administration, has a 13% ratio of ad-
ministration to total funds administered.
The cost of assuming responsibility for the Metro
Cultural Grants budget Toronto portfolio is
minimal. In fact, the overall cost of TACs
administration budget to grants budget would
decrease substantially. As pointed out above, of the
230 city of Toronto organizations receiving Metro
support, 194 are also funded by the TAC.
Toronto Arts Council has the resources, structure,
expertise and the communitys confidence to
undertake the responsibility of managing those City
of Toronto arts organizations currently funded by
Metro Culture Division.
10
. 6. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
1986 Greater London Council Abolish-
ment: What Happened to Arts Fund-
ing?
A report entitled After Abolition, prepared in
1987 by the National Council for Voluntary Or-
ganizations, identifies that:
The central Government which deemed arts
funding a priority, was able to replace 100% or
tions which had been previously funded through
the Greater London Council.
The Challenge: How to Replace Metro
Cultural Grants Budget of $6.6 Million If
Metro is Dissolved?
Since only $2.7 million of Metro Cultural Grants
budget is levied from Toronto taxpayers, an
additional $3.4 million is required to maintain the
level of approximately $6.34 million in funding to
City of Toronto ants organizations:
11
Shortfall
$6.34 million
$2.70 million
(42% of $6.6 million)
$3.64 million
i)
ii)
12
It is clear that the minimum cost of maintaining the
current level of funding to city of Toronto arts
organizations has to come from the property tax
base. However, it may be possible to consider other
revenue generating options which could be used to
supplement the minimum budget
iii) Implement a dedicated hotel/motel tax, like San
Francisco and Chicago, in support of the arts
and culture community which to a very large
extent ($1 billion worth) is responsible for
attracting visitors and tourists.
iv) Introduce a municipal arts lottery.
v) Introduce a deductible voluntary tax dedicated
to the arts.
The Opportunity: Tapping the Future
Torontos cultural communitys ability to continue to
produce economic results like those described in
this report rests, to a great extent, on the citys
ability to attract and retain the best and brightest of
creative artistic and cultural excellence. Determined
municipal initiatives to support and encourage
this activity will require an overall strategy, devel-
oped at the local level.
The opportunity is there for Toronto, as it enters the
21st century, to develop itself not only as an interna-
tional cultural centre but as an economic centre of
the information and communication age. Demogra
phers and economic forecasters tell us that the future
lies with the cultural sector. The facts tell us that
the arts already play a significant role in the eco-
nomic health, competitiveness, community well-
being and high quality of our urban environment.
In other words governments must invest in the
dignity of their cities. This cultural dimension of
the urban experience is too often neglected by
local authorities in Canada who are generally
more comfortable providing what they consider
to be functional services. But the creation and
maintenance of museums and universities, great
public squares and parks sports palaces and
beautiful streets are functional. Attention to
these social enjoyments transforms what could be
a chaotic anthill into a noble creation reflecting a
citizenrys highest aspirations.
John Barber, The Globe and Mail,
September 9,1995
We should take advantage of what we already have
and what weve already achieved to carry our
emergent bedrock arts and culture industry and
Toronto into the first rank of the worlds cultural
and economic centres.
13
cultural
equity
prepared by
E.A. Julian
for the
June 1992
Contents
Introduction
Prefac e . , . . . . . . . . . .
Cultural Equity . . . . . . . .
Major Recommendations .
Findings & Recommendations
Bac kground . . . . . . . . .
The Consultative Process , .
TACOrganizational Structure
Board of Direc tors , , . , , , ,
Arts Discipline Committees , ,
Juries , , , , , , , , , . , , , ,
Programs , , , , . . . . , , , ,
Staff and Management . , ,
Conclusion
Moving Forward . . . . . . . .
Financial Implications , . . , ,
Appendices
I. Ac knowledgements . , , ,
II. Terms of Referenc e . . . , .
III. Rec ommendations , . , , ,
IV. Response of the Board of Directors to the Cultural Equity Report
V. Organizations & Individuals Consulted . . , , , , , . . . . . . . ,
VI . Referenc es . . , , . , . . . . . , , , . . . , . , , , . . , . . . . ,
VII . Toronto Arts Counc il Organization Chart . . . , . . . . . . . . . ,
VIII. Toronto Arts Counc il Cultural Grants Budget 1991 . . . . , , , , ,
IX. Toronto Arts Council Board and Committee Members . . . . . ,
1
2
4
7
8
8
. 10
. 13
. 15
. 16
. 18
. 21
. 21
. 23
, 24
, 25
. 28
, 32
, 40
, 44
. 45
, 46
Introduction
Preface
Its time to put the E in front of Quality.
A
number of years ago, the Toronto Arts Council recognized the
need for broadened cultural representation on its Board and
committees and began to appoint qualified artists and arts/cultural
workers drawn from specific cultural communities* and
backgrounds. More recently, the Board of Directors was also made
aware, through the advice of its members and through consultation
with its Arts Discipline Committees and with members of the arts
community, that it was not reaching all the qualified artists of
Toronto because of barriers of race, language, gender, cultural
difference and perception. In particular, TAC was advised that
African/Black, Asian and First Nations artists were the most
underserved of all. TAC has also been made aware that although
artists from these communities have stated their arts and cultural
needs, frustration grows due to lack of response. It was decided that
the time had come to accelerate changes already initiated. In late
1989 the Board of Directors commissioned a comprehensive
examination, as part of a strategic planning exercise, of artistic
communities underserved by TAC and the reasons behind this
exclusion. Above all, the Council wanted to have advice on action to
be taken so that the Toronto Arts Council would be-and would be
seen to beno longer part of a problem, but part of a solution.
All the recommendations contained in this report will not be
implemented overnight. The current economic situation alone
guarantees unfortunate but unavoidable delay. Certain of the
recommendations, however, do not involve financial implications.
Artists expect these will be acted upon immediately.
Recommendations which require application of additional resources
will have to be assigned priorities by the Board of the Toronto Arts
Council for implementation over the period of three years as stated
in TACs Strategic Plan.
B Specific Cultural Community (ies) refers to community in terms of a group of persons with
a shared communication, interest or expression. Specific is to indicate difference based on
culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race and sexual orientation. This concept makes the
language of arts and cultural support inclusive of all art and cultural expression and product.
Cultural Equity
Because not all people are, should be, or can be the
same, it is hard to see how the objective measure of
equality can be assimilation. What is easy to see,
however, is the seductive appeal that assimilation
offers. Its carrot is the mainstream, and membership is
premised on homogenization. If this means conformity
to values of civility and tolerance, assimilation is
devoutly to be wished. But if it means, as it usually
does, obliterating racial, cultural, linguistic, religious or
gender differences, let alone pride in any of them, then it
is neither realistic nor equitable. Access to the
mainstream must be based on those differences; and
integration, not assimilation, must be seen as the social
goal. An integrated community is one whose members
feel that their unique participation is both desired and
desirable; an assimilated one denies participation to
those who seek to assert the relevance of their
differences. Rosalie S, Abella, Soidarity attacked by Exclusion:
Respecting Equaliiy and Diversely, Queens Quarter/ y, 98/ 2, Summer
1991, p. 358.
For decades, Toronto artists based in the citys specific cultural
communities, have considered themselves excluded from municipal
programs of assistance to artists and arts/culture organizations. The
systemic barriers of race, culture, gender and language that have
excluded or marginalized these artists must be eliminated.
Now is the time for the City of Toronto to adopt a proactive
policy of arts support which is equitable and creates a climate where
all qualified artists and arts/cultural organizations will be included.
Cultural Equity ensures that all artists, arts organizations and
artistic expressions are dealt with on a basis of fairness, respect for
cultural difference and for the well-being of all artists regardless of
ethnicity, culture, gender, language, race and sex. This Report
recommends that Cultural Equity be achieved at the TAC through
policies of inclusion and through all-inclusive funding programs,
through equitable representation in the decision-making process.
This Report does not recommend any dedicated funding programs
be implemented at this time.
In considering the principle of cultural equity, concepts
embodied in language such as multiculturalism or cultural
diversity have not been found to be helpful. These terms have been
rejected because it is considered that such concepts are basically
2 Cultural Equity
Theres so many of us
whove grown up here,
whose ancestors are
Asian, African, Chinese,
yet white Canadians still
ask us; Where are you
from? Were from here.
Canada is my home, I am
rooted here. Marva
Jackson, The Toronto Star,
February 17,1991
devices to drown the healthy notion of difference in a sea of
homogeneity. Thus, all specific cultural communities can be made to
appear one community. This oversimplification leads inevitably to
policies and practices based on the perception of a non-existent
fundamental sameness. Treating everyone equally does not mean
treating everyone the same.
There are one hundred and twenty-five specific cultural
expressions already resident in this city of the future. There is
unequaled potential for cultural development in Toronto-provided
alliances and strategies are created to confer full membership in the
Toronto arts community on all resident artists and arts organizations.
Toronto Arts Council has a central role and responsibility here.
When the Toronto Arts Council determines that qualified artists,
for whatever reason, are excluded-or consider themselves
excludedfrom the constituency served by TAC, it is the Councils
duty to take steps to remove the real or perceived barriers denying
artists access to City resources. In this regard, the report and study
have clearly demonstrated that the growth and contribution of artists
and arts organizations based in specific cultural communities are
now mature and deserving of equitable funding, acknowledgement
and support.
To do this, TAC will require additional resources in the form of
grants budgets, administrative back-up and grants officers capable of
working sensitively in the field to build bridges of confidence.
Toronto Arts Council and its constituencies should realize that
achieving cultural equity for all will be a long and hard job requiring
long-term commitment from everyone concerned.
To work effectively, TACs policy framework must ensure that
the assessment processes of TACs six Arts Discipline Committees
include appropriate identification and evaluation of all current arts
practices and production. This acknowledgement of cultural
differences enables a productive approach to addressing problems of
access and communication and, in addition, facilitates assessment
based on workable artistic standards. This policy of inclusion also
engenders an empowerment process capable of developing
strategies to address the needs and opportunities of the multiplicity
of cultural practices and production seeking funding. Implementing
this policy of equitable process for all artists and arts organizations
will help to eliminate barriers that perpetuate exclusion. In this
context, artists place priority on reducing inequities in TACs delivery
of services.
Adopting cultural equity as the ultimate aim of all its policies
and delivery of services meets this requirement and puts the Toronto
Arts Council proactively into the struggle to develop a city based on
principles of equity.
3
Recommendation
1. Toronto Arts Council to endorse the principle of cultural equity
as a high priority and to demonstrate this endorsement by
including this policy as part of the TAC Strategic Plan.
Major Recommendations
Toronto Arts Council has consistently based its policies and
practices on the belief that the citys living, working artists constitute
the most valuable element of Torontos overall cultural capital. TAC
has worked to share this perception with City Council so that
municipal resources committed to the support and encouragement
of the arts might rise to levels commensurate with the real value of
the citys arts community to Toronto.
The process of building TAC into an essential and effective
instrument of municipal service delivery resulted in opportunities of
cultural interchange as it provided artists with increased access to
resources. The recommendations made in this report are meant to
accelerate the process of broadening access, which has already
begun, while strengthening the delivery of TAC services to all artists.
This report also calls for an improved and expanded two-way flow of
information between TAC and its constituency of artists and arts
organizations.
Improved information and more broadly-based access to
resources will build better community relations overall while creating
links with artists and arts organizations presently excluded from
TACs constituency.
The acceptance of cultural equity as a framework of principle
and policy demands inclusion of these artists and arts organizations
on the basis of their artistic merit and contributions to Torontos
quality of life. Adopting cultural equity as a new goal for the City of
Toronto will engender a dynamic process of renewal within a sector
of our community not yet in command of sufficient resources to
meet its obligations to its own members and to the overall
community of Toronto.
The financial implications of implementing this policy are dealt
with in detail in the Conclusion (pp. 21 22). Anticipated first year
costs will require additional cultural grants budget of $1.24 million as
part of the City cultural grants base.
The recommendations may be grouped within ten major areas
of change, and are addressed to Toronto Arts Council and to the
Council of the City of Toronto.
Cultural Equity
Major Recommendations to Toronto Arts Council
I Endorse and adopt the policy of cultural equity and include this
policy in the TAC Strategic Plan.
Recommendations 1, 12
II Prepare and publish a comprehensive statement defining the
overall framework of policy within which TAC works, and of
policies and guidelines governing the work of committees and
juries. Reflect implementation of policies and guidelines in
annual statement of management priorities.
Recommendations 2,6,7,9, 13,21,22,23,25,37
III Ensure that TAC Board of Directors, Arts Discipline Committees
and arts juries reflect appropriate levels of participation by
qualified artists and arts supporters based in previously
underrepresented specific cultural communities.
Recommendations 4, 14, 17, 20, 24
IV Effect an improved two-way information flow between TAC and
all its constituentsthose presently served and those not yet
served. Seek resources to enable the preparation of inventories
of artists and arts organizations not yet served.
Recommendations 8, 11, 15,31
V Broaden definitions of artistic and cultural practices.
Recommendations 16, 18
VI Extend and enlarge programs of grants to individual artists so
as to broaden access to these resources and eliminate
unacceptably low levels of applicant success.
Recommendations 26, 28,32
VII Prepare and publish a comprehensive personnel policy for
Toronto Arts Council, including employment equity provisions.
Recommendation 33
VIII Reflect awareness of the need to restructure TAC grant
programs in order to implement the policy of cultural equity.
Recommendations 10, 19,27,29,30,32
IX Strengthen and broaden TACs relationship with elected and
appointed municipal leadership.
Recommendation 3
Major Recommendations to the Council of the City of Toronto
X Provide Toronto Arts Council with the resources necessary to
implement the policy of cultural equity within an overall arts
support mandate appropriate to Torontos stature and richness
of artistic texture.
Recommendations 5,34,35,36,38
5
Findings & Recommendations
Growth is exhilarating.
1 happen to live in a city
(Toronto) in which this
seems to be largely
happening, where
tolerance gives me my
space. It is tremendously
exciting and real, a place
to call home when
nationhood itself has
become abstract and
elusive. M.G. Vassanji,
The Toronto Star, July 30, 1991
Background
Basically, the issues discussed in this section as findings all relate to
two fundamental needs felt by artists based in Torontos specific
cultural communities and by the Board, committees and staff of
Toronto Arts Council:
. Representation
B Resour ces
Artists considered that their opportunities and problems could
not be properly dealt with until TAC achieved an appropriate
participation by artists and arts supporters drawn from our specific
cultural communities. Pragmatically, they recognized that the
financial support and encouragement they wish to have from the
City of Toronto by way of cultural grants cannot happen until TAC
develops a successful strategy to communicate to City Council the
benefits to be enjoyed from subsidy policies designed to improve the
opportunities of all Torontos artists. While affirming the usefulness
of flexibility in decision-making practice, artists felt that written
statements of existing policy and criteria would be of practical help
in defining new relationships with TAC. Many expressed particular
concern that the policy of cultural equity must not be implemented
in such a way as to imperil financially the constituency already
receiving City support through TAC. They saw the arts community of
Toronto as one community having many sectors, a community in
which they wish their full membership to be decisively and
productively acknowledged.
All in all, the concerns and suggestions centred around the need
for justice to be done, and seen to be done. Artists consulted
affirmed their respect for TACs Board, Arts Discipline Committees
and Juries and for the individuals comprising each. They felt,
however, that something which was already good would be that
much better when it more fully reflected all the artists of Toronto.
Above all, artists stressed they wished to avoid ghettoization. They
wanted to have City support, not because they were of this or that
cultural derivation, but because they are artists whose quest for
excellence merits support.
The Consultative Process
The consultative process involved both internal and external review.
The consultant was given access to decision-making meetings with
TAC's Board of Directors, Arts Discipline Committees, the Strategic
Plan Steering Committee (which had recommended this study and
report), and the Board/Committee Annual Policy and Planning
Retreat. Externally, the Consultant participated in regular arts
community consultations such as the biannual Lets Talk sessions,
including all sectors of TACs constituency. In addition, special
intra-cultural soundings were arranged, yielding particularly helpful
advice from those not yet receiving City support. Personal interviews
were held with artists and arts organizations, with City appointed and
elected officials, and with numbers of individuals with particular
expertise in the issues under review. Additional research involved
written material and examination of TAC files.
All of the information elicited was organized in terms of its
relevance to:
B TAC Organizational Structure
B TAC Board of Directors
B TAC Arts Discipline Committees
B TAC Juries
B TAC Staff
B TAC Programs
Specific findings and recommendations respecting Board,
Committees, Juries, Staff and Programs will be found in the following
sections under their particular headings. The first section, TAC
Organizational Structure, is intended to provide an overview as well
as to recommend how TAC can best pursue the policy of cultural
equity within the larger framework of its association with City
Council and City Hall.
TACOrganizational Structure
Toronto Arts Council is an arms length corporation having two main
areas of accountability:
(a) the City of Toronto through City Council, and
(b) artists and the non-profit resident arts and cultural
community of Toronto.
TAC's fundamental level of corporate governance is the
membership of the Toronto Cultural Advisory Corporation (TCAC)
which operates Toronto Arts Council (TAC). Voting membership in
Toronto Cultural Advisory Corporation is comprised of all members
of TAC's Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees, and all
members of Toronto City Council. At the annual general meeting of
the corporation TCAC members elect the Board of Directors.
8 Cultural Equity
First, you blame someone
for writing you out, then
you expect the same
person to write you bac k
in. You have to write
yourself in. Akwatu
Khentii, Toronto Magazine,
May 1991
Operationally, the Board of Directors is the level at which all
decisions made by and on behalf of Toronto Arts Council must be
approved. This responsibility includes Board ratification of all
appointments of members of TAC committees.
The Board of Directors controls all expenditure by TAC,
although in practice this area is in the hands of the President and the
Treasurer, who report directly to the Board. All budgets, including
budgets to be proposed to City Council with regard to Annual
Cultural Grants and Cultural Facilities Support Grants, must be
approved by the Board. The day-today operations of the Toronto
Arts Council are entrusted by the Board to its Executive Director,
who reports directly to the Board. All TAC policy decisions and
documents must be approved by the Board. In this regard, the Policy
Director works with the Executive Director and reports directly to the
Board on appropriate matters.
Each of TAC's six Arts Discipline Committees is chaired and/or
co-chaired by a member of the Board of Directors and includes an
appropriate number of members nominated by the Committee itself
and appointed by the Board. In practice, Committees propose all
spending decisions involving City Cultural Grants Budget. A
committee of Committee Chairs adjudicates all spending decisions
involving the Cultural Facilities Support Grants. All spending
proposals are reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors
before being conveyed to Toronto City Council for its review and
approval. All payment of grants is made by the City of Toronto.
Annually, the Arts Discipline Committees appoint juries to their
respective disciplines to adjudicate applications for grants to
individual artists.
TAC grants officers work with Arts Discipline Committees and
juries to facilitate the decision-making process. They are expected to
become knowledgeable about the work of TAC's clientele and to be
able to provide information as requested by committees and juries.
They do not provide recommendations on grant applications. They
attend Board and committee meetings and report as requested.
Members of the Board of Directors receive no remuneration
whatsoever but may be compensated for authorized expenditure
made on behalf of TAC. Committee members who are not Board
members may be similarly compensated and, in addition, receive
modest honoraria. Members of juries are remunerated for services
rendered.
Excluding members of City Council, TAC's Board and
committee membership numbered 58 in 1991, of whom 45% are
based in Torontos specific cultural communities. 28% of Board and
committee members are artists of colour.
In addition to its membership on the Toronto Cultural Advisory
Corporation, City Council appoints two of its members to the Board
Toronto Arts Council 9
of the Toronto Arts Council. TAC makes annual grants and
administration budget requests to City Council and reports annually
on the disbursement of these funds. TAC is also involved in a
number of activities and initiatives that take place under the aegis of
other departments at City Hall and are either arts related or affect the
Toronto arts and culture community. in this regard, the Board and
staff at TAC should have, as an overall policy objective, the
attainment of coherent City of Toronto policy and strategy on the
arts predicated on the policy of cultural equity.
Recommendations
2. The Board of Directors of the Toronto Arts Council to develop a
comprehensive arts and cultural policy for the City of Toronto.
3. Brief and keep informed relevant City elected and appointed
officials on the findings of this report and on the ensuing
progress towards achievement of its stated goals.
Board of Directors
Toronto Arts Council Board of Directors is comprised of twenty
members, two of whom are representatives of Toronto City Council.
individuals on the Board serve in a voluntary capacity and receive no
remuneration for their service as members of the Board. The
Toronto Arts Council is admirably unique among granting bodies in
that it is mandated by Toronto City Council to be comprised
primarily of artists and has a majority of artist members. Artist
members of the Board represent each of the arts discipline areas
funded by the Toronto Arts Council: Dance, Music, Theatre, Literary,
Visual Arts/Film & Video, Festivals/Special Events. Other Board
positions are held by persons who have a demonstrated interest in
and service to the arts as well as special expertise in legal, financial
and other useful areas.
In addition to artistic and other expertise, a balance is sought on
the Board of Directors, its Arts Discipline Committees and juries of a
diversity of arts disciplines and practices and of an appropriate
reflection of the cultural, ethnic and racial composition of Toronto.
The Board of Directors is elected annually by all members of the
Toronto Cultural Advisory Corporation. Toronto Arts Council Board
members serve terms of six years. Membership of the Toronto
Cultural Advisory Corporation is comprised of: (a) members of the
Board of Directors, (b) members of Arts Discipline Committees, and
(c) members of Toronto City Council.
The Board of Directors is the final decision-making body of the
Toronto Arts Council and, in consultation with its Arts Discipline
Committees, sets policy and priorities. Committee policy and
programming recommendations are conveyed to the Board through
the committee chairs, each of whom is a member of the Board.
10
Cultural Equity
Findings
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
The nomination process involved in selecting candidates to the
Board was unclear to many artists. One concern expressed was
that the process lacked a written rationale precisely defining
criteria for and methodology of selection.
The precise relationship between Arts Discipline Committees
and the Board as a whole, the prerogatives of each and the
mechanisms in place to translate committee-originated
initiatives into Board-approved policy and practice, and vice
versa, are not set out anywhere in an easily understood format.
There is no written TAC policy defining an appropriate level of
representation on the Board of artists, arts workers or
supporters from specific cultural communities.
It is not widely understood what the Boards ongoing long-term
strategy is for obtaining the constantly increasing grants
budgets which will be necessary to implement policy and
practice changes to bring about cultural equity while
maintaining and increasing necessary support to existing TAC
clientele.
Artists note that in other jurisdictions, programs of assistance
structured within the concept of multiculturalism have led to
the marginalization of artists and arts organizations based in
Canadas specific cultural communities. They wonder if the
Board has developed a strategy to resist dedicated programs
which may, because of perceived quick-fix political
attractiveness, be recommended forcefully to the Board by its
political and financial masters.
The Boards view of the role of representation of specific cultural
communities in future comprehensive TAC policy development
is not clear. What mechanisms does the Board foresee to
facilitate this type of participation?
The Board is not as well informed as it should be on the
composition, needs, opportunities and aspirations of artists
based in specific cultural communities. What does the Board
plan to do to improve this situation in order to better represent
Torontos entire arts community?
TAC has, through its staff, individual Board and committee
members, and the consultant engaged to work on this report,
made contact with many artists and arts organizations based in
the citys specific cultural communities. Nevertheless, TAC's
Board, as a whole, appears to have made little effort to meet
with artistic representatives of Torontos specific cultural
communities in order to launch an ongoing, mutually beneficial
relationship, and to begin the process of including these artists
as potential participants in TAC's programs of support and
encouragement.
The Board does not appear to recognize the need to identify and
to advocate on behalf of artists and arts organizations not yet
members of TAC's clientele.
11
B TAC adheres to the City of Torontos policies on
non-discrimination but has not developed statements of such
policy particularly appropriate to the arts or to its own structure,
staffing and management arrangements.
B The Board does not have a formal orientation program, or its
equivalent, for new Board or committee members. Other
organizations have found this type of introduction to be of value.
. It is not clear who determines TAC artistic criteria. The Board?
The committees? The arts community? The staff?
B It is not easily understood how the Board engages in formal
monitoring of desired policy changes and progress.
Recommendations
The Board of Directors to:
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Ensure appropriate levels of participation, as members of TAC's
Board, Arts Discipline Committees and juries, by qualified artists
and arts and cultural workers based in the citys specific cultural
communities.
Define and articulate strategy for accessing resources needed in
the short, medium and long-term to implement fully the policy
of cultural equity while maintaining adequate levels of support
for TAC's existing clientele.
Recognize that clarity and consistency of language is of utmost
importance in all documentation, discussion and resolution of
issues relating to the principle and policy of cultural equity.
Prepare and widely circulate among the citys arts community a
clear and precise statement of Board of Directors nomination
policy and practice, Effectively publicize this policy and practice
in the media.
Widely circulate among the members of the citys arts
community a description of the working relationship between
TAC's Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees,
defining the roles and contributions of Board, Committees, staff
and arts community in the development of artistic standards
and criteria, together with a statement of existing criteria.
Develop a written policy stating TAC's policies of
nondiscrimination in terms appropriate to the arts, TAC's
structure, staff and management.
Develop ways and means of identifying, representing and
advocating on behalf of artists and arts organizations not yet
served by TAC.
Secure and provide an adequate budget to allow the
development of research into the history, evolution, present
situation, problems and prospects of those sectors of the
Toronto resident arts community based in specific cultural
communities, Make these findings available to TAC Board,
committees, juries and staff.
12 Cultural Equity
. . . I feel 1 have a
continuing responsibility to
those people, my people,
to express our idiosyncratic
view of the universe. For
too long we have been
held silent and
misunderstood.
{
. . . Canadian society still
operates by the old ways,
where beginners viewed
as being outside the
mainstream are
considered marginal
people with nothing to say.
The 80s have been a
quietly revolutionary time
for us. Sometimes in
Toronto I feel like Ive been
marooned with my own
thoughts, but it is times
like these that I look down
to find 1 am only riding the
tip of the iceberg. The 90s
will see us breaking
through in a big way and 1
believe its been long
overdue. R,A, Shiomi,
Voic e, Community,
Culture, Responsibility
Theatrurn Winter 1990/ 91
12. Appoint a committee on Cultural Equity, comprised of members
of TACs Board and Arts Discipline Committees and artists and
arts workers and supporters representative of Torontos specific
cultural communities, to assist in implementing TAC's policy on
cultural equity. After one year, this committee should provide an
evaluation of progress achieved and make recommendations
for future TAC action.
Arts Discipline Committees
Toronto Arts Council has six Arts Discipline Committees: Dance,
Music, Theatre, Literary, Visual Arts/Film & Video and
Festivals/Special Events. An additional committee, comprised of
chairs of each of the discipline committees, adjudicates applications
to the Cultural Facilities Support Grants Fund. Each committee is
chaired by one or two Board members with other committee
membership being made up of artists and arts workers with
experience and expertise related to the discipline committee on
which they serve and with an awareness of the changing artistic
practices, trends and needs of artists and arts organizations in
Toronto.
Committee members serve staggered terms of three years and
are selected through a nominating and consultative process which
includes clients of the TAC.
Committee members are responsible for making policy
recommendations to the Board of Directors on matters affecting
their discipline, for making recommendations on grants funding
requested by organizations and projects and, as members of the
Toronto Cultural Advisory Corporation, for participating at the
Annual General Meeting and the election of the Board of Directors. In
arts disciplines that have individual artists grants programs
adjudicated by independent juries, committee members are also
responsible for designing the related programs and policies and for
selection of jury members. As stated above, committees are
represented on the Board of Directors by their respective Chairs,
each of whom is a member of the Board.
Committee members are volunteers; a small honorarium is
provided annually to Arts Discipline Committee members who are
not members of the Board of Directors.
Findings
B
B
Committees recognize the need to broaden the scope of artistic
expertise in each discipline.
Committees in general are not sufficiently aware of specific
cultural communities and diverse cultural practices. Committees
have not yet fully worked out ways and means to permit them
to be responsive and accountable to the broadest possible
range of artists working in all cultural communities.
13
B Committees do not fully appreciate how dominant Eurocentric
arts and cultural influences are in determining current artistic
standards and decision-making practices.
B The nomination and selection process for committees is not
widely known and understood by artists based in specific
cultural communities.
B Some committees have made much more progress than others
in responding to issues of representation and accountability. In
this regard, during the time of the course of research conducted
for this report, it was observed that the Theatre Committee and
the Music Committee had astonishingly low representation by
artists from specific cultural communities, considering the
breadth of activity in these disciplines.
B Low levels of remuneration to Arts Discipline Committee
members can discourage many qualified artists from
participating in the demanding and time-consuming
decision-making process.
B While conflict of interest and confidentiality guidelines are
enunciated and observed, these do not exist in written form for
reference by committees or juries.
Recommendations
Arts Discipline Committees to:
13. Prepare and circulated widely among members of the citys arts
community a precise statement of Arts Discipline Committees
nomination policies and practices. Effectively publicize this
information in all relevant media.
14. Appoint increased numbers of qualified artists and arts workers
drawn from the citys specific cultural communities. Advise the
Board of Directors on matters such as the appropriate
proportion of committee membership to be drawn from specific
cultural communities in order to strengthen each committees
representative character and expertise, and on the ways and
means each committee considers effective in securing this
strengthened membership.
15. Make use of recommended research, expanded membership,
and expanded grants management activity, to increase their
knowledge of artists, arts organizations and of various artistic
practices and production based in Torontos specific cultural
communities.
16. Broaden definitions of artistic practice and production to ensure
more equitable Toronto municipal support for the arts.
17. Raise annual remuneration provided to Arts Discipline
Committee members to realistic professional levels.
18. Develop statements of general criteria for cultural grant
decision-making process and for individual artists grants
programs.
14
Cultural Equity
19.
20.
21.
Define and recommend ways and means of monitoring
committee effectiveness in various areas: achievement of
agreed-upon goals; policy development; decision-making
effectiveness; advocacy effectiveness; community mobilization
capability.
Advise the Board of Directors on appropriate proportion of
committee membership to be drawn from specific cultural
communities.
Develop and adopt written guidelines respecting conflict of
interest and confidentiality For use by both Arts-Discipline
Committees and juries.
Juries
The Toronto Arts Council has three programs of grants support to
individual artists: Grants to Writers; Grants to Visual Artists (all media
including film and video); and Grants to Choreographers; and is
currently developing a pilot program of Grants to Composers. With
one exception (Writers Grants), these programs are adjudicated by
juries rather than the standing Arts Discipline Committees. Jury
members are selected on the same basis and criteria as Board and
committee members but serve only for the adjudication period and
are paid fees for their artistic expertise based on a professional scale
established by other arts funding agencies.
Findings
It would be more equitable if all TAC individual artists grants
programs were adjudicated through annually selected juries
rather than by the same committees who make decisions on
grants to organizations and collectives.
As with Board and committee members,. artists expressed
concern that there should be appropriate participation by artists
from specific cultural communities on TAC juries. It was noted,
in particular, that culturally specific art forms must be properly
evaluated through appropriate jury expertise.
While conflict of interest and confidentiality guidelines are
enunciated and observed, these do not exist-in written form for
reference by juries.
Recommendations
22. All individual grants programs to be adjudicated by annually
selected juries.
23. Juries to be selected in advance of the application process; if
the character of applications received indicates a need for
additional expertise on the jury, additional members should be
added.
15
24. As with the Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees,
the composition of TAC juries to include appropriate
participation by qualified artists based in Torontos specific
cultural communities.
25. Written guidelines respecting conflict of interest and
confidentiality issues to be prepared and used in jury procedures.
Programs
Toronto Arts Council provides operating and project grants to
professional and community-based arts organizations and
collectives. In addition, grants are available to individual visual artists
(all media including film and video), writers and choreographers. A
pilot program of grants for composers is being launched in July 1992.
Groups applying to the Annual Cultural Grants program for
organizations and collectives have the opportunity to appeal their
grant recommendations directly to the committees which
adjudicated their grants. In addition to these grants programs, TAC
has a Loan Fund with loans of up to $5,000 available to groups as
short-term bridge financing when they are expecting a confirmed
grant but are in the meantime experiencing cashflow problems.
Grants to organizations and collectives are adjudicated by TAC
Arts Discipline Committees. The Grants to Visual Artists and Grants
to Choreographers programs are adjudicated by juries, as will be the
pilot program for composers. Writers grants have been adjudicated
by the Literary Committee but, as of the 1992 program, will be
juried. The Board of Directors has identified grants to individual
artists as a priority for expansion and development. A program of
grants to individual artists for independent theatre projects is being
developed.
TAC also manages a program of cultural facilities grants for
Toronto arts and culture organizations. This program is adjudicated
through a committee of chairs of all discipline committees. In
addition to the Cultural Facilities Support Grants program, there is a
separate, arms length City agency, Toronto Artscape, which is
mandated to make available affordable work space for Toronto
artists and arts organizations. Comments made during the course of
consultations regarding the need for facility support, separate from
the Cultural Facilities grants program, have been forwarded to
Toronto Artscape.
16
Cultural Equity
Findings
People cant accept a
black dancer on stage
unless he or she is truly
better than all the others.
Derek Reid, Les Grand
Ballets Canadiens, The
Globe and Mail, August 20,
1990
B The current ratio of successful applicants in the Grants to
Writers and Grants to Visual Artists programs is unreasonably
low. (It is considered that 20% represents a bare minimum ratio
of success in funding programs, while 40% or 50% are more
reasonable targets for healthy grants programs. The success
ratio of the Writers grants program is 15% and that for the Visual
Artists grants program is 10%.)
. Many artists from specific cultural communities are not well
represented or served by organizations already receiving grants
from TAC.
. Within specific cultural communities, organizational
development has not, in all cases, shared the history of
opportunity enjoyed by many organizations and groups already
receiving funding from TAC. This lack of organizational
development can be a barrier to receiving grants despite the
artistic and cultural merit of the applicant.
. Many groups from specific cultural communities find it difficult
to access information regarding TAC, its programs and
application processes. Indeed, many artists from specific
cultural communities are unaware of TAC and its funding
programs.
. For some artists from specific cultural communities, language
barriers hamper access to information and grant opportunities.
. Artists expressed the view that they do not wish to see dedicated
funding programs that result in marginalization or ghettoization.
. During 1991, some isolated initiatives were made by TAC
creating linkages with artists and arts and cultural organizations
in racial, cultural, and linguistic communities. However, it is
necessary to incorporate these needs in policy and program
services to ensure a coordinated process of development.
Recommendations
26. TAC to request City Council to provide budgets for individual
artists grants programs adequate to ensure an overall success
rate of at least 50% of eligible applications. This is of crucial
importance because of the strength of individual artist
applications coming from specific cultural communities.
27, TAC programs to be all-inclusive. No dedicated funding
programs to be established at this time.
28. TAC to extend its programs of individual grants to independent
theatre projects without delay.
29. TAC to encourage Arts Service Organizations to reflect the
principle of cultural equity in terms of their governance and
services to the arts community.
30. TAC to give priority to addressing the needs of developing arts
organizations based in Torontos specific cultural communities.
17
31. TAC to communicate more effectively its programs and existing
criteria. This communication initiative must extend to finding the
resources necessary to assist artists for whom language itself is
a barrier to application and information.
32. TAC to develop flexible interim initiatives, where appropriate, to
enable artists and arts organizations and groups in specific
cultural communities to benefit from TAC services. TAC also to
review criteria of existing funding programs in order to
determine whether any new programs are required.
Staff and Management
The work of the Toronto Arts Council is the responsibility, on a
day-to-day basis of the Executive Director. Assisting her is a full-time,
permanent staff of five, plus a part-time Policy Director. The TAC
also relies heavily on federal and provincial employment programs
which provide four additional staff, including the part-time Individual
Grants Officer.
All of TAC's three grants officers have responsibilities in addition
to the management and liaison of TAC's 250 organizational clients
and over 500 individual grant applicants. One grants officer also
serves as Associate Director, another has communications and
publication responsibilities, and all permanent staff assist in the
training of employment grant staff. There is no full-time
communications staff and no staff capacity for research and
development.
Management costs presently average about 7% of total budget.
Given the overload situation which faces TAC staff and
management, and TAC's commitment to the training it provides, the
current situation provides a difficult work environment and does not
lend itself to the provision of the additional service recommended in
this report.
TAC would like to have the resources to engage another grants
officer whose background would be of particular assistance in
facilitating the work of implementing cultural equity. TAC also sees
an urgent need for a full-time Communications/Publications staff
person, a significant portion of whose energy would be utilized in
developing healthy interaction between TAC and artists and arts
organizations based in specific cultural communities. An additional
full-time support person is also required.
At present, TAC does not have the resources to provide staff
with professional development training appropriate to the Councils
growing relationship with artists and arts organizations based in
specific cultural communities.
18
Cultural Equity
Findings
B TAC has insufficient staff resources to enable the Council to
implement adequately the recommendations in this Report.
B There is a need for a comprehensive TAC personnel policy
which includes hiring and equal opportunity policies, and for
professional development opportunities for staff.
Recommendations
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
Toronto Arts Council to develop a comprehensive personnel
policy, including proactive equal opportunity guidelines,
appropriate to its unique position as an arms length City
agency which is also accountable to the entire resident
non-profit arts community of Toronto.
Toronto Arts Council to seek, from Toronto City Council, the
resources to increase its budget for staff costs at the level of
grants officers and communications.
Toronto Arts Council to seek, from Toronto City Council, the
resources to enable TAC to offer its staff professional
development training similar to that available in other arms
length arts funding agencies.
Toronto Arts Council to develop a training plan for arts
administration and management based on TAC's past and
present training responsibilities and provide such training on an
ongoing basis.
Management priorities to be stated on an annual basis.
Conclusion
Everyone is entitled to fair
access to the whole pie. If
the pie is not big enough,
efforts must be made
towards expanding it. If it
is not nourishing enough,
efforts must be made to
change the recipe that has
been handed down from
generation to generation.
Neither the merit principle,
the economy, nor
productivity are
jeopardized by an opening
of the minds and systems
of any country to a
pluralistic competition.
Rosalie S, Abella,
Solidarity attacked by
exclusion: respecting
equality and diversity,
Queen s Quarterly, 1989/ 2,
Summer 1991
Moving Forward
The changing demographics of Toronto indicate the City will
continue to be culturally, racially and linguistically diverse. The
community consultation process engaged in during the course of
preparing this Report, revealed the need for the Toronto Arts Council
to undergo a process of transformation to enable the TAC to provide
broader access and more effective delivery of services to artists and
arts/cultural organizations in all cultural communities within the City
of Toronto. This review also indicated that currently African/Black,
Asian and First Nations artists are identified as the most underserved
artists from any cultural community.
A transformed process of decision-making and evaluation of
artistic issues will create more equitable distribution of TAC
resources to the arts community, will strengthen overall TAC delivery
of services and will begin immediately to narrow the gap between
artists and arts organizations receiving support and those seeking
support. The strategies stated in this Report will facilitate this process
of transformation.
This approach is integral to future arts growth. Both the
complexity of cultural, racial and linguistic differences and historic
organizational disadvantage must be addressed. The involvement of
artists and expertise based in Torontos specific cultural
communities has already led to a strengthening of TAC's perception
of its mandate. Acceptance and implementation of the
recommendations contained in this report will require effort,
additional human and financial resources, goodwill and commitment
on all sides over the long-term.
Underlying the rhetoric of access is the very real need for action.
Financial Implications
This report identifies a number of areas of TAC policy and practice
which require change, broadening and strengthening. If it is to be
capable of responding effectively to this report, TAC will require
additional resources to be applied in two major areas: enhanced
funding capability and enhanced management capability.
The financial implications of implementing this report are
detailed in the Toronto Arts Councils 1992 Strategic Plan Report.
Summarized, the necessary management enhancement is for:
engagement of additional grants officer; transfer of existing part-time
individual grants officer salary source from Job Creation funding to
TAC regular budget; engagement of additional office support person;
research and policy development, including special research on
artists and arts organizations in specific cultural communities;
communications; additional honoraria for Arts Discipline
Committees; Committee on Cultural Equity; professional
development. Taken together, this is estimated at approximately
$250,000. Enhanced grants capability would require additional
budget of approximately $1 million.
Given the current economic realities, these recommendations
will have to be phased in over time. However, all recommendations
in this Report which do not require application of additional
resources should start being implemented without delay.
Recommendation
38. It is recommended that Toronto City Council begin providing
Toronto Arts Council with additional resources as detailed in the
TAC Strategic Plan Report as soon as possible in order to
facilitate implementation of the policy of cultural equity.
22 Cultural Equity
Appendices
L Ac knowledgements
I wish to express my gratitude to each and every person who participated in the
process of my work on Cultural Equity: to every person who attended meetings,
spent time thinking and discussing issues of the state of the arts, cultural
differences and development, strategies to eliminate racism, my thanks for the
commitment and support given to the arts and culture in the city and the generous
sharing of your experience, critique and valuable advice.
I also want to acknowledge the care and support of the Sisters, of the
Toronto Arts Council Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees-and of
TAC's Executive Director, Rita Davies and Policy Director, Tom Hendry, whose
assistance was essential in completing this Report.
1 am grateful for input and advice from all areas but would like to point out
that the findings, recommendations and opinions expressed are my own.
E.A. Julian*
B Betty is an arts and cultural worker and former Director of A Space gallery. She currently works as a cultural
policy advisor and independent curator, and was recently appointed to the Board of the Ontario Arts Council.
23
Il. Terms of Reference
The terms of reference originally stated by the TAC strategic plan have developed
through consultation and discussion of the following six priority areas:
B
B
B
B
B
B
Advancement of artistic opportunities by responding to the increased number
of artists and arts and cultural organizations creating new work in all cultural
communities in the City of Toronto.
Enlargement of TAC programs and services to respond to new forms of
artistic and cultural production and practices and to the growth and
maturation of artists and arts organizations in all sectors of the non-profit
resident arts community of Toronto.
Reconstitution of TAC Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees to
represent better the expertise of a much broader spectrum of artists and arts
organizations. Specifically, Asian artists, Black artists, First Nations artists,
and all artists of colour will be represented.
Elimination of any systemic barriers of language, race and cultural bias
forming part of the existing TAC structure.
Maintenance of appropriate funding levels to existing TAC clients through
annual cultural grants.
Identification through a planning process of additional human and financial
resources needed to improve the creative environment of arts organizations
and artists in Toronto.
The stated priorities have provided a clarity of expression in examining the politics
of cultural differences, issues of equal access, and the cultural grants
decision-making process.
24
Cultural Equity
Ill. Rec ommendations
1. Endorse the principle of cultural equity as a high priority of Toronto Arts
Council and demonstrate this endorsement by including this policy as part of
the TAC Strategic Plan.
2. The Board of Directors of the Toronto Arts Council to develop a
comprehensive arts and cultural policy for the City of Toronto.
3. Brief and keep informed relevant City elected and appointed officials on the
findings of this report and on the ensuing progress towards achievement of its
stated goals.
4. TAC Board of Directors to ensure appropriate levels of participation, as
members of TAC's Board, Arts Discipline Committees and juries, by qualified
artists and arts and cultural workers based in the Citys specific cultural
communities.
5. TAC Board of Directors to define and articulate strategy for accessing
resources needed in the short, medium and long-term to implement fully the
policy of cultural equity while maintaining adequate levels of support for
TAC's existing clientele.
6. TAC Board of Directors to recognize that clarity and consistency of language
is of utmost importance in all documentation, discussion and resolution of
issues relating to the principle and policy of cultural equity.
7. TAC Board of Directors to prepare and widely circulate among the Citys arts
community a clear and precise statement of Board of Directors nomination
policy and practice. Effectively publicize this policy and practice in the media.
8. TAC Board of Directors to widely circulate among the members of the Citys
arts community a description of the working relationship between TAC's
Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees, defining the roles and
contributions of Board, Committees, staff and arts community in the
development of artistic standards and criteria, together with a statement of
existing criteria.
9. TAC Board of Directors to develop a written policy stating TAC's policies of
nondiscrimination in terms appropriate to the arts, TAC's structure, staff and
management.
10. TAC Board of Directors to develop ways and means of identifying,
representing and advocating on behalf of artists and arts organizations not yet
served by TAC.
11. TAC Board of Directors to secure and provide an adequate budget to allow
the development of research into the history, evolution, present situation,
problems and prospects of those sectors of the Toronto resident arts
community based in the specific cultural communities. Make these findings
available to TAC Board, committees, juries and staff.
12. TAC Board of Directors to appoint a committee on Cultural Equity, comprised
of TAC's Board and Arts Discipline Committees and artists and arts workers
and supporters representative of Torontos specific cultural communities, to
assist in implementing TAC's policy on cultural equity. After one year, this
committee should provide an evaluation of progress achieved and make
recommendations for future TAC action.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19,
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
Committees to prepare and circulated widely among members of the citys
arts community a precise statement of Arts Discipline Committees
nomination policies and practices. Effectively publicize this information in all
relevant media.
Committees to appoint increased numbers of qualified artists and arts workers
drawn from the citys specific cultural communities. Advise the Board of
Directors on matters such as the appropriate proportion of committee
membership to be drawn from specific cultural communities in order to
strengthen each committees representative character and expertise, and on
the ways and means each committee considers effective in securing this
strengthened membership.
Committees to make use of recommended research, expanded membership,
and expanded grants management activity, to increase their knowledge of
artists, arts organizations and of various artistic practices and production
based in Torontos specific cultural communities.
Committees to broaden definitions of artistic practice and production to
ensure more equitable Toronto municipal support for the arts.
Committees to raise annual remuneration provided to Arts Discipline
Committee members to realistic professional levels.
Committees to develop statements of general criteria for cultural grant
decision-making process and for individual artist grant programs.
Committees to define and recommend ways and means of monitoring
Committee effectiveness in various areas: achievement of agreed-upon goals;
policy development; decision-making effectiveness; advocacy effectiveness;
community mobilization capability.
Committees to advise the Board of Directors on appropriate proportion of
committee membership to be drawn from specific cultural communities.
Committees to develop and adopt written guidelines respecting conflict of
interest and confidentiality for use by both Arts Discipline Committees and
juries.
All individual grants programs to be adjudicated by annually selected juries.
Juries to be selected in advance of the application process; if the character of
applications received indicates a need for additional expertise on the jury,
additional members should be added.
As with the Board of Directors and Arts Discipline Committees, the
composition of TAC juries to include appropriate participation by qualified
artists based in Torontos specific cultural communities.
Written guidelines respecting conflict of interest and confidentiality issues to
be prepared and used in jury procedures.
TAC to request City Council to provide budgets for individual artists grants
programs adequate to ensure an overall success rate of at least 50% of
eligible applications. This is of crucial importance because of the strength of
individual artist applications coming from specific cultural communities.
TAC programs to be all-inclusive. No dedicated funding programs to be
established at this time.
26 Cultural Equity
28. TAC to extend its programs of individual grants to composers and
independent theatre projects without delay.
29. TAC to encourage Arts Service Organizations to reflect the principle of
cultural equity in terms of their governance and services to the arts
community.
30. TAC to give priority to addressing the needs of developing arts organizations
based in Torontos specific cultural communities.
31. TAC to communicate more effectively its programs and existing criteria. This
communication initiative must extend to finding the resources necessary to
assist artists for whom language itself is a barrier to application and
information.
32. TAC to develop flexible interim initiatives, where appropriate, to enable artists
and arts organizations and groups in specific cultural communities to benefit
from TAC services. TAC also to review criteria of existing funding programs in
order to determine whether any new programs are required.
33. Toronto Arts Council to develop a comprehensive personnel policy, including
proactive equal opportunity guidelines, appropriate to its unique position as
an arms length City agency which is also accountable to the entire resident
non-profit arts community of Toronto.
34. Toronto Arts Council to seek, from Toronto City Council, the resources to
increase its budget for staff costs at the level of grants officers and
communications.
35. Toronto Arts Council to seek, from Toronto City Council, the resources to
enable TAC to offer its staff professional development training similar to that
available in other arms length arts funding agencies.
36. Toronto Arts Council to develop a training plan for arts administration and
management based on TACs past and present training responsibilities and
provide such training on an ongoing basis.
37. Management priorities to be stated on an annual basis.
38. It is recommended that Toronto City Council begin providing Toronto Arts
Council with additional resources as detailed in the TAC Strategic Plan Report
as soon as possible in order to facilitate implementation of the policy of
cultural equity.
IV. Response of the Board of Directors
to the Cultural Equity Report
The Board of Directors has received Cultural Equity, a report prepared by
consultant E. A. Julian. The Report contains 38 recommendations grouped within
10 major areas of suggested action. It is based on extensive consultation with
artists based in Torontos more than 100 specific cultural communities, many of
whom, in the past, have been underserved in the provision of City of Toronto
cultural funding assistance.
The Report, commissioned by TAC, is designed to respond to the Boards
wish to focus TAC's energies on moving into step with the needs of the 21st
century so that at all times TAC's actions and activities produce solutions to
problems, rather than a perpetuation of problems.
In its response, the Board emphasized that artists based in presently
underserved communities have huge expectations of the City of Toronto through
the Toronto Arts Council. The Board of Directors of TAC cautions that present
economic conditions may not permit the immediate and rapid expansion of
budgets called for by the Report, However, as ties with previously underserved
artists strengthen, and economic conditions improve, TAC's ability to respond, as
administrators and advocates, to the increased needs and opportunities of new
clientele will grow on the basis of priorities identified by the report and endorsed by
the Board of Directors.
in receiving the Report, the Board was gratified to note that, in many
instances, Ms Julians findings and recommendations had validated expansion and
enhancement of many of TAC's existing policies, programs and practices.
. the Report calls for a continuation of non-dedicated funding as part of an
overall avoidance of any form of subsidy ghettoization;
B while avoiding quotas, the Report urges TAC to intensify its policy of
increasing the numbers of TAC's Board of Directors and Arts Discipline
Committees elected from members of Torontos underserved specific cultural
communities;
the Report further emphasizes the need for significant expansion of TAC's
individual grants programs.
The Report defines a specific cultural community as a group of persons
having a shared communication, interest or expression and whose difference from
other groups may be based on culture, ethnicity, gender, language, race or sexual
orientation. The Board agrees that this definition enlarges TAC's mandate to better
include all arts expression and production by all Toronto artists and arts
organizations/collectives. The Board also agrees with the Reports
recommendation that TAC strengthen its communications with all sectors of the
Toronto arts community.
The Board of Directors expressed its appreciation to consultant Betty Julian,
to the Strategic Planning Committee, and to the many Torontonians, artists and
arts supporters, who contributed so effectively and extensively to the consultation
process.
28 Cultural Equity
TAC Board Response to Recommendation I
Endorse and adopt the policy and principle of cultural equity and include this policy
in the TAC Strategic Plan.
The ten principal recommendations of the Cultural Equity Report have been
approved by the Board of Directors and integrated into TAC's three-year Strategic
Plan. Full implementation of the recommendations will be contingent upon
provision by City Council to TAC of additional resources required.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation II
Prepare and publish a comprehensive statement defining the overall framework of
policy within which TAC works, and of policies and guidelines governing the work of
committees and juries. Reflect implementation of policies and guidelines in annual
statement of management priorities.
Addressing the nine areas reflected in this recommendation will require resources
in the way of policy documentation and expansion which TAC does not possess at
present. TAC is presently undertaking a review and inventory of existing policies
approved by the Board and its committees and will make this information available
when completed. TAC stresses that an effective, enlarged communications
program will not be possible without increased budgets. For 1993, and succeeding
years, TAC will annually disseminate statements of management priorities together
with assessments of results. As an integral component of TAC's Strategic Plan,
implementation of the Cultural Equity policy will be monitored by the Boards
Priorities and Planning Committee, appropriately augmented.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation Ill
Ensure that TAC Board of Directors, Arts Discipline Committees and arts juries reflect
appropriate levels of participation by qualified artists and arts supporters based in
previous ly underrepres ented s pecific cultural communities .
TAC operates on the basic principle of artist empowerment as mandated by the
1974 resolution of City Council which established TAC. At that time, City Council
directed that a majority of TAC's Board of Directors be artists. The Board agrees
that Board and Committee membership should include appropriate representation
of artists from all cultural communities and began a number of years ago to make
appointments to reflect this policy. The Board is committed to enhancing this policy.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation IV
Effect an improved two-way information flow between TAC and all its
cons tituents -thos e pres ently s erved and thos e not y et s erved. Seek res ources to
enable the preparation of inventories of artis ts and arts organizations not yet served.
Full implementation of this recommendation will be contingent on TAC's receiving
the additional resources the tasks enumerated will require. The Board notes
particularly the need for information such as the recommended inventory of
presently unserved artists and organizations, since such data is of vital importance
in discharging responsibly TAC's role as arts and culture advisor to City Council.
29
TAC Board Response to Recommendation V
Broaden definitions of artistic and cultural practices.
The Board has begun the implementation process here. Committees have begun
to provide themselves with the expertise to respond knowledgeably to applications
from artists based in specific cultural communities. This responsive stance will
change to proactive as additional resources become available. The election to arts
discipline committees of members familiar with a broad range of expression has
been of particular assistance. This practice will be continued and strengthened.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation VI
Extend and enlarge programs of grants to individual artists so as to broaden access
to these resources and eliminate unacceptably low levels of applicant success.
TAC's existing policy of expanding grant programs to individual artists will
continue and is in harmony with this recommendation. The Board notes, with
regard to individual candidate success ratios, that fixed percentage targets are not
always advisable or appropriate. However, the Board agrees that present overall
success rates for individual artists are unacceptably low-due to lack of fundsin
relation to the numbers of artists applying who meet all program criteria.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation Vll
Prepare and publish a comprehensive personnel policy for Toronto Arts Council,
including employ ment equity provis ions .
Toronto Arts Council presently observes City of Toronto policies in the area; as
recommended, the Board will develop a policy tailored specifically to the needs
and situation of TAC.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation Vlll
Reflect aw arenes s of the need to res tructure TAC grant programs in order to
implement the policy of cultural equity.
The Board agrees with this recommendation and notes:
B It has always been TAC's policy to give priority to developing groups; this
policy will be maintained. Similarly, TAC's policy of nondedicated funding will
continue, as recommended by the report.
B TAC will give priority to the needs encountered by arts service organizations
in responding to the policy of cultural equity.
TAC Board Response to Recommendation IX
Strengthen and broaden TAC's relations hip w ith elected and appointed municipal
leaders hip.
The Board fully agrees with this recommendation and will intensify its efforts in this
context.
30 Cultural Equity
TAC Board Response to Recommendation X to City Council
Provide Toronto Arts Council w ith the res ources neces s ary to implement the policy of
cultural equity w ithin an overall arts s upport mandate appropriate to Torontos
s tature and richnes s of artis tic texture.
The Board underlines the importance of this recommendation by stressing that full
implementation of this report will depend on TAC's ability to acquire the additional
resources required. The present economic situation may dictate a phased
implementation process based on priorities identified by the report, approved by
the Board and embodied in published statements of TAC management priorities.
31
V. Organizations
& Individuals Consulted
Participants in meeting on Cultural Equity in the Arts Community and the Role of
the Toronto Arts Council, August 1990
Glace Lawrence
Angela Rebeiro
Ayanna Black
Marva Jackson
Fely Villasin
Arturo Fresolone
Brenda Kamino
Yuen-Ching Chow
Azadeh Moayedi
Beverly Yhap
Lina Fattah
Black Film & Video Network, Full Screen
League of Canadian Poets
Canadian Artists Network/Black Artists in Action
Carlos Bulosan Cultural Workshop
Theatre of Change
Emerald City Theatre
Panda Dance Theatre
Mithra Arts
Cahoots Theatre Projects
Ontario Arts Council
Lets Talk
In November and December 1990, the Toronto Arts Council held its Lets Talk
consultative sessions with its clients and other interested members of the arts
community. Each of the sessions for Dance, Music, Theatre, Literary, Visual
Arts/Film & Video and Festivals/Special Events addressed the topic of cultural
diversity. In addition, a special session was devoted to a forum on Cultural
Diversity. Attendees at the sessions are listed below. For a complete report on
TAC's 1990 Lets Talk sessions, please call the Toronto Arts Council.
Robert Achtemichuk
Alina Adjemiars
Robert Aitken
Ric Amis
Damir Andrei
Derek Andrews
Ellie Aylesworth
Bob Baker
Ellen Baker
Gwen Barreman
Irene Bauer
Elaine Baxter-Trahair
Marjorie Beaucage
Leo Beaulieu
Mimi Beck
Lawrence Bennett
Chris Biggs
Joanna Black
Donald Bracken
Pat Bradley
Billie Bridgman
Judy Brooks
Linda Brown
Beverly Jean Brunet
Open Studio
Independent
New Music Concerts
NRG
Independent
Harbourfront Music Program
Buddies In Bad Times
Canadian Stage Company
Dance in Canada
Metro Cultural Affairs
Full Screen
Independent
Danceworks
Independent
Toronto School of Art
Inner City Angels
Media Montage
Toronto Artscape Inc.
Metro Toronto Multicultural and Race Relations Division
Bathurst Quay Neighbourhood Association
32
Cultural Equity
Sid Bruyn
Ken Bruzual
Diana Bryden
Rex Buckle
Jeffrey Burns
Christopher Butterfield
Peter Caldwell
S. Carstairs
Derek E. Chong
Rebecca Chua
Moira Clark
Alison Conway
Terry Costantino
Andrew Cowan
David Craig
Elizabeth Czach
Michael deConinck Smith
Lucille de Saint Andre
Paolo diSanto
Damon DOliveira
Rosemary Donegan
Jim Dube
Douglas Durand
Robin Eecloo
Daria Essop
Sarah Evans
Jeff Evenson
Andy Fabo
Lina Fattah
Lorraine Filyer
Ron Francis
Fernando Freire
Mimi Gellman
Suzanne Gerhardt
Claire Gironelle
E.M. Glavin
Henry Gomez
Nic Gotham
Dina Graser
Mike Greenspoon
Sandy Greer
Cathryn Gregor
Sandra Gregory
Gary Hall
Vanessa Harwood
Sally Han
Liz Hellreich
M. Hodgson
David Huband
Dan Hudson
Beverley Hurlbut
Annette Hurtig
Tim Jones
National Festival of Canadian Theatre
Calypso Association of Canada
A Space
Independent
Independent
Arts Foundation of Greater Toronto
Creative Voc St.
Independent
Independent
Mercer Union
independent
Gallery 44
Independent
Pleasure Dome
Canadian Childrens Dance Theatre
Independent
Multicultural Dance of Ontario
Full Screen
Independent
George Brown School of Dance
Dancemakers
LIFT
Womens Art Resource Centre
Independent
Mayors OffIce, City of Toronto
Mercer Union
Theatre Plus Toronto
CMS Production
Gellman Designs
Harbourfront
Independent
Independent
Calypso Association of Canada
Hemispheres
First Night Toronto
Mariposa Folk Foundation
Periodical Writers Association of Canada
Toronto Symphony
Crows Theatre
Toronto Photographers Workshop
Independent
Theatre Passe Muraille
Urban Alliance on Race Relations
Able/Disabled Creative Arts Centre
Illustrated Men
Independent
Oriana Singers
Mercer Union
33
Bengt Jorgen
Sue Kaiser
Jack Kay
Mihan Kazemi
Joyce Kline
Elizabeth Kovac
Terri Kuhl
Eric La Delpha
Cheryl Landy
Larry Lake
William Lau
Aleida Limbertie
Sarah Lockett
Carole Logan
Karen Mac Cormack
Joe Macerollo
AlIan MacKay
Ahdri Zhina Mandiela
Jane Marsland
Malcolm Martini
Ingrid Mayrhofer
Joseph Mazurkiewicz
Dawne McFarlane
Lynn McGuigan
Duncan McIntosh
Neil McLeod
M. McMahon
Alison McTavish
Sara Meurling
Ed Mihalcin
Michael Miller
Bob Moher
Jim Montgomery
Lois Morantz
Helen Morgan
Kim Morrissey
Christine Moynihan
Peter Muir
Gregory Nixon
Chloe Onari Smith
Andrew V. Paterson
Fraser Paterson
Shannon Peet
Joost Pelt
Len Pendergast
Jake Peters
Joan Phillips
Sharon Poitras
Krys Potapczyk
John Price
Ballet Jorgen
City of Toronto, General Grants
Independent
Persian Art & Cultural Foundation
Mercer Union
International Readings at Harbourfront
Prologue
independent
Theatre Ontario/PACT
Canadian Electronic Ensemble
Independent
Community Folk Art Council of Metro Toronto
Ontario Ballet Theatre
Dance Umbrella of Ontario
Independent
New Music Concerts
The Power Plant
Independent
Danny Grossman Dance Company
A Space
National Shevchenko Ensemble
Independent
Dance Ontario
Theatre Plus Toronto
Association for Native Development
in the Performing & Visual Arts
Independent
New Music Concerts
Theatre Centre
Planning & Development Department,
City of Toronto
Young Peoples Theatre
Ground Zero Productions
Music Gallery
Inner City Angels
Independent
Equity Showcase Theatre
Theatre Ontario
Fringe of Toronto
Canadian Artists Network/
Black Artists in Action
Trinity Square Video
Independent
Sound Pressure
Harbourfront Dance Program
Visual Arts Ontario
Toronto Photographers Workshop
Independent
Theatre Ontario
34 Cultural Equity
Janis Rapoport
Leslie Robbins
Audrey Rocaja
Stan Regal
Lindsay Rogan
Audrey Rose
Colin Rose
Jennifer Ross
Spencer Rowe
Jennifer Rudder
Susan Rutledge
Gerard Seguin
George Seremba
Gwen Setterfield
Kathleen Sharpe
Valerie Siren
Lisa Steele
Lillian Stermac
Bob Stevens
Jini Stolk
Warren Sulatycky
Carolyn Taylor
Jacqueline Taylor
Jennifer Taylor
Youri Thomas
Julia Tribe
Sandra Tulloch
Norm Walford
Myles Warren
Bob White
Lucy White
Sandra Whiting
Julie Whittaker-Dus
Debbie Wilson
Winsom
Carla Wittes
Elizabeth Yake
Beverly Yhap
David Zapparoli
Lilie Zendel
Independent
Jewish Storytelling Productions
Independent
Independent
Ontario Crafts Council
Black Dancers in Canada Assoc.
Theatre Passe Muraille
The Poor Alex Group
A Space
YYZ Artists Outlet
Esprit Orchestra
Independent
Syrinx Concerts Toronto
V Tape
City of Toronto Equal Opportunity Division
Mariposa Folk Foundation
Toronto Theatre Alliance
Theatre Centre
The Word on the Street
Danceworks
Music Toronto
Independent
Topological Theatre
Theatre Ontario
Desrosiers Dance Theatre
Cabbagetown Cultural Festival
Canadian Authors Association
Harbourfront
Independent
Independent
Independent
Theatre Ontario
Independent
Cahoots Theatre Projects
Playwrights Union of Canada
Cultural Equity Focus Group
Colin Taylor Artistic Director, Theatre Wum
Ceta Ramkhalawansingh Manager, Contract Compliance Section,
Equal Opportunities Division, City of Toronto
Management Services Department
Angela Rebeiro Executive Director, Playwrights Union of Canada
Daniel David Moses Writer
Yuen-Ching Chow Lecturer, Medical Faculty, U of T/
Administrator, Panda Dance Theatre
Brenda Kamino Artistic Director, Emerald City Theatre
Individuals Consulted
Lillian Allen
Ingrid Bachman
Cameron Bailey
Luba J. Bakay
Kass Banning
Marjorie Beaucage
Leo Beaulieu
Shauna Beharry
Salome Bey
Judith Brooks
Clare Carew
Cat Cayuga
Lewis Chan
Debra Cheung
David Craig
Charmaine Dayle
Janice Dembo
Susan Ditta
Rosemary Donegan
Judith Doyle
Jules Elder
Sharon Fernandez
Lorraine Filyer
Tom Folland
Rina Fraticelli
Richard Fung
Ana Gronau
Elizabeth Hellreich
Robert Houle
Barry Isenor
Marva Jackson
Clifton Joseph
Paul Kafele
Carol Laing
Andrew Lee
Paul Lee
Keith Locke
Lana Love]]
Lani Maestro
Adhri Zhina Mandiela
Dub-poet/Writer/Cultural Worker
Visual Artist/Visual Arts Program Assistant,
Banff Centre for the Arts
Film Reviewer/Critic, NOW Magazine
Director, Ontario Folk Arts Multicultural Council
Writer/Film Critic/
Literary Committee Member TAC (1988)
Filmmaker/Cultural Worker
Director, Black Secretariat
Videomaker/Filmmaker (AKA Gallery, Saskatoon)
Playwright/Actress/Singer
Community Relations Officer,
Multicultural & Race Relations Division,
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
Visual Artist/Educator/Painter
Board Member, Association of Native Development
in the Performing and Visual Arts
President, Ethnocultural Council of Canada (Ottawa)
Architect (London, England)
Film/Photography/Video Officer,
Educator/Black Community Development (Montreal)
Coordinator, Toronto Mayors Committee
on Community & Race Relations
Head, Media Arts Section, Canada Council
Curator/Board of Directors, Euclid Theatre
Videomaker/Film Instructor, Ontario College of Art
Editor, Share
Visual Artist
Literature Officer, Ontario Arts Council
Critical Writer/
Former Assistant Curator, Power Plant
Former Executive Producer, Studio D, NFB/
Cultural Policy Advisor,
Ministry of Culture and Communications
Videomaker/Program Coordinator, Race to the Screen
Filmmaker/Instructor, Ontario College of Art
Program Officer, Urban Alliance on Race Relations
Visual Artist
Architect/C~Editor, Splinter
Coordinator, Canadian Artists Network/
Black Artists in Action
Dubpoet-at-large/Imprint Story Editor, TVO
Chair, Toronto Cares Working Group,
Community Groups Address Racism
Visual Artist/Writer
Consultant
Member, Inside/Outside Collective
Filmmaker
Videomaker/Filmmaker
Visual Artist/Co-Editor, Harbour Arts Magaz ine
Writer/Poet/Theatre Director
36
Cultural Equity
Afua Marcus
Kobena Mercer
Michael Miller
Nataley Nagy
Midi Onodera
Irene Packer
Nancy Patterson
Sheila Petty
Joan Pierre
Kirk Provo
Ian Rashid
Angela Rebeiro
Gwen Settefield
Fran Shuebrook
Roger Simon
Surindr Singh Gill
Molly Shinhat
Winston Smith
Anne-Marie Stewart
Colin Taylor
Shanti Thakur
Ronnie Thompson
Loretta Todd
Louise Trahan
Dot Tuer
Vainub Verjee
Winsom
Morris Wolfe
Lloyd Wong
Writer/Program Assistant, Images 1991
Writer/Assistant Professor Art History,
University of California, Santa Cruz
Former Artistic Director, Theatre Fountainhead
Associate Visual Arts Officer, Ontario Arts Council
Filmmaker
Board Member, Womens Art Resource Centre (WARC)
Visual Artist/Curator/Instructor, Ontario College of Art
Critical Writer/Professor Film & Video, University of Regina
Executive Director, Caribana
Independent
Poet/Writer/Cultural Worker/
Former Managing Editor, Betw een the Lines
Executive Director, League of Canadian Poets
Director of Development Ventures,
Marketing Coordinator, Full Frame Films
Professor of Critical Pedagogy and Cultural Studies,
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Race Relations Consultant, Race Relations Directorate,
Ministry of Citizenship
Photographer/Writer (Montreal)
Writer/Radio Broadcaster/Editor
Cultural Community/
Organizational Development Consultant/
Superintendent of Personnel, Toronto Board of Education
Theatre Director/Writer/Artistic Director, Theatre WUM
Filmmaker/Videomaker (Montreal)
Coordinator, Dixon Hall/Black Perspectives
Videomaker/Filmmaker (Vancouver)
Cultural Development Organizer/
Program Officer, UNESCO (Ottawa)
Critic/Writer/Curator
Independent Curator/
Media Art Director, Western Front (Vancouver)
Textile Artist
Writer
Multicultural Dramatic Film Fund Coordinator,
Liaison of independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT)
Organizations Consulted
AIDS Action Now! Full Screen Film and Video Collective
Buddies in Bad Times Lesbian and Gay Community Appeal
Canadian Native Arts Foundation Native Womens Resource Centre
Canadian Union of Postal Workers Ontario Black History Society
Cantonese Musical Club Ontario Indian Art-l-Crafts
Cecil Street Community Centre Our Times
Chinese Canadian Intercultural Association Scadding Court Community Centre
Chinese Cultural and Arts Centre Sister Vision
Coalition of Visible Minority Women Women Working with Immigrant
Cross Cultural Communications Centre Women
Diasporic African Women (DAWA) Working Women Community Centre
TAC Board of Directors as at January 1991
Pr e s i de n t Margo Bindhardt
Pa s t Pr e s ide n t J.P.S. Mackenzie
Se c r e t a r y Douglas Barrett
Tr e a s u r e r Montague Larkin
Councillor Liz Amer
Ayanna Black
Anne Collins
Mary Lou Fallis
Niv Fichman
Denise Fujiwara
Jim Garrard
Henry Kucharzyk
Glace W. Lawrence
Christian Morrison
Ian Murray
Councillor Nadine NowIan
Timothy Porteous
Norman Richmond
Banuta Rubess
lain Scott
Valerie Wilder
TAC Committees as at January 1991
Da n c e Denise Fujiwara (Co-Chair)
Valerie Wilder (Co-Chair)
John Alleyne
Pat Fraser
Pamela Grundy
Rina Singha
Fe s t iva ls / Spe c ia l Eve n t s Niv Fichman (Chair)
Billie Bridgman
Ian Jones
Marcia McClung
Ian Rashid
Evangelize Wong
Li t e r a r y Anne Collins (Chair)
Mark Czarnecki
Karen Mac Cormack
Michael Miller
Libby Scheier
Antanas Sileika
Makeda Silvera
Whitney Smith
Winston Smith
Moyez Vassanji
38 Cultural Equity
Mu s ic
Th e a t r e
Mary Lou Fallis (Co-Chair)
Henry Kucharzyk (Co-Chair)
Marion Aitken
Brainerd Blyden-Taylor
Neil Crory
Monica Gaylord
Mark Hand
Lorraine Segato
Jim Garrard (CmChair)
Banuta Rubess (C~Chair)
Tom Butler
Michael Hollingsworth
Claire Hopkinson
Marvin lshmael
Tanja Jacobs
ka Levine
Sue LePage
Gregory Nixon
Vis u a l Ar t s / Film & Vide o Ia n Mu r r a y (Co-Ch a ir )
Christian Morrison (Co-Chair)
Michael Balser
Ayanna Black
June Clark-Greenberg
Judith Doyle
Oliver Girling
Shirley Yanover
39
VI. Referenc es
Selected Bibliography
Abella, Rosalie S. Solidarity Attacked by Exclusion: Respecting Equality and
Diversity. Queens Quarter/g 98/2 Summer 1991: 353-374.
Association for Canadian Studies. Practicing the Arts in Canada. Vol 11,
Canadian Issues. Montreal: Association for Canadian Studies, 1989.
Barker, Drucilla K. Local Art Agencies, Accountability, and Artistic Quality.
Cultural Economics 88: A Canadian Perspective. Ottawa: Association for
Cultural Economics, 1989: 191-195.
Berger, Maurice. Are Art Museums Racist? Art in America September 1990:
69-77.
Berger, Maurice. The Critique of Pure Racism: An Interview with Adrian Piper.
Afterimage 18/3 October 1990.
Breton, Raymond et al. Ethnic Identity and Equality: Varieties of Experience in a
Canadian City. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990.
Breuer, Lee. The Two-Handed Gun: Reflections on Power, Culture, Lambs, Hyenas,
and Government Support for the Arts. The Village Voice, 20 August 1991.
Brown, Louise. Wake-up, color blind feminists. Toronto Star, 14 March 1989.
California Arts Council. California Dialogue II: Artistic Quality/Cultural Survival
(Report from the Second Annual Issues Conference for Multi-Cultural Arts
Organizations). Los Angeles, December 1987.
Canadian Conference of the Arts. A Strategy for the Funding of the Cultural
Sector. September 1990.
Chartrand, Harry Hillman et al. Cultural Economics 88: A Canadian Perspective.
Ottawa: Association for Cultural Economics, 1989.
Chartrand, Harry Hillman. Creativity and Competitiveness: Art in the Information
Economy. Arts Bulletin, November 1990.
Chater, Nancy. Someone Hume happens to be . . . Toronto Star writer loses
himself in reflections on Black art. Fuse (Issue 4, 1991).
Chua-Eoan, Howard G. Ups and Downs in Toronto. Time, 21 October 1991: 84.
Clifford, James, The Predicament of Culture: Twentieth Century Ethnography,
Literature, and Art Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988.
Nottingham, Laura. The Feminine De-Mystique: Gender, Power, Irony, and
Aestheticized Feminism in 80s Art. Flash Art Summer 1989: 91-95.
Edsall, Thomas Byrne, with Mary D. Edsall. RACE. The Atlantic Monthly
May 1991: 53-86.
Fanon, Franz. Black Skin, White Masks. New York: Grove Press, 1967.
Ferguson, Russell et al. Out There: Marginaliz ation and Contemporary Cultures .
Cambridge: MIT Press and The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York,
1990.
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1985.
Greater London Arts. Arts P/ an for London, 1990-1995. London, England. 1990.
Greater London Council (GLC). GLC Annual Report 1984.
40
Cultural Equity
Hall, Stuart. The Emergence of Cultural Studies and the Crisis of the Humanities.
October 53 Summer 1990: 11-28.
Hall, Stuart. The Popular Arts. Boston: Beacon Press, 1964.
Hendry, Tom. Role of Data in Local Cultural Planning. Cultural Economics 88:
A Canadian Perspective. Ottawa: Association for Cultural Economics, 1989:
262-269.
Home, Stewart. The Assault On Culture: Utopia Currents From Lettrisme To
Class War. London: Aporia Press and Unpopular Books, 1988.
hooks, bell. Yearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural Politics. Toronto: Between the
Lines, 1990.
Hume, Christopher. Culture or Multiculturalism. Toronto Star, 3 March 1991.
Litt, Paul. The Massey Commission, Americanization, and Canadian Cultural
Nationalism. Queens Quarterlg Summer 1991: 373387.
Lord, Catherine. Bleached, Straightened, and Fixed: The Cooptation of Cultural
Pluralism. IYew Art Examiner February 1991: 25-27.
Maart, Rozena. African Oral Power: In Defiance of the Colonialism of the Written
Word. Fuse (Issue 5 & .6, 1991): 18-21.
MacDonald, Bryden. NOT Leaving Home: Growing up Artistically in Atlantic
Canada. Theatrum Winter 1990/91: 15-18.
Mohamed, Abdul R. Jan. Colonialist Literature. Race, Writing and Difference,
ed. Henry Louis Gates, University of Chicago, 1985.
New Democratic Party of Ontario. Work of Art. NDP Party Policy on the Arts in
Ontario, 1984. Ontario, 1984.
New York African American Institute, State University of New York. Towards
Cultural Democracy: The Development and implementation of a
Multicultural Arts Policy for New York State. Document #88-5, January 1989.
Owusu, Kwesi. The Struggle for Black Arts in Britain: What Can We Consider
Better than Freedom. London: Comedia Publishing Group, 1986.
Pareles, Jon. A New Respect for FolkBut Black Tie Optional. New York Times,
28 October 1990.
Philip, Marlene Nourbese. Canadian Literature in Black Type. Notes From the
Underground, 28 April 1990.
Philip, Marlene Nourbese. The Six-Percent Solution. Fuse Fall 1990: 28-29.
Pindell, Howardena. Art (World) and Racism: Testimony, Documentation and
Statistics. Third Text 314 Spring/Summer 1988: 160.
Pindell, Howardena. Breaking the Silence: On Art World Racism. New Art
Examiner October 1990: 18-23.
Pindell, Howardena. Breaking the Silence: On Art World Racism Part II. New Art
Examiner November 1990: 23-27, 50-51.
Piper, Adrian. The Joy of Marginality. ArtPapers 144 November 1990: 12-13.
Robertson, Clive Bad Press, Bad Government, Bad Strategies? Arts Bulletin,
November 1990.
Rosaldo, Renato. Others of Invention: Ethnicity and Its Discontents. The Village
VoiceLiterarg Supplement, February 1990.
Ross, Andrew. No Res pect: lntel[ectuals and Popular Culture. New York:
Routledge, 1989.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon, 1978.
Schmidt Campbell, Mary. Speaking Out: Some Distance to Go . . . Art In
America, September 1990: 78-85.
Scheier, Libby, with Lenore Keeshig-Tobias. Writing Authentic Voices: The Writers
Union and Anti-racism. Fuse 15, nos. 1-2 (Fall 1991): 14-15.
Shaw, Douglas V. et al. Cultural Economics: An American Perspective. Ottawa:
Association for Cultural Economics, 1989.
Shiomi, R.A. Voice, Community, Culture, Responsibility and Visible Minority
Playwrights. Theatrum Winter 1990/91.
Spivak, Guyatri. In Other Worlds. New York: Metheun, 1987.
Srivastara, Aruna. lMAG(in)lNG RACISM: South Asian Canadian Women Writers.
Fuse 15, nos. 1-2 (Fall 1991): 26-34.
Stevens, Louise K. Stages i n Growth in Cultural Organizations: The Artistdriven
Versus Community-driven Organization. Cultural Economics: A Canadian
Perspective. Ottawa, Association for Cultural Economics, 1988: 1-18.
Tippet, Maria. Making Culture: English Canadian Institutions and the Arts
before the Massey Commission. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990.
Tompkins, Alan. The State and Public Cultural Policies (Paper from GLCS
Cultural Industries and Cultural Policy in London conference). London,
England, Greater London Council Department for Recreation and the Arts,
1989.
Valpy, Michael. Culture Shock for Canadians. Globe & Mail, 8 April 1991.
Vassanji, M.G. Cultural Identity Survives First Generation. Toronto Star, 30 July
1991: 15.
Vincent, Isabel. Having the habits of mind. Globe& Mail, 9 February 1991.
Wallace, Michelle. Invisible Blues: From Pop to Theory. New York: Verse, 1990.
Wallis, Brian, ed. Art After Modernism: Rethinking Representation. Cambridge:
MIT Press and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 1987.
Wallis, Brian, ed. Blasted Allegories: An Anthology of Writings by Contemporary
Artists. Cambridge: MIT Press and the New Museum of Contemporary Art,
New York, 1987.
West, Cornel. The New Cultural Politics of Difference. Out There:
Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures, ed. Russell Ferguson et al. MIT
Press and the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, 1990: 19-36.
Toronto Arts Council Documents
Cultural Capital: The Care and Feeding of Torontos Artistic Assets. (by Tom
Hendry) Toronto Arts Council, 1985.
City of Toronto Arts and Culture Community: Financial Trends 1981-1987 with
Projections to 1999. Toronto Arts Council, March 1988.
No Vacancy: A Cultural Facilities Policy for the City of Toronto. Toronto Arts
Council, 1988.
1987 Annual Report. Toronto Arts Council, 1988.
Annual Report 1988-1989. Toronto Arts Council, 1990.
Toronto Arts Council 1, no. 1 (March 1988); no. 2 (October 1988). (newsletters)
42
Cultural Equity
Submission in Support of 1991 Cultural Budget. Toronto Arts Council,
November 30, 1990.
November 10, 1989.
November 25, 1988.
Report(s) to Toronto City Council from Toronto Arts Council:
Recommendations for City of Toronto Arts and Culture Grants:
1991 June 14, 1991 1987 May 28, 1987
1990 June 1, 1990 1986 June 6, 1986
1989 May 16, 1989 1985 May 31, 1985
1988 May 24, 1988
Lets Talk 1990. Toronto Arts Council, 1991.
Lets Talk Report (1987 Lets Talk sessions). Toronto Arts Council, 1988.
Lets Talk Questionnaire (1987 Lets Talk Sessions). Toronto Arts Council, 1987.
City of Toronto Documents
Equal Opportunity Division, Management Services Department, Equality in
Employment. . . RIGHTS for todays workplace. July 1989.
Equal Opportunity Division, Management Services Department. City as a Model: A
Paper prepared for the City of Toronto by the Institute on Women and
Work. (Linda Schachter and Catherine Scott) February 1990.
Health Department. Healthy Toronto 2000. September 1988.
Management Services Department. Review of the City of Torontos Multicultural
Access Program. (Arnold Minors, Arnold Minors and Associates) June 1991.
Planning and Development Department. Arts Policies. Cityplan 91 Proposals
Report June 1991: 381-392.
Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto Documents
The Composition and Implementation of Metropolitan Torontos Ethnic, Racial
and Linguistic Populations. Report Commissioned by Multicultural and Race
Relations Division, Chief Administrative Ofticers Department, March 1990.
Ethno-Racial Access to Metropolitan Services and Establishment of a
Translation and Interpreter Bureau. Report #23 of the Management
Committee, August 1990.
Committees of the Board**
VII. Toronto Arts Council
Organization Chart
Membership
of the
Toronto Cultural
Advisory Corporation*
I
Board of Directors Arts Discipline Committees
k
Vlll. Toronto Arts Council
Cultural Grants Budget 1991
Organizations/ Collectives
Theatre*
Music
Dance
Visual Arts
Film & Video
Literary
Festivals
Interdisciplinary
Interim Grants
Individuals
Choreographers
Writers
Visual Artists
Composers
Theatre Artists
Grants Management
Cultural Facilities
TOTAL BUDGET
1991
Actual Met
$1,440,590
$675,990
350,000
390,512
223,750
31,800
558,800
69,048
264,738
82,700
203,000
180,000
80,000
0
429,577
820,000
5,800,505
% of 1991
Requests
80
75
80
56
83
98
67
62
44
54
17
10
72
41
% of
Budget
25
12
6
7
4
1
10
1
5
1
3
3
7
14
100
45
IX. Toronto Arts Council
Board and Committee Members
June 1992
Board of Directors
President Margo Bindhardt
Secretary Douglas Barrett
Ayanna Black
Anne Collins
Councillor Betty Disero
Mary Lou Fallis
Niv Fichman
Denise Fujiwara
Henry Kucharzyk
Da n c e
CoChair Denise Fujiwara
Co-Chair Valerie Wilder
Conrad Alexandrowicz
Anna Blewchamp
Pamela Grundy
Audrey Rose
Rina Singha
Th eat r e
Co-Chair Michael Hollingsworth
Co~Chair Banuta Rubess
Paul Bettis
Claire Hopkinson
Marvin lshmael
Tanja Jacobs
Sue LePage
Daniel Maclvor
Gregory Nixon
Sandi Ross
Vis u a l Ar t s / Film & Vide o
Co-Chair June Clark-Greenberg
Co~Chair Christian Morrison
Michael Balser
Rebecca Belmore
Stan Denniston
Judith Doyle
Cyndra MacDowall
Pas t Pr es iden t Jack Mackenzie
Tr e a s u r e r Montague Larkin
Glace W. Lawrence
Councillor Howard Levine
Christian Morrison
Timothy Porteous
Norman Richmond
Banuta Rubess
lain Scott
Makeda Silvera
Valerie Wilder
Committees
Fes t ivals / Special Even t s
Chair Niv Fichman
Catherine Gregor
Ian Jones
Ali Kazimi
Angela Lee
Leila MacKenzie
Evangelize Wong
Mu s ic
Co-Chair Mary Lou Fallis
Co-chair Henry Kucharzyk
Marion Aitken
Lawrence Beckwith
Rob Bowman
Mark Hand
Annette Sanger
Lorraine Segato
Lit er ar y
CmChair Anne Collins
Co-Chair Makeda Silvera
Mark Czarnecki
Libby Scheier
46 Cultural Equity
SUBMISSION IN SUPPORT OF
1995 CULTURAL BUDGET
TORONTO ARTS COUNCIL
JANUARY 1995
c
URRENTLY there is probably no Canadian manufactur-
ing or resource company that can beat the governments
subsidy/foreign earnings ratio of Cirquede Soleils deal with
Japan and Las Vegas... These successes are strongly related to the de-
velopment of an arts community through government sponsorship;
and this should not be surprising. Arts grants go to people who, by
definition, are involved innovation and who are required to respond
continually to developments in their field. A large percentage of them
are evolving skills around media-related (i.e. service sector) occupa-
tions. Most of them-in music, cinema, theatre and increasingly the
fine arts-have to work (as The Economist wished the business
world would) cooperatively. Paradoxically (and perhaps unfairly)
these people come cheap, given that they count what they do rather
than what they get an important part of their quality of life. They also
seem to be willing to work for an income level that is consistently
lower than that of people with similar educational qualifications
working in other areas, despite the fact that they are often at the
cutting edge of the technological economy (just ask any state-of-the-
art computer or electronics/video company who is trying out their
prototype equipment for them.)
Michael Mackenzie, Artist, United Nations Consultant, Visiting Fellow
at the Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University.
1
Property taxes paid
by the resident non-
profit arts and
culture community
artists and
organizations-now
total at least $40
million yearly: about
eight times the total
annual City of
Toronto cultural
grants budget
The growing seniors
market for the arts
will lead to strong
gains in admissions
revenues for the
arts and culture in
Toronto over the
next two decades
INTRODUCTION
As the City of Torontos arms length advisor on the arts and culture we are submit-
ting this budget request for 1995. In order to sustain the job-creating growth and the
creative momentum of Torontos non-profit arts and culture community in 1995 we
are requesting $5,531,209, which represents a small increase to the Cultural Grants
Program.
We recommend that the City reinstate $217,857 to the cultural grants base. This
amounts to 34% of the $642,000 that has been cut from the base during 1992, 1993
and 1994. This partial reinstatement is only a 4.1% increase over our 1994 budget
and a freeze to the Administration Program.
City of Toronto
Grants Budgets 1991 to 1995
5.5
r
I
4.8
4.7
4.6
1991 1992 1993 1$94 * Proposed 1995
Overall annual non-
profit sector and
commercial theatre
cash flows in
Toronto have
climbed over half a
billion dollars and
generate total
economic impacts
of over $2 billion
Cultural tourism
now brings Toronto
over $1 billion a
year
7 million people
attend theatre in
Toronto every year,
half of them visitors
and most from the
United States
Why is 1995 the time to partially reinstate cuts to cultural
grants budgets?
1. Organizations and collectives have performed excellently as creators of
employment for the City during the recession, but in so doing have stretched
their resources to the breaking point. The City is in danger of losing produc-
tive groups and the jobs they offer. Over the past decade, audiences for the
arts have more than doubled and numbers of arts organizations have increased
to meet the demand. The population of organizations and collectives receiving
cultural grants-and the jobs they provide-has grown 30% from 189 organi-
zations in 1987 to 307 organizations in 1994. During the same period overall
annual cash flow has increased by $30 million.
Since 1991 this increased number of organizations has shared a shrinking pool
of City-provided resources.
2. Individual artists have always been the bedrock of Torontos success as Can-
adas cultural capital. For at least a century, the City has expressed its support
for individual artists in various waysprizes, awards, and citations-culmi-
nating in the present program of grants to individual artists. However, com-
parisons of numbers of applications with grants yearly awarded tell a discour-
aging story.
Applications vs. Grants Awarded 1994
Visual Artists Writers
Applied Grants Applied Grants
Programs with such low success rates lose credibility. Year after year, TAC
juries have reported that they could have given double the awards that budgets
permitted, and still remained within strict parameters of merit. The budget re-
quested will permit a 5% increase to composers grants, 8% to visual artists
grants, and 8% to writers grants. Even these slight improvements will be of
great value to hard-pressed working artists.
3
Stores and restau-
rants near the AGO
report business
increased between
10-30% during the
Barnes exhibit
Since the Barnes
exhibit opened in
September, an
estimated 100,000
visitors have taken
the TTC to and
from the AGO for a
gain of 200,000
rides over last year
at the same time
At least 56,000
Barnes visitors
came as part of a
package tour and
spent an average of
nearly two nights in
a hotel, 330/. above
expectations of
42,000
1500
1000
500
0
NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVED BETWEEN
1991 AND 1994
1994
IN 1993, TAC IN RESPONSE TO 5% BUDGET CUT ($262,000) CANCELLED TWO GRANT PROGRAMS
The Citys response has not kept pace with the effort put forward by our artists and
arts organizations. As the Citys advisors in this area, we wish to draw this to the
attention of City Council and to suggest the time to begin remedial action is now.
B 307 organizations and 145 individuals received $4.7 million in
cultural grants from the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts
Council in 1994;
B total expenditures were more than $220 million;
B the City contribution levered more than $98 million from other
governments;
B City contribution was matched more than 3:1 by the private
sector;
B There are 15million annual attendances at arts and culture events
in Toronto, not including films and rock concerts;
B Attendances at arts and culture events in Toronto have more than
doubled since 1980.
Cutbacks totalling
$642,000 in annual
cultural grants
budgets since 1991
now cost Toronto at
least 200 full-time
and 800 part-time
new jobs in the non-
profit arts and
culture community
each year. The
modest increase of
a little over 4% for
the 1995 cultural
grants budget will
immediately restore
at least one-third
of these lost
employment
possibilities
HOW CAN THE CITY SUPPORT THE CULTURAL WORK FORCE?
B In Metro and Toronto 1 in 8 jobs is arts and culture related.
B The cultural work force of Toronto, with the non-profit arts and culture com-
munity as its training mainspring, now numbers 160,000 full-time or part-time
workers. By 1996, when new census figures will be available the global total
may well be 200,000.
B Film and television producers originally lured to Toronto by the cheap Cana-
dian dollar have put out the word: the Toronto talent poolperformers,
writers, technicians, suppliers-offers first-class creativity in every area de-
manded by world-class production. Toronto joined New York and Los Angeles
in 1994 as a city hosting more than 1,000 film and major television productions.
B Almost 70 cents of every arts cash flow dollar goes directly into jobs through
salaries, and fees. The arts are the most labour-intensive area of work we
have. Generating a job in the arts in Toronto costs ten times less than in tradi-
tional light industry-roughly $20,000 vs $200,000.
Impact of the Cultural Sector on Jobs
in Metro Toronto 1989-1992
250
Direct +
Indirect Jobs
Other Arts
Related
COST TO GENERATE ONE JOB
Arts Industry
Job Creation in the Arts Is Quick and lnexpensive-Source: Statistics Canada/
Canada Council
5
Ive never had a
grant and Im not
looking for a grant.
But Im dependent
on what arts
granting agencies
do. Over the last
30 years Ive built
an organization of
people who have
come out of the
non-profit sector,
and am now
employing 1,345
people. With
another 10 years
investment in the
arts Toronto could
become an exporter
of major shows
David Mirvish, speaking at
City of Toronto Economic
Development Committee
.
According to StatsCan, the arts and arts-related work in industry and the cul-
tural industries in Toronto now provide more jobs than manufacturing, trans-
portation, the utilities, business services, finance and real estate combined.
DIRECT EMPLOYMENT IN TORONTO
1990 Industry Comparison
Utilities
Transportation
Manufacturing
31,000
Finance
Business Insurance
Cultural
Services Real Estate
Industries
56,000 79,000
160,000
Source: Actual Figures based on 1988 Canada Labour Force study. Assumed no growth through 1990 due
to recession. Numbers rounded.
Source: Estimate based on census direct employment statistics of Statistics Canada, extrapolatad to 1990.
Expenditures Distribution for Toronto
Salaries, Fees & Other Remuneration (66.7%)
Non Profit Arts & Culture
(33.3%) Other Expenditures
B Employment in the cultural sector centred in Toronto increased between 1988
and
-
1992 by 11% at a time when jobs in other sectors of the economy declined
by 9% in the Metro area.
B Jobs in the arts are real jobs, lasting jobs. Isnt it time to start betting on a
winner again?
Toronto Arts
Councils
sponsoring of
ArtWorks, a
summer arts
employment and
training program for
youth, particularly
Black, Asian, and
First Nations
communities has
been hailed by
provincial
authorities as the
most successful
youth program in
the province
Artists of colour
and aboriginal
artists in Toronto
have responded
overwhelmingly
to TACS policies
of inclusion in
decision-making
and the overall
grants process.
Toronto is now
recognized
nationally as a
leader in pro-active
implementation of
cultural equity
When we talk
about what makes
us different from
Americans, we
often refer to our
heaith-care system
or our social safety
net... what really
defines the
difference is... our
culture and the
values and
experiences
expressed in that
culture...
David Crane, Economic
Editor, The Toronto Star
THE CULTURAL VISION
Full employment is necessary to municipal health, but a great city is something more
than a collection of jobs.
Toronto, a city functioning as the heart of Canadas industrial, commercial, economic,
financial, educational and cultural heartland, has recently come in for a healthy share
of international recognition:
. Fortune Magazine rates Toronto as the seventh best city in the world in which
to do business.
B Places Rated Almanac ranks Toronto as the 5th most culturally livable city,
out of 343 surveyed in all of North America.
B UNESCO calls Toronto the worlds most multicultural city!
The dynamic role of culture was important if not central to each of these tributes.
More and more, the shape and thrust of a new and unique Toronto culture is being
formed and nourished by the artists, arts workers, cultural practitioners developing
within our more than one hundred specific cultural communities.
In 1992 TAC adopted Cultural Equity as a guiding principal for a policy of inclusion,
embracing artists and arts organizations based in all of Torontos more than 100
distinct cultural communities. The new policy was welcomed by arts and culture
practitioners, and accelerated participation rates by Black, Asian, First Nations artists
at TAC board, staff, committee and jury levels. In December of 1993, in Toward Full
Inclusion, its guide to productive institutional change, the Canadian Heritage Depart-
ment cited Toronto Arts Council as a model to be studied and followed nationally.
In a recent article in The Toronto Star, Antoni Shelton pointed to the economic indica-
tors that add to the already compelling cultural, social and equity arguments for in-
cluding distinct cultural communities in municipal investment: In a study conducted
by Goldfarb for the Race Relations Advisory Council on Advertising, it is projected
that by the year 2001, visible minorities will have projected per capita Gross Domestic
Product of almost $55,000, thus representing more than $300 billion combined pur-
chasing power.
Despite diminishing budgets, TAC has invested in successful and low-cost programs
such as Fresh Arts, Native Women in the Arts, Black Artist Service Organization.
Exciting new groups are now demonstrating that the Toronto policy of inclusion
works. These evolving groups represent the kind of truly exciting cultural diversity
that will change forever Torontosand the world svision of our City. The cultural
future is shaping itself and we must be ready, as a City to respond productively to its
challenges and opportunities. The small budget increase requested by TAC will
provide us with a measure of budget flexibility to respond to this exciting challenge
which will return significant cultural, community and economic benefits to our city.
During 1992, the
professional
performing arts in
Toronto outdrew
of all attendees
went to the arts
versus 370/o for
sports
The theatre,
galleries and
museums, dance,
opera and
symphony have
draped the city with
a cultural fabric that
is among the
broadest in North
America. When we
have a film festival
or a great art exhibit
like the Barnes, or a
play, what were
really doing is
layering the city
with attractions.
Adam Mayers,
Business Reporter,
The Toronto Star and
quoting David Mirvish
ECONOMIC IMPACT
We Have To Invest To Compete
The performing arts in Toronto, excluding commercial music, now produce total
annual economic impact in excess of $2 billion.
In 1989 the sector produced 3.2% of Ontarios gross domestic product and a
provincial cash flow of $9 billion, with $7 billion of this in Toronto. New data,
which will be updated in 1995 and in 1996 as part of census activity, will show
impressive gains here.
76% of all arts and culture production in Ontario happens in Toronto. In 1989 this
activity produced further economic impact here of $6 billion. The annual total is now
much higher, but up-to-date information on current levels is not yet available.
Toronto Non-Profit Arts and Culture SectorTotal Cash Flow
All of this production is based primarily on the creative efforts of the Toronto
pool of artistic talent now ranked as one of North Americas three greatest: New
York, Los Angeles, Toronto. L.A. recently quadrupled its arts-support budget to
$25 million; New York, in 1990, provided grants support of $90 million.
Economic Impact of the Cultural Sector
in Metro Toronto on GDP, 1989-1992
Direct Impact
Combined Direct &
Indirect Impact
Toronto has become
the third-largest
theatre centre in the
English-speaking
world, after New
York and London,
with annual gross
revenues of
$150,000,000 (Us.)
-compared with
$300,000,000 for
London and
$345,000,000 for
New York
During 1994,
film and television
producers spent
in Toronto a
record total of
$489 million, 54%
more than 1993s
previous high of
$317 million
City of Toronto Film snd
Television Office
arts and culture community equal at least $40 million annually.
B Cultural tourism brings Toronto $1 billion in visitor spending each year.
Many travel agents in border states of the USA now prefer to send their clients
to Toronto rather than New York City for a rewarding, exciting cultural
experience.
Non Profit Arts in Toronto
Sources of Overall Revenue 1991-1992
(150% Other Income
(17.60%$ MCTR
B Social scientist/economist J. Marc Davidson Schuster of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology tells us that the ability of a resident artistic community
of artists and arts organizations to attract non-municipal support from other
levels of government and the private sector depends primarily on the numbers
of artists and arts organizations resident in the municipality. Simply by being
here, living here, working here, Toronto artists bring into the core community
cash flows of more than $100 million in subsidies annually. Every penny of
this goes to reduce ticket prices and other user fees for Torontonians and
visitors from other parts of Metro, the GTA and elsewhere.
The costs of
cost-cutting are not
immediately
apparent: but they
can be devastating
over the medium
and long term...lf
there is any lesson
in the past 20 years
of business activity,
it is that without
innovation, vision,
the future is
mortgaged...lt is
important to realize
that cost-cutting is
not a business
strategy, but a
consequence of not
having one.
Progressive
business leaders
understand this
John Dana Costa,
business consultant,
writing in The Globe and
Mail
1995 REQUEST: THE CULTURAL GRANTS BUDGET
The Board of Directors of the Toronto Arts Council is requesting:
$4,944,055 1995 Cultural Grants Program
587. 154 1995 Administration Program (unchanged from 1993 and 1994)
$5,531,209 1995 Toronto Arts Council Cultural Grants base budget (as
compared to 1992 base budget of $5,762,707)
The Toronto Arts Council appreciates that the benefits of the present economic
recovery will take time to be translated fully into significantly improved tax revenues
for the City of Toronto.
Nevertheless, TAC considers that our best possible advice to City Council at this
time as to how most effectively to protect and enhance the Citys investment in
Torontos non-profit arts and culture sector is to provide the small increase recom-
mended in this report.
The recommended partial reinstatement of the cultural grants base will enable TAC
to implement modest encouragement incentives averaging 5% for organizational
sectors and 7% for individual artists.
In 1992, the cultural grants budget represented 1.78% of the general levy. Budget
cuts reduced the 1993 cultural grants budget level to 1.62% and in 1994 to 1.58% of
the general levy. The recommended 1995 budget will represent 1.65% of the general
levy, approximately the same as 1993s level but still below the 1992 level.
CULTURAL GRANTS BUDGET AS A PERCENTAGE
OF ANNUAL GENERAL LEVY
I would like to
thank the Toronto
Arts Council for
supporting the
Dancing the
Goddess project
when it was only an
idea in my mind and
so many words
on paper. The credit
is to be shared all
around...we
achieved an
audience attendance
record of 960/.
(five of the six
performances were
sold out)
Patricia Beatty,
recipient 1990 Grants to
Choreographers
Toronto can be a
wonderful city for
writers; while I was
raised in Winnipeg
(and still love it), I
have chosen
Toronto as my
home precisely
because there is an
environment here
which promotes and
develops creative
production. Hats
off to the Council
for establishing this
new grant. We
really do need all
the help we can get
Rhea Tregebov, recipient
1987 Grants to Writers
CONCLUSION
Community, Culture and Commerce
Amid all the good news about the arts, TACS most recent analysis of medium-
term economic trends provides some disturbing new information. During the three
years beginning in 1989, arts and culture community economic growth slowed,
stopped and began very slightly to decline. In 1992, the arts experienced the
beginnings of recovery along with other economic sectors. But three precious
years of budget expansion have been lost. In 1995, we will be lucky if the Toronto
arts economy equals 1991-92 levels of activity.
Consultations with artists and their organizations indicate that the resources of the
community are stretched to the point of breaking. The danger is that, having
survived the worst of the recession, parts of the community will find they have
used up, in simply staying alive through a difficult period, all the reserves of
energy and imagination they require to regain missing impetus and growth. Full
details will be available in TACS forthcoming update to Financial Trends.
However modest the increase to the arts and culture budget the non-profit arts and
culture community of Toronto urgently needs a 1995 vote of confidence. In a
front-page editorial, The Toronto Star recently stated that Torontos future success
as a city will be based on community, culture and commerce. With City participa-
tion, the non-profit arts and culture network of Toronto will continue its signifi-
cant role in all three areas.
11
I believe (Loud
Co/ours) is an
appropriate work to
showcase at the
Worlds Fair in
Osaka because it
represents Toronto
and Ontario as part
of a pluralistic
society...l hope you
will be proud to
have the Toronto
Arts Council
credited for its
support of this work
at the Worlds Fair
90 in Japan
Denise Fujiwara,
recipient 1989 Grants to
Choreographers
What seems to be
different about
Canada is that the
best talent doesnt
necessarily
always rush off to
Hollywood at the
first opportunity.
Weve seen some
extraordinary
people, and again I
have to say, this is
not hype. We have
done two major
casting sweeps
and weve seen
people of such
extraordinary
quality and its
been a delight to
cast the show
[Tommy in
Toronto].
Pete Townshend,
interview with Peter
Gzowski, Morningside
ADDENDA
A. Statement of Basic Function
The Toronto Arts Council advises the City of Toronto on the allocation of
cultural grants and on municipal policy regarding arts and culture in general.
B. Budget Overview Statement
The requested amount of $5,531,209 reflects:
i) reinstating 4.1% of the cultural grants base, approximately one-third
of the cuts to the Toronto Arts Councils budget since 1991;
ii) a continued freeze on the TACS administration budget.
Toronto Arts Councils budget request mirrors the Citys attempt to maximize
reduced dollars in order to continue existing services and to meet new demands
within a changing environment.
Anne Collins, President
On behalf of the Board of Directors
12
June 1995
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Anne Collins
President
Margo Bindhardt
Past President
Diana Cafazzo
Secretary
Sam Marinucci
Treasurer
Miriam Adams
Darrell Calvin
Barbara Carey
Stan Denniston
Paul de Silva
Councillor Betty Disero
Writer and editor. Member of Writers Union of
Canada.
Chairman and Past President, Canadian Opera
Company; trustee and Past President, Art Gallery of
Ontario; First Vice-President, Toronto International
Festival; past board member of Ballet Opera House
Corporation, Toronto Arts Awards and Young
Peoples Theatre.
Lawyer. Partner, McMillan, Binch: specialist in the
area of media, entertainment and communications law.
Chartered accountant. Former treasurer of the
Canadian Music Centre.
Former dancer, teacher, choreographer, performance
artist. Co-director of Dance Collection Danse.
Member of the Board, Toronto Artscape and Judy
Jarvis Dance Foundation. Past Board member, Dance
Umbrella of Ontario and Dancer Transition Centre.
Music Director of Orpheus Choir of Toronto. Former
Music Director of St. Pauls Anglican Church.
Events consultant, Youth Assisting Youth. Senior
Management, Performing Arts Society. Board
member, Miami Film Festival; member, International
Society of Performing Arts Administrators; past
member, New York Drama Desk. City appointment to
TAC Board of Directors.
Poet and critic. Managing Editor of Books in Canada.
Visual artist. Fine art teacher, University of Guelph;
co-founder, Womens Photography Cooperative; past
director, Winters College Art Gallery, York
University.
Visual artist. Member, Artists Cooperative of
Toronto; founding director, YYZ Artists Outlet;
organizer for Independent Artists Union. Independent
artist member of CARFAC Copyright Collective
Committee.
Filmmaker and broadcaster. President and Executive
Producer, Jenfilms Inc.
City Councillor for Ward 12. City appointment to
Mary Lou Fallis
Patrick Gossage
Ian Graham
Danny Grossman
Peter Jacobsen
Sandra Laronde
Glace W. Lawrence
Jim Leech
Sue LePage
Leila MacKenzie
Councillor Pam McConnell
David Rothberg
Makeda Silvera
Molly Thorn
Soprano. Appears regularly as guest soloist with
Canadian symphony orchestras and in numerous
oratorio engagements.
President, Media Profile public relations and corporate
affairs group.
Managing Partner, Quantum Mortgage Advisors Inc.
City appointment to TAC Board of Directors.
Choregrapher, dancer. Founder and Artistic Director,
Danny Grossman Dance Company.
Playwright, director. Founding director,
VideoCabaret.
Civil litigation lawyer. Partner, Paterson,
McDougall. Specialist in the area of administrative
law.
Actor, cultural activist. Founder and director, Native
Women in the Arts.
Film/video maker. Founding member of Black Film
and Video Network, CAN: BAIA, and Full Screen film
& video makers of colour coalition.
President, CEO and Director, DISYS Corporation.
Past Chairman of the Board, Canadian Stage
Company.
Set and costume designer for theatre, opera and dance.
Member and past Executive Committee member of
Associated Designers of Canada.
President, Park Med Laboratories. Member of
numerous Boards including Toronto Symphony and
Dixon Hall Community Centre.
City Councillor for Ward 7. City appointment to
Investment broker, Friedberg Mercantile Group. City
appointment to TAC Board of Directors.
Writer. Managing Editor, Sister Vision Press.
Former editor, Fireweed Feminist Journal.
Associate Director of New Work Development,
Tapestry Music Theatre. Former General Manager
and Creative Director, Elephant Records. Long-time
association with Alumnae Theatre as actor, director
and administrator.
July 17, 1994
Glace W. Lawrence
Co-Chair
Paul de Silva
Co-Chair
Maria Angelica Enriquez
FESTIVALS & SPECIAL EVENTS COMMITTEE
Roger Gibbs
Lynn Hill
Alberta Nokes
Rocky Paul-Wiseman
Andrey Tarasiuk
Film/video maker. Founding member of Black Film
and Video Network, CAN: BAIA, and Full Screen film
& video makers of colour coalition.
Filmmaker and broadcaster. President and Executive
Producer, Jenfilms Inc.
Community worker, Centre for Spanish Speaking
People. Member of Board, Harbourfront Centre. Has
been involved in organizing a number of festivals and
exhibitions including Fiesta del Sol and Safe Haven at
the ROM and Reel Aboriginal at Harbourfront.
Calypsonian, a.k.a. Rajiman. Founder and Music
Director of Banja, a folk choir which performs
Caribbean and African folk.
Curator. Assistant Curator/Programmer,
Contemporary First Nations Art, McMichael Canadian
Collection. Former Education Resource Coordinator,
Woodland Cultural Centre.
Consultant in the areas of strategy, communications,
marketing and fundraising. Ms Nokes has worked
with numerous cultural organizations including the
Design Exchange, Art Gallery of Ontario, the Glory of
Mozart Festival, Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres,
Toronto Symphony, and the Stratford Festival.
Director of Eduction, Canadian Native Arts
Foundation. Member, International Network for
Indigenous Development in the Americas. Co-Chair,
Centre for Indigenous Theatre. Member, Committee
for the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations.
Artistic Producer, Theatre Direct Canada; Artistic
Director, Chysta Productions. In addition to his work
in theatre, Mr. Tarasiuk has produced and directed a
number of festivals and heritage celebrations across
Canada. Board member, PACT and TTA.
April 1995
DANCE COMMITTEE
Miriam Adams
Co-Chair
Danny Grossman
Co-Chair
Carol Anderson
Bengt Jorgen
Learie McNicolls
Alejandro Ronceria
Vivine Scarlett
Holly Small
Laura Taler
Former dancer, teacher, choreographer and
performance artist. Co-director of Dance Collection
Danse. Member of the Board, Toronto Artscape and
Judy Jarvis Dance Foundation. Past Board member,
Dance Umbrella of Ontario and Dance Transition
Centre.
Chorographer, dancer, teacher. Artistic Director and
founder, Danny Grossman Dance Company. Adjunct
Professor, Department of Dance, York University.
Choreographer, dancer, writer, teacher. Former
Artistic Director of Dancemakers.
Choreographer, dancer. Artistic Director, Ballet
Jorgen. Resident Choreographer, George Brown
College.
Choreographer, dancer. Formerly a senior dancer
with Toronto Dance Theatre. International work
includes Limbs Dance Company of New Zealand and
Hong Kongs City Contemporary Dance Company.
Choreographer, dancer. Choreographer includes The
Jaguar Project presented at the Native Canadian
Centre and the Concert for Indigenous Restoration
produced at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
Choreographer, dancer. Performs and teaches African
and African-derived dance. Former Artistic Director,
Usafiri Dance & Drum Ensemble. Cross Cultural
Coordinator, Dance Ontario/DanceWorks.
Choreographer, dancer, teacher. Assistant Professor,
Department of Dance, York University.
Choreographer, dancer, producer. Founder and
Artistic Producer, The Taler Group. Producer,
Dances for A Small Stage.
December 1994
Barbara Carey
Co-Chair
Makeda Silvera
Co-Chair
Layne Coleman
Ramabai Espinet
George Gait
Lenore Keeshig-Tobias
LITERARY COMMITTEE
Poet and critic. Managing Editor, Books in
Canada.
Writer. Managing Editor, Sister Vision Press.
Former editor, Fireweed Feminist Journal.
Writer, director, actor. Founding member and past
Artistic Director of 25th Street Theatre, Saskatoon.
Past Artistic Director of Theatre Passe Muraille.
Poet, fiction and essay writer; critic and educator.
Published works include the collection of poetry
Nuclear Seasons and the childrens book the Princess
of Spadina. Member, League of Canadian Poets.
Critic, journalist, editor and author of two non-fiction
books Trailing Pythagoras and Whistle Stop. Member
of the Board, Writers Development Trust. Past Board
member, Canadian PEN.
Writer, storyteller. Member of Writers Union of
Canada. Founding member and chair of the Racial
Minority Writers Committee of the Writers Union.
Her childrens book Bird Talk won the 1993 Living
the Dream Book Award.
March 1995
THEATRE COMMITTEE
Michael Hollingsworth Playwright, director. Founding director,
Co-Chair VideoCabaret.
Sue LePage Set and costume designer for theatre, opera and
Co-Chair dance. Extensive design experience across Canada
including NDWT Theatre Co,, Stratford Festival and
Tarragon Theatre. Member and past Executive
Committee member of Associated Designers of
Canada.
Hrant Alianak
Maja Ardal
Jerry Longboat
ahdri zhina manadiela
Darren ODonnell
Alisa Palmer
Nadia Ross
Edward Roy
Jean Yoon
.
Playwright, director, and actor.
Director, playwright. Artistic Director of Young
Peoples Theatre. Founder and Artistic Director of
Saga.
Actor, storyteller. Graduate, Native Theatre School.
Member of Board, ANDPVA (Assoc. for Native
Development in the Performing and Visual Arts).
Director, writer, actor, filmmaker, recording artist,
Artistic Producer of b current.
Writer, director, performer, choreographer. Artistic
Director, Mammalian Diving Reflex. Former Artistic-
Director, Pow Pow Unbound.
Performer, writer, director. Artistic Co-director,
Nightwood Theatre. Co-Artistic Director, Froth.
Member of the Board, The Theatre Centre and Equity
Showcase.
Actor, director, writer. Founder and Artistic
Director, STO Union.
Writer, director, actor. Artistic Director, Topological
Theatre. Member of the Board, Toronto Theatre
Alliance.
Writer, director. Former Co-Artistic Director,
Cahoots Theatre Projects and Cross Cultural
Coordinator, Theatre Ontario.
January 1995
MUSIC COMMITTEE
Co-Chair
Mary Lou Fallis
Co-Chair
Derek Andrews
Dong-Dong Dong
Beverly Glenn-Copeland
Paul Gravett
Amos Key
Ann MacKeigan
Edgardo Moreno
Linda C. Smith
Chiyoko Szlavnics
.
Music Director of Orpheus Choir of Toronto.
Former Music Director of St. Pauls Anglican Church.
Soprano. Appears regularly as guest soloist with
Canadian symphony orchestras and in numerous
oratorio engagements.
Music Programmer, Harbourfornt Centre. Founder
and President, Toronto Blues Society. Board member,
MAP (Music Alliance Project). Chair, Juno Awards
Roots & Traditional Committee for CARAS.
Pianist, teacher. President, Toronto Canadian Chinese
Artists Centre.
Songwriter, vocalist and childrens television
entertainer. Classically trained, she turned to popular
songwriting to express her interest in diverse musical
styles.
Vocal and instrumental accompanist and coach.
Artists, representative, Hart/Murdock Artists
Management.
Speaker and Founder, CKRZ 100.3 FM Community
Radio Station. Producer and on air personality, The
Real Blues Hours and Gayowah on CKRZ.
Producer, CBC Radio Music. Chair, Juno Awards
Global Advisory Committee for CARAS. Board
member, MAP (Music Alliance Project).
Composer, musician, teacher. Member of Nazka.
Board member, Latin American Artists Network.
Composer, musician. Performer and creator in the
Urge project. Past Artistic Director, Arraymusic.
Composer, musician. Instruments: flute,
soprano/alto/tenor saxophones. Member of
Hemispheres. Programmer/host of a weekly jazz
program on CKLN.
January 1995
Co-Chair
Stan Denniston
Co-Chair
Shonagh Adelman
Hussain Amarshi
Rebecca Baird
Millie Chen
Robert Houle
Louise Liliefeldt
David McIntosh
VISUAL ARTS/FILM & VIDEO COMMITTEE
Visual artist. Fine art teacher, University of Guelph;
co-founder, Womens Photography Cooperative; past
director, Winters College Art Gallery, York
University.
Visual artist. Member, Artists Cooperative of
Toronto; founding director, YYZ Artists Outlet;
organizer for Independent Artists Union. Currently
active as independent artist member of CARFAC
Copyright Collective Committee.
Visual artist and cultural critic,
Cultural worker in the film and video sector. Founder
and Director of Mongrel Media distribution company.
Past experience includes a year as Executive Director
of the Euclid Theatre. Board member, Desh Pardesh.
Past Board member, Ontario Film Development
Corporation.
Visual artist. Her installation work is known for its
technical innovation uniting native art with modern
social commentary.
Visual artist. Member of The Red Head Gallery,
Name 10 parts of the body, and Another bunch of
artists.
Visual artist. Teacher of Native Studies, Ontario
College of Art Board member, ANDPVA (Assoc. for
Native Development in the Performing and Visual
Arts)
Performance/installation artist. Member of Shakewell
Performance Art Collective. Has acted in a number of
films and videos, including Wasaga.
Filmmaker, curator and critic. Coordinator of the
Perspective Canada Committee, Toronto International
Film Festival; former programmer, Cinematheque
Ontario; former director, Funnel Experimental Film
Centre.
TRUSTEE DAVID J. MOLL
CHAIR
September 26, 1995
Anne Golden
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Anne Golden:
155 COLLEGE STREET
TORONTO ONTARIO M5T 1P6
397-3166
Further to our meeting of September 19, 1995, I am enclosing our reports to the Commission
on Planning and Development, which were essentially ignored by that Commission. At the
present time, the Toronto Board of Education has developed a reasonable working relationship
with this local council in the area of planning. However, this has not come about without
considerable difficulties,
I hope the above is of interest to you.
Yours truly,
DAVID J. MOLL
Chair
enc.
Pr esen t a t i on
t o
COMMISSION ON
PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
REFORM
IN ONTARIO
Toronto Board of Education
1 9 9 2
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
June 2, 1992
PRESENTATION
Commissioner Sewell, Commissioner Vigod, Commissioner Penfold, thank you for the
opportunity to address the Commission this afternoon.
The Toronto Board of Education is committed to ensuring that the needs of children
are met within our City. We believe that urban environments are becoming even more
hostile to children as green spaces are lost forever and safe play areas become rare.
We must use the opportunity provided by the work of this Commission to redress and
redirect our priorities so that children come first.
Land use planning in municipalities is t ypica lly devot ed t o such matters as municipal
services, transportation corridors, environmental matters, built form, development
and redevelopment of land, and processes for consultation. The Planning Act speaks
to issues such as the equitable distribution of educational. health and other social
facilities as matters of provincial interest; and to community improvement plans,
parks, or other public recreation purposes as a matter of municipal interest.
These guidelines are critical to the well-being of society. At our Board meeting on
May 28, 1992 we discussed the lack of safe play space in many areas of Toronto for
children to expend their seemingly endless supply of energy. While we work
toward the creation of more green space, perhaps now is the time to consider the
closing of some streets to provide a safe place for children to play.
-2-
With reference to the Commissions draft goal to make efficient use of new and
existing infrastructure and common services while protecting physical and cultural
heritage and the natural environment with the policy direction that most new
development should occur on lands served by commercial or public water and sewage
infrastructure, I regret that there is no mention of the need to preserve areas for
children to play safely. Intensification of housing almost certainly means more
children and unless we address issues such as play areas for children, school
accommodation, and community services within developed urban communities, our
social fabric will be at risk. Intensification, without the appropriate social
infrastructure, will create horrendous problems for all of us, but particularly for
our children.
In the City of Toronto, school buildings and school play areas are valuable resources
for the community. Indeed, our play areas can be considered as an extension of the
park areas. In some instances, the City and Board have shared in the development
of play areas and community facilities on Board land and where possible adjacent
lands owned by the City and the Board. However, we are approaching a crisis
because of the lack of suitable school accommodation and the lack of appropriate play
space for our student population. Our Board is faced with the need to address a
space deficiency of approximately 400 classrooms. This is equivalent to twenty - 20
room schools ! In some areas of our City, such as the Bloor Junction, there is no
land available to build a school even if we had the $12-15 million dollars to acquire
land and to build one.
-3-
Play space for children in the community and school accommodation needs must be
part of our collective consciousness so that these needs become intrinsic to the
planning process. I am pleased to note that you have identified in #21 of your Goals
and Policies that Additions to urban areas will be made only if . . . a long range
municipal plan for the development and funding of infrastructure and servicing for
the area has been completed. . .
" Schools and play areas need to be incorporated in
this policy statement to highlight their importance.
Our staff participated in the preparation of The Public School Boards in Metropolitan
Torontos brief to this Commission and the Toronto Board endorsed this brief at its
meeting on May 28, 1992. It is therefore not my intent to reiterate its contents but
rather to focus on four (4) issues of specific relevance to the provision of public
school facilities in the City of Toronto.
The first issue is equity. We are particularly sensitive to the need to provide an
equitable educational experience to all students in our system. Our ability to do this
has been strained in recent years as Ministry of Education initiatives, such as the
reduction of class sizes in the primary division and the provision of special education
classes for students in need, have combined with a steady increase in elementary
student enrolment to drastically reduce the instructional space available system-
wide. In many of our schools, lack of space relegates classes and programs to
substandard non-instructional rooms, including basements and windowless spaces.
At other schools, portable classrooms occupy scarce playground space. It should
be noted that our average elementary school site is just 3.5 acres or 30 percent less
-4-
than the minimum 5 acres recommended by the Ministry of Education. This average,
however, obscures the reality. One of our downtown schools, Niagara Street P.S. ,
has only 16,500 square feet of outdoor play space (approximately 1/3 of an acre) for
230 children. Recess and lunchtimes must be staggered to accommodate the children.
Our only means of providing green space was to use artificial turf! Other schools
such as Rose Avenue P.S. , Church Street P.S. , and
deficiencies in play space. Even with these deficiencies,
designated for a building expansion to accommodate the
My reason for mentioning these facts is to highlight why
Pauline P.S. have similar
these small sites have been
increase in students.
we have endorsed changes
to the Planning Act which call for specific reference to schools and school
accommodation as matters to be taken into serious account by the Minister of
Municipal Affairs, the Minister of Housing, and by municipalities. We believe that
educational facilities are a fundamental element of sound planning and that all
approving authorities should be directed to consult with School Boards so that
student and school needs are considered at least of equal importance to municipal
services, such as water, sewers and electricity.
The issuance of a Provincial Policy Statement identifying school facilities as a matter
of provincial interest and changes to appropriate sections of the Act to reflect
this, would, we believe, highlight the adequacy of schools and school accommodation
and play
judged.
space for children as criteria by which development applications should be
The expansion of Section 34 (5) to include school facilities as a matter for
which a municipality may consider action to prohibit or delay a development would
provide the teeth needed to ensure that the school facilities issue could be
decisive. We feel strongly that, in certain circumstances, the City of Toronto would
-5-
be acting reasonably and responsibly in prohibiting residential development where
approval would result in the inability of a local board to provide school
accommodation and adequate play space.
In addition to identifying the adequacy and availability of school accommodation as
a matter of provincial interest , we suggest that the proposed Provincial Policy
Statement direct municipalities to include, in the preparation of their official plans,
policies which specify how land use decisions which permit additional housing
interconnect with the provision of community services and facilities, especially
schools and play space for children. A Policy Statement such as this is consistent
with one of the objectives of your work, specifically the broadening of the traditional
scope of planning to more effectively integrate other concerns into land use
considerations. We further suggest that the consultation and cooperation that would
be required between municipal and school board staff, and Ministry of Housing and
school board staff, to develop such integrated policies would address another of your
objectives: the clarification of the relationships between various levels of
government, to ensure that agencies in the public sector work together rather than
at odds."
The second issue is early notification. The Toronto Board of Education endorses the
recommendation that formal notice of all residential development be provided to
school boards. We view early notification as further acknowledgement of the
importance of schools and school facilities in the overall planning of a municipality.
The efforts of the City of Toronto to include Board staff and elected officials in
matters related to school accommodation, such as those dealing with land use policy
reviews (eg. Cityplan'91 ); major changes in land use (eg. the Railway Lands); and
-6-
site specific reports on residential developments are a good beginning. The
continuation and expansion of these efforts by the City, coupled with changes to the
notice provisions to ensure that developments that may impact upon the Board are
brought to our attention, would improve our long range planning ability and would
assist in the identification and resolution of school space needs.
The notification issue is particularly relevant in Toronto since residential
construction consists largely of redevelopment projects-sites occupied today by
parking lots, derelict buildings, or commercial/industrial operations. This results
in a much less predictable planning process than the "greenfield" development
characteristic of suburban areas. Finally, we believe that early notification speaks
to one of the terms of reference of the Commission: to suggest improvements to the
efficiency of the land use development and development review process.
The third issue is the possibility of raising funds for renovations, additions to, and
in some instances new schools, to accommodate students resulting from the
incremental growth from residential developments or redevelopments. Across
Toronto the number of additional classrooms required is significant although the
need at a particular school may be only one or two classrooms. We have identified
a number of infill developments, which are encouraged by the Ministry of Housing
initiatives to support the creation of affordable rental units. The City of Toronto's
Main Streets initiative will, we suspect, likewise add incrementally to Torontos
housing stock and most certainly to the number of children in our schools. We
therefore endorse exploring the feasibility of a levy similar to the parkland
dedication under section 42 of the Planning Act, whereby a contribution is collected
on a comprehensive basis from all developments.
-7-
The final issue centres on changes to a buildings use and occupancy which may
significantly change the pupil yield. I refer here to projects which may originate as
seniors buildings or adult lifestyle condominiums, then subsequently evolve into
family-oriented or even social housing projects as has occurred in the St. Jamestown
area. Potential exists for our staff to evaluate a development application based upon
certain expectations, an evaluation which may require significant re-thinking should
changes occur at later stages of the planning process. The Toronto Board supports,
therefore, the proposal that consideration be given to an amendment to the Planning
Act or its regulations which would ensure that school boards are notified of changes
to the use or occupancy of a building which may significantly affect our evaluation
of its impact on our students and their school accommodation needs.
In summary, we believe that:
School accommodation needs of students and the need for safe play areas for
children must be given the same consideration as municipal services;
Consultation and information sharing between School Boards and
Municipalities, and School Boards and the Ministry of Housing need to be
expanded if we are to encourage cooperation, partnership and consideration
in planning undertaken by the province, municipalities, public
bodies and private interests - one of the purposes that your Commission has
proposed for inclusion in the Act;
The unique nature of School Boards within an urban community is such that
a mechanism is needed to address the funding of small additions to schools or
even new schools due to the incremental and cumulative effect of students
from large and small developments; and
-8-
The unique nature of School Boards within urban communities is such that a
mechanism is needed to regulate the use or occupancy of a building such that
changes are only permitted when the effect of such changes are addressed.
On behalf of the Toronto Board Education I thank you for your attention, and look
forward to the inclusion of these concerns in your report. I would be happy to
answer any questions that you might have.
a:sewlpsnt. rrs
Presentation
to
COMMISSION ON
PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT
REFORM
IN ONTARIO
Toronto Board of Education
1993
PRESENTATION
Commissioners Sewell, Vigod, Penfold, thank you for the opportunity to address the
Commission this morning.
I was pleased to note that the remarks of School Boards and; in particular, the issues
raised by our Board and the other Boards within Metropolitan Toronto have been
identified in your Draft Report, Although the issues have been identified, my comments
this morning seek to strengthen the wording proposed in your Draft Report, including
those issues infection 10 -Other Issues which you have stated were beyond the mandate
of your Commission.
In the Boards presentation on June 2, 1992 we identified early notification as an issue
which would allow Boards and municipalities to work together for the ultimate benefit of
their community. In Toronto, we have developed an arrangement which addresses this
concern. However, we believe that the permissive wording notice should be given to
boards of education proposed in Recommendation #74, and as further clarified on pages
71-72, Section 8, needs to be amended to read notice shall be given to boards of
education, thereby making notification mandatory. It is imperative that boards of
education and municipalities co-operate in the timely provision of community services
-2-
(including schools) for a new community or intensification within an existing community.
Early notification is a necessary component in ensuring that facilities to service the new
or expanding community are possible or, better still, in place. Therefore, we request
in the Final Report the word should be changed to shall in Recommendation #74
that
and
any supporting text referring to notice by the municipality to boards of education. It is
vital that the Commission recognize that many established communities, including the City
of Toronto, do not have an existing over-capacity of student accommodation that can meet
the need for new student places that inevitably accompanies development. We are
frustrated that planners, developers, and sometimes even Commissioners assume that
facilities are available in established communities when they are not. Our frustration is
quickly turning to anger because in the end, it will be our inner city children and those
students who are at risk who will pay the price for the folly of experts who make faulty
assumptions rather than undertake an examination of the facts.
Your Draft Report has identified an important new concept - Strategic plans - Section
B. (pp. 53-54). This has possibilities, and I am particularly pleased with the second
objective - It should be participatory and involve the public. The strategic plan exercise
should be seen as an opportunity for council and municipal staff to work with the
community, including business, social, and community leaders, as well as with other
government agencies such as boards of education. Common goals and objectives should
be identified so a course of action can be agreed upon and resources can be used
cooperatively.
-3-
Your concept does not go far enough. You suggest that municipalities be encouraged to
establish strategic plans and that these strategic plans not be legally enforceable, except
where a municipality wishes to give legal authority by including the goals, policies and
options articulated in the strategic plan in the municipal plan. In our June 2, 1992
presentation, we stated that school accommodation needs of students and the need for
safe play areas for children must be given the same consideration as municipal services.
In order to ensure that the required infrastructure is in place for new or expanding
communities, the municipalities and boards of education must agree upon a plan of action.
I believe that the strategic plan exercise is important and hence should not only be a
mandatory requirement but also be incorporated in the municipal plan. It is not
appropriate for us (province, municipalities and boards of education) to continue to permit
new residential development or residential intensification without giving due consideration
to the resources required to service and sustain such growth. I cannot agree with the
statement under Other Issues - School Boards (p.80) that school boards should only
comment on development proposals but that decisions should be made by municipalities.
This guarantees that inequities will be institutionalized. I
same section where you state It is also clear that boards
favour your comments in the
need to undertake long-range
planning in conjunction with municipalities, and together they should consider innovative
approaches to providing school sites and facilities. You are quite right that common
goals and objectives should be identified so a course of action can be agreed upon and
resources can be used cooperatively.
We therefore request that in the Final Report you
incorporate a requirement for a Strategic plan for community services into the municipal
-4-
plan as a mandatory requirement and further expand on the need for municipalities and
boards of education to work in a collaborative and co-operative manner to identify the
goals and objectives in providing adequate school facilities for the expanding community.
And where such facilities cannot be provided because of lack of a suitable site or the
financial resources for construction, a moratorium be placed on development.
I was disappointed that no mention was made of the concern raised in our June 2, 1992
presentation regarding changes to a buildings use and occupancy. This concern could
be addressed in the strategic plan and therefore lends more weight to our request that the
strategic plan form part of a municipal plan.
It is unclear whether the statement
legislation require municipalities to
provision of educational facilities.
on page 80 - The Commission recommends that
have policies in the municipal plan addressing the
Such a requirement would ensure that reasonable
consideration is given to providing schools (and not just sites) in areas designated for
.
development or redevelopment. - is included in Recommendation 26, One section of
Recommendation 26 states that upper-tier municipalities should be required by the Act to -
Plan and coordinate regional infrastructure, including transportation, water, and sewage
treatment, Further reference to this is found on pages 55-56 where Upper-tier municipal
plans should address and contain policies on...(K) supporting infrastructure including:...(v)
the provision of educational... facilities, I believe that educational facilities are equal to
if not of greater importance than, transportation, water and sewage treatment, and thus
-5-
request that the aforementioned section in Recommendation 26 be modified to include
educational facilities.
As I stated earlier, it is essential that municipalities and school boards work together to
ensure that community facilities are delivered in a timely fashion. I am concerned that
the Municipality of Metro Toronto (upper-tier) is too far removed from the myriad of
development activities within each of the municipalities. Within the City of Toronto
(lower tier), we have identified over 200 proposed residential developments ranging in size
from the 6,900 units proposed for the Railway Lands to developments of 6 units
(developments of less than 6 units are not analyzed). It is important to consider not only
the impact of these individual developments and their cumulative effect but also to
establish a strategy to provide the school facilities which the students from these
developments will require. I believe that the permissive nature of recommendation 28
regarding lower-tier plans is inadequate to address educational needs, and therefore
propose that the Commission consider the following as an additional recommendation
immediately after Recommendation 27:
Lower-tier municipalities within the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto should
be required by the Act to adopt, within local municipal plans, a section addressing
the strategic plans mutually established by the municipality and school boards
relating to the provision of educational facilities required to serve new residential
development and where a mutually agreeable plan cannot be supported that a
moratorium be placed on future development.
-6-
This additional recommendation will provide us with the mandate to proceed with the
direction you note on page 80- It is also clear that boards need to undertake long-range
planning in conjunction with municipalities, and together they should consider innovative
approaches to providing school sites and facilities.
My last concern is raising funds for renovations, additions to, and in some instances new
schools, to accommodate students resulting from the incremental growth from residential
developments or redevelopments. The section in your Draft Report on School Boards
@.80) correctly identifies the competition for the scarce financial resources within the
Province. The additional recommendation proposed above will hopefully address this
concern as the boards and the municipalities seek innovative solutions for the educational
facilities needed to service a growing community. Nevertheless, this issue is of such
importance that we believe it is essential that the Commission address it by way of
another recommendation. In this respect, I defer to the Commission and offer the
following from your comments on page 80: - The Commission has been made aware of
several examples of boards not being able to respond to municipal development decision.
The Toronto Board, for example, does not receive any grants from the provincial
government and is entirely dependent on property taxes for both operating and capital
expenditures. Unemployment in Metropolitan Toronto is extremely high, the assessment
base has eroded by 1.3% over the past year, and tax deficiencies have reached
unprecedented highs. In the face of these economic realities, our ratepayers cannot afford
to subsidize CNS development of the Railway Lands or the provincial governments
-7-
targets for affordable housing starts in the City of Toronto. We cannot afford to fiddle
in the midst of a tax revolt inferno rooted in reality.
This Commission has not only the power, but also the responsibility to proclaim loudly
and clearly that intensification
boards to determine what is
funding. It is inconceivable
they refuse to recognize that
must be preceded by analysis and consultation with school
possible and practical now and what must await future
that so many experts could be so isolated from reality that
in many cases and most notably the City of Toronto, we do
not have the existing facilities nor the fiscal capacity to sustain further intensification,
It is clear that leaving this issue unresolved will only create major difficulties for
communities in the future which in my opinion does not address your mandate of planning
and reform.
report/ sewell.rre
CITY OF TORONTO BOARD OF HEALTH
SUBMISSION TO THE GREATER TORONTO AREA TASKFORCE
September 29, 1995
INTRODUCTION
This report is submitted to illustrate the important contribution
of Boards of Health in achieving the following objectives put
forward in the GTA Task Force Terms of Reference:
B
a system and style of governance that promotes community
well-being and a high quality urban environment
B
a governance system accountable to and representative of
the diverse Toronto of the future, and which promotes the
broadest civic engagement
B
the maintenance and enhancement of a healthy, vibrant and
diverse central city for the benefit of all citizens of
the GTA and the country as a whole (GTA Task Force Terms
of Reference)
The report will comment on the efficacy of Boards of Health in
ensuring the planning and delivery of public health services and
programs which are responsive and relevant to the needs of local
communities.
The lead role which Boards of Health can take in
advocacy for public policy to support healthy and liveable
communities will also be examined.
The report illustrates the increased need and demand for public
health services and programs in the City of Toronto related to the
concentration of social and health services
utilized by both
residents and non-residents of the City, and to the presence of at-
risk or special needs groups
residing predominantly in Toronto.
Toronto is not only the central city of the GTA; individuals and
families from across Ontario, Canada, and countries throughout the
world are drawn to the Citys services and environment.
These
factors point to the need to maintain an adequate revenue base to
support appropriate public health responses within the boundaries
of the City of Toronto.
Without such financial support the
maintenance of the desired healthy, vibrant and diverse central
city will not be possible.
- 2 -
ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH
Traditionally the goal
of public health has been to reduce
premature disability and death as well as the prevalence of disease
in the population.
Public health is the enhancement of good
health, the prevention,
rather than simply the treatment of
disease.
Boards of Health and Departments of Public Health are
mandated by the provincial government to fulfil the requirements of
the Health Protection and Promotion Act and the Mandatory Health
Programs and Services Guidelines.
Examples of public health
services and programs are:
enhancement of healthy children and
families; communicable disease control; control of environmental
hazards;
promotion of healthy lifestyles related to tobacco use,
substance abuse, nutrition and sexual health.
Over the past two decades,
the public health movement has developed
an understanding of the
determinants of health, those factors
outside the health care system such as adequate employment,
housing, nutrition and social support which have a major impact on
individual and community health.
Based on this analysis, public
health bodies have become increasingly involved in community
development and advocacy for healthy public policy.
BOARDS OF HEALTH
- ENSURING ACCOUNTABLE AND EFFECTIVE SERVICE
Boards of Health are comprised of provincial representatives,
municipal councillors and interested citizens, and are accountable
to City Council.
The City of Toronto Board of Health has
demonstrated a commitment to community input and consultation
through the establishment of
four Community Health Boards
throughout Toronto,
regular invitations to community members to
depute on major policy and program issues,
as well as the convening
of special community-based meetings to enable local participation.
These lines of accountability have ensured that the planning and
delivery of public health services, programs and advocacy efforts
in Toronto are responsive
and relevant to the needs of local
communities.
The City of Toronto Board of Health has been at the
forefront of program and advocacy efforts in areas such as: drug
abuse prevention, environmental protection,
food policy, family and
child poverty,
multicultural health, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, gun
control and violence against women.
The Healthy City concept was initially developed within Torontos
Board of Health and Department of Public Health, with the goal of
shifting the way chronic urban problems were understood and
addressed. In 1989 City Council established Torontos Healthy City
office following recommendations in the Healthy
Toronto 2000
report, which looked at the various elements of our urban domain
(planning and development, parks and recreation, public works,
buildings and inspections, public health) as interrelated parts of
the same system.
- 3 -
LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH, CONTD
Toronto has received international recognition for its pioneering
work. In 1992, the City was granted special status as the only
Honourary Member of the European
Healthy Cities Network of the
United Nations
World health Organization.
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE NEEDS OF THE CITY OF TORONTO
The City of Toronto Public Health Department is located in one of
North Americas largest urban areas,
and is unique in the kinds of
services it provides and the population it serves.
The City of
Toronto is at the centre of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) where
one in six residents of Canada,
and two in five Ontarians live and
work. As well as being responsible for the public health of the
people who live in the City,
the Department serves a large number
of people who come into the City for work,
recreation, health care
and other services.
The City of Toronto occupies 15% of the land area of Metro Toronto,
but about half of Metro workplaces, services, and institutions are
located in the City and are subject to its by-laws.
Torontos
Public Health nursing, dental, medical, inspection and by-law
enforcement and health promotion services extend to:
635,395 residents plus over 27,000 more persons estimated to
be missed by the 1991 census;
a daytime population (residents
and workers) of over 867,000 which includes about 44% of all
Metro workers; and an estimated 28 million visitors in 1994
over 80,000 elementary and secondary school students
8,392 food premises (compared to about 2,800 in North York)
246 licensed day nurseries with child care spaces for over
10,000 children
60 nursing homes, homes for the aged and seniors residences
accounting for 40% of the Metro total
32 hostels accounting for 70% of Metro hostel and shelter beds
38 food banks
60 hotels accounting for 50% of the hotels in Metro
58% of acute care hospitals in Metro
57% of all the physicians in Metro
- 4 -
PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE NEEDS, CONTD
As shown by the comparisons which follow,
the City of Toronto has
a greater proportion
of groups with a greater need for public
health services because of poor health or lack of access to the
basic prerequisites to health (housing, income, education, social
support networks and personal safety) .
While the City of Toronto has 6.3% of the Ontario population, it
has:
B
20-22% of Ontarios cases of tuberculosis, gonorrhea,
hepatitis A and B
B
50% of Ontario AIDS cases including 80% of all people with
AIDS in Metro
While the City of Toronto has28% of the population of Metro
Toronto, it has:
B
46% of Metro persons on social assistance because of
disability or illness
B
43% of all households waiting for subsidized housing in Metro
B
40% of Metro residents who cannot communicate in English or
French. The Department regularly translates educational
materials into several languages.
B
35% of Metros single, separated,widowed and divorced persons
including 44% of Metros low income single or unattached
persons
B
36% of total Metro hospitalizations for mental disorders and
34% of Metro hospitalizations for injuries,poisonings,
violence and suicide
B
50% of Metros reported domestic violence and 70% of Metro
drug-related crimes
- 5 -
POPULATION GROUPS IN THE CITY OF TORONTO WITH GREATER HEALTH NEEDS
The percent of the population living below the poverty line
increased in the City of Toronto between 1986 and 1991 while
dropping in Ontario and Canada.
Toronto was harder hit by the
recession than many other parts of Canada, and more than half
of all the -jobs lost in Metro were lost from Toronto.
The
recession brought about 30,000 more people onto social
assistance in Toronto to a total of 35% of Metros social
assistance caseload. This is about one in si
x
persons
including about one in three children under 18.
Our highest priority is
the health and well-being of
children. Recent provincial budget cuts to social assistance
and social services denies one in three children in the City
of Toronto access to the most basic prerequisites for health.
Families with children on social assistance will now receive
an income 40% below the Statistics Canada Low Income Cutoff,
and will be placed at high risk for physical, mental,
emotional and developmental ill health.
The City of Toronto is the first place of residence for many
new Canadians including refugees.
Many of those who come from
countries without comprehensive public health services such as
immunization, prenatal care,
fluoridation and health education
have unmet health needs: immigrant
children are twice as
likely to need dental treatment as children born in Metro.
Ministry of Health data shows the average Toronto child has
more than twice the number of teeth needing treatment than the
average North York child.
One-third of residents in nursing homes and chronic care
hospitals have dental disease or infection and are in need of
dental care or dentures.
CONCLUSION
The City of Toronto Board of Health has made a major contribution
to the development and maintenance of the City of Toronto as a
healthy, vibrant and diverse central city for the benefit of all
citizens of the GTA and the country as a whole.
The City of
Torontos unique public health programs and services,
and the
leading role of the Board of Health in advocacy for healthy public
policy reflect the efficacy of local structures in identifying and
responding effectively to community needs.
An adequate tax base is essential to the maintenance of public
health services which meet the needs and challenges of Torontos
populations, and which make Toronto internationally renowned as a
healthy city.
TORONTO ECONOMIC
ADVISORY COMMITTEE
EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT , EQUITABLE TAXATION
A PROPOSAL TO RESTRUCTURE AND REVIVE
THE GTA
September 29, 1995
INTRODUCTION
In a
city
and
report prepared by Metropolitan Toronto the interdependence of
and suburb is borne out by research by Professor H.V. Savitch
colleagues at the University of Louisvilles College of
Business and Public Administration that also exposes as a myth the
idea that city and suburb are or can be self-sufficient.
Their
study of fifty-nine metropolitan areas in the United States found
strong statistical evidence that central cities and their
surrounding regions are highly interdependent and that suburbs
benefit when their central cities are densely populated; suburbs
stagnate when they surround cities that are poor and losing
population.
Professor Savitch stated:
Suburbs that surround healthy cities tend to be
healthier than those that surround sick cities.
Suburbanites may feel they can shield themselves from
urban decline, but like a hole wearing at the centre of
a rubber raft, everybody is likely to ride a little lower
in the water. Those at the centre may be at the lowest
incline, but hanging onto the periphery may not be the
wisest alternative. Self-sufficiency at the periphery is
not a sufficient defence. The challenge of repair is as
much for those outside the centre as for those in it."
The Toronto Economic Advisory Committee (TEAC) was first formed to
deal with Market Value Assessment and the belief that everyone
should pay their fair share of taxes. This would eliminate the
unfair burden that is now carried by business. To overcharge
business is counterproductive to the economy and job creation. We
feel a more equitable tax system is essential to keep the vitality
of the financial core of Metro Toronto which in reality is the
financial core of Canada.
Although in the following report we recommend less elected
government in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and the consolidation
of municipal services at the local government level, the
centrepiece of TEACS report is that any change in governance and
financing within the GTA must strengthen the economic position of
Metro Toronto and in particular the financial core of Toronto.
Toronto is the economic engine for the GTA, the province and
...
2
Canada. Therefore any changes
that negatively affect Toronto
impact on the entire country, province and, in particular, the GTA.
Metro Toronto: An Historical Overview
After World War II it became clear
Toronto had stabilized while growth
of North York and Scarborough, for
a large scale.
The new demands for schools, roads
that the growth of the City of
in the adjoining municipalities
example, were just starting on
and other inter-urban services
such as transit, water and sewer and policing were too expensive
for a local government and required co-ordination of common
services to the area municipalities. The province, in co-operation
with these municipalities, created a regional government known as
Metropolitan Toronto, which was made up of representatives of local
governments to oversee the growth and provide common services to
the area municipalities. Metro Toronto has been studied by experts
on urbanization from around the world and is seen as a model of how
to manage growth and maintain a high standard of services.
The
province subsequently created regional governments for the areas
around Metro in what is now commonly referred to as the GTA.
Two significant changes have taken place over the last decade:
First, growth in Metro has been virtually non-existent; second the
Provincial Liberal Government allowed direct election of Metro
councillors in 1988 which, rather than making government more
accountable, has created turf wars. Although Metro Councillors are
responsible for interurban services they still get elected
primarily on local issues and hence continue to be involved with
issues that are the responsibility of the local municipalities.
A More Equitable Tax System
TEAC believes that the biggest threat to Toronto is the equitable
tax burden on business and the differential in the commercial and
industrial tax levels between Toronto and the surrounding region.
At present, there can be a property tax differential, including
business tax, in excess of $3.50 per square foot between a business
in North York and a similar business in a neighboring community
such as York Region. In fact, some businesses in Metro pay 100-200
percent more property and business taxes per square foot in Metro
than in some of the outlying regions. This tax differential
encourages business to relocate from the core to the outlying
regions. In fact, some regional area municipalities such as
3
Vaughan aggressively advertise
their lower tax rates to lure
business from Metro. TEAC believes that although Vaughan benefits
in the short term, such activities will eventually seriously damage
the economic vitality of the entire region.
Higher taxes in Metro are a result of too much government and
inefficiencies and TEAC recommends changes in the governance of
Metro. However, the more serious cause of the tax differential is
accounted for by the social programs funded through property taxes
and the level of services that Metro has to provide combined with
the inequity of provincial funding between Metro and the regions.
Currently, municipalities pay 20 percent of the cost of social
service which includes welfare, homes for the aged, hostels and
daycare. Because it is a large urban area, Metro Toronto has
higher welfare case loads than other municipalities and therefore
has higher taxes. TEAC believes that social assistance programs
should be funded 100 percent by the province,
since welfare levels
and qualification criteria are set by the province.
As a result,
municipalities have no control over the size of their case loads
and therefore have difficulty budgeting for this service from the
property tax base.
Metro also suffers unfairly from unequal funding for various
services such as transit, ambulance and public health. For
instance, the province pays less than 50 percent of the cost of
ambulance service in Metro Toronto and yet pays almost 100 percent
of the cost in the outlying regions.
TEAC recommends that the
province fund such services on an equal basis throughout the GTA.
These two changes alone - full funding of social assistance by the
province and equal funding for public services - would eliminate
almost half the tax differential between Metro and regions.
The cost of education accounts for at least half of our
property tax. The existing funding formula is based on
property tax assessment value to pupil ratio.
Since Metro has
relatively high property values, in comparison to most Ontario
communities, it does not receive a provincial subsidy for
education. In fact Metro subsidizes the rest of the province,
witness
the fact that under the current formula Metro
taxpayers pay a billion dollars per year more than it actually
costs to run our school system.
TEAC endorses North Yorks position of block grants for education
throughout the province which would effectively eliminate 28
percent of the tax differential between Metro and the region
4
without affecting levels of service. Most of the restructuring of
the tax base as outlined above has been addressed in the Fair Tax
Commission Report.
The foregoing changes require the province to assume costs now
borne by the municipalities. As the province is not in a position
to assume more costs or raise more taxes it is therefore necessary
to transfer funding responsibility for services such as roads,
sewers and other infrastructure to the municipalities. This
transfer of responsibility and funding must be phased in over time
and must be revenue neutral for both the province and the
municipalities . In the end, though, municipalities will be left
with the responsibility for services that they can plan and manage
but they will have to fund 100 percent of their new infrastructure
from their own tax assessment. TEAC believes that this change
alone will cause the regions to question their current strategy of
continuing to allow low density urban sprawl, which in turn
requires high cost services such as roads, water and sewer. This
should result in a better quality of urban design throughout the
GTA.
TEAC believes that if the tax differential is less than 30 percent
rather than the 100-200 percent that now exists, the incentive for
business to leave Toronto, for tax purposes, only will be
eliminated. A 30 percent tax differential can be justified because
of the superior level of services within Metro.
The other tax issue for business is the differential between the
residential and commercial tax rate. A study from the Board of
Trade demonstrated effective tax rate on commercial property is 203
percent higher in Metro Toronto than the residential property tax
rate. Property tax is the largest tax on business activity under
provincial jurisdiction, generating more revenue than either
provincial corporation income tax, Employers Health Tax or Workers
Compensation Board premiums. In Metro Toronto, commercial
properties currently pay effective tax rates more than three times
higher than those on residential property. This differential must
be addressed by a move toward equalizing tax rates between
commercial and residential property.
One method of addressing this inequity would be to pass on all the
benefits of block grants for education as outlined above to the
business sector within Metro. This would bring business taxes in
line with residential rates without increasing residential taxes.
5
A More Effective System of Governance
Metro Toronto and the existing regions, like the local governments
of 40 years ago, are too small to manage growth in the GTA. The
existing system has created inefficiencies and a lack of
coordinated planning and infrastructure. Regional governments are
too remote and are not responsive to the needs of local citizens.
New structures therefore, need to be created to co-ordinate growth
and services throughout the region while strengthening and
supporting local governments, which are without question the most
accessible and responsive form of government.
It is TEACS position that the governance of the GTA cannot be
divorced from the issue of financing. Our position is quite clear:
Eliminate direct election to Metro and other regional
governments;
Regional authorities responsible for interurban services
should be created and composed of elected officials from local
governments;
It is essential to move as many municipal services as possible
to the local municipalities.
Some of the functions and the rationale for delivery by local
governments are set out in the balance of the report. We feel that
local taxpayers relate to the concept of having a local government
and a local city hall. This is a form of government with a long
history that pre-dates Confederation. Accordingly, as many
services as possible should flow through the local city hall.
The regional governments have all built large, often ornate,
complexes which in many ways compete with local city halls but are
not user friendly and for the most part create confusion in the
minds of the average taxpayer, not to speak of the substantial cost
of duplicate regulations and administrative overlap.
In separate reports on the GTA, both Metro Toronto and Mississauga
are proposing the creation of one large Regional Government. In
our opinion this is wrong. This would only be replicating mistakes
of the past, whereby regional governments would compete with local
city halls rather than co-ordinate inter-urban services. If a
larger regional government were formed, it would be even more
remote and would eventually compete with the province itself. TEAC
is opposed to creating more government and thus the theme of this
6
report is to move more services closer to the people served.
Local governments would provide services directly to their local
residents and functions that are now delivered by both the local
and regional governments would be delivered exclusively by the
local governments.
Municipal Functions
Parks:
Many parks in Metro are serviced by both Metro and the local
government. Making parks the responsibility of the local
government concerned would eliminate duplication and provide
better, less confusing and more efficient service to the taxpayer.
The additional work load for the city could be easily managed.
Roads:
Roads are similar to parks in that each municipality maintains its
own roads and in addition Metro maintains Metro roads. This leads
to unneeded duplication, inefficiencies and confusion in the minds
of residents. Since most road repair and maintenance is already
contracted out, TEAC recommends that overall responsibility for
Metro roads be moved to the local government, resulting in cost-
savings and less bureaucracy.
Ambulance service:
Ambulance service is now the responsibility of Metro Toronto. TEAC
feels that there should be a study conducted on the feasibility of
privatizing ambulance service. Canadian companies that operate
successful ambulance services already exist in other jurisdictions.
In the meantime, however, the service should be moved from the
regional governments to local fire departments.
Ambulances can be
housed at the fire halls as is now done in Calgary.
Ambulance
services provided locally will also lower and eliminate dispatch
costs. There are non-emergency services provided by ambulance such
as inter-hospital transfers that should also be privatized.
Water and Waste:
Regional authorities would still be responsible for water and waste
water as well as solid waste management and disposal - most of
which could be privatized.
7
Economic Development:
In order for the City of Toronto, in particular, and the GTA, in
general, to compete internationally for business it is necessary to
have a comprehensive Economic Development plan.
Presently the area municipalities and the regions employ about 65
people with a budget of approximately $17 million for this purpose.
The net effect is that they work against each other, as
municipalities compete with one another and no single agency
markets the GTA as a region.
TEAC recommends that there be one Economic Development Department
for the entire region funded proportionately by all the
municipalities. This department would work in cooperation with
the private sector and organizations such as the Chamber of
Commerce or Board of Trade. The restructuring of this activity into
one body will not only save taxpayers dollars but will also be more
effective. Furthermore, TEAC endorses the City of Torontos
initiative to have senior executives on a volunteer basis act as
business ambassadors for the City when they travel internationally.
Policing:
This is a vital and complex service provided by both the province
and the regional municipalities. A current study of the needs and
types of police services required by our municipality, entitled
"Beyond 2000", calls for a form of decentralized organization and
community policing. If we had regional government, as some
municipal politicians desire,
the police would become even more
remote and unaccountable to the local municipalities.
TEAC believes that the current Police Services Board does not
necessarily reflect the needs and wishes of the local
municipalities and therefore the police should be restructured so
as to be responsible to the local municipality on local policing
matters.
TEAC believes that having a local police chief in charge of local
policing can be both cost effective and at the same time lead to
better policing. The City of London, Ontario (population 315,000),
with a police force that reports directly to City Council, is one
such example.
While community policing and parking enforcement can be delivered
by local governments throughout the GTA, there are other policing
8
responsibilities which should be directly controlled by the
province through the Ontario Provincial Police, or through a
Regional Support Police Service.
Services such as administration for payroll, technologies, capital
expenditures, detective support services, operation support and
training should be controlled by the province.
This model is similar to the policing system in Great Britain. By
following this outline, we would eliminate duplication and have
better and more responsive policing.
Transit:
The centre piece of public transit in the GTA is the Toronto
Transit Commission (TTC) . The TTC operates as a seamless system of
subways, buses and street cars which allows transfer without costs
and operates as a one fare system within Metro. Contrast this to
the outlying regions whose residents rely heavily on the private
automobile for local commuting despite the operation of bus
systems. In York Region for example, there is no regional transit
authority and as a result each area municipality operates its own
bus line. The province also operates GO Transit, an inter-urban
transit authority which consists of both commuter trains and buses.
The GO service has already been expanded beyond the GTA.
One of the inequities of the current system is that more and more
of the bus services of York and Peel are mainly being used to feed
riders onto the TTC so that the residents of those communities can
commute to work in Toronto. Although suburban riders pay fares
which cover 65 percent of operating costs, the remaining deficit
plus 25 percent of capital costs are paid for by Metro taxpayers.
Metro has also suffered from the fact that for more than 20 years
there has been no expansion of the subway system. The ultimate
cost of a heavy rail transit system is far less than allowing the
continuing urban sprawl which results in low density population and
high demands for infrastructure such as roads, water and sewers.
TEAC believes that the current transit systems within the GTA could
be better managed and coordinated to make them more cost effective
and provide better service.
TEAC would recommend that surface public transit routes should be
integrated into one, co-ordinating body managed by the TTC, thereby
eliminating costly duplication in administration and maintenance.
9
TEAC believes that after the surface system is integrated there
should be a study undertaken to investigate the potential for
privatization of individual routes similar to what was done in
London (UK) .
While surface routes should be handled by a regional authority,
TEAC believes that heavy rail should be taken over by GO Transit,
integrating the existing GO service with Metros subway system.
Heavy rail has the greatest potential to move people from one part
of the Golden Horseshoe to the other. TEAC recommends the province
control the system completely. The province could then make plans
for long term orderly and affordable expansion of the system.
The
province could also avail itself of more flexible financing for the
system, such as sale and lease back and designbuild-operate
proposals that Metro is restricted from doing.
As a result of the foregoing analysis TEAC has arrived at the
following conclusions:
1) Maintaining Metro Toronto as the economic engine of the
province is essential to the survival of the GTA;
2) The GTA is over governed, resulting in excess and costly
management and regulation;
3) The differential in tax ratio between the surrounding
regions and Metro, and the competition to lure business
from one municipality to another is ultimately
destructive to the long-term vitality of the GTA.
As a result TEACS recommendations on governance are:
1) Direct election to Metro and regional councils be
eliminated;
2) Any service currently delivered by local and regional
governments be moved to local government;
3) One economic development agency for the GTA be created.
On finance we recommend four key changes:
1) The province pay 100 percent of social services, while
municipalities pay 100 percent of hard services, with the
redeployment of responsibilities and funding being
revenue neutral;
10
2) The province finance services such as ambulance and
transit equally throughout the GTA;
3) Modified block grant funding for education that is
equalized throughout the province;
4) A gradual move to Market Value Assessment.
TEAC believes that with fewer politicians, the population of the
GTA will be better served and the quality of the services will be
maintained or improved. Our recommendations on taxation will
eliminate more than 65 percent of the tax differential between
Metro and the regions and will help maintain Metro Toronto as the
economic engine of Canada.
11
Acknowledgments
This report was prepared for The Toronto Economic Advisory
Committee under the direction of William A. Farlinger.
This report was researched and developed by Michael Doran,
President of MEH Consulting.
We wish to thank the following officials and representatives of:
City of Toronto
City of North York
City of Mississauga
We would also like to thank the Metropolitan Board of Trade.
A special thanks for editing assistance to Arnold Agnew and Paul
Pivato.
12
Toronto Economic Advisory Committee
The Toronto Economic Advisory Committee (TEAC) is a
private-sector organization comprising senior executives,
who have a long-term vested interest in Metropolitan
Toronto and the Province of Ontario, and who represent
leading employment sectors. TEAC was formed in 1992 in
reaction to the (then proposals concerning market value
assessment for Metropolitan Toronto. (The group was
opposed not the principle of market value assessment but
rather to its proposed application at a particularly high
point in the economic cycle.)
Since then, the Committee has taken an active interest in
substantive issues that affect the economic well-being of
the Toronto area, working in cooperation with all levels
of government.
As of August, 1995, the members of TEAC were:
James R. Bullock
Marshall A. Cohen
Michael de Pencier
John C. Eaton
The Hon. J. Trevor Eyton
William A. Farlinger
Ronald G. Gage
Peter C. Godsoe
Richard John Lawrence
The Hon. Donald S. Macdonald
John D. McNeil
Ron R. Nolan
Paul H. ODonoghue
Robert B. Peterson
J. Robert S. Prichard
Philip Reichmann
Isadore Sharp
M. Bernard Syron
John H. Tory
The Rt. Hon. John N. Turner
W. Galen Weston
who have a longterm vested interest in Metropolitan
of government.
AS of August, 1995, the members of TEAC were:
James R. Bullock
Marshall A. Cohen
Michael de Pencier
John C. Eaton
Ronald G. Gage
Peter C. Godsoe
John D. McNeil
Ron R. Nolan
Paul H. ODonoghue
Robert B. Peterson
Philip Reichmann
Isadore Sharp
M. Bernard Syron
John H. Tory
W. Galen Weston
of government.
James R. Bullock
Marshall A. Cohen
Michael de Pencier
John C. Eaton
Ronald G. Gage
Peter C. Godsoe
John D. McNeil
Ron R. Nolan
Paul H. ODonoghue
Robert B. Peterson
Philip Reichmann
Isadore Sharp
M. Bernard Syron
John H. Tory
W. Galen Weston
The Toronto Economic Advisory Committee
(TEAC) is a
of government.
As of August, 1995, the members of TEAC were:
James R. Bullock
Marshall A. Cohen
Michael de Pencier
John C. Eaton
Ronald G. Gage
Peter C. Godsoe
John D. McNeil
Ron R. Nolan
Paul H. ODonoghue
Robert B. Peterson
Philip Reichmann
Isadore Sharp
M. Bernard Syron
John H. Tory
The Rt. Hon. John
W. Galen Weston
N. Turner
who have a longterm vested interest in Metropolitan
of government.
James R. Bullock
Marshall A. Cohen
Michael de Pencier
John C. Eaton
Ronald G. Gage
Peter C. Godsoe
John D. McNeil
Ron R. Nolan
Paul H. ODonoghue
Robert B. Peterson
Philip Reichmann
Isadore Sharp
M. Bernard Syron
John H. Tory
W. Galen Weston
TOWARDS A GREATER TORONTO REGIONAL PORT
A submission of The Toronto Harbour Commissioners
September 29, 1995
Recommendations
The time is opportune to consider the advantage of an expanded port authority in the Greater
Toronto region. To implement its marine strategy, the Federal government will have to repeal
or amend many of the existing statutes establishing harbour commissions, including The Toronto
Harbour Commissioners Act, 1911.
The Toronto Harbour Commissioners recommend, that in conjunction with a definition of the
Greater Toronto Area boundaries, that its governing statute be amended to expand its jurisdiction
commensurate with that boundary, that its board be expanded to include representatives from
other municipalities affected by that changed jurisdiction, as well as the Province of Ontario and
that the Province of Ontario petition the Federal government to implement these
recommendations.
Background
In the move to create a new municipal structure for the Greater Toronto area the role of a port
authority should not be overlooked.
In 1990, the Honorable David Crombie, the Commissioner for the combined Federal and
Provincial Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront, published his interim
report, Watersheds. Among Mr. Crombies recommendations pertaining to The Toronto
Harbour Commissioners (THC) were the following:
54. The Port of Toronto should be maintained and
continue to operate as a regional port, retaining
both public and private elements.
57. In view of the body of experience and expertise
available at the THC, in addition to operating the
marine terminals, the THC should be awarded
contracts to perform a range of marine engineering,
harbour mastering, navigation, and shipping
activities along the Greater Toronto Waterfront.
The THC should maintain overall responsibility for
harbour maintenance, including dockwall
maintenance, harbour dredging, and harbour clean-
up, as well as contractual responsibility for
maintaining the infrastructure at the waters edge,
for all other agencies along the waterfront. It
should also continue to be responsible for ship
safety and navigation within the harbour limits.
New Federal Ports Policy
Previously, provinces have not had much need to consider ports as they have been a Federal
prerogative under the Constitution. Now the Federal government is planning to divest itself of
the responsibility for a great many of the Canadian ports, reserving only for its special interest
the national ports deemed by it to be vital to the transportation infrastructure in Canada.
Other ports will be considered regional and will likely be offered to local interests. It will
become important for the Province of Ontario to consider its ports and the role that they can
play as regional economic generators.
To this point, the Federal government has relied on the Canada Coast Guard to handle its
maritime responsibilities in the areas that are not governed by port authorities. Now, however,
Transport Canada is attempting to cut $600 million from the Coast Guards cost, and to
consolidate its activities into a few specific roles. It may be that large portions of the waterfront
between Hamilton and Oshawa may not be adequately served by the government that has the
eminent power to do so.
In addition to the cut backs in the Coast Guard, the Federal government is reviewing its entire
maritime strategy, with a view to overhauling the whole structure, from ports to pilotage, from
coast to coast, and the St. Lawrence Seaway. Transport Canada has been conducting a series
of consultation meetings with marine industry operators and users, and has targeted this fall to
introduce legislation for a national marine strategy to Parliament.
Port Infrastructure in GTA
Currently, there are three port authorities between Oshawa and Hamilton: the Harbour
Commissions of Oshawa and Hamilton, and The Toronto Harbour Commissioners. The
jurisdictional boundaries of these authorities is limited to a portion of the geographical
boundaries of the municipalities that they serve. Between those municipalities there is nothing
comparable to a harbour commission. In Torontos case it is particularly absurd, as its
jurisdiction, role and focus is only related to the frontiers of the City of Toronto, not the larger
Metropolitan area.
2
Legislative Authority for Waterways
The right to legislate in matters pertaining to navigation and shipping is reserved for the Federal
government. This means that laws relating to maritime traffic, whether commercial or
recreational, are Federal. The Federal government has also enacted laws controlling
construction that may impact on navigable waterways, and, has its own environmental scrutiny
process. It is possible that attempts by the Province or local municipalities to legislate or
regulate in these fields may well be invalid. In certain instances, Provincial planning and
environmental law may also be ineffective and municipal zoning and building permits may be
inoperable.
Activities of Port Authorities and THC
Port authorities, such as The Toronto Harbour Commissioners, have a broad range of
responsibilities, generally centred on the concept of providing services for harbour maintenance
and safe navigation. They also play a role in economic development and commercial facilitation.
The activities of these agencies can be quite diverse. For instance, THC built two airports, and
currently manages one of them. It was responsible for the development of the first World Trade
Centre in Canada, and it facilitated the development of the first operational Teleport in the
country. At one time it even managed an amusement park and on another occasion was involved
in farming.
THC built Ontario Place, Bluffers Park, the Leslie Street Spit and many other popular waterfront
recreational parks. It pioneered the use of sunken ships as breakwaters for harbour protection.
It sorts out the activities of competing waterfront recreational users, attends to navigational aids
and generally keeps the port free of large navigational hazards and oil spills. At a time when
other government authorities are still just talking about the need to train, test and license boat
operators, the THC has entered its fortieth year of doing exactly that.
The Toronto Harbour Commissioners
60 Harbour Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5J 1B7
3
SEPT 28, 1995
CONCERNS OF THE TORONTO TAXI INDUSTRY; A SUBMI SSI ON BY THE TTOOA
OUR ORGANI ZATI ON I S A P ROVI NCI ALLY RE GI S TE RE D NON- P ROF I T
ORGANI ZATI ON FOUNDED I N 1989. OUR MANDATE I S THE PROTECTI ON AND
BETTERMENT OF THE TORONTO TAXI INDUSTRY AS IT RELATES TO INDIVIDUAL
AND COLLECTI VE CONCERNS. WE HAVE BEEN I NVOLVED RECENTLY WI TH
COLLE CTI VE BARGAI NI NG HE ARI NGS I N F RONT OF THE ONTARI O LABOUR
BOARD. AS RESULT WE HAVE BEEN GRANTED OFFI CI AL STANDI NG.
WE HAVE A NUMBER OF CONCERNS, HOWEVER DUE TO THE LIMITATION OF
A ONE P AGE SUBMI SSI ON WE ARE GOI NG TO ADDRE SS THE NUMBE R ONE
P RI ORI TY TH AT WE WI S H TH E TAS K F ORCE TO ADDRE S S . WE WI S H TO
EMPHASIZE THAT WE ARE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE AND TOTALLY UNSUBSIDIZED.
EACH TORONTO TAXI LI CENSE REPRESENTS ONE I NDI VI DUAL BUSI NESS WI TH
AN
APPROXIMATE VALUE OF $72 000.00.
WE ARE GREATLY CONCERNED WITH THE
..--.. ... .--. .- -------
POSSIBLE. DECREASE IN THE VALUE OF OUR LIFES SAVINGS.
FOR THE PAST NUMBER OF YEARS OUR ATTENTION WAS DIRECTED TO THE
METROPOLI TAN LI CENSI NG COMMI SSI ON WHOSE STATED OBJ ECTI VE WAS THE
REDUCTION OR EVEN THE ELIMINATION OF A TAXI LICENSE COUPLED WITH A
NUMBER OF OTHER OPPRESSI VE AND AUTOCRATI C MEASURES.
WE HAVE BEEN THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE TAXI INDUSTRY WHOSE MEMBERS
ARE UNDER CONSTANT ATTACK FROM A REGULATORY AGENCY - THE
METROPOLITAN LICENSING COMMISSION.
AS AN I LLUSTRATI ON, ATTACHED PLEASE FI ND TWO ITEMS WHICH
ILLUSTRATES OUR CONCERNS AND EFFORTS;
A PETI TI ON WI TH OVER 1000 SI GNATURES ADDRESSED TO THE LEGI SLATURE
AND A SUBMISSION TO METR() CHAIRMAN TONKS, UNFORTUNATELY NEITHER ONE
OF THESE EFFORTS PRODUCED POSITIVE RESULTS THEREFORE YOU MUST
UNDERSTAND WHY WE ARE TURNING TO YOU.
TAXICABS
Mr David Johnson (Don Mills): A petition to the
Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
Whereas the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
(Metro) and its agency the Metropolitan Licensing
Commission (MLC) has created and caused untenable,
harsh and restrictive regulatory and business practices to
the Metro Toronto taxicab industry; and
Whereas the MLC and Metro have refused to deal
with the taxi industry in a civil and businesslike manner,
thereby causing hardships to all individuals within the
industry; and
Whereas the MLC and Metro refused or failed: to
accept province of Ontario vehicle safety standard
certificates, or to provide published mechanical safety
standards to be applied in lieu of the certificate: to
provide an appeal procedure for mechanical safety
inspections for vehicles used as taxicabs; to implement
the MLC bylaw rewrite as promised for January 1990; to
provide leadership and control over the MLC despite
continued complaints by the industry and others; to stop
c ict-of-interest situations; to stop discriminatory fee
practices against the taxicab industry; to publicly tender
contracts for services; to exhibit apprehension of bias
against the taxicab industry as a whole;
We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assem-
bly of Ontario as follows:
That under the Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
Act, Revised Statutes of Ontario, 1990, chapter M.62,
part 28, section 278, to investigate the activities and the
relationship of Metro and the MLC, and as a result
legislate that Metro and the MLC estabIish a separate
Metropolitan Toronto Taxi Authority with the appropriate
taxicab industry representation.
This is from the Toronto Taxicab Owners and Oper-
ators Association and signed by over 1,000 owners,
operators and users of the taxi industry in Metro Toronto.
I affix my signature thereto.
/ LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
with the compliments of
DAVID J. JOHNSON, MPP
Don Mills
Queens Park office:
Constituency Office:
Rm. 101 N.W., Legislative Bldg.
1102 OConnor Drive
Queens Park, Toronto
Don Mills, Ontario
Ontario M7A1A8
M4B 3L4
Tel, (416) 325-7013
Tel. (416) 752-2005
Fax (416) 325-7023
RE : Directive of Legislation & Licensing Committee
of November 5, 1990 to conduct a meeting with
representatives of TTOOA and yourself.
FROM: Lawrence Eisenberg, Pr esident
Tor ont o Taxi Owners & Operators Association.
Dear Mr.
Chairman for todays presentation our association agreed
on the following presentation format: Condense the points, give a
brief illustration and
make use of references (1)*
from list of
outstanding items from L/L agenda dating back to 1989 and brought
to attention by our executive member MR. Stan Steiner.
Our assigned topics ar e:
1) Taxicab Inspection
2 ) Ame n d me n t a n d Re wr i t i n g o f By - La w 2 0 - 8 5
3 ) J u d i c i a l R e v i e w ( s h o w c a u s e h e a r i n g s )
4) Driver Training
5) Cost Recovery
6) Strategic Plan
7) Agendas & how they are handled
Issue: Lack of publicized & available standards, bias based
absence of public tendering process by MLC, unlike all
other METRO departments, boards or commissions,
lack of
accountability of the mechanical inspection examination
by the MLC and lack of an appeal process of said
examination.
Suggested Solution:
Public Tendering Process, By-Law changes
authorizing different methods:
set up industry & MLC committee to establish acceptable
standards,
accept MOT Safety Certificates just like the MLC accepts
MOT drivers Licences,
provide: summary review/appeal process.
Reference (from list):
Minute #50 of Sept 11/1989 L/L Committee
Minute #62 of Oct 6/1989 L/L Committee
Illustration: - 3 and out rule & 2 in a row rule
(1)* All reference is to Jan
18/1993 at which meeting over 22
items dating back to 1989 were brought to L/Ls attention.
I s s u e : The failure to have taxi-cab industry input into the re-
writing process of by-law 20-85.
By-Law rewrite is not an in-camera, private matter, but
should seek assistance from the industry who are affected.
Budget cannot be the issue
since the MLC is spending over
1/2 million dollars on cars,
renovations, new staff,
computers and consultants.
The question that arises ;
is this an MLC by-law or an all
encompassing METRO by-law, who supplies the funds for it,
why is an outside law firm instead of our own Metro legal
handling it and at what cost?
Suggested Solution: Give us the information that was promised to
us (originally due before the end of Jan/91) and incorporate
our (industry) suggestions.
WE KNOW THE TAXI BUSINESS.
By-law rewrite will have to be with co-operation of MLC,
Metro Solicitor and Industry Representatives.
Reference (from list): Minute #39 June 19/1989 instructing the
Commission to submit a discussion paper to L/L Committee
about the underlying structure of the Taxi Cab Industry
preparatory to a review of By-Law 20-85.
Illustration: Goodman Case, Ramopal case and other challenges.
Issue: The Commission show cause hearings and its process is a
reversal of Natural Justice even though the
been
procedure has
styled differently, whereby guilt is presumed first
rather than innocence. We require an independent pre-hearinq
process which is lacking now.
Suggested Solution: The separation of the Administrative,
Enforcement and Judicial function of the Commission.
Pre-hearing process be properly set up by amending the
by-law to make it official,said process to be conducted
by qualified and properly trained personnel not by the
General Manager as laid out in your last GRANT REPORT.
Prepare Commissioners for sittings at hearings or quasi
judicial offices,
Provide an independent (or semi-independent) prosecutor
Set up a committee made up of MLC, Staff and Industry to
make workable and realistic proposals for positive changes.
Reference (from list): minute #50 of Sept. 11/89 L/L
Illustration: refusal to provide a hearing, arbitrary refusal for
an appeal. (e.g. letter of Feb. 16, 1993 from MLC.)
Iss ue : pre -qualificat ion for driving Ski11 is lacking & required,
75% failure rate is grossly excessive & unacceptable,
of the 25% who pass the attrition rate is 95% which is
totallv unacceptable.
Suggested solution: in vehicle road test\evaluation by a
qualified instructor,
establishing a criteria which seeks the highest
obtainable standard (agreed upon by MLC & industry)
similar to other trades licensed by the MLC such as
plumbers & electricians,
a professional cab driver" is needed which can be
a c c o m p l i s h e d o n l y b y e s t a b l i s h i n g a h i g h l y q u a l i f i e d
t e a c h i n g e n v i r o n m e n t .
Illustration: Risk Management
H
proposal (model) of Sunrise
Insurance submitted to L/L on Nov. 5/92,
summary of the last ten years of taxicab driver
renewals & original applications e.g. 10, 000 original
applications only 2100 new issuance,
portion of owners renewal fee allocated to cab school
seems to be
5)
Cost
recoverv
Issue:lack of open
95% wasted. Sunrise survey.
industry participation in the decision makinq
process, expenditures and effectiveness of the MLC.
Discrimination against taxi industry and the MLCS pre-
occupation with it by excessive (over-regulation. IS 65%
revenue from TAXI INDUSTRY justified and cost effective?
Suggested solution:the Strategic Policy Plan of Metro Council
is for open public participation by those directly
affected by legislation.
Illustration: failure to tender publicly for the taxicab
inspection facility presently at Canadian Tire,
expensive, excessive property leases and facilities.
The long awaited cost model
n
is out of date and completely
inoperable (useless).
6)
Strat
egic
Plan
Issue:Does the MLC have a separate (from. METRO) free standing
strategic plan or are they part of the already existing
Metro Strategic Plan?
Suggested Solution: Our own separate Taxi Authority (Similar
to Mississagua)
Illustration: 5 years of work and no progress of any kind,no
industry input and no mechanism to effect changes.
THE TORONTO TAXICAB OWNERS AND OPERATORS Asso CIATION
22 ELROSE AVENUE. WESTON. ONTARI0 M9M2H6 746-7677
Issue; Agendas ar e not de1iver ed t o indust r y member s insufficient
t ime t o pr epar e a pr oper r esponse (L/L), t he MLC does t he
s a me t h i n g, bu t
s e l e c t s w h o m a y g e t t h e a g e n d a s & d o e s n o t
a t t a c h t h e p e r t i n e n t m a t e r i a l w i t h t h e a g e n d a .
t h e l a c k o f r e s p e c t t h a t t h e T AXI I N D U S T R Y i s s u b j e c t e d t o
i s evi d en ced by ca l l i n g off meet i n gs d u e to diminishing or
total lack of quorum in particular when TAXI matters are to
be discussed.
Deliberatly overloading agendas
knowinq in advance that
certain items (mostly taxi related) will not be dealt with,
while deputants are made to wait, sometimes the whole day.
Illustration: Legislation & Licensing meeting in February of this
year when tow trucks were discussed as an added item
and
TAXI items already on agenda were abandoned.
Metro
items
Licensing Commission meeting of March 25/93 when 22
were on agenda: Meeting was called for 8:30 A.M
but did not st a r t unt il 9:40 A.M because Councillor
Oyler was unavoidably (delayed. In fact he was seen
having breakfast in the cafeteria.
At this meeting over 60 representatives of the
courier industry were in attendance & making a
presentation.
AT 1:05 P.M. the meeting was arbitrarily called off
due to lack of time.
The only taxi matter that was dealt with was a case
represented by Mr. Charles Harnick, Provincial Member
of Legislature who was treated in the same
manner as
we are subjected to under normal circumstances:
lack of respect.
The Issue of his deputation? Only the Canadian Flag and the
Commissions refusal to allow a taxi-cab owner to display
it!
Solution; Abolish the Commission and give us the opportunity to
have a say in our own affairs a s M e t r o s o w n S t r a t e g i c
P l a n p r o c l a i m s .
S u b m i t t e d o n b e h a l f o f t he TORONTO TAXI OWNERS & OPERATORS
ASSOCIATION representing over 2/3 of the taxi industry and their
families.
Tr
- T R I N
i t
G R T A
a I n S C
I R
~ September.@95
TABLE OF CONTENTS
*
Backgmmj .-
...................................................................
1
Letterto Minister -
...........................................................
2
SteeringCommitteeMembers
........................................
3
InterimReport
................................................................
4,
List of Appendices
...........................................................jz ,,
Fact Box & Figures
........................................................
13
WorkingGroupMembers
.............................................
15
. .
APPENDIX:
.,
,.
TransitIntegrationOptions
WorkshopSummaryRepoti
~D * , ~
B
,
In responseto the need for improvedtransitservicesfor the increasing
,numberof people traveling acrossmunicipalboimdaries eachday in the
Greater TorontoArea (GTA),theMk?isterof Transpoflationestablishedt he ,
Transitlntegration TaskForcein June 1993. 14@insixmonths, #eTask
Forcepresented theMinisterwithover fwentyspecificrecommendationsfor
coordinatingtransit.servips.
me. Minister acceptedtherecommendationsin principle andappointedthe
TraiwitIntegrationSteeringCommitteeto worktowardsimplementingthose
recommendations. Lou Parsons,the former-chairofGO Transitand vice-
chairof the Task Force, wasappointedas chair. Membershipof the
committeecomprisedof outstandingrepresentativesfrommunicipal ~
governments(includingthemayorsof six partici~ting municipalitiesoutside
of~etropolitan Toronto),transitmanagementand transit labour. .
five worl@ggroups and a numberof.projectgwmmitteeswerecreatedto
support the m~&te of theSteeringCommitteein its examinationof the
majorissues includingorganizational structure,financeandsubsioy,fare
integrationand servicecoordination,humanresources, accessibletransit
and customer information.fichgroup consistedof about fit?eenmembers
representing.transitstaff, transitlabou~municipalrepresentativesMd the
Minis~of Tmnsportation.
.
Membersof the SteeringCommitteeafidthe w~rkinggroups have
Contribute dmhyhotirs of.theirvaiuabletimeto thechallen~ing taskof
exploringthe variousissuesandsumrnarizingthe workto date as ~
representedin this.document.
,,
Duringthis time therehasbeensignificantchange:both municipaland
provinc(ti ele&ons; theappointmentof the GoldenTaskForce on GTA
Reform,a t& freezeandspending cuts. lhese changes have affected.
both the timing of thisreportarid theSteeringCommittee$ability to make
clear specific recommendations,especiallywithrespect to matiers
concerninggovemanti and finance.
Inspite of these changes,thereis apressing,needto continue,coordinating
transitservices for thebenefitof thecustomer,the regionandallits citizens.
And thereis a willingnessto.addresstheissuesbyallthoseparticipatingin
this ongoing work.
,
TRANSIT INTEGRATION GROUPE DEDIRECTION SUR
STEERING COMMITTEE ~ LINTEGRATION DESTRANSPORTS
ENCOMMUN
L P a r L P a
C h P r e
. .
September 1995
To the Honorable Al Palladini,Ministerof Transportation:
As Chair of the Transit IntegrationSteeringCornmittee.~lSC), I am
ple+ed to provideyouwith the hterim.Report on GTA 7ransit.
/ntegfation. This reportwas reviewedand endorsed by TISCat its
meeting on September11, 1995.
The report highligh@TISCSmanyachievements.Though decisionsonthe
organizationalstru.@ureandfundingof GTAtransit must awaitthe otrtcome
of the broader debateon GTAtaxation.and governance,the reportis
intendedto aidthe broaderdebateby identifying,among otherthings, a.
rangeof po~ible transit organizationmodelsfor consideration.Inthis
regard, TISC has not put forwardanyspecific recommendationconcqning
what transit organizationwould best deliver cross-boundarytransit.services
in the GTA.
Oncethe GoldenTask Forcerecommendationsand Provincesres~rise ~
are known; TISCwill reconveneto considerwhat transit organizationmodel
.makesthe most sen~ withinthe framewoti of GTA reformconcerning
.stm?ure, decision-makingand accountability.TISC will alsocontinue .
workingon other transit integrationinitiativessuch as the.GTAWeekly
TransitPass, the integratedfare sy+tem;and.improvingaccessiblecross-
boundarytransit sewices.
For.yourinformation,.a copyof this reportwill ~so be fonyardedto Dr.
Arine Goiden,.C.hairof the GTATaskForceto aid the Task Forcein its
deliberations.
At this time I wishto extenda specialthanksto ail TISCandworkinggroup
members, consultants,and ministrystaff for their continuoushardwork and
dedicationtowardsthis project.
Sincer ,
,
.:$ ,
&
Louis H. Parsons
Chair
. 1 2 W i l A v 2 n F l o W e T o D o w . O M I
. e t a T o O u D o w n O n M 1
T E ~ ( 4 2 3 5 F ~ E ( 4 2 3 .
M a f r r m F t t r
*~ T I S C
Chair: .
LOUISH. PARSONS
Memtws:
HISWORSHIPMAYORWAYNEARTHURS
Town ofPickering
HISWQRSHIPMAYORWILLIAMF.BELL
Town of Richrnond.Hill
COUNCILLORPAULCHRISTIE
Municipalityof MetropolitanToronto
TTCChair
HISWOR~HIPMAYORD(jNALDCO~SENS
Townof Markham
HER&RSHlp MAYOR LoR~A J4CK50N
City of Vaughan
HERWORSHiPMAYORHAZELMcCALLION
City of Mississauga
HISWORSHIPMAYORPETERROBERISC)N
Cityof Brampton
SIMONCLARKE
President,L 15g7.
AmalgamatedTransit Union
ED DOWLING
General Manager
MississaugaTransit.
RICKDUCHARME
Managing Director
G(3Transit
DAVIDGUNN
TTC Chief General
Manager .
DAVIDHOBBS
Chair, GOTransit
ART PATRICK ~
President,
AmalgamatedTransit
Union Loca.113 ~
RONWHITTINGHAM
President ~~
AmalgamatedTransit
~UnionLocal 1572
{,
*.,
.
GTAmmm I NTEGRATI ON
I R
t T I S C
Tmnsit
integration
Sh?snv?g
Committss
Through thetransit integrationproject,the province, its
municip~ partners,transit managerntintand Iabourhave.
been workingtogetherfor overtwo yearstodisWssand
resolve GTAcross-boundarytransit issues.
,,
PhaseTwo, of thetransit integrationproject -- the Transit
IntegrationSteeringCommittee-- was initiatedin the
summer of 1994to pursuethe recommendationsof the
previousTransit IntegrationTask Force. That Task Force
had spent six monthsdeveloping,aseries of potential
actionsto removethe obsta~esto seamlesstr2nsit .
sewices inthe GTA. The initial Task Forcereport,,
Beyond the Periphe@outlined over 20 recommendations
aimed at improvinginterregionalpublictransitan dprovide
better serviceto GTAcustomers. The report received
broad supportfromallstakeholders..
Longtsnn &
S term
gosk
There weretwo mainthru$tsinthoserecommendations.
One wasto examinethe feasibilityof and identifythesteps
toward the long-termgoal of a,federationof transit services
in the GTA. TheotherwaSto implementa seriesof short-
term deliverables underthecurrent arrangementswhich
would leadto moreimmediateimprovementsintransit
services.
.,
. .
l! is anticipatedthat these improvementswill result in the
transit customerexperiencingfewertransfer, moredirect
routes, betterconnections;easieraccessto travel
information,elimination..of doublefaresfor short cross
boundary tripsand,a simplifiedunivetsal fare system. For
the transit systems,it is expected that better c~ordinated
and moreattractiveservices will.result in increased,
ridershipandhigher revenues.
c
GTATask
.D@ate on
GTAR
Rq)oaed
transit
Men#ion
f,nsit
,organkation
principles
#
,.
Sincetheinitiation of the SteeringCommittee, much of the
Iandscapehas changed. There tia&beensignificant
debateabout the futureof the GTA, its governanceand the ,
equityof its t- system. A GTATask Forcewas set up.to
examinethese issuesand report backto the Province in
the Fall. At the sametime,spurred on by the desire.of the
provincialgovemrnentto actquickly on GTAmatters,
various local and regi.onai governmentsare developing
their own govemanceproposalsfor consideration. ~
Atthispoint, the,onlycertaintyis that the fombf
governancein the GTAwill not remainthe same as today.
Whilethe results of the debateare unknownat this time, it
is clear that the waytransit services.are deliveredh the
GTAwill change.,
. .
Afundamental recommendationof the original Task Forc6
calledfor a federatedorganizationalstructuret.ocoordinate
seamlesstransit semices. This concept hasbeen the
subject ofserious,debatebythe Steering.Committee. Even
the suggestionof a.specialpurpose bodyfor transit has
comeunder considerablediscussion. Inthe chrrent .
atmospherefavoringashrinkinggovemment.presence,
suppot?for a newlevel of govern~nceis absent. However,.
there is some supportfor a commonservicesb@d to
administerinter-regionalservi,~s.
Wiihout a definedgovernanceframeworkwithin which to
work, thedetails ,ofa specificorganizational?ormwill need
to wait until the uncertaintyclears. However,some basic
principleson transit organizationare requiredin order to
provideinpti to,the debateon GTA,refotm.The ae~rifig
Committeefinds itself in a rather,uniqqeposition having a ~
divefse rangeof expertiseand representatiorialready in
placethat -- if it cantranscendits differences-- could be a
major influenceohthe shapeof transitorganizati.onin the
futureGTA. ~ ~.
.
6
The.challengeto the OrganizationalStructureWorking
Group, and ultimatelyto the SteeringCommitteeis to
identifypotential long-termdirectionsfor transti integration
that will fit anyeventualQovemancemodel adoptedfor the
GTA. In.doing,so, the SteeringCommi~eesponsored,a
WorkshoponTransit Organization..A summa~ of the
,worl@hopresultspreparedby consultantJim Mackay (The
BerkeleyConsultingGroup)are attachedin the appendices
of this document.
Two essential principleshavesurfacedthroughout the
variousdiscussions,meetings,reports,analysis, anfk
Emerging
workshopsover the past six monthsrelatedto thetr
ptimpks
organizationof transit inthe GTA: Primary,is$e.general.
viewthat, whateverelseevolvesand whichevermodel is
eventuallyadopted,therewill definitelybe aneedfor a
single policy body for.transitacross the.areathat can
ensure,a.commonapproachtoservice provision. A
secMdary me-age is that the actual transit service
deliveryin the GTAshouldcontinueto be providedby an
arrayofdifferent operators. .
Despitenumerousattemptsby avariety of sourcesto ,
~~formulatealternativeorganizationalmodelsforGTAt ransit
integration,every effort hasultimatelyendedup with the
M@ed fbra
same result: a singi.ebodycomposedof multipletransit
single body
br Wmsit
operatorsin a federation-typearrangement. Much of the ,.
existingexperiencewith actualattempts at transit ~~
integraticmunder the currentcooperativeframework
sup@ts this conclusion. Theoretically, everyone
advocatesimprovedcoordinationof transit services,
whether it bethrougha @ centre, a commonweekly pass
.or a cross boundaryroute. However,whenit corn.estime to
pay, this support quickly.vanishes.
. .
In the ~enti of acommitmentfoundedona solid ~.
organizationalstructure,there has not beensignificant ~~
progresstowards implementingany keytransit integration. ii
proposals.
7
Artother basic recornmendatio.nof.theT-k Forcewasthe
faediiisted
pursuit of dedicatedsourm of fundingfor transit servicein
tilnlting ,
the,GTA. Thissource was deemednecessarybythe Task
Force in order.to meet.the ongoingneedsof existingtransit
services as well as well as future growth,particularly
concerningthe integrationof transit sewices.
Dedicatedfunding.f?rtransit typic&llyinvolvesle~ing ..
special fees or taxes on fuel, licensesor pating. However,
it is dear that the cutient political environmentis lessthan.
favorabletowards sucha move.atthjs time. Eventhe
existingfunding levels for transit are under closesctitiny
and will undoubtedly.suffer in the comingroundof budget.
cuts.
A dramaticillustration of the depthof the problemsto come
~ appearedin the initial work of the~nance andSubsidy
Finsncisl
.l~ues WorkingGroup. Municipalitiesacrossthe GTA
ihpiicstions
have adopted official plansthat incorporatepro-ttinsit
ofoffkisl
plsns
policies dependent upon rnajorse~ce expansionto.
addr@sstravel demand, energy, urbandevelopmentand.,
cost-savinggoals. However, littleanalysishad beengiven
to the requiredfundinglevels to meetthese objectives. ~
.,
To addressthis vacuurn,the SteeringCommitteedirected
the workinggroup to analyzethe futurefundingimplications
of transit needs in the GTA. The analysisidentifiedand
quantifiedthe increasedtransit fundinglevel requirements-
in offichl plans includingfull allowan~ for replacement
-pital expenditures.
.Theresultswere startling. Infact, the financial implications
we~ so major as to causethe steering Committeeto return
to someof the fundamental-governanceissuessuch asthe
role of theprovince in fundingtransit (capital andoperating,
~ well as Conventionaland specializedservices],
expandedmunici.paitaxationautho@y,andservicedelivery
modes.
Shoti-teitn
delivembks
ontreck
Wa@2es:
towardsa
Ielephone
Callcentle.
Regional
RWGuide
introduced
Human
msoume
isSNkS
address@
cross-
boumkvy
accessible
transit
Whilethe environment for meetingthe long-termobjectives
tinceming organizationalchangeand financinghavebeen
too turbulent for specific,~commendations,the Steering
,Committeecan claima numberof successesin therealmof
short-termdeliverables.
The ultimategoal ofasingle phonecall accessingfull
transit informationfor the entire, GTA is now&,lotcloser,
thanksto the hardwork of the Customerhformation
WorkingGroup on a TelephoneCall Centre.,
Discu&ions ,arecurrentlyunderwayto explorethe pixsible
means..ofirnplementationj includingthe potentialof private
sector involvement.
Improvementsin Wstornerservicehavealready~peared
in the form of the secondeditionRegional RideGuide
whichhasan expandedformatto includepoitions or all of ,,
the transit systems of Missi~auga, Brarnpton,Vaughan,
.RichmondHill.and Markhamaswell as the TTC. Over
850,000copies are nowin circulationof this central area
transitguide and.discussionsare underwaywit! Peel and
York Regionson other versions; Sponsotihip bythe Royal.
Bankhas helpedsharingthe cbst of this product.
A joint management-labourw orking gro@organizedto
addressthe concernsoftransit Iabour--the Human
ResourceWorking Group-=hasbeensuccessfulin
reachingagreement on awidespectrumof key issues
rangingfromwork rulesto seniority. A frameworkhasbeen
developedfor addressinghumanresourceissuesthat may
arise infuture transit integrationinitiatives.
The AccessibleTransitproject Committeeiscurrently
workingon recommending@rategiestoprovideseamless
cross-boundarytransit sewicesfor passengem.with
.disabilitie,sin the GTA. Giventhe challengesin
implementingservice improvementswithinexisting,,
budgets,the committeewilldedicated its effortsto
identifyingshod and longtermneeds.
Perhapsthe most excitingachievementto date has been
: WA Weak/y
the introductionof thefir$t common,faremediumforsix
Pasx,
,differenttransitsystemsin the GTA. Forthe first t~me,
these transit systems@me togetherina joint decision
makingprocessto create a singlefaremedium.
9
Inthe year since its launch, the GTA.WeeklyTransitPass
has becomea fixtureof the fare paymentsystemattracting
almost 2000 purchaserseachweek.
while the WeeklyPassis an,importantstepinthe right
direction,fully integratedfares inthe GTAstill dependon
other reco~mendedactions.proposedby the Task Force
such as a commonSored-value,farecgud. .
Underthe currentsystemfor the Weekly:P&ss,revenue
sharing betweenmunicipalitiesinvolvesasimplified
lowaf& a
agmernentthat ~n, only succeedwhenthe.numberof users.
commonfare and sal.e.sLocations. are very limited. Full expansionof the ~~~
e.
Weekly Passprogramwould be beyondthe capabilitiesof
the existingtechnology. Also,compli@ing mattersis the.
needf~r anagreementbetweenthe participantsto
standardizefare incr~asqsl
The Fare.lntegrationahd ~wice CoordinationWorking ~
Grouphasfocussedits.resourcesonthe key issues .
involvedinsetting up an integratedfaresystem. ,Ever-
evolvingtechnologicaladvancesinfare card media have
resultedin a numberofnewfare,mediasuch as smai?
&rds, proximity.cards, optical.cards,etc. These offer the
potentialto providevastlyimprovedcustomersewice and
pricingflexibilityconiparedto the existingflasti pass or
even magnetic.stripecardtechnologysuch as usedon the.
. GTAWeekly Pass. In addition, they open up a vast
. potentialforsignifitint cost savingsand newrevenue
generationthroughimprovedefficiencies,increased
ndership,fraud reduction,and.associatedbusiness
opportunities.
,,
10
However,beforeany.majorinvestmentcanbe madein .a ~
completelynew fare collectioninfrastructure,there are ~ ~
several key strategicand busine$sissuesthat needto be
tiny exploredand properlyaddressed. - .
,.
Clearly,oneof themajor issuesis fundingsincethecosts
for aneti Systemare significant. Theapproach .
l?rfvate
sectorjoint
recommendedbythe wo.rl@ggroupis to explorethe .,
vsnturefor
feasibilityof a joint venturewiththepnvate sectorto share
intsgreted
the r and benefitsof.a newpaymentSystem. ~.
tsresystem Sucharrangementsare beingdevelopedin other
governmentsetvicefields in Canada(forinstance:.social ,
services,welfare,UIC) as well as in publictransit inother ~
jurisdictionsaroundthe world.
Typically, a consortiumis formedinvolvinga numberof
established,corporations,eachbringingits own uniquearea
of expertise. Inthe case of atransit faresystemthis might
inctudea.maj~r financial institution,a telecommunication
companyand a hightechnology.provider,aswell as a.
systemintegrator. Thesepartnershipscanalso openthe
door to value-addedventuresthat canprovidenewstreams
of revenuefor public.tra@t.
Alongwith any potential value-addedventures,a newfare
collectionsystemmust addressthe variousessential
requirementsof the participatingtransit properties. These
needsincludea customer-friendlysystemthat canfurriisli,,
.,
amongother things, precisetrackinghssignmentof
payments,reduction/eliminationof fraud, flexibilityin
pricing,and efficientsettlementarrangements. ~ .
11
Insummary,the SteeringCommitteeand its workinggroups
Conclusion
hasachievedsome majoraccomplishmentsbut progresson
other key items has beenovertakenbythe rapidlyevolving
debateon GTAreform.Throughcontinuednegotiationsby
committeemembersanddedicatedwork by staff, transit
integrationhas beenbolsteredby elementssuch anew ,
guidelinesfor resolvitighum.anresourceissues, a regional
transit guideand a GTAWeekly Pass. (However,many
tough i~ues remainunresolvedparticularlyin the context
of shrinkinggovernmentfunds and uncertainroles.
,,
Asthe future..courSefor GTAgovernance becomes
establishedover the next coupieof months, renewedefforts
can be dire@edtowardsthe key issues regardingthe ~.
appropriateorganizationaland financial structurefor
integrated transit. Ongoingefforts continuetowardsother
importantgoalssuch as a regional transit informationcall
,
centreanda commonstoredvaluefate medium.
ASthesevarious piecesof the transitintegrationpuzzle
comei@oplace,the.GTAis destinedto becomea more.
viable andefficient ttanspo,rtationcentrefor its residents .,
and businesses. .
.,
.12
. ,.
,,
L OFA
Appendicesto.followi
.I) Rep@fromthe ~nancq
& SubsidyIssues .
WorkingGroup ~
October 1995
2) Reportttom the
O~anizationafStructure ~.
WorkingGroup
O@ober1995
.
3) Reporttiomthe Human
ResourcesWorkingGroup.
October 1995
4) Report tlornthe Customer
InformationWorkingGroup Odober 199.5
5) RepOrIftOrntheAccessible
Trksit Proj~ Committee .
November1995
B) Report from.the FareIntegration
&ServiceCoordination
WorkingGroup
March1996
13
. .
FACTBOX
For the GTA (plus Hamilton-WentworthRegion), publictransit is .anessential
componentof thetransportationsystem: .
B
16 municipaltransit systemsand GOTransit,
c in 1993, 490 million riders and a $1 billion totaloperatingbudget,
B . 12,800employees, ~ .
B
also 20 s~ciaiized transfi systems.
0
Thesesyste@ ove@l peflormancehqsbeen affectedby a variety of external
.,
pressuresin recent year& From1989 to 1993:
.
ridershipfell by 1IYo, yet total revenuesincreased12Y0,
however,total expenditures roseby 22%,
.
municipaland provincial subsidies rosesignifitintly (
TheIn~r lle~systerns(tirnbers of theTransit IntegrationSteeringCommi@e)
represent. over 90?!of the total.GTAridershipand budget: ~~
B
7 municipaltransit systemsand GO.Transit, .
B
460 millionriders and a $920 milliontotal operatingbudget(1993),
B 11,700employees,
B
cross-boundaryridersareapprox. 9?4(44 million)of the inner tier riders,
B
also 6 s~cialized transit systems.
GTATransitIntegration: ,
B
The needfor GTAtransit integrationresultsfrom:
.-
populationYemploymentand interregional travel growth,
adepress6dt~ansitmarket share for cross-boundarytrips when
comparedto similar trips ,entirelywithinmunicipalities.
B
The 1995Regional.RideGuidewas published in June; 1995:
the Ride Guideis available at.transit outletsand branchesof the
Royai Bankthroughout Metro andthe surroundingareas.
B
The GTAWeekly Pa= was introducedin August, 1994:
-
it is currently priced at $30.00 (roughlyequivalent to 10 cross-
boundarymunicipal transit rides atthecurrentadult ~o-fare rate),
sales are in the range of 2,000 weekly.
14
Figure1:
Cross-Boundary Trips at the Metro Boundary (all modes)
Grew49%in 10 Years
C T
P.M. Pedcpmon Ts@c
& W& WiB7 am lam l
~gure2:
Transits,MarketShareBetween,Municipalitiesk Much Worse
Than Within a Municipality
Transit Market Share
A.M. PeakTrips, 5-10km
.Wo& Tfips
TotgJTrips
Performance
within Etobicoke . . 24Y0 18?40 Highest
WithinMississauga 16Y0, 1070 Somewh~ lower.
Acro& Missj~ga/EtobiCoke
7?40- 7?40 .,YQQ.lQIQ
Boundary
:
,.
15
+- ~~~
Fare Integration &service Cootdinatiorl ,
W G
;
Chair:
El) DOWLING
MississaugaTransit
Members:
GLENMARSHALL
BrarnptonTransit
.EVEWYATT
GOTransit
FRANKGOH
GOTransit
MARYLOUJOLLEY
MarkhamTransit
AVISE~ANS
RichmondHill Transit
Consultants:. . .
RODMCDOUGALL.
IBI Group
MICHAELOZERKOVICH
emc Partners . . .
MTOSupportStaff:
DAVIDSMITH,MANAGER
UrbanTransportationPolicyOffice
~RTINROSEN ,
Strategic.PassengerResearch
RONMCLAUGHLIN
TorontoTransit Commission
.,
RICKTAKAGI
Vaughan,Transit
NORMMCLEOD ~
Peel Trans Help
FON WHllTll!lGHAM
AmalgamatedTransit.UnionLo&l 1572
16
.+? ..
A T P C
Chair: ..
ROBERTEVANS
TTC Wheel Trans
Membars:
Consultant:
KEVINGORMAN
DawsonCatton
BramptonTransit
IBI Group
IANCAIE
MTOSupportStaff: ~.
G.OTransit :
DAViDSMITH,M
UrbanTransportationPolicyQffio&
IRENEMACNEIL
MarkhamTransit BOBBARNES ~~
UrbanTransportationPolicyOffi& ~
. JOHN ELLIOT
Mi~issauga Transit
W. (BUD) NEWTON
,RiGhmo,ridHill Tra@t
,GA~RY COE
pi*eri~g Transit
KATHERINEBIGGART
Toronto Transit Commission
RICKTAKAGI
VaughanTransit .
NORM.MCLEOD
Peel Trans Help
PtiER COGHILL
Ministry of Transportation
MARLANELEPINE
Accessibility AdvisoryCommittee
17
*
H R W G
Chaits:
KENFOSTER
ALROBINSON
GOTransit,.
Members:
ART PATRICK
Local 113
RoNWTTINGHAM
AmalgamatedTransitUnion
L 1572
SIMON.CLARKE-
Local 1587
ANDYMONEITE
Local 1573
JOHNROMIJN
BrarnptonTransit
GARRYCOE
PickeringTransit
DIMETROSCHEPANSKY
CUPELocal 129
Consultant:
CAROLYNKEARNS
The RandolphGroup
M~OSuppo~ Staff:
DAVIDSMITH, MANAGER
UrbanTransp. Policy.Office
MARYMATAS ~~
UrbanTransp. Policy Office
DONGORDON
MarkhamTransit
BILL CUNNINGHAM
MississaugaTransit
W. (BUD) NEVVJON
GARYWEBSTER
TorontoTransit Commission
18
*
O S W G
Chaim:
LOUPARSONS
Transit IntegrationSteeringCqmmittee,Chair
DAVIDSMITH
Transit integration ProjectManager
Members:
Consultant:
JIMBROWN
JIMMACKAY&,.
GOTransit
ROBBOGILVIE
BerkeleyConsultingGroup
BILLBURNS
. GOTransit
JURI PILL
MTOSUpport Staff:
TorontoTfinsit Commission
MARYtiTAS
UrbanTransp. PolicyOffice
EDDOWLING .
MississaugaTransit
ERNIEBARTUCCI
OntarioTransportationCapital Corporation
ROSANNASCOIT1.
Municipalityof MetropolitanToronto
EDZAMPARO
.Municipalityof MetropolitanToronto
KEESSCI+IPPER
Regional Municipalityof York
SIMONCLARKE
AmalgamatedTransit,Union
GARRYCOE
PickeringTransit
~
19
*
F a S I W G
Chair: .,
DAVIDFERGUSOIU
PublicTransportationOffice
Ministryof Transportation
Membmv Consultants:.
GLENMARSHALL PETERMARSHALL
BramptonTransit & FREDKOENIG
HemSon&Associates
COLINABERNETHY
GOTransit
VINCECASUTI
DONGORDON
MarkhamTransit
WENDYAL-DER
Cityof Mississauga
VINCERODO
TorontoTransit Cornrnission
SHEKARf
Muniapality.of MetropolitanToronto
KEESSCHIPPER
Regional Municipalityof York
JOHNBONSALL
Ma&ormack, Rankin
MTOSupportSt6ff:
DAVIDSMITH, MANAGER
UrbanTransp.PolicyOffice
-GARYCORUPE
UrbanTransp. Policy Office
DEANNAWILSON .
PickeringTransit
20
* C I W G
Chajr:
RONMCLAUGHLIN . ~~
TorontoTransitCommission
Members:
KEVINGORMAN
BramptonTransit
JOE DESJARDINS
GOTransit
IRENEMACNEIL
MarkhamTransit
JOHNELLIOT
M~issauga Transit
DEANNAWILSON
PickeringTransit
AVISEVANS
RICK.TAKAGI
VaughanTransit
RONATKINSON
C0t7Sultant: ~
FRANKSPITZER
IBI Group
MTQStipport~aff:
DAVIDSMITH, MANAGER
UrbanTransp. PolicyOffice
.
GARYCORUPE
UrbanTransp. PolicyOffke
.
workshop, attendedby thirty
peoplerepresentinga,broadset
oftransitstakeholderi
Jim Mackayand Robb Ogilvie
of the Berkeley Consulting
Group led the par&icipants as
they discussedand assessed
six transitorganizationmodels,
and consideredthemin light of
four scenariosfor the future
GTAgovernancestructure.
This reportprovidesa summary
of the workshop,as well as the
consultants interpretationof the
mainmessages. Therevvasno
attem,pt to reachconsensus at
the session and individual
participantsshould. not be seen
to concurwith or endorsethe
content .presentedhere.
operators might facilitate
t~e. proceSs of reaching
commonagreementsand,
therefore, create a more
seamless transit sy~em.
TOdothat,thismode!hasa.
transit operator for each
geographical area currently
representedby a region-
although the boundaries
could be extended or
altered. These four transit
authorities (Metro, East,
North,and South) and GO
I. StatusQuo - Voluntary
Cooperaticm
The currentarrangementof
lower and upper tier
,municipal. transit properties
and GO with Provincial
planning and funding.
involvement would con-
tinue.Acoordinatingforum
or committeeamongtransit
operatorswouldwork to
improve the transitsystem
onan issueby issuebasis,
e.g:, service,fares, and so
on. Cooperationwouldbe
voluntayso that municipal
councils would need to
,apprwe any significant
changes.
2. Four Geographical
TransitOperato&and
GO- Voluntary.
Cooperation
Having fewer ~. transit
ferred to as a federation
sinceeach transitauthority.
or municipalitywould stiil
need to endorse every
important proposal.before
anythingcouldbedone.
TTC Variationof Model2
UC isdevelopingalternatemodels
whichroughlycorrespond tothose
consideredat theworkshop.ITC and
GO favoura specific. variationof
Model2 tha~involvesthreeregional
transitoperatingauthorities(Metro,
Peel,andYcwk)andGO. Inordef,to
solvethe crossborderproblem,one
fiatfarewouldbeintroducedand
fundedthrougha dedititedfuel tax.
Otherwise, thetransitoperatorswould
cooperatevoluntarily.
3. Federation of Transit
operations :
A federation or a formal
partnershipof transitoper-
ators would require the:,
creationof,somerulesthat
wouldbindeachmemberto
decisions made by the
group..Eachpatinerwould
still run its ownopixations.
A ~ix federation muld be
established among the
currenttransitoperatorsor
a revisedregionalset-up.In
orderto balancetherelative
size,the GO operationsand
subwayscould be merged
intoone operatorownedby
the Federation. .The Fed-.
,
me Berkeley Consulting Group
2 .
.Xransit Integration Options Worphop Summaq
4.
5.
eration would establish
common fares,. se~ice
policiesandarrangefor the
sharing of revenues and
costsof commonse~ices.
Given : the nature of
decisions, the Federation
%vould, requirea legislative
mandate, politic%t re~.
resentation and account-
ability..
FranchiseModel
Underthe franchisemodel,
there would. be central
policy making and
decentralizeddelivery of
transit. A fransit authority
would be responsiblefor
establishingcommon pol-
icies, fares, and service
standards for the GTA
transit system. That
authority would also, as
franchiser, license or
contract transit operato~
(franchisees) to deliver
transit within the policies
set, and for the funding
arranged.Transit couldbe
contractedto a combination
of private operators or
public ,transit ,propefiies,
municipal orprxwincial.
Service Bureau. (or
Menu) Model
The ServiceBureau allows.
for centralized operations
and decentralized policy-
making. Aside from GO,
there wouldbe one transit
operator for local transit,
presumably an enlarged
UC. Acommonfarepolicy
wouldbe necessaryto allow
this to work. The relevant
(lower, or upper tier)
municipal council would
decide local service levels
in itsarea andcontractwith
the._iTCtodeliver.Councils
couldalsocontract withGO
to enhance provincially
fundedservice. Thiswould,.
allow for local.d e c
m a k a b howmuchto
payfortransit.
Full . Amalgamation
F u amalgamati& means
one transitoperator-- the
ITC withGO as a separate.
division. There would be
one fare policy,. common
servicestandardsand one
management oftheoverall
operations. Therewouldbe
pooleduseof non-farebox
funding, smuothing out
variations in Iocial cont-
ributionstotransit.
ASSESSING MODELS
AGAIIYST .TUNSIT
GOALS &.DESIG~
RE~uIRljME~TS
.
Each model was. assessedin
termsof howit mightaffectthe
achievement of six transit
goals. We stated. thesegoalsin
termsof design requirements-
whata good transitorganization
modeineededto satisfyinorder
tosucceed.
The lid, shoymbelow(not in
priorityorder)providedcriteria
by which to evaluate the
models.
j . G . & D E R E Q
B
S t a n d a m t r a n s c o n s a g V f
t r i D e r s m I
B I n t e g p e r s a m u l t p r t m t
b e h a a u s a c G - f policy, servicepolicies,
p r o m p l a b a r u f g r m a
B
D e v r u f r a m ~ e c t m d e o c
s u b s i d r e v s h a r o d e t m s
B
M a i l o c s t r u c o n w s e r r e
e s p e i g r a r
1
B
T a a d w o e c o o c o s e $ i n
w h p o s - r e c o l i
I
1 F i b a l i t e o e c o o s c e s f s I
B
L j t r a p l a p o l w r e g o i ( u
e c o d e v e a a b r l e e i r a G l
9
F ? m a t r a i n f r a o a G T b w I t
subsidizetransit throughpropertytax. -
B
S t r u t p r o f r e s t n e v a c h s i
a e n c o i n n i d e l
~e. Berkeley, Ccmsdfirig $hup
3
Trade-offs.- No one
Model was Ideal
Afterassessingthe six models
against the criteria,there was
no clear choice. No one model
meets ail the requirements.
There are some innate trade-
offs betvyeenhaving overall
directionsettinganda l l o for
local decision-making that need
to be facedinselectingthe best
model.
.,
Voluntary Cooperation
Within Status Quo - What
will Change?
Although the current model
works, most peoplefelt it was
not a usefulmodelto buildon
for the future. Whileit provides
for local preference a t
decentralized operations, it
does not promote seamless
service, or growth through
integratedtransitstrategies,nor
does i?..link planning at a
broadergeographiclevel. .
Voluntary Cooperation
Among Four Geographical
Transit Operators and GO
- Will it Work?
Certainly ITC and Metro
favoured a variation of this
option, but thatincludeda fuel
tax and avoidedthe issue of
getting voluntafy. agreement
fromthe partieswithoutoutside
funding. The support forthis
approachwas diminishedby a
concern about whether vol-
untary agreement would
happen. A consolidated-num-
ber of operators,while better
than the current fragmented
system,seemedinsufficientto
offeradequatehope.
Federation of Transit
Operators - PossibleWith
Questions About
Operational Organization
A federation,assumingit. h%
some strength of de@ion-
makin.g, would potentially
promote a. quality, seamless
setvice, suppoti growthgoals
and planninglinkagesat the
GTAlevel. However,wouldthe
federation partners allow the
federation to make tough
decisions, specifkaliyabout
funding? The combinationof
decentralizedoperationswith
some common sewices or
centralfunctionswoulddo well
in termsof cost economies.
The greatest controve~y
created by this ~odel
concerned the potential
combinationof subwaysand
GO. Most questionedthis
sugge~ion, finding it a key
weakness.Yet,somewerestill
supportiveof the idea interms
of promo~ing sound transit
planning, funding and
eccmornir@ delivery.
Franchise ModeI - A Good
Possibility .
The franchise model, being
similarto a federation,provides
the beneftisof united transit
direction and servicepolicy,as
wellas planninglinkages. It
alsosupportsthe.economicsof
transitbycontractingoperations
while allowing for some
functionsto be centralized. In
many ways it correspondsto
some of the strong federation
models in Germany and the
UnitedStates; The mainlimits
concern the. loss of . local
influencein decisionsinvolving
sewice levels. and funding.
Overall, the franchise model
had more strengths than
weaknesses.
si~i.ce Bureau(or Menu)
ModeI - Does not Make .
Sense
Overall, the service bureauor
menu model.was seen to be
illogical.Peopleliked the, local
choicebutsawa singleoperator
as a disadvantage,economic-
ally. If a local, decentralized
approach were favoured, a
voluntarycoordinationmodel is
preferred. Onthe other.hand,if
a consistent centralized
approachto transit policyand
service were desired, a
franchise or amalgamated
approachmakessense. There
was no. obvious s o
conditionswhere this model
madesense.
FullAmalgamation- . .
Wea@esses Outweigh
Benefits
Amalgamationmeans a bigger
7TC. with one,consistentset of
serv~ce policies and funding
poolfor the relevantGTA area.
Mr. Juri Pill presented an
analysisof the implicationsof
amalgamating. This was helpful
to.thegroup.The groupsawthis
modelas strong.on providinga
quality, GTA-tide servicei
promotingtransit growth and
linkingplanning issues across
the area. However,therewere
significant downsides.The size
of the organization created
perceived weakness since it
would be less cost effective,
less innovative, and. less
flexible. More. importantly,
people . reacted to the
projections of the potential
..
The Berkeley Consulting Group
.
~
effectonIoi%ltaxes. Increases
to 905 tax Qntnbutionsto
transit were considered an
unacceptableprice to pay for
potentially improved setiice.
Overall, while the positives
were. acknowledged,no one
promotedthis model as being
,theanswer.
of course, any.. transit
organization.model W-llneedto
ftiwithinthe GTAstrWturethat
is decided. The consultants
described four .scenanos for
GTAstructureroughlybased on
submissionsthat have been
publicized.The four scenarios
are describedin the insed (to
the right). ,The participants
discussed which transit
model(s) would suit each
scenario.
If Scenario A, Then . . .
Under.the current municipal
structure with a
similar
Provincial role,.VoluntaryCoop
eration Models.1 and 2 or
FederationModel 3 wouldbe
most appropriateto cootiinate
transit. Wtihout an umbrella
political bodycoveringthe GTA,
othermodelswouldbe awkward
. orimpossible.
If ScenarioB, Then. . .
Under a scenario like that
proposedby City of Toronto,
therewouldbe no politi@lbody
atthe Metrolevelrequiringthe
Provinceto establishan org-
anizationalvetiicle to oversee
1
EV/iLUATION OFMODELS AGAINST
SCEN/UllOS ABOUT GTAAND
PROtiCL4LROLE ANDFUNDING
B F i s c f i
B $ g o v e r e i p l
B P r o c o n f u r a a
l o I e a w d i f
m e c h a
B R e g m c o n t s
B F i s t f i
B R e g r e i p l a M e
eliminated. ~
B M e r o r e a s t P r o
l o t i i M e o t M e t
s e r f e d e ( o b l o
t i e
B P r o c o n p o a f u
r o w i d i f m e c h
B P r o v R e g a l o t
M e e s t s f o t r e
a h o a g r e o v e f G
,.
s e r v
B U p t i r e m ~
B A s s s e t f u n
o p e a c r G b f e d o
p a r t n C o m m
B - T r a d e s i a G T A
B P r o p r o o o t r a
o p e r as.part o s o f u n
o r , f p o w
B
P r o v r e m i n v i ~
o n p r o n o f o r b
B
P r o e s t a i m p
m e c h f d e w G
i s s o a i n t e b a
,
G g o v e r e p M e
A s s f u n a s e r
m a n a d i r . G
g o v e r
T r a a . s e r
P r o c o r e i o g o o
o p e r a c a p f u n
I P r o r e m i m p
l i n w i G T d e c i s
and fund transit., Either the
Franchise Model or Arnai-
gamation offers that vehicle
and, therefore, wouldsuit this
scenario.
If Scenario C, Then.. .
The third scenario, ,Iike that
proposed by North York and
Mississauga, ineffect setsupa
superfederation.of GTA-wide
servicesincludingtransit. In
theoty; a number. of transit
models(3, ,4, 5 or 6) couldbe ~
established.Practically, Modets
3 and4 are mo~eappropriate
since they are consistentwith
the philosophyof decentralized
operations and a consistent
directionfor sefvicesliketransit
acrossthe GTA. . .
. If Scenario D, Then . . .
With trans~ assignedto the .
GTA, level reportingto a GTA
Council, cooperationwouldno.
longer be voluntary. Either
Model 4 or 6 wouldfit the GTA
government scenario. Under
the Franchise Model, the GTA
Council would be the policy
makingboardforthe franchiser.
Alternately, the GTA Council
could simply overseea larger
.lTC sewing all or most
(dependingon,the boundaries)
of the area.
Othekconsidiwations
While participantsconcentrated
on . consideringwhat. models
made sense for transit, there
were concerns expressed on
related topi~ that should be
noted.
B Labours ctincems abo~
participation on transit
. ,
The Berkelev Consuliinc ~rnmti
,,
. .
5
decision-makingbodies is
being,Iost.
. There is a preoccupation
with Iabouras a problem
,andapotentiallyexcessive
expectation that privatiz-
ationisa panacea.
B As.well as assessingwhat
would be ideal, the
implementationand trans-
ition issues need to be
taken intoaccountat some
point. It maybe difficultfor
all stakeholdersto accept
the problems of imp
.I.ementing ce~ainmodels.
Mr. Pills presentation ad-
dressedsome additionalissues
concerningtransit organization
that were not adequately
debated in the workshop.
However,theseissueswillneed
some attentionwhen the GTA
debateisresolved.
. StiouldGObe considered
as a separate operation
fromurbantransitbecause
of the differences oper
ationall,y?,
. Shouldtransitbe organized
to recognizenatural catch-
ment areas or commuter
sheds? .
. Service levels (routes,
frequency)arenotthesame
as sewices policy /
standards/ criteriawhich
aredecisionguidesor rules
for developingwhat levels
areappropriategiven,rider
andpopulationconditionsin
anyarea.
. Having a common fare
policycould meanfare by
distance, or a f l fare.
Most discussions have
concentratedon flat fares,
todate, forsimplicity.
m:
No Recommendations .
About Transit Organization
POssjb]eat This Stage ~.
The workshopparticipantswere
not askedto forma conclusion
nor was any consensus, .
expected: The discussions
confirmed the. view tha~. no ~EQ}}`}.
remmmendationsabout transit
organizationare possibleat this
The matterwill needto
be returned to after the
Government, respondsto the
GoldenTaskForceR~pofi.
.Consultants see Some
.Messages Fiom the
Workshop
.Whilethe wofkshopparticipants
did not reachaconsensus, the
Wnsultants,.upon reflectingon
the workshop,see a numberof
messages. While there is no
total picture, there are some
relativelyclear ingredientsthat , .
need to be taken from the
deliberations.
B Tmnsfi . Cari
be addressed under all
GTA scenarios. No
matter what GTAscenario,
there are ways to bring
someunifyingthrusttoGTA .
transit.
B Decentmlized. oper&tions
.a posti-ve feature.
Decentralized operations
weie generally .favoured
and shouldbe builtintoany
ultimatemodei.
IntegratedTransitpolicies
and direction across the
GTA would.be welcomed
by most. A healthydegree
of centralized direction,
policymakingand strategy
will be welcomed to
accommodatethe broader
transitgoalsThisimpliesa
singlepolicyworkingbody. ~~
Misgivings aboti, the
implicatiahs of ceqtral
dimCfiOnexist. There are
signifi~nt misgivingsabogt
the by-productsof central
transitpolicymaking. With
pooled funding. which is
presumably necessary to
some degreeto accomplish
standardized, ,service pol-
icies,therewill be.aloss of
local politicalchoice about
transitpriorityand funding.
Moreover,there are acute
concerns about, which
taxpaye~ win and lose in
te~s of the effects on
taies andsewice..
Misgivings must be
solved to create more
integrated transit These,
&ncems need to be
addressed.to allow.for a
healthy degree of central
direction and integrated
transit policy. You cant
haveyourcakeandeat it.~
Althoughit is po5sibleto.
have decentralizedoper-
ations and centralized
policy,it is not sosimpleto
have. both centralizedand
decentralized direction
Setting.:
.,
The Berkelev Consnltin; Gtiun ~
6
B Tax fiimess ispart ofa o Franchise and Federation B Franchise or Federation
bigger puzzle. Concerns mode& most appealing. mode/s go beyond the
aboutfairnessandchanges Whether the. federationor original Limited
inlocaltaxfortransitneed franchise model, the
to be consideredinlightof federation-like approaches
the overallchangestofiscal with decentral operations
andtax acrosspartsof the and central policy making
GTA. Overreactingto one and planning, seemto be at
pieceofthe overallpuZzle thetopof the list. Naturally,
iscounter-productive. they will need to operate
within the political
framework that emerges.
from the GTA governance
debate.
Purpose,Federation. The
type of models being
discussed along the
franchise or federation
approach establishes a
strong dire~ion setting
organizationmore like the.
strong Europeati~ or
American federations.
.,,t (
certainlygoes beyond the
limited purpose, almost
staffless federation
originallyproposedby the
IntegrationTaskForce.
The Berkelev. Consultimz Grmm
Anne Golden, Chair
GTA Task Force
Suite 2001
Dear Ms Golden,
Policies which attract road freight transport to rail would also be a way to avoid highway
development and wear and tear costs, meet land use objectives, improve highway safety,
cleaner air, and improve our economic competitiveness. Rail transit and rail freight are
compatible.
In order to enhance the growth of industry within and beyond the GTA, maximize the use of rail
commuter services and ensure continued investment in rail infrastructure for both freight and
passenger services (Please note attachments which deal with the high rate of energy efficiency
of rail as compared with road transport.), we fully support the Canadian National Railways and
CP Rail System presentation to the GTA Task Force which urges the following action required for
railway property:
B
Immediate (1996 Taxation Year).
-Freeze existing right-of-way taxes.
-Ensure non-discriminatory taxation of non-corridor property.
B
Long Term
-Exempt rights-of-way from property taxation (Note that roads are not taxed).
-Ensure non-discriminatory taxation of non-corridor property.
-Provincial commitment to remove the impediments to the future viability of railways.
In 1970, Ontario had 9,193 miles of railway line, we now have less than 7000 miles.
Abandonments could reduce this to between 3 and 4000 miles in the near future. Action is
urgently required to protect and increase the use of this irreplaceable real estate, and preserve
an asset of immeasurable value and potential. The above steps would help to level the road-rail
playing field, and combined with other strategies, rail usage would once again thrive, much to our
economic, environmental and social benefit. Please note that 2 rail lines equal 16 lanes of
highway in carrying capacity.
Please also note Transport 2000s twelve transportation objectives.
Elizabeth Hill
President
Transport 2000 Ontario Inc.
copy to: Hon. Al Palladini, Minister of Transportation
Hon. William Saunderson, Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism
Town Hall
September 27, 1995

393 University Avenue, 20th, Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:
I am pleased to submit herewith a copy of the Townships brief regarding the Greater Toronto Area. I sincerely
hope that you will consider its contents and that it will be of assistance to you and other members of the Task
Force.
Although we are a rural area municipality in the GTA, north of the ridges, we are quite aware of the problems
which are facing not only Metropolitan Toronto, but all municipalities in the Province. We agree that changes are
needed. Words such as disentanglement, co-operation,efficiency, downsizing, streamlining, accountability
and fiscal responsibility are all extremely applicable to all levels of government. We support your goal to make
the future of the GTA and Ontario a great one.
Our major concern, however, is that the changes we make to-day will affect not only us but also future generations.
They cannot be done to benefit a few at the expense of many. We must ensure that whatever we do is correct.
I therefore urge you and the Provincial Government to give us a chance to have meaningful input into any changes
you recommend. Please provide alternatives so that the pros and cons can be thoroughly studied. This cannot
happen over a month or two. We must have time. Even your Task Force, in my opinion, is operating on too tight
a timeframe to ensure that your conclusions are the best.
In conclusion, thank you for considering our attached brief and I look forward to meeting with you in the near
future.
Warmest personal regards,
/
Mayor
copy: File (415C)
Council members
GTA Mayors
.
In The Rqjonal Municipality of Durham
RESPONSE
TOWNSHIP OF UXBRIDGE
GTA TASK FORCE
SEPTEMBER, 1995
1.
The Township of Uxbridge supports the goal of the Task Force to ensure that the
GTA will be a well planned and economically viable part of the Province. This is
critical not only to the well being of Ontario but also all of Canada.
The GTA Mayors Committee, as well as the Regional Chairs, have made a number
of recommendations, many of which the Township of Uxbridge agrees with and
which form part of our response to the Task Force.
It is the position of the Township of Uxbridge, that many changes being proposed
for the GTA should and must be applied to all municipalities in Ontario. We are all
facing the same problems and solutions to the GTA problems most certainly must
have universal application.
It is also the position of the Township of Uxbridge, that there are many good and
positive aspects of the GTA and its various levels of government. The Task Force
should build on these strengths. Some of the proposed changes such as elimination
of Regional Governments or radical restructuring of Regional boundaries,
particularly in the south, in our opinion are not necessary or in the best interests of
all GTA municipalities. We are opposed to such radical changes.
2.1 Assessment and Taxes
A fundamental principle must be established for all municipalities in the GTA and
the Province. All taxpayers must be treated equally and must pay their equal share.
The present system of assessment and taxation does not achieve this.
An equitable basis of assessment must and should be implemented throughout the
Province and updated on a regular basis.
Consideration should be given to replacing business assessment with an extra charge
on commercial and industrial properties which are being used for business purposes.
The present system of collecting business taxes simply is not acceptable.
2
Finally, serious study should be given to the merits of sharing of industrial and
commercial assessment within a Regional Municipality. This would enable industry
to locate in the most logical areas rather than each municipality being forced to plan
for and attract industry to retain a balanced assessment base.
Significant amendments to the Municipal Act must be initiated which will improve
the Act by giving municipalities more permissive authority and a greater range of
revenue generating options.
Municipal, Regional and Provincial levels of government must improve the present
method of delivering services to taxpayers. The goal must be to make service delivery
more efficient and affordable and more responsive to the needs of the public.
At present, at all levels of government, there is far too much duplication.
The Province must take a leadership role to ensure that this disentanglement occurs
in a fair, equitable and expeditious manner.
The Township of Uxbridge recommends that unaccountable, special purpose bodies
be eliminated.
2.5 Reform
The Task Force should address the issue of education and the need for reform. A
significant portion of property taxes collected go to education. The costs of
education continue to escalate.
Reform is needed not only in the source of revenues for education but also the
structure of School Boards.
3. cture of GTA
It is our sincere recommendation that the GTA, in order to be the economic
3
heartland of Ontario and Canada, must be well planned and be economically viable.
To achieve this, the Province must provide for and ensure that a co-ordinated
approach to the planning of land uses and infrastructure, and the promotion of the
area for jobs.
Too many examples exist where the present structure has failed to ensure co-
ordinated planning. The GTA Mayors reports clearly outline the inherent problems
we have created and will continue to have unless changes are made.
It is the position of the Township of Uxbridge that another level of government is
not needed in the GTA. We support the position of the GTA Mayors that a GTA
Forum (comprising of Mayors, Regional Chairs and a GTA Cabinet Ministers
Committee), together with the necessary Legislative authority and support from the
Province, to ensure that they are an effective body, should be established. This
Forum will function and will ensure that the necessary co-ordination between the
various Regions and lower tier municipalities occurs. It will also ensure that the
GTA is promoted in the best possible way to attract new jobs and assessment.
With respect to Regional boundary changes, we fail to see how the good of all
municipalities in the GTA will be served by drastically altering Regional boundaries.
Suggestions of a Lakeshore Region or a Region north of the ridges are not
acceptable. While such changes will possibly benefit Metropolitan Toronto, they will
result in residual Region(s) which are not economically viable.
We urge the Task Force to leave the Region of Durhams boundaries as they are.
The Region, since its creation in 1974, has proven to be an economically viable entity,
with the member municipalities showing a common bond which has resulted in a well
run Region. There are many reasons Uxbridge believes Durham should remain in
its present geographic form. Basically it is because the member municipalities share
a common bond that makes the Region work. No one municipality or municipalities
have benefitted at the expense of others. As a unit the Region is economically viable
and has a diversity of land uses and life styles which makes it a great place to live
and work.
The Township of Uxbridge strongly opposes any changes to the boundaries of the
Region of Durham.
While saying this, the Township of Uxbridge recommends that the roles of the
4
Region and the member municipalities, as well as the services they provide should be
carefully studied and changes made which will improve efficiency and delivery of
services. We will commit to do this.
5. Township of Uxbridge
In 1974, the Township of Uxbridge after much debate made a decision to join the
Region of Durham, rather than being part of the Region of York. The ensuing 20
years have proven this to be a good and wise decision.
The Township of Uxbridge wants to remain in the Region of Durham.
As part of the GTA review, a great deal has been made of the improved efficiencies
etc., which could be achieved by merging municipalities and reducing the number of
local municipalities. Economies of scale, reduction in staffing and politicians, etc. are
all cited as reasons.
This may or may not be true with populated, geographically small municipalities
which are tightly linked with shared infrastructure and planning. It may be possible
to improve planning, service delivery and reduce the number of staff in such cases.
We do not believe that this same scenario applies to the Township of Uxbridge, or
our neighbors in Brock and Scugog Townships.
Geographically, Uxbridge comprises over 200 square miles with a population of
15,000 people. Any expansion would make the municipality too large and the
economies of scale and responsiveness to the ratepayer would be lost or greatly
compromised.
The Township has been able to provide services to the residents in an efficient and
economical manner. Since 1974, even with growth and expansion of services and
facilities the Township permanent staff has not significantly increased (ie. 1 or 2).
Facilities and infrastructure improvements have been done on an ability to pay basis -
we are debt free.
The municipal system is kept simplistic but effective. We do not have engineering
and planning departments, nor do we have a Recreation Director. The community
also relies heavily on volunteers. We probably have more volunteer boards than
most municipalities. These people serve the community and save a great deal of tax
money
This is
5
because we do need to hire staff to do the work these volunteers readily do.
what Uxbridge is all about. It is people, history and a strong love for the
rural area.
To change this would be a great loss and would be done with no apparent benefit.
Expansion would only mean increased reliance on staff and professionals, a
complication of the system and a distancing of municipal government from the people
it was intended to serve. These are changes which are contrary to progressive reform
in municipal government.
It is our strong recommendation that the boundaries of Uxbridge not be changed.
We are ready and willing to work with our neighboring municipalities, the Region
and the Province to review and, if beneficial, change roles with respect to services.
These discussions are now on-going with Brock and Scugog and the Region.
In the case of the Township of Uxbridge and that of Brock and Scugog Township,
bigger is not better.
Dear Dr. Golden:
I want to thank you for again soliciting our input regarding Provincial - Municipal matters. I sincerely
believe that this type of provocative dialogue is constructive and will certainly lead to changes which will
improve our Province.
As in most situations in life, there are always two sides to every story and with respect to Provincial -
Municipal relations this is also true. However, you have asked us to provide you with examples of where
inefficiencies exist and where such have impeded and continue to impede the proper functioning of our
municipality and our constituents.
In responding to you, I want to first of all state that I am in no way trying to discredit Provincial
employees. I have gone on record, both in writing and verbally, to give Provincial staff recognition where
they have done a good job. For the most part, this is the norm.
Problems exist to-day not because of staff, but because mandates of various ministries often are duplicated
or conflict. This must be changed.
The following represent some of my areas of concern:
1. The mandate of the Ministry of Environment and
the work load. It is almost accepted in Ontario,
Energy is simply too broad. Staff cannot handle
whether it be for private development or public
projects, that the Ministry will take many months longer than any other Ministry to respond even
initially to a proposal. Where further submissions are required, the months can stretch into a year
or more.
../2
In The Regional Municipality of Durham
@ Pr i nt ed on Rec yc l ed Paper
2.
3.
4.
5.
- 2 -
This bottleneck must be changed.
In issues involving the environment, a municipality, developer or private citizen, must deal with the
Ministry of Environment and Energy, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the local
Conservation Authority.
I fail to see why one agency could not be responsible for this, Not only does the present system
lead to excessive delays, but it is also very costly. Many times these agencies disagree with one
another which only further complicates and protracts the process.
Serious consideration should be given to making the budget year for the Province and local
municipalities the same. It is very difficult for us to do our budget when we do not know the
Provinces position on grants.
The Province, including its Ministries and staff, should adopt a more co-operative approach to
dealing with municipalities, developers and the public. I have seen improvements in this area in
recent years but examples exist to this day where certain staff simply do not return phone calls.
I have had a number of conversations with people who say that they have tried to reach a certain
person or persons for months and their calls go unanswered.
I am sure that you would agree that this is not acceptable. Perhaps the problem is workload, but
I have my doubts.
On occasion a municipality has priorities, whether it be a job creation proposal, affordable housing
or a road project. In such cases, we want the approval process accelerated. Many times this is not
possible because of the Provincial workload.
The Provincial Facilitators Office has helped in this regard, but there should be a more positive
means of dealing with priorities.
I am sure other municipalities will provide you with numerous examples of where changes could be made.
I agree improvements are needed. A simpler system, where the rules are clearly laid out, is what is
required.
Warmest
Such is easy to say, but I am sure that the implementation will be more difficult.
personal regards,
copy:
cm
File
Council members
Town Hall
51 Toront o St reet &
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
DURHAM REGION POLICE SERVICE
TOWNSHIP FILE: 403
Dear Dr. Golden:
Please be advised that the Council of the Township of Uxbridge at its regular meeting
held on Monday, October 23rd, 1995 adopted the following Resolution No. 67-95:
WHEREAS the Durham Regional Police Service was established in 1974
through the amalgamation of the Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa,
Bowmanville, Cannington, Port Perry and Uxbridge Police Services;
AND WHEREAS the Durham Regional Police Service is an extremely effective
community based organization;
AND WHEREAS the Council of Uxbridge believes it to be in the best interest of
Durham residents to have the Durham Regional Police Service to remain intact
as an entity;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE
CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF UXBRIDGE advise the Golden
Commission and the Solicitor General that it is in the best interests of the
Durham Region residents for the Durham Regional Police Service to continue
to provide police services for Durham.
Yours truly
/nas
In The RegionaI Municipality of Durham
31 Dalton Road
Toronto, ONT M5R 2Y8
962-2786
November 10, 1995
To Anne Golden and all Members of the GTA Task Force
By fax
Re: GTA Fax news
This is probably the forth or fifth time in the last 4 years I have seen the pablum contained in
this newsletter. My conclusion is that everyone likes to talk about it but like pablum, anyone
old enough to feed themselves wont eat it.
The most successful city in Ontario, and probably Canada, in terms of the tax revenue it
generates per square kilometer is Toronto. Unfortunately for Toronto, everyone else in the
province wants to share that revenue without paying the price.
The price is the congestion and unpleasantness that that congestion generates. As my brief
points out, large parts of Toronto areas congested as the most densely populated parts of
London, England, without the offsetting compensation of a much more friendly climate and
transportation system. Despite that the market, until 4 or 5 years ago, made Toronto property
much more valuable than comparable properties outside the City. The result because of
Market Value Assessment (MVA), has meant that we have paid much higher taxes than is
necessary to support the services normally provided by a municipality.
The larger problem, mentioned above, is that everyone in the province wants a piece of the
Toronto pie. The result is, as one economist put it, we are over the top of the curve. This is
particularly true of the business community. MVA will ensure that the problem continues. Until
the property tax system is changed to require that the people that cost the most to service, pay
the cost, the city will continue to decline economically. I believe that most economists would
agree that for a city/municipality the highest cost to the municipality is at the margin.
MVA taxes properties at the margin at the lowest.
Please dont try to serve us any more pablum unless you are willing to eat it yourself.
Yours truly,
David Vallance
962-6707 PAGE. 001
Why Toronto's attempt to intensify is doomed
to Illustrate the Need for a
Policy that allows Toronto more independence
Prepared by: David Vallance
Date: September 1995
This is a map produced from 1991 Census Tract data. It shows that many
other areas in Toronto where Main Streets arc proposed are well above the
City average. We have been told since the idea of Main Streets was
conceived that the purpose was to increase Torontos density to that of
densely populated European Cities
Please lift this page to see where mainstreets are pr opos ed for
Tor on t o. It is ea s y t o s ee t h a t mos t of t h e pr opos ed in t en s ifica t ion
is in t en ded for t h e mos t den s ely popu la t ed a r ea s of t h e Cit y. Mos t
of t h es e a r ea s a r e a ls o t h e lowes t in come cen s u s t r a ct s . Th is
con fir ms my belief t h a t t h e on ly wa y t o in cr ea s e t h e den s it y is t o
lower t h e in come.
The result shows that the density or the two most heavily populated boroughs
111 the City of London, England is not much different from large areas along
Bloor Street west from Avenue Road to Kcele Street. And east along the
Danforth from the Don Valley to Victoria Park Avenue.
I
Amsterdam 1
Birmingham 2
Bonn 3
Boston 4
Brussels 5
Budapest 6
Buffalo 7
Chicago 8
Cologne 9
Copenhagen 10
2,075,990 2,075,990
350, 000 1, 250, 000
3,007,603 7,200,000
966,307
556,264 1,346,666
Detroit 11 1,128,000 4,508,072
Dublin 12 502,337 1,020,796
Frankfurt 13 615,177
Genoa 14 727,427
Glasgow 15 733,794 2,358,727
Hamburg 16 1,579,884 1,900,000
London 17 2,400,000 6,767,500
Los Angeles 18 3,070,710 7,500,000
Madrid 19 3,058,182 4,786,488
Milwaukee 20 611,292 1,000,000
Minneapolis 21 360,000 2,200,000
Munich 22 1,281,613 2,315,899
New York 23 7,238,882
Philadelphia 24 1,647,565 4,700,000
1
Stockholm 25 659,030 1,435,474
I Toronto 26 607,384 2,180,853
Vienna 27 1,492,864 2,044,331
Washington 28 627.450 3.287.900
City & Metro Populations
8000000
9 22 25 28
Cities by number
They have similar city and metro populations (although by no means
identical). They have a comparable standard of living and are therefore likely
to choose means of transportation comparable to the residents of the City of
Toronto. Only one of them, Copenhagc
j
has a density overall that
approaches the City of Toronto and its density fell by about 5% between
1980-1985, in contrast to Torontos which went up during the same period,
and its overall metropolitan area is substantially smaller and less dense. I
began to wonder why we were trying to increase the population density 01
Toronto to that of densely populated European cities.
Population/sq. km.
r
- - - - -
1980 1985
Amsterdam
1 3,431 3,272
Birmingham 2 4,035 0
Bonn 3 2,039 2,065
Boston 4 0 4,561
Brussels 5 4,310 4,160
Budapest 6 3,923 3,954
Buffalo 7 2,765
0
Chicago 8 5,084 5,072
Cologne 9 2,505 2,385
Copenhage n 1 O 6,053
5,735
Detro it 11 3,329 3,120
Dubli n 1 2 4,695
4,485
Frank furt 1 3 2, 539 2,475
Genoa 1 4 3,234 3,037
Glasgow 1 5 3,909
3,706
Hamburg 1 6 2,18 0 2,093
London 1 7
8,470
Los Angeles 1 8 3,945 4,08 3
Madrid 1 9 5,21 4 5,048
Milwaukee 20 4, 11 6 3,955
Minneapolis 21 2,440 2,368
Munich 22 4,1 85 4,1 29
New York 23 8,5 20 8, 7 22,
Philadelphia 24 4, 502
4,394
Stockholm 25 2,9 96 3,051
Toront o 26 6,1 33 6,2 17
Vienn a 27 3,6
90 3,598
Washington 28 2,039 3,505
Population Densities*
10000
8 0 0 0 - - - - - -
6000
4000-
9 11 13
25 27
slightly lower than that for these two boroughs in London. Howcver, London
surrounding those two districts has greater density than most of Im-onto, and
I wondered how that is possible
It is easily understood if you look at thc subway systems in the two cities.
Toronto has about one-quartet
-
of thc subway system as the same area in
in Toronto. It is probably also bctter in the summer in that it is not so hot and
humid most the time. These conditions make walking and cycling much more
attractive alternative ways of getting around than in Toronto.
The bus system in London is very user friendly. One can get on or off a bus
whenever it is stopped. That makes getting, around in the congested central
part of London very easy if one has a pass There is also a zone system which
makes travel in the zones more rcasonable than in Toronto. Short trips arc
more likely to be taken by transit when the cost more closely reflects the
value.
I 1
.
r
I .
,:
I
1 I
3
. , .
, -
density is three times that of Toronto." After some reasearch on Paris, I found
that the city's population has been dropping Steadily for the last fifty years. It
was built up in the seventeen and eighteen hundreds when people had little
choice. As people got richer, they moved out of the city. The result is,
according to one encyclopedia, that over 20(% of the population in the city is
housed in atrocious conditions, primarily by immigrants from Africa.
Additionally, half the households in Paris consist of one person. This
indicates to me that it is full of old people waiting to die, and young people
living a bohemian life. I am Sure there are exceptions, i.e. rich people and
people with families, but the family is not the prominent feature in Paris that it
is in Toronto.
Another factor is the subway system. I was told by a TTC employee that
youre never more than 500 meters from a subway entrance in Paris. Paris has
about 160 km of track in the city, compared to approximately 30 in the city of
Toronto, i.e. Paris has 5 times as much Subway track as Toronto with 3 times
the population.
Toront OS area is 97+ square kilometers Paris is 105 square kilometers. Thi s
illustration shows Paris Metro (subway) system if Toronto had it.
I submit that trying to increase the pupulation density in the city of Toronto is like
trying to play pool with a rope. This is borne out by statistics from Metro that
indicate the population in the city dropped by 6,400 people between 1991 and
1993. At the same time, there were 6,500 people moved in to occupy the
approximately 3000 subsidized housing units that were built in Toronto during
that period. This indicates that a total of 13,000 people moved out of the city.
I suggest that the people who moved out were mostly those who paid taxes or
their own rent. Half of them are replaced by people who are subsidized in terms
of their rent and probably their taxes. The people who moved in, when they find
jobs, will likely find them out of the city and thus add to the car population, rather
than increasing the ridership on our marvelous public transportation system.
My support and enthusiasm for Unit Assessment is based on many things but the
information above provides one of the major reasons. When 1 started asking
questions about densities and revenues per square kilometer, and comparisons
between cities about municipal expenses, 1 was told time and again that that
information was not available in one place or in that form.
1 realized that basic business practice was being ignored by nearly everyone
involved with municipal finance. We have become aware that countries compete
in the global economy. Three years ago, competition between cities was rarely, if
ever, discussed in the media or by politicians. Now it appears regularly in the
documents that are surfacing for this task force. Many of the authors of the
documents want to rectify the competition by equalized . . . assessment
(Metro), or pooling of assessment (North York). North York then has the
audacity to say, Municipalities should strive to reduce or eliminate entirely their
dependence on Provincial grants. We need to be in control of our own destiny. I
agree entirely with these two sentences.
This chart shows the revenues of Metros cities and some others in different
ways. Revenue per square kilometer is very revealing. Residents of the City pay a
high price in terms of congestion for that revenue. Many no longer want to share
the revenue AND pay the price. They are voting with their feet, causing the spiral
we now face. The other cities will just have to measure up if we are going to
break the spiral.
\ // I /// I 1 I ~ I Al ) I l \
17
I submit that trying to increase the population density in the city of Toronto is like
trying to play pool with a rope. This is borne out by statistics from Metro that
indicate the population in the city dropped by 6,400 people between 1991 and
1993. At the same time, there were 6,500 people moved in to occupy the
approximately 3000 subsidized housing units that were built in Toronto during
that period. This indicates that a total of 13,000 people moved out of the city.
I suggest that the people who moved out were mostly those who paid taxes or
their own rent. Half of them are replaced by people who are subsidized in terms
of their rent and probably their taxes. The people who moved in, when they find
jobs, will likely find them out of the city and thus add to the car population, rather
than increasing the ridership on our marvelous public transportation system.
My support and enthusiasm for Unit Assessment is based on many things but the
information above provides one of the major reasons. When I started asking
questions about densities and revenues per square kilometer, and comparisons
between cities about municipal expenses, I was told time and again that that
information was not available in one place or in that form.
I realized that basic business practice was being ignored by nearly everyone
involved with municipal finance. We have become aware that countries compete
in the global economy. Three years ago, competition between cities was rarely, if
ever, discussed in the media or by politicians. Now it appears regularly in the
documents that are surfacing for this task force. Many of the authors of the
documents want to rectify the competition by equalized . . . assessment
(Metro), or pooling of assessment (North York). North York then has the
audacity to say, Municipalities should strive to reduce or eliminate entirely their
dependence on Provincial grants. We need to be in control of our own destiny. I
agree entirely with these two sentences.
This chart shows the revenues of Metros cities and some others in different
ways. Revenue per square kilometer is very revealing. Residents of the City pay a
high price in terms of congestion for that revenue. Many no longer want to share
the revenue AND pay the price. They are voting with their feet, causing the spiral
we now face. The other cities will just have to measure up if we are going to
break the spiral.
I PROPERTY TAX REVENUES
I
1 by I
I POPULATION AND AREA I
Comparison between the Municipalities of Metro Toronto and
selected cities of the GTA
I Taxes for 1992
Population Revenue Revenue
per sq. Km per sq. Km. per resident
Toronto 1
6,536 $ 18,738,243 $ 2,867
Toronto - residential taxes only 2 6,536 7,195,307 1,101
North York 3 3,180 5,563,016 1,749
Scarborough 4 2.795 3,650,845 1,306
Etobicoke
w
5 2:,501 4;828;000 1 ;930
York 6 6.061 6.848.714 1,130
East York 7 4,831 6,373,274 1,319
Mississauga 9 1.674 2.483.077 1,483
Miss. - Residential taxes only 10 1 ,674 1 ,475,640 881
[Boston - USA 11 4.567 4.633.225 1.014 I
Page 14
child bearing years. Deaths have increased at a slow
but steady rate as the average age of the population
has increased,
50
40
30
20
10
0
Metro O irths and Deaths
1956-1993
000
Natural Increase
I
56 61 86 71 76 81 86 91
Figure 4
As indicated in Figure 3, net migration contributed
positively to population growth in Metro prior to 1971.
Since then net migration has contributed negatively to
population change, although the loss of population due
to migration has decreased substantially in the 1991/94
period compared to 1986/91.
Sources of Net Mlgratlon for Metro
1981-1993
Figure 5
Migrants to Metro originate in other countries, other
provinces of Canada and within Ontario. Since 1981,
the population in Metro has gained from international
migration and lost to other areas within Ontario, prima-
rily to adjacent regions.
METRO POPULATION BY AGE
Since 1981 the proportion of the population in Metro
under this years of age has declined. Conversely,
there has been growth in the shares of almost all age
groups greater than thirty. The number of people over
seventy years of age has grown significantly between
1981 and 1994.
Metro Population by Age
1981-1994
Figure 6
AREA MUNICIPAL POPULATION
Population increased between 1991 and 1994 in all
municipalities except Toronto. The largest rates of
increase were in Scarborough, North York and
Etobicoke. Toronto, North York and Scarborough each
had about a quarter of the Metro population in 1994.
Table 1 Metro Munlclpal Population
Municipality 1991 1994 91-94
000 000 Total
change
Scarborough 524.6 548.8 23.7% 4.6%
Toronto 635.4 629.1 27.1% -1 .0%
EastYork 102.7 104.1 4.5% 1.4%
NorthYork 562.6 575.1 24.8% 2.2%
York 140.5 143.4 6.2% 2.0%
Etobicoke 310.0 316.8 13.796 2.2%
METRO 2,275.8 2,317.4 100.0% 1.8%
METRO IN THE REGIONAL CONTEXT
GTA POPULATION
Metro is part of a larger urban area referred to as the
Greater Toronto Area (GTA), which includes Durham,
York, Peel and Halton Regions. The population in the
GTA has grown by 1.5 million since 1971 to a total of
over 4.4 million in 1994.
1. Metro Facts, Mi gr at i on Tr ends, 19S1-1994, Nov. 1994
2
To all Members of the GTA Task Force
In the Harvard Business Review (HBR) (May - .iune 1995) author Michael E. Porter states in
his opening sentence:
The economic distress of Americas inner cities may be the most
pressing issue facing the nation. The interesting thing is that the article is titled, The
Competitive Advantage of the Inner City. Mr. Porter, in my opinion, is absolutely right in both
the title and the first statement.
In Ontario, the City of Toronto is the inner city. While no one would argue that Tel-onto is in
the same condition as inner cities in the States, many of us feel it is in danger of going that
way The article makes the following statements:
While social programs will continue to play a critical role in meeting human needs
and improving education, they must support - and not undermine - a coherent
economic strategy.
We must stop trying to cure the inner citys problems by perpetually increasing
social investment and hoping for economic activity to follow. Instead, an economic
model must begin with the premise that inner city businesses should be profitable and
positioned to compete on a regional, national, and even international scale.
OUR POLICIES AND PROGRAMS HAVE FALLEN INTO THE TRAP OF
REDISTRIBUTING WEALTH. THE REAL NEED - AND THE REAL
OPPORTUNITY- IS TO CREATE WEALTH.
And finally;
Cities have been reluctant to challenge entrenched bureaucracies and unions, as well
as inefficient and outdated government departments, all of which unduly raise city
costs. (All emphasis and capitalization are mine )
This submission to the GTA Task Force looks at the citys policy of intensification and
questions the wisdom of this policy in light of what is happening in other cities around the
world, It also highlights just how efficient the city is, which is what creates the competitive
advantage referred to in the title of Mr. Porters HBR article,
Ms. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
393 University Ave.
20th Floor -2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Re: GTA Tou r is m - Redis cover in g it s Pot en t ial
Dear Ms. Golden:
As Chair of the GTA Mayors Tourism Committee, I have been asked to provide you with
some background on what the Committee is currently working On, and information on the
GTA Tourism Conference to take place in the spring of 1996.
The Committee has agreed in principle that the GTA needs to market itself internally in order
to achieve long-term financial health with respect to the tourism sector. This approach being
paramount to our thinking, we have since considered the possibility of a GTA Tourism
Conference to be held in the spring of 1996, where all the stakeholders involved in tourism
directly or indirectly, will participate to discuss where and how the GTA can be most
effective in increasing tourism opportunities.
The second objective of the Committee is to complement, not duplicate, existing tourism
activities with other regional and municipal organizations. To this end, the Committee has
suggested that it become a leader in co-ordinating GTA tourism potential projects such as the
olympics, world fairs, and other major world-renowned effects by getting all players
together and working with the province and federal government as a unit, as opposed to
individual municipalities.
Page Two
Ms. Anne Golden
The third objective is to promote the GTA as a tourism hub and promote the development of
tourism infrastructure. Most municipalities and regions in the GTA have proper zoning for
hotel and convention facilities, but rarely put enough resources or commitment towards
attracting investors. We feel the role of the Committee is to discuss these opportunities with
various regions and municipalities by creating a tourism opportunity business plan database
to be promoted internationally whenever the GTA attends trade shows or visits organizations.
We wanted these objectives to be known to your Task Force and also wanted to make certain
that you look at tourism as an integral part of economic development in the GTA with the
intent to undertake further analysis and studies on opportunities for strengthening and
promoting tourism in the GTA.
In the event that you require additional information or further discussion on this matter, dont
hesitate to contact me or any of the Committee members (see attachment).
Enclosures
One da v con fer en ce
GTA Tourism - Fast Track Conference
Ba ckgr ou n d
la ck of co-or din a t ion bet ween commu n it ies within the GTA t o gr ow t ou r is m.
Object ive
cr ea t e a wa r en es s wit h in t h e GTA a bou t t ou r is m oppor t u n it ies wit h in t h e
r egion .
en cou r a ge GTA r es iden t s t o ma ke t ou r is m a loca l h a ppen in g.
develop a n in fr a s t r u ct u r e a n d co-or din a t e r es ou r ces wit h in t h e GTA t o
pu r s u e s pecia l even t s s u ch a s wor ld fa ir s , expos a n d ot h er ca t egor y even t s .
develop a t ou r is m bu s in es s pla n t o iden t ify t ou r is m oppor t u n it ies in
con ju n ct ion wit h ot h er ma in pla yer s s u ch a s t h e MTCVA, On t a r io Tou r is m
Cou n cil a n d Min is t r y of Econ omic Developmen t a n d Tr a de.
en s u r e t h a t Fa s t Tr a ck in it ia t ives complimen t r a t h er t h a n du plica t e exis t ln g
pr ogr a ms .
Conference Attendees
s elect ed r epr es en t a t ives fr om
t h e travel in du s t r y
h ot els
food & bever a ge
a t t r a ct ion s / en t er t a in men t
media / commu n ica t ion s
mu n icipa lit ies
pr ovin cia l gover n men t
a s s ocia t ion s
fin a n cia l/ cr edit or ga n iza t ion s
1) Overview of GTA t ou r is m in a ch a n gin g ma r ket pla ce.
2) Goa ls of t h e con fer en ce.
3) Cr ea t ion of Ta s k Gr ou ps for a ft er n oon wor k s es s ion s t o iden t ify a n d
r ecommen d Fa s t Tr a ck in it ia t ives .
4) Wor k Gr ou p Ses s ion s a n d r ecommen da t ion s by en d of da y.
5) summary r epor t t o follow con fer en ce.
Con fer en ce Ma r ket in g
1) Defin e lis t of a t t en dees . Pr epa r e ma ilin g lis t .
2) Pr odu ce a pr omot ion a l let t er t o in t r odu ce con fer en ce.
3) Ma ilin g t o go ou t by en d of Sept ember .
4) Det a il fa cilit ies a n d con fer en ce colla t er a l.
5) Con t a ct s pea ker s a n d s ecu r e t h eir pa r t icipa t ion .
6]
Create a con fer en ce c ommit t e e t o
a ) t elema r ket .
b) co-or din a t e t h e even t .
Qu es t ion ?
Is t h er e on e over idin g obt a in a ble goa l of t h e con fer en ce?
MEMBER LIST OF TOURISM GTA SUB COMMITTEE
NAME MUNICIPALITY
Fr a n k Miele Va u gh a n
Wh it by
Todd Let t s Cla r in gt on
J oh n Scot t Yor k Region
Nor in e Mer ch a n t / Dou g An der s on Br a mpt on
Durham Region
Georgina
Halton Region
MEDT
Mississauga
Toronto
M . C. V. ASSOC.
Ontario Place
Caplan & Assoc.
Vaughan
FAX /PHONE
Fax: (905)832-6248
Tel: (905)832-8521
Fax:(905) 686-7005
Tel:(905) 668-5803
Fax:(905) 623-4169
Tel:(905) 623-3379
Fax:(905) 895-1238
Tel:(905) 895-1231
Fax: (905) 874-2670
Tel: (905) 874-2660
Fax: (905) 430-2940
Tel: (905) 723-0023
Fax: (905) 476-8100
Tel: (905) 476-4301
Fax: (905) 825-8839
Tel: (905) 825-6008
Fax: (416) 325-6814
Tel: (416) 325-6942
Fax: (905) 896-5931
Tel: (905) 896-5019
Fax: (416) 392-0675
Tel: (416) 392-7571
Fax: (416) 203-7943
Tel: (416) 203-2600
Fax: (416) 314-9993
Tel: (416) 314-9818
Fax: (905) 940-6915
Tel: (905) 940-6911
Fax: (905) 832-6248
Tel: (905) 832-8521
2141 Major Mackenzie Drive
Vaughan, Ont ar i o
Canada L6A IT1
Tel [905] 832-2281
September 7, 1995
Golden Task Force
393 Un i ver si t y Aven u e, 20t h f l oor
Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 2E6
Dear Sir /Madam:
RE: CITY OF VAUGHAN COMMENTS
GOLDEN TASK FORCE/PROVlNCIAL GOVERNMENT OF TORONTO
THE FUTURE OF THE GTA
:dm
CITY OF VAUGHAN
Item 77, Report No. 17 of the Committee of the Whole, which was adopted, as amended, by the Council
of the City of Vaughan on September 5, 1995.
The Committee of the Whole recommends that the report of Mayor Jackson be referred to the Council
meeting of September 5, 1995:
Recommendation
That the attached report and resolution be forwarded to the Golden Task Force, with a copy to
the Minister of Municipal Affairs,
Background
On August 2, 1995, a memorandum was received from Ms. Elizabeth McLaren, Assistant Deputy
Minister of the GTA, with regard to a Municipal Submission to the GTA Task Force. I responded
that the City of Vaughan would be making a submission after the Council meeting of
September 5, 1995.
The Mississauga model appears to be receiving a fair degree of acceptance. My concern with
that model is the suggestion that the GTA be divided into 10 to 15 municipalities,
Taking todays population figures of +/- 4,000,000 the division would result in municipalities of
between 400,000 and 267,000, if representation by population was a deciding factor. At the
upper limit a City would come close to the existing population of York Region which is now +/-
500,000. There would be little difference to our residents whether it was called a City or a Region,
the effect of taking accountability and responsiveness further away from the people is
unacceptable.
The Metro model is totally unacceptable. Metro is an expensive level of government that does
not appear to be working. Making it larger would not solve its problems.
The GTA Mayors Plan is for the most part acceptable, in fact many of the principles outlined in
the Mayors Plan are restated in the following resolution.
Although we cannot afford an in-depth report with recommendations as other larger municipalities
have done, I believe we should ensure that we make our desires and requirements known by
resolution, within the form and content of the following:
WHEREAS: The Golden Task Force has been charged with the responsibility
of reviewing the GTA Structure and to make recommendations for improvement;
AND WHEREAS: Many municipalities and interested groups are making
submissions to the Task Force with their requirements and suggestions;
AND WHEREAS: A representation to the Task Force with a viable, in depth
proposal for reform is an expensive undertaking for a small municipality;
/2
(EXTRACT FROM COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING OF AUGUST 28, 1995)
Report 17, Item 77- Paqe 2
AND WHEREAS: It is the small municipalities within the GTA that would be
impacted negatively by some of the changes being suggested by the larger
municipalities.
NOW THEREFORE: The Municipality of Vaughan request the Golden Task Force
and the Province of Ontario to ensure that the following requests and
requirements be given full consideration in formulating any changes to the
present structure of the GTA:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
A sense of Community must be retained and encouraged, People best
relate to small local municipal government and could be better served by
one stop shopping at the local level,
If municipal boundary changes are considered, where possible, Federal,
Provincial and municipal boundaries should be aligned to allow an
amalgamation of offices in one location allowing constituents to have
easy access to their representatives of all levels of government.
The future size of municipalities as documented in existing OPAS should
be used if municipal boundary changes are considered.
The objective should be to address issues affecting both Metro and the
surrounding Regions, The reform should provide lower property taxes
to all property owners in Ontario.
Lower taxes could be attained by - streamlining services, cutting out
duplication, and removing education costs from the property tax bill as
recommended in the Fair Tax Commission report.
Services should be provided by the most cost effective manner either by
government or the private sector.
Special purpose bodies should be eliminated or transferred to a level of
directly elected officials, This would result in accountability, clarification
of roles and lower costs,
If Regional government is abolished, a Commission of Mayors and
Cabinet Ministers should be formed to provide cross boundary co-
ordination.
Surrounding communities within the GTA must develop as independent,
unique live/work nodes.
Only one level of government should pay for a service, should deliver it
and be solely accountable for it. Disentanglement and elimination
duplication is essential.
Council, at its meeting of September 5, 1995, amended the foregoing item as follows:
By approving the following revised resolution:
WHEREAS: The Golden Task Force has been charged with the responsibility
reviewing the GTA structure and making recommendations for improvement;
of
of
Report 17, Item 77- Page 3
AND WHEREAS: Many municipalities and interested groups are making submissions
to the Task Force with their recommendations and suggestions;
AND WHEREAS: It is essential that certain fundamental principles be respected in the
consideration of GTA reform;
NOW THEREFORE: The City of Vaughan request the Golden Task Force and the
Province of Ontario to ensure that the following fundamental principles and
recommendations be given full consideration in formulating any changes to the
present structure of the GTA;
1. People best relate to local municipal government and can be best sewed by
one stop shopping at the local level.
2. If municipal boundary changes are considered, existing communities must be
retained and emerging communities recognized. Municipal and provincial
electoral boundaries should be co-ordinated in order to establish the most
efficient and convenient delivery of services.
3. The future size of municipalities as documented in approved OPAS should be
used if municipal boundary changes are considered.
4. A review of the GTA structure must address the issues of all municipalities
within the GTA. Solving the problems of one municipality must not be done
at the expense of the others. A GTA comprised of strong and viable local
municipalities should be the result.
5. Reforms should provide lower taxes for all in the GTA by streamlining
services, eliminating duplication and removing education costs from the
property tax.
6. Services should be provided in the most cost effective manner either by
government or the private sector. Only one level of government should pay
for a service, deliver it and be accountable for it.
7 Special purpose bodies should be eliminated or transferred to a level of
directly elected officials. This would result in accountability, clarification of
roles, and lower costs.
8. Commissions of municipal and provincial representatives are required to
provide cross boundary co-ordination.
By forwarding the resolution to the Golden Task Force and the Minister of Municipal Affairs; and
By receiving the report of Mayor Jackson dated August 28, 1995.
Ryan Visima
436 Mortimer Avenue
Toronto, Ontario M4J 2G2
September 28, 1995
Attn: Golden Task Force Commission
Dear Sir/ Madame:
The purpose of this letter is to express my discontent about the proposed
move of East York to Toronto. This is part of a mass letter-writing campaign
from people in East York in an effort to scrap this proposal and possible future
decision.
It has recently come to my attention that certain, ahem, people from the
City of Toronto have proposed to join East York and Toronto together. As a
student and resident of East York you can imagine that I am more than a little
upset at this proposal.
For starters, next year East York will celebrate its 200th anniversary. Do we
really want to throw away this kind of history? Do we really want to destroy
Canadas only borough? Just throw heritage and tradition down the drain? In
your minds, the answer is Yeah, we dont care about you guys anyway.
While not everyone in East York is as vocal or as willing to express their
opinions as myself, they are concerned.
Lets get to the part which you guys do care about money. Admit it, this is
all you folks think about. Sure, youll get more money, have a larger tax base,
etc., etc., etc. The 102, 000 residents here are happy with East Yorks taxes the
way they are we dont want them raised up to much higher-class levels.
Why do you think we chose East York as a place to live in the first place? It
was so we could escape the big-city houses, taxes, crime, etc. Now anyone who
wants to escape from this must resort to some God-awful place like Vaughn
or Concord.
The final point I want to make is one about by-laws and community
standards. Currently, there are East York by-laws that oppose certain things
like strip clubs. As a community, we decided that this simply wasnt the place
for them. A joint venture with Toronto would also mean a joining of laws
and so-called standards. Since we are the minority, our way of life would go
out the window and we would have to suffer with stuff we simply dont
want. Even minuscule items like building codes and permits will be affected.
There are limits here in East York so that monster homes cannot be built.
Toronto these restrictions would disappear and we would be surrounded and
closed in by all the exact things that we came to get away from.
In the 17 years that I have lived and been educated here in East York, I have
had very little to worry about and have been quite happy with the way things
work around here. This proposal would change all that. I am accustomed to a
certain way of living, and I dont want to see it change.
Litsa Vrantsis
198 Donlands Ave.
East York, Ontario
M4J3R1
September 28, 1995
Attention Golden Taskforce Commission:
Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my opposition to the recent proposal
of amalgamating the borough of East Ycrk with the City of
Toronto. As an East York resident of seven years, I have
been able to enjoy the unique environment of Canadas only
borough. This borough is an integral part of Metro Toronto
and has served the members of its community remarkably well
over the years.
Any changes that the amalgamation might
bring will not be for the better.
East York is unique in the sense that it is the only borough
to have set up bylaws protecting the residents of the
community from invading pool halls, strip joints, and video
arcades. Our community has so far been sheltered from these
businesses and the environment that they create. What will
happen after the amalgamation?
Will the children of our
community be able to skip class and hang out at the local
pool halls, or will they waste all of their time and money
investing in the garbage of video games?
These are issues
that are important to East Yorkers and to the future and
safety of our children.
East York has one of the best educational systems in
Ontario. The system has been able to cater to the needs of.
students because it is relatively small in comparison to
other boards around Metro.
Once a part of Toronto, East York
will no longer be a small board comprising under fifty
thousand students, it will be a part of a network of over
110 thousand students and three thousand teachers.
Amalgamation would nave a severe impact on the education of
our children and many jobs in East Yorks educational system
will be lost due to greater competition and streamlining.
It is relatively cheaper to live in East York than to live
in Toronto. Average property taxes are much higher in
Toronto than in East York. Our utilities are better
organized and less expensive also.
The only beneficiary in
this deal would be Toronto who would have a substantial
increase in their tax base. East Yorkers would lose access
to many unique and inexpensive services that the borough
provides them. East York taxpayers do not want to pay for
Torontos mismanagement of utilities and soaring property
taxes. East York has the luxury of actually getting more
for their money. Lets not let the jealous Torontonians
mismanage our services as they have theirs.
I am very apprehensive about the forthcoming amalgamation
with the City of Toronto. I dont see any benefits in it
for the borough, only higher expenses and taxpayer protests.
East York has managed to survive as a-vibrant, prosperous
community for over two hundred years on their own. What
makes you so sure that Toronto can. do a better job? I ask
you to reconsider the recent proposals for amalgamation.
East York really is the best place to live.
Litsa Vrantsis.
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR THE CITY OF TORONTO
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
GTA Task Force
Suite 2001
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1 E6
October 2, 1995
Dear Dr. Golden:
We appreciate this opportunity to present our submission entitled, Education
Financing and Property Tax Assessment: On the Razors Edge of a Livable Urban
Centre.
We would also be interested in reviewing your Report for the purpose of making
comments.
Should you wish to discuss any aspect of this submission or wish to see any of the
bibliographic material cited, please contact me, Abby Bushby at 762-7492, (fax and
phone).
Yours truly,
Abby Bushby, Chair
Howard Home and School Association
THE BOAR D OF EDUCATI ON FOR THE CI TY OF TOR ONTO
WARD 2 P ARENTS COU NCI L
Repr esent ing Par ent s Fr om:
Fer n Avenue Public School - J r . Sr .
Gar den Avenue Public School
Howar d Public School
Par kdale Public School - J r . Sr .
Queen Vict or ia Public School
Par kdale Collegiat e Inst it ut e
Brief to the GTA Task Force
Education Financing and Property Tax Assessment:
On the Razors Edge of a Livable Urban Centre
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES:
1. A reduction of the burden on Commercial and Industrial assessment in Toronto to
finance education in Ontario is necessary.
2. Increases, if any, in residential taxation of Toronto must be minimal or nonexistent.
3. Taxation to finance education in Ontario must not penalize higher density
communities such as Toronto.
4. Equalization of property tax resources and pooling of property tax revenues to
finance education exacerbates the decentralization taking place in Toronto.
5. The quality of education and municipal services must remain at least at present
levels in Toronto.
2
PRINCIPLE 1:
A reduction of the burden on Commercial and Industrial assessment in
Toronto to finance education in Ontario is necessary,
PRINCIPLE 2:
Increases, if any, in residential taxation of Toronto must be minimal or
nonexistent.
All Ontario students regardless of residence or income ought to have good
education. Good quality education, based on sound principles of equity, is of universal
benefit to everyone, including persons without children who stand to benefit from the
productivity of a well-educated work force.
We understand that higher non-residential taxation in the City of Toronto and
Metropolitan Toronto exerts a decentralizing influence on the City. However,
Torontonians receive no subsidies for public education in Toronto due to the education
funding formula which takes into account the high equalized assessment base. The
benefits of Torontos non-residential assessment do not go entirely to Torontonians, but
we suffer first and most drastically from the effects of decentralization
.
Therefore, some
of the burden upon our non-residential assessment must be reduced to halt the flight
taking place from our City
3
.
When industry and commerce flee a city, the most mobile members of society, the
middle class, tend to follow
4
the jobs, prefer the new schools of new subdivisions over the
old schools which lack adequate money for maintenance, and leave behind the poor as
well as the rich, who live in separate areas
5
. Toronto, praised by the United Nations as
the most multi-cultural city in the world and one of the most liveable, ought to be the pride
of Canada
e
. It is in fact losing many residents from the middle income range. The gap
between the rich and the poor is widening.
We understand that imposition of full market value assessment would reduce
Commercial and Industrial taxes in Metro by 24 % and 48 % respectively
.
These
average gains, however, disguise some widely discrepant winners and losers, particularly
amongst small business. This is a volatile and therefore dubious solution.
g
Furthermore,
these decreases would not reach the same Effective Tax Rates for non-residential
properties in other communities around Metro
10
Rental value is a better proxy to indicate
use of municipal services.
ll
Most destructively, with full market value assessment, residential taxation in Metro
would rise by an average of 83 %. How is this even conceivable when property
taxpayers have been promised a cut of 30 %? Are Toronto taxes to rise while all other
municipalities taxes go down?
12
3
The City of Torontos recommendation that high rise apartment dwellings be taxed
at the residential rate is fair and logical in our view. Present taxation is unfair to tenants
and does not reflect the lower costs to build and provide municipal services for high rise
dwellers.
13
We expect that neighboring cities may not advocate for residential
assessments on high rise apartments because Toronto has a far greater proportion of
tenants.
14
However, it is entirely fitting and appropriate for the Golden Commission to
make recommendations for a reduction in assessment for high rise tenants throughout
the GTA.
Furthermore, we do not agree that Toronto residential taxes are undertaxed. When
high rise dwellings are properly included in residential assessment, at present taxation
levels, Toronto residential assessment equals that of the GTA outside Metro.
15
If
residential taxation levels in Toronto were to increase when outside Metro taxes remain
the same (or are lowered), and services levels remain comparable, a flight of the most
mobile residents (usually the middle class) will take place.
lG
The process of fleeing the
core is undesirable for the residential as well as the non-residential core. For these
reasons, we support the City of Torontos recommendations for a gradual Ievelling of the
rates of taxation between single family houses and high rise apartments.
PRINCIPLE 3:
Taxation to finance education in Ontario must not Penalize higher density
communities such as Toronto.
Market value assessment provides a rationale for taxing more concentrated
communities at higher rates, despite a consensus in the literature that concentrated
communities are more cost effective with public infrastructure, municipal services and
environmental costs which are typically uncalculated.
Market value assessment disproportionately taxes urban areas of increased density
and diversity and subsidizes urban sprawl. The attached chart, complete with references,
details the literature on environmental impacts of forms of property tax assessment. We
stress that regional land use planning in the Greater Toronto Area, on the scale of the
New Jersey Plan
8
, with appropriate fiscal impact studies performed, would demonstrate
the efficiencies of curbing urban sprawl.
Market value assessment has many negative impacts on older, denser urban areas
such as the City of Toronto. Other forms of assessment have more neutral impacts. In
contrast, market value assessment has more neutral impacts on newer, low-density,
homogeneous communities. In communities more heterogeneous in housing values and
income levels where the relation of household income to property values is weaker, there
may be widely different financial burdens cast by various modes of taxation. By contrast,
4
in homogeneous communities there may little difference between burdens cast by income
taxation or market-based taxation.
lg
This partly accounts for the divergence of views on
property tax assessment in the Greater Toronto Area.
At a time when the decentralization of Toronto is a threatening possibility, these
impacts ought to be considered seriously. Indeed any proposal for market value
assessment in Toronto ought to be subjected to review by environmental impact
assessment.
20
While there is an old tradition in Ontario of funding education to a large extent from
property taxation, it must be remembered that the reason for this is to permit local
government to have a meaningful role in education. This has been regarded as the way
to ensure the diversity and experimentation necessary for successful education.
21
What
is needed is a better appraisal of what is truly local and what is not. Torontos flexibility
has to a great extent been directed to our special needs students and immigrant
students.
22
These services reflect a value that access to education must be universal and
equitable to all students regardless of individual needs. They must properly be
understood as services not merely to Toronto, but to all of Ontario and to Canada. It is
well known that the vast majority of immigrants to Canada first settle in Toronto, yet it is
Toronto taxpayers who pay for the gaps between provincial subsidies and actual costs.
The benefit of taking extra steps to ensure that non-English or French speaking immigrant
students and their families become well integrated into the Canadian fabric does not go
merely to Toronto, but to all Canadian communities regardless of where immigrants
eventually settle. Public education does not create merely local benefits. Other
expenditures such as community use of schools, and summer school do more clearly
reflect local preferences. They inflate school board costs but this integration of services
and intensification of uses should be cost-effective. In those jurisdictions where
expenditures such as welfare and education are regarded as the responsibility of the
state, the cost-efficiencies of large cities are more obvious.
23
PRINCIPLE 4:
Equalization of property tax resources and pooling of property tax revenues
to finance education exacerbates the decentralization taking place in
Toronto.
We are of the view that a high standard of education must be maintained in all
locations in Ontario, regardless of the local communitys impoverishment, and that
equalization measures to redistribute resources represents one of the finest social justice
traditions in Canada and Ontario,
The Fair Tax Commission documented the strong case to be made for regarding
education as the financial responsibility of an upper state level of government, yet
retaining local flexibility for the needs of local students, thus lightening dependence on
5
local taxes.
24
As property tax revenues are increasingly pooled, however, it is evident
that the dependence on property taxes is restricted to some jurisdictions, those with high
real estate values. The reliance on property tax assessment as the base indicator for
subsidization of local education artificially keeps taxes higher in some communities so as
to provide to a pool for compensation to others. We understand that Metro taxpayers
contribute $1 billion dollars net to provincial revenues for school subsidies.
25
Any funding
method that taxes one locality with greater impunity than another ought to be viewed with
even greater scrutiny. The rationale for pooling tax resources in the region falls down
when the impacts of pooling at the local level are harmful to the payer municipalities.
The equalization of property tax revenues
2G
might have had more neutral
redistribution effects without the dysfunctional decentralization effects if, at the time the
fundamentals of our provincial-municipal fiscal transfer system were created, the attempts
at regional land use planning were carried through. The fiscal planning was intended
to be one of several components of comprehensive planning when introduced by The
Hon. McNaughton, Treasurer of Ontario, in 1969. While the Toronto Centred Region Plan
failed to become enacted, basic elements of its associated fiscal reforms did.
27
It is one
thing to redistribute property taxes revenues when there are defined growth points, yet
another without comprehensive land use planning. Subsidization of municipal services
and education funding through redistribution of property tax resources could have been
predicted to have an effect on decentralization of urban areas
28
, as services paid locally
in high tax jurisdictions go subsidized elsewhere
2g
.
We agree that the tax which forms the basis of provincial subsidization systems
should be uniform throughout Ontario
30
. The public acceptance of equalization depends
on the credibility and reliability of the base taxation system. Uniformity of market value
property tax assessment, even it were achievable, creates unconscionable distortions in
land use, is a poor proxy of benefits used and will result in spirally costs as inefficiency
is rewarded. We believe that the equalization, funding formula should not rely on mill
rates and property tax assessment bases to indicate local ability to pay. Household
income is a more accurate indicator of ability to pay, and can reliably be garnered from
income tax data.
PRINCIPLE 5:
The quality of education and municipal services must remain at least at
present levels in Toronto.
Our way of life in the City of Toronto is predominantly in medium density dwelling
with mixed uses.
31
This uses land efficiently, encourages healthy diversity and fosters
economic growth
32
. With smaller building lots and smaller school yards, we use land
efficiently. This makes us less dependent on driving by car. Our children walk to school
which in itself reduces costs considerably .33 Our driving on roads and highways is one
quarter that of the driving done by low-density dwellers at the urban fringe
34
. Larger
6
school lots encourage more vehicle dependency and take good land out of commission
for increasing the revenue base. These efficiencies are not reflected in the tax treatment
of medium and high density dwelling under market value assessment.
35
With our efficient use of smaller private spaces, we trade off private space for
better quality public services and spaces. Without large private lots, we prefer recreation
in public spaces and facilities. Many of our schools are multi-purpose facilities and
recreation centres. While the costs associated with community use of schools increases
the budget of the Toronto school boards, their provision indicates the practice of
integrating services in a cost-effective manner.
3G
Toronto may have fewer playgrounds
and green spaces per capita than neighboring areas
37
; we use school facilities for
recreation. To lower the quality of education and municipal services in our community
goes against the wisdom of efficiency and of relating benefits to infrastructure cost.
38
To
introduce full market value assessment and to lower the quality of our childrens education
in Toronto is to apply the public finance program which favours lower density urban areas
that draw on revenue from other urban areas.
We believe in a better future, well educated children, and a healthy society.
7
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto, Killing the Golden Goose: How High
Business Property Taxes are Supressing Metropolitan Torontos Economic
Recovery & What Needs to be Done About It, Toronto: October, 1994; Enid
Slack, Non-Residential PropertvyTaxation and Competitive Advantage in the
Greater Toronto Area, (report for the Canadian Urban Institute), November 4,
1994.
Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Vintage
Books; John Barber, Seven deadly steps toward an urban apocalypse, Globe
and Mail, November 24, 1994, page A8; Kenneth T. Jackson, Crabqgass Frontier,
New York: Oxford University Press, 1985, pages 283-287.
John Spears, Flight to Suburbs: Ryerson student study confirms industry leaving
Metros core, Toronto Star, June 10, 1995, pages C1-2.
The Tiebout hypothesis, as commented upon by David NowIan, Local Taxation
as an Instrument of Policy, in Frances Frisken (cd. ) The Changing Canadian
Metropolis: A Public Policy Perspective, Berkeley and Toronto: institute of
Governmental Studies Press and the Canadian Urban Institute, page 820.
Goldsmith, William W., and Edward J. Blakely, Separate Societies: Poverty and
Inequality in U.S. Cities, Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992, pages 96
to 137.
Gait, Virginia, Unlike U.S. cities, Toronto is working, economist says, Globe and
City of Toronto, Planning and Development Department, Key Facts, (information
from Statistics Canada-1991 Census), (undated pamphlet, circa 1995).
City of Toronto, Presentation to Public Meeting on Draft City Brief to GTA Task
Force, Table 9, May 30, 1995.
Bossons, Ila, (Brief to Fair Tax Commission), Toronto as Metros Cash Cow: Why
it no longer makes sense for Toronto to stay in Metro, (undated); Memo dated
May 17, 1993, Re: Volatility of market value assessments.
J.J. Barnicke study referred to in John Spears, Employers fleeing higher Metro
taxes, Toronto Star, September 19, 1994, page B1.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (1993), p. 700.
Election campaign promise, Ontario Progressive Conservative Party, 1995.
8
13. Real Estate Research Corporation, The Costs of Sprawl: Environmental and
Economic Costs of Alternative Residential Patterns at the Urban Fringe,
Washington, D. C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, April, 1974.
14. City of Toronto, Key Facts, (op cit) circa 1995. The City of London was also
concerned about this matter in its brief to the Fair Tax Commission.
1 5 . City of Toronto, Presentation to Public Meeting on Draft City Brief to GTA Task
Force, Table 1, May 30, 1995.
16. This is a well-documented phenomenon in the United States: Northeast Illinois
Planning Commission, Strategic Plan for Land Resource Management, Chicago:
Northeast Illinois Planning Commission, June 18, 1992. The Economist, Outwards
and Onwards, The Economist, October 15, 1994, page 31; Jackson, Kenneth T.,
Crabgrass Frontier, New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
17. Both Frank and Kelly reviewed the American literature which is frequently uni-
dimensional in research variables and therefore difficult to assess. As well, the
impact of American contexts (eg. federal highway subsidies, administration of
impact fees/development charges) are not noted: Frank, James, ( The Costs of
Alternative Development Patterns, Washington, D. C.: Urban Land Institute, 1989),
suggests that the costs of servicing housing built in low-density sprawl ranges
between 40 to 400 % more than for compact urban communities. Kelly, Eric
Damian, Managing Community Growth: Policies, Techniques, and Impacts,
Westport: Praeger, 1993), assessed the cost-effectiveness of growth management
programs and found that where growth is required or encouraged near existing
facilities costs will be reduced but he questioned the significance of savings over
time due to his assessment of the risks of timed growth, (Chapter 9).
The Impact Assessment of New Jersey, ( Center for Urban Policy Research,
Rutgers University, Robert W. Burchell (Principal Investigator), Impact Assessment
of the New Jersey Interim State Development and Redevelopment Plan, February
15, 1992) is widely regarded as the new standard in assessing the costs of sprawl
in the United States, (see Kasowski, Kevin, The Costs of Sprawl, Revisited,
Developments: The National Growth Management Leadership Project Newsletter,
Vol. 3, No. 2
1
September, 1992, pages 1-14; and: Bank of America
(Environmental Policies and Programs), California Resources Agency, Greenbelt
Alliance, The Low Income Housing Fund, (sponsors), Beyond Sprawl: New
Patterns of Growth to Fit the New California (unpublished report to the Little
Hoover Commission), February 1995. It is comprehensive in approach with over
20 studies and model components assessing economic, environmental,
infrastructure, quality of life, and intergovernmental co-ordination impacts. The
domain of the study extends over the New Jersey region which permits a
comparison of impacts in one area in interdependent relation to other areas. The
study compares the impacts of existing trends to a regional growth management
9
18.
19.
20.
20.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
plan with defined growth centres. It is interesting to note that the study was
commissioned in light of criticism that controlling growth would increase costs.
However, the study found aggregate savings of $1.3 billion in capital infrastructure
costs over 20 years, $400 million in annual savings to municipalities and school
districts, and considerable environmental benefits such as conserved agricultural
and frail lands, plus reduced air and water pollution. This study reveals that the
benefits of compact communities are realizable over a regional approach to
planning and may not be as readily identifiable in smaller local planning areas.
It would indeed be regrettable if the current Planning Act in Ontario were
abandoned without regional planning reform and fiscal impact analysis.
Endnote 17.
NowIan, (1994), pages 824-5.
In accordance with sections 3,29, Environmental Impact Assessment Act, R.S.O.
1990 c. E-18. Peter Gorrie, Tax plan could rot city core, groups say, Toronto
Ontario Committee on Taxation, L.J. Smith Chair, The Ontario Committee on
Taxation Report, (Volumes I and 11), Toronto: Queens Printer, 1967, (the Smith
Commission), page 406.
Carole Olsen, Guy Leger (Co-Chairs), Metros Unique Educational Needs: A
Report of the Public School Boards in Metropolitan Toronto and the Metropolitan
Separate School Board to the Ministry of Education, October, 1993.
Honolulu is the only large American city where both education and welfare are
state responsibilities. In many of the larger American states welfare is funded
locally; Seymour Sacks with Patrick Sullivan The Large City as Fiscal Artifact,
Gary Gappert and Harold M. Rose, The Social Economy of Cities, Beverly Hills:
Sage Publications, 1975
}
pages 69-114.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (Op cit) (December 1, 1993), pages 673-676.
City of Toronto, Preliminary Submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force,
May 4, 1995, page 31.
In addition to education grants, the Resource Equalization Grants, General Support
Grants and Conditional Grants such as roads grants, redistribute property tax
revenues.
The Budgetary Address, March 4, 1969, described the original intention, that
proposed fiscal reforms be part of comprehensive land use planning: Both the
regional government and regional development programmed are based, essentially
on the concept of urban growth points. The concentration of provincial
10
expenditures at these growth points as a means of encouraging economic growth
and development in each region will result in an expansion of the local tax base
of these growth centres. Regional governments will perform the key role of
distributing these fiscal dividends throughout the region as a whole, thereby
benefiting the rural areas as well as the urban centres. In addition, inter-regional
equalization will occur through the discretionary regional allocation of the
provincess budgetary expenditures and the programme activities of provincial
departments and agencies under the regional development programmed. . . . The
various reform thrusts are interdependent and complementary; they must be
regarded as parts of a total plan, a total fiscal framework for the future,
(emphasis provided). (Legislative Assembly, Legislature of Ontario Debates,
Official Report - Daily Edition, Toronto: Queens Printer for Ontario, 1968-69),
page 1821.
28. Masters research paper forthcoming, Abby Bushby, Faculty of Environmental
Studies, York University.
29. Robin W. Boadway and Paul A.R. Hobson, Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in
Canada, Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Canada: Canadian Tax Paper No.
96, Canadian Tax Foundation, pages 29-34.
30. Ontario Committee on Taxation, L.J. Smith Chair, The Ontario Committee on
Taxation Report, (Volume l), Toronto:
Queens Printer, 1967, (the Smith
Commission), page 230; Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (Op cit) (December 1,
1993), page 710.
31. Hitchcock, John, A Primer on the Use of Density in Planning: Paper Number 41,
(unpublished), Toronto: Program in Planning, University of Toronto, March, 1994.
23. Canadian Urban Institute, Housing Two Million More in the Greater Toronto Area
by 2021, Toronto: The Canadian Urban Institute; Jacobs, Jane, The Death and
Life of Great American Cities, New York: Vintage Books,l 961; Calthorpe, Peter,
The Next American Metropolis: Ecology
, Community, and the American Dream,
New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1993.
24. Ontario, Ministry of Municipal Affairs, Community Planning Advisory Branch,
Financial Analysis of Residential Development: A Case St udy for Brighton
Township, Toronto: September, 1988; Carole M. Olsen, Guy Leger, (Co-Chairs),
Metros Unique Educational Needs: A Report of the Public School Boards in
Metropolitan Toronto and the Metropolitan Separate School Board to the Ministry
of Education, October, 1993, page 7.
34. Calthorpe, Peter, The Next American Metropolis: Ecology
, Community, and the
American Dream, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1993, page 35.
11
35. Town of Oakville, per Michelle Seguin, Director of Finance & Treasurer, Staff
Report: Official Plan/Zoninq Amendment and Draft Plan of Subdivision Application
- The River Oaks Group Sixth Line Site, (File No. COUN: 329, Council Item no.
6B), December 29, 1992.
36. Metros Unique Educational Needs, (op cit), pages 34-35.
37. Small, Peter, Humber River flows into maze of hands, Toronto Star, May 7, 1995,
pages Al, A12 and A13.
38. Kirwan, R.M. Finance for Urban Public infrastructure, Urban Studies, VOI.26,
1989, pages 285-300.
PROPERTY ASSESSMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
TYPE OF SOURCE ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: DECONCENTRATION, DENSITY, AIR, PUBLIC TRANSIT,
ASSESSMENT BASE/ FEATURE LAND USE, FARM AND NATURAL AREA PRESERVATION, SOCIAL EQUITY
Market value S. 19(2) Equal to the value -Assesses development to fullest and highest zoned use, a. Therefore anticipates growth
assessment of the of an arms length occurring in rapidly urbanizing area , even if unfeasible or untimely. Taxes speculative future
(MVA) Act sale of the growth.
generally property. -Poor indicator of benefits received from local services. Hides subsidies for lower value
properties regardless of use of public services b
-Assessment increases with density, decreases with lower density. Assessments are lower on
the urban fringe because of lower land values. Smaller lots are assessed higher relative to
large lots. Favours low-density development in outlying areas where land is cheaper c
-Density is an influential determinant of costs: Low density developments require more
capital cost investment d, are costlier to service, e; consume more energy in construction and
operation, f; consume more farmland and natural areas, g; create greater consumption of
energy for increased vehicle use and increase air pollution, h.
-Increased assessment for renovation encourages urban blight. i
-Higher assessments for proximity to public transit, schools, workplaces, city centre, counter to
environmental benefits of using the transit or walking. j
-Tax base subject to volatility of market fluctuations is worse in older cities where stability is
needed for continuing investment in renovation and repairs. k
-Increased tax burden in central city will force sell-off of smaller homes to high density
development and therefore destroy neighbourhoods, quality of life. /
-recognizes no trade-off of decreased private space and increased public amenities as with
medium density dwelling and increased public realm m, unless the property tax, can be
considered a benefit tax. n
s. 44 of
Assessed value:
-Assumes homogeneity of land use, counters diversity. o
the Act
similar property
in the vicinity
Split Mill Rate:
s.368e
-Actual differences between residential and non-residential are much greater than statutory
(5)
Res. assmt. is to
rate and vary greatly between local taxing jurisdictions. p Subsidy by non-residential to low-
be 85 % of non-
Municipal
density residential increases decentralization of housing. q
residential.
Act
i
TYPE OF SOURCE
ASSESSMENT
Partial S. 58 (3)
MVA of the
Act
Full MVA S. 63 of
the Act
MVA without S. 58 (1)
exercise of of the
either option Act
ASSESSMENT
BASE / FEATURE
Properties are
reassessed at
current base year,
(CBY), and
equalized in the
same classes.
Reassessment at
CBY. Total tax
burden on each
class is
determined by the
classs share of
total market
values. (New
equalization
factors).
MVA by the base
year in effect in
1970
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: DECONCENTRATION, DENSITY, AIR, PUBLIC TRANSIT,
LAND USE, FARM AND NATURAL AREA PRESERVATION, SOCIAL EQUITY
-Same as for market value generally.
-Pre-existing tax burdens (and inequities) between classes remain the same.
-In Metro: tax burden on non-residential property increases, (tax rate is already much higher
than statutory tax rate). r
-Greatest (Metro) tax burden is on city with highest density (Toronto where residential tax
impact is greatest in central city and wards with highest density). Non-residential taxes
increase most in Toronto which has 50 % of Metro commercial and business assessment. s
Same as for market value generally.
-Classes acquire freezing of tax burdens in the class as per new base year.
-in Metro, increases would be: residential (1-2 units) of +84%. Decreases would be residential
(3+ units): 49%, commercial: 24 %, industrial: (48%), raising fears that the middle class of
residents would vacate the city. t
-Metro pattern of market value changes in real estate over past ten years suggests volatility
factors of 50%. Less volatility expected in homogeneous suburbs. u
(As is current in Metro)
-Same as for market value generally.
-Pre-existing inequities in assessment and tax rates remain. (Higher tax rates on non-
residential property exist in Metro, causing job sprawl. Tenants in 3+ unit buildings taxed at
the higher commercial rate, creating inequity, v and favouring low-density homes. w)
-older residential homes underassessed to newer; low value homes overassessed to higher
value homes; residential property underassessed to non-residential; new buildings
overassessed to old buildings. x
i i
TYPE OF SOURCE
ASSESSMENT
Site Value
Henry
Assessment
George,
Austr. &
N. Z.,
Ontario
history y
Two-Tier
Ontario
Assessment
Legisla-
ture of
1920,
FTC
ASSESSMENT
BASE / FEATURE
Land, not
buildings and
improvements,
assessed at
either::
1) MVA inferred
by location; z
or,
2) all land in an
urban region
valued at the
same rate. aa
Land and
buildings
assessed
separately,
(MVA). Local
council to choose
emphasis. bb
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: DECONCENTRATION, DENSITY, AIR, PUBLIC TRANSIT,
LAND USE, FARM AND NATURAL AREA PRESERVATION, SOCIAL EQUITY
-Intent is to tax land value accrued through no effort of the landowner, eg. proximity to natural
resource, intensified Iabour (ie. cities). Improvements, not being taxed, would be encouraged.
(Preservation of farmland and natural areas would be exempted from the assessment.) cc
Since no use of the land would increase or decrease tax burden, taxes are said to be
incapable of being shifted onto the poor. dd
1) -Similar consequences to MVA flowing from the valuation of property, ie. increases in value
due to proximity to central city and infrastructure attract higher assessment, suburban areas
attract lower assessment. ee
-Because of the rapid increase in taxation upon constructing improvements, and where
demand is down, land uses with early pay-off are favoured, ie. low-density development.ff
2) -Similar to effects of Unit Assessment, (see below).
-Taxes would be paid in accordance with size of property. Intensification of land use would be
encouraged throughout the urban region. gg. Requires jurisdictional rationale for setting a
rate common to the urban region.
-implies that land will be taxed at higher proportion. hh Can capture a portion of land value
that has accrued through proximity to public investment, natural resources.
-Local option problematic for environmental issues: Tax policy can be made consistent with
local land use policy. Eg. burden on buildings can be reduced where intensification desired,
or increased to favour low-density. Regional issues may be ignored by the local taxing
jurisdiction.
-High land taxes in older areas likely to be inequitable for residents. ii
i i i
TYPE OF
ASSESSMENT
Rental Value
Assessment
(RVA), or
value in
current use or
use-value jj
SOURCE ASSESSMENT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS: DECONCENTRATION, DENSITY, AIR, PUBLIC TRANSIT,
BASE / FEATURE LAND USE, FARM AND NATURAL AREA PRESERVATION, SOCIAL EQUITY
England, Reflects the value -Eliminates the most problematic aspects of MVA, ie. speculative value and redevelopment
parts of of a property in its potential. mm
U. S. A., current use. -A better proxy for benefits from services than MVA because it reflects actual use rather than
FTC speculative use. nn
-Rental value reflects real estate value, not environmental value. It contradicts environmental
goals to tax proximity to service benefits such as subways 00
-Other value comes from proximity to natural features, shopping centres etc. and would reflect
real estate value, with effects similar to MVA. pp
Unit Cities of -Square of lot area
Assessment North and gross floor
(UA), or York and area of building,
Unweighed Toronto times a rate as per
UA kk the dollar value of
the whole class at
time of
reassessment.
-50/50 assessment
for building and
land. II
-Assessment based on physical dimensions of property is a good proxy for services, eg.
length of sidewalks and roads which directly correspond to use. qq
-Intent of 50/50 split is to balance objectives of land use intensification and preservation of
natural areas. rr
-Insensitive to the quality of a living area and its location, eg. proximity to a park compared to
adjacent to an industrial site.
-Unweighted assessment (see UVA) in Metro would cause shift to poorest areas in one and
two unit residences. ss
i v
a. Fair Tax Commission, Fair Taxation in a Changing World, (Final
Report), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, December 1, 1993 p. 695;
City of Toronto Brief to Fair Tax Commission: Public Hearings, June 1993,
(1993b), p. 2.
b. Boadway, Robin W. and Paul A.R. Hobson, Interagovernmental Fiscal
Relations in Canada: Canadian Tax Paper No. 9, Canadian Tax Foundation;
Ontario Fair Tax Commission (1993), p. 709.
c. Grieson, Ronald E., The Economics of Property Taxes and Land Values:
The Elasticity of Supply of Structures, Journal of Urban Economics, Vol. 1,
pages 367-381 (1974); City of Toronto, Clause 3 of Reporf No. 4, Economic
Development Committee, City Council, March 22 and 23, 1993, Unit
Assessment and Environmental Objectives; (1993a), pp. 4-5;
d. Stone, P.A. The Structure, Size and Costs of Urban Settlements
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1973.
e. Wheaton, William L. C. and Morton J. Schussheim, The Cost of Municipal
Services in Residential Areas, Washington: United States Government
Printing Office, (1955); Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers
University, Robed W. Burchell (Principal Investigator), Impact Assessment
of the New Jersey Interim State Development and Redevelopment Plan,
February 15, 1992, Report ll: Research Findings, Vol.ll, pp. 67-85; Frank,
James, The Costs of Alternative Development Patterns (A Review of the
Literature), Washington, D. C.: Urban Land Institute, 1989. City of Toronto
(1993a), p. 5; Town of Oakville, per Michelle Seguin, Director of Finance &
Treasure< Staff Report: Official Plan/Zoninq Amendment and Draft Plan of
Subdivision Application - The River Oaks Group Sixth Line Site, (File No.
COUN: 329, Council /tern no. 6B), December 29, 1992. (1992). The costs
of soft services are not as studied as are hard services, Slack, The Land
Use Implications of Alternative Municipal Financial Tools: A Discussion
f.
v i
9.
Northeast Illinois Planning Commission, Strategic Plan for Land Resource
Management, Chicago: Northeast Illinois Planning Commission, June 18
(/992); Ontario, Office of fhe Greater Toronto Area, Greater Toronto Urban
Structure Concepts Study, June 1990.
h. Kenworthy and Newman Cities and Automobile Dependence: A
Sourcebook, Sydney: Gower Technical, ( 1989), p.49; Ontario, Office of the
Greater Toronto Area, Greater Toronto Urban Structure Concepts Study,
June 1990.
i. Stocker, Property Taxation, Land Use, and Rationality in Urban Growth
Policy: in Arthur D. Lynn (cd.), Property Taxation, Land Use and Public
Policy, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press (1976), p. 189; City of
Toronto (Assessment Reform Working Group), and City of North York,
(Special Task Force on Property Tax Assessment), A Unit Assessment ,
March 1988, p. 3 (Executive Summary) and p. 11.
i
City of Toronto and City of North York (1988), p.4; City of Toronto (1993a),
pp.5-10.
k. Ottensmann Urban Sprawl, Land Values and the Density of Development,
Land Economi cs, Vol . 54, No. 4, November 1977, pages 389-
400.(1977), City of Toronto and City of North York (1988), pp. 5-9, p. 10
(Executive Summary); Now/an Local Taxation as an Instrument of Policy;
in Francis Frisken, (cd.), The Changinq Canadian Metropolis: A Public
Policy Perspective, (Vols. / and //), /nstitute of Governmenta/ Studies Press,
University of California, Berkely, and the Canadian Urban Institute, (1994a),
p. 800; City of Toronto (Preliminary Submission to the Greater Toronto Area
Task Force, May 4, 1995, (1995a).
i. A brief to the Ottawa City Council cited in Griffiths Residential/ Property Tax
Reform: (Report to City of North York Special Task Force on Property Tax
Assessment, Attached to City of Toronto and City of North York, (1988), p.6.
m. Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Vintage
Books, (1961); Town of Oakvi//e (1992).
v i i
Jacobs (1961), p. 253. n.
o.
P.
q.
r.
s.
t.
u.
v.
w
Moloney Tax-cutting system for Toronto homes flawed, ruling says"; Toronto
Fair Tax Commission (1993), p. 619; Board of Trade of Metropolitan
Toronto, Killing the Golden Goose: How Hiqh Business Property Taxes are
Suppressing Metropolitan Torontos Economic Recovery & What Needs to
be Done About It, Toronto: October, 1994. (1994), p. 7,
Jackson, Crabgwass Frontier, New York: Oxford University Press, (1985),
pp. 292-4.
Metros proposal in 1987 would have increased the relative tax burden of
non-residential property by $140 million, City of Toronto (1995a), pp. 10-12.
City of Toronto, Departments of Finance and Planning and Development,
Updated Metro-Wide Market Value assessment Impact Study - 1984
Values; (with Percentage Increase/Decrease by Ward Table attached ),
June 4, 1987.
City of Toronto, Planning and Development Department, Presentation to
Public Meeting on Draft City Brief to GTA Task Force, May 30, 1995,
(1995b), Table 9; Bossons, (Brief to Fair Tax Commission), Toronto as
Metros Cash Cow: Why it no longer makes sense for Toronto to stay in
Metro, (undated); Memo dated May 17, 1993, Re: Vo/ati/ity of market
value assessments: (1993), p. 1.
Value of industrial property declined 50-80% between 1988-92: City of
Toronto, Industrial Market Review of Metropolitan Toronto, 1988-1992,
September 30, 1993, (1993e), p.6,7; NowIan (1994a), p. 800.
City of Toronto, (1995a), pp. 19-20,
Clayton, Impact of Taxation on the Urban Land Market in Canada, A
Presentation to the Urban Land Policy Symposium, November 28, 1976, p.
12.
v i i i
Slack, 1993, p. 83 x.
Y-
Z.
aa.
bb.
cc.
dd.
ee.
ff.
gg-
hh.
ii.
ii-
George Our Land and Land Policy, New York: Doubleday and McClure,
1902; Clayton (1976), p. 13; Levine The Single Tax in Montreal and
Toronto, 1880-1920; American Journal of Economics and Sociology, VOl.52,
No.4, October 4, 1993, pp.417-432; respectively.
Slack (1993), pp. 39-40.
Gilbert Taxing for a Purpose; Intensification Report, No.8, May-June 1994,
p. 11)
Ontario Fair Tax Commission Working Group Report: Property Tax,
Toronto, 1992, p. 52.
Backhaus and Krabbe Henry Georges Contribution to Modern
Environmental Policy: Part /, Theoretical Postulates: American Journal
(1991) pp. 495-8.
Levine, (1993), pp. 424-5,
Slack (1993), p. 39-40.
Bentick The Impact of Taxation and Valuation Practices on the Timing and
Efficiency of Land Use: Journal of Political Economy, VOI.87, No.4, August,
1979; Mills The Non-Neutrality of Land Value Taxation: National Tax
Journal, VOI,34, No.1, 1981, p. 128.
Gilbert (1994), p. 10-11.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (1992b), pp. 52-55.
The first two are used in the Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (1993). The
second is an American term, Stocker (1976), p. 191.
i x
kk.
Il.
mm.
nn.
00.
PP.
qq.
rr.
ss.
tt.
uu.
vv.
ww.
City of Toronto and City of North York (1988).
City of Toronto and City of North York (1988), p. 11.
City of Toronto, Clause 33 of Executive Committee Report No. 3, Memo to
City Council -- Subject: Final Report of the Fair Tax Commission: January
4, 1994, p. 5.
Pollution Probe The Costs of the Car: A Preliminary Study of the
Environmental and Social Costs Associated with Private Car Use in Ontario,
Toronto, October, 1991, pp 5-6.
City of Toronto (1994), p. 7; Tomlinson, Commentary to presentation by
Enid Slack, Canadian Urban Institute, November 4, 1994.
City of Toronto (1993a).
City of Toronto and City of North York (1988), pp. 9-12.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (1993), p. 701-03.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission, (1993), pp.702-4.
City of Toronto (1995a), p. 16.
City of Toronto (1995a), pp. 16-16.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission (7993), p. 709.
A Proposed Framework for Environmental Management
in Greater Toronto
Prepared by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust
for the GTA Task Force
December 1995
Preamble
In October 1995, the GTA Task Force asked the Waterfront Regeneration Trust to provide some
suggestions for a framework to integrate environmental management into the emerging proposals
for the governance of Greater Toronto. The starting assumptions provided by the GTA Task Force
for this framework were:
B
B
B
B
replacement of the five existing regional governments with a single, streamlined Greater
Toronto Council,
improved coordination, consistency, and strategic planning for Greater Toronto,
delegation of selected Provincial responsibilities to a Greater Toronto Council, and
addition of powers and responsibilities to local municipalities to deliver a wider range of
services more efficiently.
Introduction
There is growing recognition of the fact that the quality of life and economic vitality of a region
depend strongly on its environmental health. The Greater Toronto Region is no exception, and
benefits from a number of natural assets including beaches, wetlands, and bluffs along the
waterfront; deep, wooded river valleys; the moraines rolling pastoral hills; majestic rock cliffs
along the Niagara Escarpment cool trout streams; fertile soils; abundant water supplies and more.
Unfortunately, many of these assets have been seriously depleted and degraded so that some of the
groundwater, rivers and Lake Ontario are polluted persistent organic chemicals and heavy metals
are found in the air, water, wildlife and soils; wildlife habitats and species diversity have been
reduced; landfills are nearing capacity; and prime agricultural lands and greenspaces are dwindling.
The current administrative framework for addressing these issues is inefficient, cumbersome, and
frequently ineffective. Responsibilities are fragmented among the regional and district offices of
MOEE, MNR and OMAFRA, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, the conservation authorities, and
various departments of the regional governments and local municipalities. This results in
duplication of effort, confusion about responsibilities, significant gaps in the protection of natural
resources, inconsistency across the GTA, and an inability to provide integrated resource
management on a watershed basis.
The Greater Toronto Council should provide anew framework for environmental services in the
GTR. This framework would replace the Provincial district/regional offices of MNR, MOEE and
OMAFRA, as well as the Metro and Regional environmental services (sewer and water) and waste
management departments. It would also provide overall coordination for conservation authorities
and the Waterfront Regeneration Trust.
This new framework should provide an integrated ecosystem approach to the policies, strategies,
plans, approvals and coordination needed to ensure consistent, efficient, comprehensible and
effective environmental management in the Greater Toronto Region. It should encompass air,
land, water and bioregional systems, to integrate responsibilities for environmental
protection/restoration, stewardship of natural systems, and the engineering functions of providing
clean drinking water, treating sewage, handling waste and recycling.
Structure
One possible mechanism to provide environmental services for the Greater Toronto Area would be
to establish an Environmental Quality Board (EQB), reporting to the Greater Toronto Council
(GTC). This umbrella agency could include:
B representatives from the GTC,
B the chairs of the conservation authorities, and
B
citizen appointees.
2
Geographic Scope
The EQBs mandate should be based on watershed boundaries, and should include the areas
currently under the jurisdiction of the following conservation authorities:
B Halton Region,
B Credit Valley,
B Metropolitan Toronto and Region,
B Central Lake Ontario, and
B
a significant portion of South Lake Simcoe (which should be expanded to become Lake Simcoe
by incorporating the rest of the lakes watershed to the north, including Orillia and the adjacent
townships).
These boundaries provide the opportunity to ensure that entire watersheds are managed
consistently, although they do not coincide exactly with the proposed boundaries of the Greater
Toronto region. Those portions of the watershed boundaries that lie outside the GTC boundaries
could be accommodated where necessary by including additional representatives from the outlying
municipalities (such as Flamborough, Erin, Mono, Bradford, Keswick, Barrie and Orillia). In
addition, small portions of the jurisdictions of the Grand River and Kawartha Region conservation
authorities lie inside the Greater Toronto region and would require some coordination with the
EQB to ensure consistent management.
Several major physical features within the GTA extend well beyond these boundaries. They
include the Niagara Escarpment, the Oak Ridges Moraine, the Lake Simcoe watershed, and the
Lake Ontario Waterfront.
The EQB would maintain liaison with the Niagara Escarpment Commission to ensure that activities
of the GTC are consistent with the Niagara Escarpment Act and Plan, and to reduce duplication.
A draft strategy has been prepared for the Oak Ridges Moraine within the GTA (March 1994). The
EQB would coordinate the preparation of a strategy for the rest of the Moraine outside the GTA in
partnership with the appropriate conservation authorities and municipalities and with full public
consultation. The EQB would ensure the implementation of both these strategies, encompassing
the entire Oak Ridges Moraine, also in partnership with the appropriate conservation authorities
and municipalities, and with mechanisms for ongoing public involvement
3
The Lake Ontario Greenway Strategy and Waterfront Trail coordinated by the Waterfront
Regeneration Trust encompass the waterfront from Trenton to Burlington, with current work to
extend the Trail to Niagara, The Waterfront Regeneration Trust would work within the framework
of the EQB to ensure a coordinated approach to waterfront revitalisation.
Division of Responsibilities
Consistent with the approach to governance proposed by the GTA Task Force, responsibility for
environmental matters should be based on:
B
B
B
B
B
B
clear definition of the roles of each level of government, allowing services to be delivered by
the lowest level of government that has the capacity to do so,
clear accountability and effective public involvement,
cost-effective and efficient delivery of services,
cooperation and partnerships among the various levels of govemment, the private sector, and
communities,
provision of natural resource stewardship and environmental services on a watershed basis,
and
an ecosystem approach to decision-making that integrates environmental, social and economic
considerations.
The proposed responsibilities of different levels of government areas follows:
Province
The Province would develop policies, standards and guidelines. It would delegate its
implementation responsibilities to the Greater Toronto Council/Environmental Quality Board,
conservation authorities and local municipalities as appropriate. Provincial funds should be
allocated to the GTC, conservation authorities, and local municipalities to enable them to carry out
their delegated responsibilities and to accomplish broader Provincial objectives as necessary.
Greater Toronto Council
Through the Environmental Quality Board the GTC would provide those environmental
functions/services that are best provided at a Greater Toronto scale that are currently provided by:
B the regional and district offices of MOEE, MNR and OMAFRA,
B
the Regions, and
B
the conservation authorities.
The EQB would undertake:
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
strategic planning for environmental protection and services at the Greater Toronto scale,
regional interpretation of Provincial policies,
development of regional policies,
allocation of Provincial and other sources of funds,
research and information services,
public information and education programs at the Greater Toronto scale,
issuing of permits, licences or certificates of approval for facilities or works that are owned or
operated by conservation authorities or local municipalities, or large scale private facilities (eg
sewage treatment, water treatment, waste management), and
monitoring and reporting on performance in relation to Greater Toronto strategies and targets.
The five conservation authorities would operate within the policies and strategies established by the
Province and EQB. A process should be established to examine ways to restructure/amalgamate the
conservation authorities to achieve greater efficiency, at a scale that enables them to retain the
ability to work in close partnership with watershed communities and municipal governments.
The conservation authorities should focus on services/programs that are most efficiently and
effectively provided at a watershed-scale. Their primary responsibilities would be to:
coordinate watershed-scale studies, data collection and analysis,
develop watershed resource management strategies such as water budgets for groundwater
taking, fisheries management, and conservation lands,
own, maintain and operate conservation lands,
coordinate preparation and implementation of integrated shoreline management plans and
watershed plans,
provide one window approval processes for regulations regarding surface and groundwater
taking, drainage, dams and channelizations, works on public lands, fish and fish habitat
protection, construction in floodplains, shoreline management fill placement alteration of
watercourses, aggregate extraction etc, and
provide advisory, education and assistance programs to municipalities, private landowners,
community groups and businesses in such areas as private land forestry and stewardship,
water quality improvement, fish/wildlife habitat enhancement flood and erosion control.
5
Local Municipalities
The local municipalities would be empowered to ensure environmental quality through revisions to
the Municipal Act as well as the delegation of Provincial responsibilities. Their functions would be
broadened, requiring the addition of technical capabilities and resources, to deliver a range of
environmental polities and services including:
B
B
B
B
integration of environmental considerations into municipal plans and zoning by-laws,
consistent with Provincial policies and GT-scale strategies or plans,
one window approval processes for licences, permits and certitlcates of approval for soil and
groundwater management, air quality management, noise mitigation, dust control, waste
reduction and recyling, auto use minimization, water conservation, energy efficiency, and other
activities associated with development applications,
preparation of sub-watershed plans, and
management, restoration and enhancement projects on public lands.
Functions
Policy and Planning
The EQB would develop Greater Toronto-level policies, within the context of Provincial policies.
The EQB would ensure that. in preparing the Greater Toronto regional plan:
B biophysical features are used in defining urban form, and
B
environmental protection is integrated into GT-level land use and transportation planning.
To accomplish this, the EQB and its staff would participate in preparation of the Greater Toronto
regional plan. The EQB would also review and comment on watershed plans and municipal official
plans.
Water and Wastewater
The GTC would own all/most of the water pollution control plants, trunk sewers, water filtration
plants, groundwater wells, reservoirs, pumping stations, and trunk watermains that are currently
owned by the Ontario Clean Water Agency and the Regions. These facilities would be operated by
local municipalities and/or the private sector, as appropriate. The EQB would prepare plans and
strategies for the integrated delivery of water treatment and wastewater treatment services, based on
drainage areas rather than political jurisdictions. The EQB would also be responsible for approving
6
permits and issuing/updating licences and certificates of approval, and for reviewing and enforcing
compliance with environmental requirements/standards.
Local municipalities would monitor the performance of individual septic systems, and report their
findings to the EQB.
Waste
Landfill sites, recycling centres, transfer stations and other waste management facilities maybe
owned by the GTC, local municipalities, or the private sector. The GTC would contract
management of its facilities to the municipalities or private sector. The EQB would be responsible
for planning the most cost-effective, environmentally-sound, equitable and socially-responsible
system for waste reduction, management and disposal. It would also be responsible for approving
permits and issuing certificates of approval, reviewing performance, and enforcing compliance with
environmental requirements/standards.
Aggregates
The Province would delegate responsibility for implementing its mineral aggregate resources policy
to the EQB, conservation authorities and municipalities.
The EQB would prepare a strategy for the management of aggregate resources in Greater Toronto
that accommodates economic, environmental, and community considerations and ensures that:
B aggregates are recovered, recycled and reused as much as possible,
. high quality resources are protected for extraction where this does not conflict with
environmental or community objectives,
B
extraction is environmentally-sound and socially-responsible,
B pits and quarries receive appropriate rehabilitation and reuse, and
B
environmentally sensitive areas, headwater and recharge areas, regional greenlands and prime
agricultural lands are protected.
Local municipal plans would include land use designations and policies to implement the Greater
Toronto aggregate resources strategy. The conservation authorities would review and approve
extraction and rehabilitation plans and issue/update licences.
Air Quality
In conduction with local municipalities, the EQB would develop an air quality plan for Greater
Toronto in the context of Provincial policies. The plan would establish objectives and targets to
7
improve air quality, and would be integrated with the regional transportation strategy and the
regional plan to increase energy efficiency and reduce-air emissions. The air quality plan would
guide local municipalities to implement measures to improve air quality through development
approvals and performance requirements. Local municipalities would also issue of certificates of
approval for point sources and enforce compliance with environmental standards.
The EQB would operate a state-of-the-art air quality monitoring system and would establish and
maintain an emission inventory for the Region.
Soil and Groundwater Quality
The Province would delegate responsibility for implementing the new Guideline for Use at
Contaminated Sites in Ontario to the EQB and local municipalities. The EQB would:
B establish an historic land use inventory for Greater Toronto to flag areas of potential
contamination,
B
maintain a database on remedial technologies,
B
review and approve soil and groundwater management plans that are based on site specific risk
assessment/management, and
B
on request by a municipality or proponent, establish a project team to coordinate the process
and foster cooperation among adjacent landowners, investors, lenders, regulators and the
community.
Local municipalities would:
B
review and approve soil and groundwater management plans that are based on the generic
criteria in the Guideline,
B
issue certificates of approval for remedial technologies or management systems and enforce
compliance, and
B
issue clean-up orders as authorized by the Province.
Agricultural Lands
Within the context of the Greater Toronto regional plan, the EQB would prepare a strategy for
agricultural lands to:
B
ensure protection and stewardship of agricultural land as a non-renewable essential resource,
and
B promote sustainable and environmentally-sound agricultural practices.
The local municipalities would implement this strategy through the municipal planning process.
8
Greenlands and Trails
The GTC would own conservation lands and major parks on behalf of the Province as well as
those of the existing regions for management by CAs, local municipalities or the private sector. It
would also coordinate the preparation of management. plans for those lands.
In the context of the Greater Toronto regional plan, the EQB would prepare a greenlands strategy
to protect and restore natural and cultural heritage, maintain environmental functions, and provide
public access and recreation. This greenlands strategy should incorporate the Greater Toronto
aspects of the Niagara Escarpment Plan, Lake Ontario Greenway Strategy, Oak Ridges Moraine
Strategy, Lake Simcoe Environmental Management Strategy, watershed strategies coordinated by
conservation authorities, and existing regional open space plans.
Local municipalities would revise their planning documents as necessary to be consistent with the
Greater Toronto greenlands strategy.
The EQB would coordinate implementation of a trail network for Greater Toronto, with extensions
to Trenton and Niagara along the Lake Ontario Waterfront, and east along the full length of the Oak
Ridges Moraine to connect with the Trent Severn Waterway.
Bioregional Systems
The EQB would:
B
B
B
B
B
B
provide liaison with the Niagara Escarpment Commission,
coordinate completion and implementation of a strategy for the entire Oak Ridges Moraine,
coordinate implemention of the Lake Ontario Greenway Strategy and Waterfront Trail within
Greater Toronto,
assist the Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority with implemention of the Lake Simcoe
Environmental Management Strategy,
coordinate implementation of the Metro Toronto Remedial Action Plan, working with the
conservation authorities, local municipalities, private sector and the public, and
ensure that activities in Greater Toronto contribute to improvements in Great Lakes ecosystem.
Funding Partnerships
The EQB would:
9
B administer grants/funding/loan programs on behalf of the Province in accordance with
strategies developed for Greater Toronto,
B
seek cost-sharing partnerships with the private sector, federal government, communities and
others, and
B
establish an endowment fund for environmental protection, restoration, recreational use and
awareness projects.
Information and Research
The EQB would establish a Centre of Excellence for watershed/environmental management. It
would undertake its own research, as well as compiling results of monitoring programs undertaken
by conservation authorities, municipalities, community groups and the private sector. It would
develop research partnerships with universities, colleges, high schools and other institutions.
The Centre would provide coordinated information services (GIS, mapping, data bases) and
technical/advisory support to the conservation authorities and local municipalities. It would publish
reports on changes (progress/deterioration) in environmental quality.
EQB Staffing and Operating Costs
The staff of the EQB would work in project or program teams on an as-needed basis to ensure an
ecosystem approach. Each individual would work in a number of areas (eg from policy to plan
review to information analysis) to avoid silos. The core staff would be as small as possible, with
the ability to supplement with contracts or secondments when necessary.
The administrative costs of the EQB should be significantly lower than the costs of the current
provision of environmental services. This conclusion is based on:
B
a broad-brush analysis of the current staffing of the provincial and regional departments that
would be partly transferred to the EQB, the conservation authorities or the local municipalities,
and
B the opportunity to establish a more efficient, coordinated, and streamlined administrative
framework.
Core Staff
The core staff of the EQB could include:
10
B Director
B Up to seven branch heads (see below)
B Technical specialists to undertake policy, planning, plan review, funding allocation, research,
analysis, partnership development, facilitation etc in the following fields: water supply, water
treatment, waste management, aggregates, air, soils, groundwater, agriculture, wildlife
management, greenlands, trails, fundraising, and public relations/education
B Additional specialists to administer licences, permits, certificates of approval, spot inspections,
and enforcement
B Coordinators on contract or secondment as needed for special projects/programs such as the
Metro Toronto RAP, park plans, specific sectora1 strategies
B Information management staff and researchers to operate the Centre of Excellence
B Administrative support
Possible EQB Branches:
Water and Wastewater Treatment and Supply
Waste Management
Air and Soils
Natural Systems (Greenland, valleys, Lake Ontario Waterfront Oak Ridges Moraine)
Resource Management (forestry, aggregates and agriculture)
Information Services/Centre of Excellence
Administration and Finance
11
TOWN OF WHITBY 575 ROSSLAND ROAD EAST, WHITBY, ONTARIO L1N 2M8
PHONE: (905) 668-5803
.
-
SUBMISSION TO THE
BY THE
TOWN OF WHITBY
T.J. EDWARDS
MAYOR
WHI TBY: (416) 668-5803
TORONTO: (416) 686-2621
F A X (416) 686-7005
THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF WHITBY
In the Regional Municipality of Durham
MUNICIPAL BUILDING
575 Rossland Road East
Whitby, Ontario, Canada
L1N 2M8
Sept. 27, 1995.
Dr. Anne Golden, Chair,
393 University Ave.,
20th Floor, Suite 2001,
Toronto, Ontario.
M5G 1E6
Dear Dr. Golden:-
1 am pleased to submit the attached submission for your
consideration. The essence of the submission addresses the belief
that local municipal government must be enhanced and strengthened.
Further, it is the Towns opinion that a new form of
governance with legislative authority to incorporate the Greater
Toronto Area is not desirable.
The Executive Summary incorporates some fourteen (14)
elements that Whitby wishes to bring to your attention.
If I may be of any assistance
matters further, please do not hesitate to
Sincerely
as you consider these
let me know.
yours,
T. J. Edwards,
M A Y O R
cc: The Honorable M. Harris, Premier of Ontario
The Honorable A. Leach, Minister of Municipal Affairs &
Housing
D. Martin, Provincial Facilitator, Ministry of
Municipal Affairs & Housing
J. Flaherty, M.P.P., Durham Centre
J. OToole, M.P.P., Durham East
H. McCallion, Chair, G.T.A. Mayors committee, C/o City of
Mississauga
G. Herrema, Chair, Regional Municipality of Durham
I
,
I
SEPTEMBER 27, 1995.
THE TOWN OF WHITBY
BELIEVES THAT
LOCAL MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
MUST BE
ENHANCED, STRENGTHENED AND EXPANDED
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
(1) R ECOGNIZE THAT W H I T B Y S BOUNDARIES
AND ITS SIZE , WITH SIGNIFICANT
CAPACITY FOR FUTURE GROWTH, CONTINUES
TO BE APPROPRIATE TO SERVE THE
RATEPAYERS OF WHITBY, NOW AND IN THE
FUTURE .
( 2) RECOGNIZE THAT WHITBY COUNCIL A N D I T S
RATEPAYERS WILL STRONGLY RESIST ANY
CHANGE TO ITS BOUNDARIES AND
REDUCTION TO W HITBY AUTONOMY, I T S
UNIQUE QUALITIES AND CHARACTERISTICS ,
AS WELL AS ITS STRONG SENSE OF
COMMUNITY IDENTITY AS A VIABLE LOCAL
MUNICIPALITY IN DURHAM REGION.
I
2
(3) RECOGNIZE THAT
LOCAL MUNICIPAL
GOVERNMENT IS THE MOST ACCESSIBLE,
CAPABLE , EFFICIENT AND INVALUABLE
RESOURCE CENTRE TO ITS RATEPAYERS,
WHOSE FUNCTIONS SHOULD BE MAXIMIZED,
ENHANCED AND EXPANDED TO RESPOND TO
THEIR NEEDS.
(4) R EDEFINE LEGISLATION FOR ALL LEVELS
OF GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE CLEARER
RESPONSIBILITY , GREATER ACCOUNT-
ABILITY AND AUTONOMY TO REDUCE
OVERLAPPING AND DUPLICATION AMONG
GOVERNMENTS, 1. E ., ONE STOP SHOPPING
FOR INFORMATION AND SERVICES . (E. G.,
LOCAL, REGIONAL AND PROVINCIAL
HIGHWAYS, OTHER THAN THE 400 SERIES,
TO BE MAINTAINED BY THE LOCAL
MUNICIPALITIES BASED ON A SINGLE
STANDARD OF SERVICE WITH SUITABLE
COST SHARING. )
(5) RECOGNIZE THAT NEW LEGISLATION SHOULD
BE INTRODUCED TO PERMIT PUBLIC/
PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS WHILE PERMITTING
LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES TO SELF-GOVERN
AND INTEGRATE SERVICES WITH OTHER
MUNICIPALITIES AND LEVELS OF
GOVERNMENT ON A VOLUNTARY, CO-
OPERATIVE AND COST EFFECTIVE BASIS .
(6) R E C O G N I Z E THAT IT SHOULD NOT B E
NECESSARY TO CONSIDER THE EXPANSION
OF SERVICES CURRENTLY PROVIDED AT THE
3
(7)
(8)
(9)
LOCAL LEVEL TO THE REGIONAL OR COUNTY
LEVEL UNLESS THERE IS AN EXPRESSED
DEMAND FOR SUCH SERVICE BY ALL
AFFECTED LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES ,
AND
FURTHER , IT IS DESIRABLE FOR THE
P ROVINCE TO RATIONALIZE THE PRESENT
SCOPE OF SERVICE UNDERTAKEN BY
REGIONAL MUNICIPALITIES .
RECOGNIZE THAT LOCAL MUNICIPAL
PLANNING APPROVAL POWERS SHOULD
INCLUDE APPROVAL OF SUBDIVISIONS,
LAND SEVERANCES AND PART LOT CONTROL
WHERE REGIONAL A N D LOCAL O F F I C I A L
P LANS EXIST, WHILE BROADER GENERAL
STRATEGIC PLANNING ABILITIES SHOULD
REMAIN WITH THE REGIONS . LOCAL
MUNICIPALITIES SHOULD CONTINUE TO
MAINTAIN LOCAL DETAILED LED POLICY
PLANNING ABILITIES .
R EDEFINE THE LEGISLATION GOVERNING
HYDRO COMMISSIONS AND LIBRARY BOARDS
SUCH THAT THE LOCAL COUNCIL WI L L
ASSUME COMPLETE RESPONSIBILITY FOR
THE PROVISION OF THESE SERVICES THUS
E L I M I NAT I N G DU P L I CAT 10N OF
ADMINISTRATIVE EFFORT AND REINFORCING
ACCOUNTABILITY OF THE LOCAL ELECTED
COUNCIL .
R ECOGNIZE THAT THE C O S T L Y AND TIME
CONSUMING PRACTICE OF ADMINISTERING
BUSINESS ASSESSMENT AND TAXATION
4
(l0)
(11)
(12)
SHOULD BE DISCONTINUED IN FAVOUR OF
A LESS COMPLICATED CRITERIA
FOR
APPORTIONING COMMERCIAL/ INDUSTRIAL
ASSESSMENT AND TAXATION .
R EPLACE CONDITIONAL AUTHORITY A N D
C O N D I T I O N A L O P E R A T I N G
GRANTS/SUBSIDIES WI TH ANNUAL
UNCONDITIONAL "BLOCK" GRANTS
RECOGNIZING , HOWEVER, THAT ONE TIME
GRANTS FOR SPECIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
PROGRAMS OR OTHER MUNICIPAL SERVICES
INITIATED BY THE PROVINCIAL
GOVERNMENT SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE
CONDITIONAL .
R EQUIRE A STANDARD PROPERTY
ASSESSMENT SYSTEM HAVING FAIRNESS
WITHIN EACH PROPERTY CLASSIFICATION ,
WITH THE FUNCTION RETURNED TO THE
REGIONAL/COUNTY LEVEL OF GOVERNMENT.
I MPLEMENTATION TO HAVE A SUITABLE
PHASE-IN PERIOD AND BE UNDERTAKEN IN
SUCH A MANNER AS TO GUARD AGAINST THE
BURDEN OF ANY TAX SHIFTS.
RECOGNIZE THAT THE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY
IS THE PRIMARY SOURCE OF CONTROL FOR
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT BEING BEST
SUITED TO DEVELOP AND PROMOTE THE
UNIQUE ATTRIBUTES OF A COMMUNITY AND
IS THE BEST SUITED LEVEL OF
GOVERNMENT CAPABLE OF SUSTAINING
ONGOING SUPPORT REQUIRED BY EXISTING
I
5
Commercial/INDUSTRIAL CLIENT BASE AS
WELL AS BEING THE MOST ACCESSIBLE,
EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT SOURCE OF
INFORMATION FOR THE SMALL BUSINESS
ENTREPRENEUR .
(13) RECOGNIZE THAT THE PROMOTION AND
MARKETING OF MUNICIPALITIES TO THE
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
COMMUNITY IS MOST EFFICIENTLY AND
COST EFFECTIVELY EXECUTED THROUGH
VOLUNTARY CO-OPERATIVE ALLIANCES SUCH
AS THE G. T. A. E CONOMIC D E V E L O P M E N T
PARTNERSHIP COMMITTEE.
(14) RECOGNIZE THAT A NEW FORM OF
GOVERNANCE WITH LEGISLATIVE AUTHORITY
FOR THE G REATER T ORONT O AREA IS NOT
DESIRABLE .
6
BACKGROUND
In 1968, the Town of Whitby and former Township of Whitby amalgamated
to blend the urban and rural advantages of both municipalities. This
voluntary initiative by the two municipalities added a new dimension in
governance to the, then, County of Ontario. Our ratepayers, both resident
and corporate, identify with the Town of Whitby as it continues to be a strong
and viable community in the Region of Durham.
The amalgamated Town of Whitby, containing a land area of more than 56
square miles, became the only municipality to not experience a change in local
municipal boundaries when the Region of Durham was incorporated in 1974.
In fact, the geographic size of Whitby was mirrored by the consolidation of
the City of Oshawa and the former Township of East Whitby with the
formation of the Region of Durham.
Since the Whitby merger, ever increasing numbers of people have recognized
the advantages of locating their families, opening their businesses and
establishing their industries in this vibrant and growing Town. The Town of
Whitby is proud of its heritage and its continuing evolution. Whitby has a
vision for its future. More than 70,000 people who share that vision and
continue to invest their future in Whitby each day will not support the loss of
their identity to a bigger, less responsive government.
7
Whitby, through its elected and appointed officials, has demonstrated that the
local level of government is accessible, approachable and efficient as it
responds to its population on a continuous basis. It also is satisfied that the
1968 vision of creating a new, enlarged Town of Whitby continues to be the
proper size to serve the ratepayers of
capacity for growth in the future.
B
Whitby believes that its boundaries
capacity for future growth, continues
ratepayers of Whitby, now and in the,
Whitby now and with significant
and its size, with significant
to be appropriate to serve the
future.
B
Whitby believes that its ratepayers will strongly resist any change to
its boundaries resulting in a reduction in Whitby autonomy, its
unique qualities and characteristics, as well as its strong sense of
community identity as a viable local municipality in Durham Region.
RESPONSIBILITY WITH ACCOUNTABILITY
Let us get back to basics. Let us reshape the needs of government to reflect
the requirements of our customers, the ratepayers. If there are to be changes
in governance, let us reduce the confusion by the public as to which level of
government is responsible for providing public services by giving more
autonomy to local government. Ratepayers, in general, bond and identify
with their local municipalities. Local municipalities are often considered by
residents as being their most valuable, accessible and efficient resource.
8
Since the inception of Regional Government, an important relationship has
existed within government which has co-ordinated the provision of services to
our inhabitants. Local municipal governments recognize that there are
economies of scale to be realized in the provision of certain services. In
particular, where the required service is more efficiently and cost effectively
provided involving other governments beyond local municipal borders, those
resources should be encouraged to continue to provide and/or co-ordinate such
services. The foregoing recognizes the existing relationship among the local,
regional and provincial levels of government and the important role that each
plays in the delivery of services. However, it should not be necessary, for
example, for all three jurisdictions, with different service levels and standards,
to maintain roadways within the borders of local municipalities, save and
except Provincial highways numbered 400. The same can be said of a number
of other services. When two (2) or more levels of government are jointly
responsible for delivering services, there tends to be a loss of accountability
resulting in public confusion
to rationalize the present
municipalities.
and frustration. In that context, it is desirable
scope of services undertaken by regional
B
Whitby believes that the local municipality is the most accessible level
of government and, as such, is best able to respond to its citizens by
providing quality, affordable service levels that reflect the needs of its
ratepayers.
B
B
B
9
Whitby believes that the level of government which best relates to the
requirements of the ratepayers is the local municipal level of
government and that services performed by existing local
municipalities should be strengthened, enhanced and expanded.
Whitby believes that there are immense opportunities available among
local municipalities to improve the co-operative integration of services
in a more cost effective manner.
Whitby believes that the local municipality should be the primary
government that our ratepayers contact for the provision of
information and service, i.e., one stop shopping.
Inter-community services such as transit, fire protection and animal control,
to name a few, should be cost shared with other municipal governments as the
requirements of the ratepayer and the municipality dictate.
B
Whitby believes that it is not desirable to expand services currently
provided at the local level to a regional/county level unless there is
an expressed demand by all the affected local municipalities.
B
Whitby believes that it is desirable for the Provincial government to
rationalize the present scope of services undertaken by regional
municipalities.
10
Decisive action must be taken to reduce the costly and inefficient overlap and
duplication of effort where it exists in government today. As service
providers, we must take positive steps to eliminate the public confusion over
which level of government provides what service. Wherever possible, the
provision of modern technologies should be employed to achieve this desired
result.
Further, existing overlaps between government levels in the decision making
process should be eliminated wherever practicable. More senior governments
should strengthen autonomy at the local municipal level through increased
responsibility and accountability.
B
Whitby believes that the Province of Ontario should legislate a new
Municipal Act which will allow municipalities greater flexibility and
clearer responsibility, accountability and autonomy to strengthen
government at the local level. Whitby supports the required checks
and balances within the legislation.
B
Whiby believes that new legislation should recognize the capabilities
of local municipalities to self-govern and to integrate services as
desirable on a voluntary, co-operative, cost effective basis with other
municipalities and other levels of government.
B
Whitby believes that duplication among governments can be signifcantly
reduced through a new definition of responsibilities to reduce costs and to
eliminate public confusion and frustration.
11
B
Whitby believes that the provision of services, where practicable,
should be encouraged through public/private partnerships by the
enactment of permissive legislation.
PLANNING
The streamlining of municipal functions is encouraged. Local municipal
planning approval powers should, where local Official Plans exist, be
expanded to include the approval of local planning matters. Local land use
planning should continue to be protected to ensure good and orderly
development and consistency with larger provincial and regional planning
requirements.
B
Whitby believes local municipal planning approval powers, where an
official plan exists, should include approval power for subdivision,
land severances and part lot control, while broader general strategic
planning abilities should remain with the regions. Local
municipalities should continue to maintain local detailed policy
planning abilities.
SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES
The existence of special purpose bodies has eroded the understanding of the
public as to who is really responsible for the provision of certain local services. i
clarification of these uncertainties, as well as the elimination of a great deal I
12
of duplication of administrative effort can be realized. It will also reinforce
accountability at the local elected level.
B
Whitby believes that special purpose bodies such as library boards
and hydro commissions should be functions of the local municipality.
MUNICIPAL FINANCE
The root of municipal finance is
administered by the Province of
the property assessment system currently
Ontario. The establishment of common
assessment practices for all Ontario municipalities continues to be an essential
basis for the distribution of revenue within the province.
Unfortunately, the administration of the assessment function has become
progressively inconsistent amongst Ontario regions and municipalities. To
compensate, the Provincial Government has, from time to time, employed
complicated formulae to the grant system, which have only made the equitable
distribution of financial resources impossible to achieve.
Also, assessment personnel have been shifted from assessment region to
assessment region to accommodate the Provincial requirement. There is no
doubt that the shifting of these important resources has not only added to the
inefficiency of the system but, more importantly, has resulted in the loss of
substantial revenues to municipalities.
13
Within each assessment region a variety of assessment systems are allowed to
exist. Many municipalities have multiple assessment
further demonstrate the need for a consistent
assessment. The equitable distribution of municipal
accuracy and consistency of the assessment system.
bases. These disparities
approach to property
revenue depends on the
The assessment criteria
against an unreasonable
selected by the Province of Ontario should guard
shift in evaluations between property classifications.
B
B
B
B
B
Whitby believes that fairness in the property tax system can be
achieved in each assessment region through a re-assessment of real
propery employing a consistent set of criteria throughout Ontario.
Witby believes that the responsibility to establish the criteria for the
assessment system should remain with the Province of Ontario.
Whitby believes that the timing for implementation of the selected
assessment criteria should be established by the Province of Ontario.
Whitby believes that the function of real property assessment should
be returned to the regional/county level of government.
Whitby believes that the costly and time consuming practice of
administering business assessment and taxation should be discontinued
in favour of a less complicated criteria for apportioning
commercial/industrial assessment and taxation.
m
14
B
Whitby believes that a suitable phase in period should be allowed
when the new criteria for assessment is implemented to ease the
burden of any tax shifts between property classes and/or taxpayers.
B
Whitby believes that a consistent assessment system will pave the way
for a fair and equitable distribution of revenue between the Province
of Ontario and its municipalities.
Today, the
that have
Provincial
conditional grants system rewards the supply of specific services
been pre-determined by the Provincial Government. Many
subsidies/grants are conditional upon specified services being
provided by the municipalities. This parent/child relationship does not allow
the local municipal council to make clear decisions about the desired levels of
local services or its priorities.
Further, the conditional present grant system requires senior levels of
government to ensure that the work being completed at the local level meets
the criteria anticipated by the Provincial, and even Federal, level of
government.
On the other hand, we are not advocating that there be no special conditional
grants for particular one-timeinfrastructure or service programs which may
be introduced by the Province
B
Whitby believes that the Province of Ontario should eliminate annual
conditional operating grants/subsidies in favour of unconditional or
15
block grants to empower the elected councils of local municipalities
to determine services and service levels that are locally significant.
B
Whitby believes that an unconditional or block grant system will
facilitate a substantive reduction in Provincial staff resources that
currently verify that local municipalities are conducting themselves in
accordance with Provincial policy.
B
Whitby believes that one-time grants for special infrastructure programs
initiated by senior levels of government should continue to be conditional.
Traditionally, the first point of inquiry for a potential commercial or
industrial investor is the office of the local municipal mayor, the local
municipal economic development office and the local municipal planning
office. Although more senior levels of government also have development
interests, the most meaningful and informative contact is that which is made
at the local municipality where the potential investment will ultimately be
made. Services at the local municipal level are essential in the planning and
development of the community.
Equally as important is the continuous support and assistance which must be
provided by the local municipality to its existing commercial and industrial
cIients. This important customer base, which provides employment
opportunities and a significant source of taxation revenue, often becomes a
16
local municipalitys best promotional source. The importance of maintaining
a close relationship with your commercial and industrial community can lead
to additional investment through joint ventures and strategic alliances.
B
Whitby believes that the local municipality should continue
primary source for economic and development contact.
to be the
One requirement of a strong local economy is a continuous, concerted effort
to renew the local economic base. Proactive economic development programs
must be put in place to diversify the local business base and increase
employment opportunities.
B
Whitby believes that the local municipality is best suited to develop
and to promote the unique attributes of a community, through effective
and effcient service, particular to the needs of the customer.
B
Whitby believes that the most responsive level of government capable
of sustaining the ongoing support required by its existing commercial
and industrial client base is the local municipal government.
Eighty per cent of new jobs created in the Canadian economy are created by
small business entrepreneurs. Historically, individuals interested in starting
their own business have approached the local municipality for assistance. The
local municipality is readily accessible to prospective business and is able to
provide coaching to the entrepreneur in such matters as government processes
17
and procedures, as well as to suggest business linkages and alliances that
might assist the small business entrepreneur to achieve success.
B
Whitby believes that the local municipality is the most knowledgeable,
accessible, effective and effcient source of information for the small
business entrepreneur.
Senior levels of government exercise responsibilities that influence the economy
such as interest and exchange rates, inflation, income and sales
those factors will influence the direction and expansion of regional
While those regional influences also impact local economies,
taxes, and
economies.
additional
attention at the local municipal level is required to ensure that business
investment will be attracted.
B
Whitby believes that a local modern infrastructure consisting of such
amenities as accessible business services, efficient local transportation
linkages, an educated workforce and cultural and recreational
opportunities is best serviced by the local municipality.
A voluntary initiative to promote and market the Greater Toronto Area for
business investment, both domestically and internationally, has been initiated ---
by the G.T.A. Economic Development Partnership Committee. This
Committee, consisting of representatives from municipalities, has united to co-
operate and co-ordinate an initiative to attract business investment to a
geographic area consisting of five regional governments. Voluntary co-
1
18
operation provides a more efficient and cost effective vehicle to those
municipalities that have a common interest in the attraction of economic
development in a national or international environment.
B
Whitby believes that the promotion and marketing of municipalities to
the national and international business community is most efficiently
and cost electively executed through voluntary co-operative alliances
such as the G. T.A. Economic Development Partnership Committee.
G.T.A. GOVERNANCE
Clearly, a new form of governance for the Greater Toronto
to public confusion and frustration and is not desirable.
B
Whitby believes that a new form of governance with
authorship for the Greater Toronto Area is not desirable.
Area will only add
legislative
TO
F ROM An n e Go l d e n
RE - INVENTING
ALL OF THE GOVERNMENT
& SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES OF
ONTARIO
FROM THE TOP DOWN
-
GTA TASK FORCE
AND THE BOTTOM UP
Robert M. White
358 Finch Avenue
Burlington Ontario
L7T 2T7
September 25 1995
Dr. Anne Golden - Chairman of The GTA Task Force
Mr. Jack Diamond
Mr. Thomas McCormack
Mr. Robert Prichard
Dr. Joseph Wong
c/o
393 University Ave.
20th Floor -2001
Toronto Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Madams/Sirs:
Re: A Proposed Solution to our GTA Financial and Governance Problems
After much research, thought and effort, I believe I have discovered a very practical and
even elegant solution to the divisive financial and governance issues we now face. Attached
(for each of you) is a copy of my Proposed Strategy for Re-inventing All of the
Governments and Special Purpose Bodies of Ontario From the Top Down and the
Bottom Up. This Proposed Strategy has been prepared as a private citizen and not as a
member of the Halton Civil Service.
Although a separate GTA solution is included within the attached Proposed Strategy, what I
propose is not a GTA Specific Proposal but rather a Province Wide Strategy. We must not
forget that the current GTA, like our 800 plus municipalities, is a human abstraction. As
such it is a dynamic - flexible entity whose boundaries, composition and influence is
constantly changing - evolving over time. It is for this reason that we must view the GTA
within a Province Wide Strategy i.e. a Province Wide Framework which rationalizes (re-
invents) All of our Many Governments and their Special Purpose Bodies. I believe this
approach is absolutely essential to a successful resolution of our ongoing debate.
1
I believe you will see my Proposed Strategy as a Win - Win Scenario. It reconciles the lon
standing debate between those who argue for the Centralization of Government with those
who want De-centralization. It places the entire Conservative Government effort, as
articulated in the Common Sense Revolution, in a very positive light. It creates a flexible
framework for the downsizing and fixing of all our broken governments and their special
purpose bodies. It recognizes and strengthens the distinction between the Civil Service and
the Politicians to their mutual benefit and it can be applied to the Local, Regional, Provin
and even the Federal levels of Government. I seriously believe it will likely meet the
critical approval of a vast majority of Ontario stakeholders, including most local Municip
Politicians.
This Proposed Strategy is a small part of my ongoing (twenty five year) examination of ou
governments. I hope you and your staff find both the Proposed Strategy and the additiona
research material I have submitted (three separate binders) of some help in your task. I
look forward to your comments and ideas and would be most pleased to present or discuss
them further at your convenience.
Yours Truly
Robert M. White M. C.I.P. R.P.P
Cc. John Livey - Executive Director
A
PROPOSED STRATEGY FOR
RE - INVENTING
ALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS & SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES OF
FROM THE TOP DOWN AND THE BOTTOM UP
BY
ROBERT M. WHITE
PREFACE
How Can We Fix Our Broke(n) Governments
and Their
Special Purpose Bodies?
June 8th 1995 will be remembered as turning point for all of the numerous Governments and Special
Purpose Bodies of Ontario. After a ten year hiatus the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party was
swept back into power by a wave of populist voters fed up with expensive, inefficient and
ineffective government. The message sent is clear - Ontario residents are demanding a big change
in the way our many government(s) operate and it now appears, based on recent statements and
actions by Ontarios new Premier and Cabinet Ministers, that the ruling Conservatives are
determined to deliver.
Over the last ten years Canadians have been dismayed by large increases in both government
spending and taxes. On the International Front we have watched the relative value of our dollar, and
our incomes, fall. We have even heard some frightening predictions by a few of the worlds top
financial gurus that Canada is about to hit the wall. If this ever happened many of our Federal,
Provincial and Municipal Governments, and their Special Purpose Bodies, would soon be forced into
bankruptcy, along with possibly thousands of Canadians who are currently banking on the future
financial well being of our Governments.
Canadians everywhere are finally beginning to realize that our numerous governments and their
special purpose bodies are not the panacea for all of lifes many problems. Despite the huge amounts
of tax and user fees we now give them, and despite the vast amounts of money they now spend on
our behalf, our many governments and their special purpose bodies are not only broke, they are truly
broke(n) in an organization sense as well. In fact, the pessimists amongst us argue it is already too
late to fix our many broken governments and their special purpose bodies and that we all should
prepare for a drastic reduction in our current standard of living.
Re-inventing All of the Governments and Special Purpose Bodies of Ontario - From the Top
Down and the Bottom Up, is not a dissertation on how Canada got into this incredible mess, nor
is it about who is responsible (the answer is we all are). It is simply a Proposed Strategy on how
we can begin the process of solving both our financial and our governance problems at the same
time. It provides a Vision of Government that is radically different from the unwieldy monsters we
have today. It is a Vision of Government which is easy to understand and likely will be embraced
by a vast majority of Ontario stakeholders. Whats more, the following Proposed Strategy sets out
an Action Plan on How we can all work together to attain our Vision of a Re-invented Ontario.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
TABLE OF CONTENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
. . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
PART ONE - INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDING OUR GOVERNANCE PROBLEMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
THE GOVERNMENT(S) WE NOW HAVE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
THE GOVERNMENT WE WANT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
GETTING THERE WILL BE THE PROBLEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
PART TWO - PROPOSED ACTION PLAN
PROPOSED ACTION PLAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
PART THREE - PROPOSED STRATEGY
RE-INVENTING ALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS & SPECIAL PURPOSE
BODIES OF ONTARIO-FROM THE TOP DOWN AND THE BOTTOM UP...........................1O
PROPOSED PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE
DISTRICT (PMGAD) ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...............15
HALTON-PEEL PMGAD AS AN EXAMPLE.................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. ..........20
THE GREATER TORONTO AREA - PMGAD PARTNERSHIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......................23
THE CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CONCLUSION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
APPENDIX - REFERENCE MATERIAL
ii
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
RE - INVENTING
ALL OF THE GOVERNMENTS AND SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES OF
ONTARI O
TO SOLVE OUR GOVERNANCE & FINANCIAL PROBLEMS WE MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Separate - Disentangle the Civil Service Arm of Government from the Political Arm.
Consolidate, Re-organize and Downsize all Provincial Ministries into 5 Super Ministries.
Consolidate (in stages) all of the CIVIL SERVANTS presently working for the Local
Municipalities, Region or County Municipalities, Local Boards and Commissions, (and some
Provincial Civil Servants), into 17 large PROVINCIAL- MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT
ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS (PMGAD).
Deliver all PMGAD services to the customer at his/her closest Local Government Branch
Office and create One Common District Computer Data Base System linking key PMGAD
Civil Servants.
Establish a Provincial - Local Municipal Board of Council (consisting of those
Mayors/Reeves and MPPs located in each Administrative District) and a Partnership
Agreement on how each District & Board of Council is to be governed - operate.
Transfer the responsibility for certain Region and County functions to the Province (e.g.
Health and Social Services), transfer responsibility for the remainder to the Local
Municipalities and Eliminate all Regions and Counties in Ontario.
Re-organize, Streamline and Downsize each PMGAD Civil Service.
Re-organize all Special Purpose Boards and require them to report to the Board of Council.
Operate the PMGAD on a charge back basis (according to the population and service
provided) with the aim that all costs be shared equally between the Province and
Municipalities.
Adopt a Common District Property Tax System and agree to Share Industrial/Commercial
Taxes and Establish a PMGAD Agreement on the sharing of all public revenues.
I I I
INTRODUCTION
UNDERSTANDING OUR GOVERNANCE PROBLEM
As one can guess by the title, Re-inventing All of the Governments and Special Purpose Bodies
of Ontario - From the Top Down and the Bottom Up, borrows many ideas from scholars and
experts in the fields of finance and governance. Ideas from Re-inventing Government by Osborne
and Gaebler and the many books and Articles by John Carver, particularly Boards That Make A
Difference, have been used extensively. The following Proposed Strategy is based on the premise
put forward by many noted authors that how our governments are organized is one of the main
reasons why we are having such great difficulty in solving our government and societal problems.
This report is all about solutions to our governance problems. It proposes a two prong attack on our
financial and governance problems - first from the Top (Provincial Level) Down and second from
the Bottom (Municipal Level) Up. Since all of Ontarios numerous governments exist solely at the
pleasure of the Province, the newly formed Government of Ontario must point the direction and
provide the necessary leadership to achieve our mutual goals. Once a Provincial Proposed Strategy
has been established all of the many other governments and special purpose bodies in Ontario can
begin the job of Re-inventing our public institutions from the Bottom (Municipal Level) Up. This
simultaneous assault will require the cooperation of a great many people, however, Canadians are
noted for their ability to work together in a civil manner.
The following Proposed Strategy requires the reader to make a paradigm shift in how one perceives
our many governments and their special purpose bodies. However, once fully grasped, additional
possibilities (not mentioned in this Proposed Strategy) will quickly become evident to those who
understand how our governments now operate. Fundamental to this paradigm shift are the ideas that:
1. In the eyes and wallets of all Canadian Taxpayer there is ONE, and only one,
Government (and not numerous governments with their special purpose bodies);
2. Our Government is a Business Corporation responsible to its shareholders and as such
must operate in a rationale, economic and customer focused fashion;
3. The Workers of our Government Corporation (the Civil Service) can and should be
kept separate from the Political arm of government;
4. The Board of Directors (the Political arm of government) must concentrate on
WHAT is to be done; and
5. The Civil Service must be kept free, as much as possible, to concentrate on HOW it
carries out the Political directives.
THE GOVERNMENT(S) WE NOW HAVE
Canada has just Two Official Levels of Government - the Federal and the Provincial. Each of these
two levels has been assigned specific responsibilities by the British North America Act. Despite the
specific assignments contained in our Constitution, each level of government carries out some
responsibilities that are currently assigned to the other level. Furthermore, because of our societys
increasing complexity, each level has created numerous Ministries, Departments, and Special Purpose
Bodies to achieve their stated purposes. In addition to the assigned and assumed responsibilities our
governments undertake special initiatives and provide special services considered important by the
governments of the day. These initiatives and services change over time as they normally are
established to address some specific need (which the government perceives to be currently lacking)
or to solve a particular problem. Invariably these additional initiatives and services result in more
government, often a special purpose body and bureaucracy with a particular stated mandate.
Although Canada is currently one of the largest countries in the world it has not been divided, like
our neighbour to the south, into 50 individual Provinces or States. In fact almost all of Canadas
Provinces (except Prince Edward Island) are larger than most world Nations. The huge expanse of
our Nation has forced both the Federal and Provincial levels of Government to further subdivide our
country into numerous Administrative Districts, Regions, Counties, Townships, Cities etc. In fact
Ontario has two major Tiers of Municipal Government i.e. the large Regions and Counties and
the smaller Local Municipalities. Both Tiers of Municipal Governments are dependent on the
Provincial Government for their very existence and both have their own separate bureaucracies.
The bulk of our current day government structure has been created over the last 50 years after the
World War II at a time when big government seemed to be the answer to many of our social
problems. Unfortunately the compartmentalization and specialization of our governments has meant
that each level, ministry, branch, department etc. has needed to duplicate much knowledge,
information, management and resources in order to provide services and solve problems which
are society wide based. The sheer size of our governments coupled with its increased
specialization and complexity has now itself become a major problem. Approximately 1.1
million Ontario residents, or about 24% of Ontarios total employed work force, currently work
for the greater public sector. Ontario has over 800 municipalities, 49 Regions, Counties and
Districts, 38 Conservation authorities, 165 School Boards, 307 Hydro Electric Commissions, 105
Police Services Boards, and a wide range of other government bodies too numerous to mention.
Our Governments have a well deserved reputation of being not only big and expensive but also as
being remote, inefficient, ineffective, difficult to understand and generally not customer friendly.
Normally this kind of reputation would be the death knell for most Canadian businesses, however
as our governments are monopolies we all have no choice but to deal with them. But before we can
deal with our governments we often find ourselves in the frustrating situation of trying to figure out
which government level, which Ministry, Branch or Special Purpose Body, is responsible for the
matter in question. We then hope we have guessed right, that we will get to speak to someone who
actually understands what it is we want, and that the Civil Servant who serves us knows how to help
us out. We have all heard the phrase You have got the wrong department/government.
2
CANADIAN AND ONTARIO EMPLOYMENT STATISTICS
TOTAL CANADI AN EMPLOYMENT 13, 505, 000 TOTAL ONTARI O EMPLOYMENT 5, 233, 000 38. 75%
TOTAL PUBLIC EMPLOYEES (ALL) 2, 640, 356 19. 55% REPORTED ONT. EMPLOYMENT (Al 1, 100, 000 21. 02%
TOTAL SALARY $98, 349, 000, 000 TOTAL PUBLI C EMPLOYEES 645, 742 58. 70%
AVERAGE SALARY $37, 248
PUBLI C SECTOR EMPLOYEES
P U B L I C S E C T O R E M P L O Y E E S FEDERAL * EST, 1 9 7 , 2 1 5 1 7 . 9 3 %
F E DE RAL 3 9 4 , 4 3 0 1 4 . 9 4 % P R O V I N C E 1 3 1 , 2 4 0 1 1 . 9 3 %
P PROVI NCI AL/ TER. 1 , 0 1 7 , 3 3 8 3 8 . 5 3 % HOS P I T AL S 1 7 5 , 4 9 6 1 5 . 9 5 %
L OCAL 8 9 8 , 2 2 0 3 4 , 0 2 % MUNI CI P AL 1 2 8 , 2 1 0 1 1 . 6 6 %
T OT AL 2 , 3 0 9 , 9 8 8 8 7 . 4 9 % S C H OOL B OA R D S 2 1 0 , 7 9 6 1 9 . 1 6 %
T O T A L 6 4 5 , 7 4 2 7 6 . 6 3 %
O T H E R G O V E R N M E N T B U S I N E S S E N T E R P R I S E S O T H E R G O V E R N M E N T B U S I N E S S E N T E R P R I S E S
F E DE RAL 1 4 9 , 3 5 2 5 . 6 6 % F E DE RAL E S T , 2 5 , 6 9 5 2 . 3 4 %
P R O V I N C I A L / T E R 1 2 9 , 3 7 4 4 . 9 0 % ONT ARI O E S T , 2 2 , 2 5 8 2. 02%
L OCAL 5 1 , 6 4 1 1 . 9 6 % L OCAL E S T , 8 , 8 8 5 0. 81%
T O T A L 3 3 0 , 3 6 7 1 2 . 5 1 % T O T A L 5 6 , 8 3 8 5. 17%
POSSIBLE PROVINCIAL & MUNICIPAL & SCHOOL BOARD SALARY SAVINGS
BY CI VI L SERVI CE DOWNSI ZI NG AT 2% PER YEAR
ASSUMING $40, 000 PER EMPLOYEE
T OT AL P ROV I NCI AL L OCAL - S CHOOL BOARD CI V I L S E RV I CE 6 4 5 , 7 4 2
2 % D O WN S I Z E A T $ 4 0 , 0 0 0 P E R E MP L O Y E E =
II
$516, 593, 600
GRAND TOTAL ALL PROVINCIAL - LOCAL - S CHOOL BOARD CI V I L S E RV I CE 1 , 1 0 0 , 0 0 0
2 % D O WN S I Z E A T $ 4 0 , 0 0 0 P E R E MP L O Y E E = I
$ 8 8 0 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0
. . . .
.
POSSIBLE REGIONAL MODEL FOR
THE GOVERNMENT WE WANT
To understand how to fix our broke(n) governments we must first empathize with the governments
chief customer - the Canadian taxpayer. Studies have shown that most Canadians like their Local
Municipal governments best. Despite their short-comings, Ontarios 800+ Local Governments are
generally recognized as the most convenient, accessible, accountable and customer friendly
government.
If we step back and visualize all of our numerous governments, and their special purpose bodies, not
as many separate entities but rather as ONE Large Business Corporation (with numerous -
convenient Local Branch Offices) dedicated to providing ALL of our customer needs, we begin to
see various possibilities. If we could obtain almost all Ontario, Region/County, and Municipal
government services from just one convenient Local Municipal Government Branch Office we
would all be much happier government customers. To do this would require much re-organization
of our CIVIL SERVICE. At a minimum our Local Branch Office would need to be maned by Civil
Servants who really know how our governments work and who are dedicated to satisfying customer
needs. These Civil Servants would need to electronically connected to one Central District Office
and computer data base system.
But how can we Re-invent ALL of our Ontario governments and their special purpose bodies so that
they all work together as ONE Large District Corporation dedicated to providing all of our customer
needs at our Local Government Branch Office? The answer, in a nutshell, is to separate the Civil
Service from the Political arm of government and then to Consolidate, Re-organize and
Downsize all of our Civil Service as outlined by the following Summary of the Proposed
Strategy:
A. Establish One Stop Shopping - Customer Focused Government
1. Undertake a complete overhaul of Ontarios governments including all Ontario
Municipalities and Special Purpose Bodies. The purpose of the overhaul will be to
simplify the number, size, location and function of Ontario governments. This will
be done in stages with the ultimate goal of having All Local, Regional/County and
Many Provincial Government Services DELIVERED LOCALLY where the
customer - taxpayer is located. This means the Local Municipality Office is to
become not just a Local Government Office but rather a Local - Region/County -
Provincial Government Office - where the public can get all the information needed
to deal with government and/or receive the service requested without being sent all
over the Province.
B. Efficient Government - End the Duplication
2. Eliminate the current Region and County form of government.
3
3. Consolidate all of the current Local Municipality and all of the current Regional or
County Government Civil Servants into one large group to be administer (during the
interim - transition period) at the Region or County or District level. The new Civil
Service Group will be consolidated streamlined and restructured at the Region/County
level and then re-assigned back to the Local Municipality on a charge back basis.
4. Determine which Provincial government services can be delivered locally and begin
the process of transferring those staff to the Interim Region/County Civil Service. All
Provincial Local Field Office staff will be considered for this program.
5. Begin the process of establishing, across the Province, not more than 20 large
Geographic Districts based on a Collection - Partnership of Local Municipalities
(established by the Province after consultation with all concerned) to be called a
Provincial Municipal Government Administrative District (PMGAD).
A total of 17 proposed PMGADs, their location, size etc. is attached.
6. Transfer some of the responsibilities currently handled by the Regions and Counties
back to the Province and transfer the remaining back to those Local Municipalities
which are located in the PMGAD.
7. Transfer all of the real estate and infrastructure of the current Regions and Counties
to the Local Municipality in which the real estate and infrastructure is located.
8. Streamline and then Re-organize the Civil Servants in each PMGAD into new
Departments corresponding to the services provided. The services will be provided
to the people in the PMGAD at their closest LOCAL Municipality Office. The level
of service provided will depend on the type of service, whether it is urban or rural,
and the service level chosen by the Local Council.
9. Downsize the Civil Service.
10. Eliminate most Region/County Special Purpose Bodies.
11. Amalgamate some Local Municipalities, and Create some new ones (this will be much
easier once the Bulk of the Civil Service is separated from the political arm and once
the new PMGAD is established).
c . Effective Government - Clarify the Roles
12. (Once the PMGAD is established) have the Local Municipality Mayor or Reeve (or
designate) sit on a Board of Council which will meet once a month at the PMGAD
with other Local Municipality (like) representatives in order to establish Broad
PMGAD Policy common to the entire District. The Local Municipal Politicians will
sit at the local level as the Local Council and will decide on Local issues.
4
13. Instruct and Authorize the PMGAD Civil Service to enter into agreements with the
Local Municipalities on the provision of PMGAD services to each Local Municipality
and to Implement the Policy established by the Board of Council.
14. The MPPs within each PMGAD shall also sit at the PMGAD.
D. Accountable Government - No Buck Passing
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
A new system of voting will be introduced at the Board of Council level based on
Local Municipality population served plus size of geographic area.
Provincial - Local Government Budgeting will be coordinated through the PMGAD.
The operating cost of the PMGAD will be split between the Province and the
Municipalities.
The Local Municipality portion of the costs will be funded on the basis of population
served, the type of service delivered and according to the level of service chosen by
the Municipality.
All Property within the PMGAD will be assessed according to one MVA or UVA
system.
All Industrial & Commercial property taxes will be assessed a uniform District tax
basis the revenue from which will be shared at least 66% being retained by the Local
Municipality and 33% for the other PMGAD Municipalities on the basis of their
respective populations.
GETTING THERE WILL BE THE PROBLEM
To get from where we now are, to where we want to be will not be a simple task. There are
hundreds of thousands of people directly involved, both within and outside government. Many of
the stakeholders, including the Public and special interest groups, have a substantial vested interest
which they will want to protect. Nevertheless, we must not forget we all have a stake in this issue
and that we may not have as much time as we want to bring about all the changes needed.
The changes outlined in this Proposed Strategy should be implemented on an ongoing basis, however,
the bulk can be completed within 4 years. The 4 year time frame is necessary not just because of
logistic and economic reasons but also because the likelihood of success of the Proposed Strategy
increases immensely if it is embraced by all those most affected i.e. the Civil Service and the
Politicians. To get everyones commitment to a change in the way we govern we must first make
sure that the proposed changes make sense to both those who understand how government works and
to those concerned about adverse impacts on the level of service to be delivered.
5
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
A
RE - INVENTING
ONTARIO
FROM THE TOP DOWN AND THE BOTTOM UP
RE - I NVENTI NG
NTARI O
THE DESIRE OF THE PEOPLE OF ONTARIO TO: WHEKEAS IT IS
I.
II.
III.
IV.
v .
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
x .
x l .
Reduce government regulation.
Eliminate one level of government.
Reduce the total size of government.
Reduce the total cost of government.
Increase government efficiency
Increase government effectiveness.
Make government more accessible & convenient.
Improve government customer service.
Make government more accountable.
Make government easier to understand.
Make government more democratic.
AND WHEREAS THE NEW ONTARIO GOVERNMENT BELIEVES
1. The Primary Purpose of Government is to: Enhance the Social Good; Secure Justice
and Freedom; and Provide a Forum for Peoples Free Expression.
2. The Primary Purpose and Obligation of the Elected and Appointed Government
Officials and the Civil Service is to serve the needs of the people - the customers,
owners and bill/taxpayers of Canadas Governments.
3. That to the Canadian Taxpayer there is also only one body of government.
4. That the Implementation Arm of Government, i.e. the Civil Service, should be kept
Separate from the Legislative/Policy Arm of Government - the Politicians.
5. That Most Government Services should be Delivered where the customer is located
i.e. in his/her Local Community.
AND WHEREAS IT IS THE STATED PLAN OF THE GOVERNMENT TO:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Reduce Non-Priority Government Spending by 20%
Reduce Red Tape and Regulatory Burden.
Cut the Size of Government in Ontario.
Balance the Budget in 4 years.
Cut out Fat and Waste and put People First.
Reduce Management Bureaucracy and the Provincial Public Service by 13,000 people
by 1999.
Eliminate many School Boards and Duplication in our School Boards.
Reduce the Number of Politicians, Trustees, and Commissions and officials.
Eliminate One Level of Government and the Duplication of Services at the Municipal
levels.
Reduce Government Spending by $5.35 billion by 1999.
Work with Government Employees, listening to their ideas and eliciting their help
in taking action.
7
Therefore the Government of Ontario announces its intention to make major changes
t o ALL of t he numerous
government Ministries, Agencies,
Bodies, Commissions,
Municipalities and Special Purpose Bodies of Ontario as follows:
1. Consolidate, Re-organize, Streamline,
& Downsize ALL Government of Ontario
Ministries, Branches, Departments, Agencies, Commissions, and Special Purpose
Bodies government within the following context:
a) Ministry of Finance. Planning & Governmental Affai
rs - (This Super-
Ministry is Dedicated to the Overall Management of all Ontario
Government Ministries, Departments etc. and includes the Cabinet Offices and
Management Boards and the Departments of:
Finance - (All Provincial Expenditures and Revenues)
Municipal Affairs - (Matters Concerning Ontarios Municipalities)
Intergovernmental Affairs - (Matters Concerning Ontarios Relationship
with the rest of Canada and the World)
b) Ministry of Urban & EC
onomic Developmen~ - (This Super-Ministry is
Dedicated to the Business of Economic Growth and Community Economic
Development particularly as it relates to Urban Areas of the Province and
includes the Departments of:
Economic Development and Trade
Labour and Employment
Consumer and Commercial Relations
Urban Affairs and Housing
Transportation and Communications
Energy, Hydro and Utility Conservation
c) Ministry of Rural & Natural Resource Development - (This Super-Ministry
is Dedicated to Business of Economic Growth and Community
Development particularly as it relates to Rural Areas of the Province and
includes the Departments of:
Agriculture and Food
Rural Recreation, Tourism and Community Affairs
Natural Resource Development
Northern Development and Mines
Native Communities and Affairs
d) Ministry of Social & Community Development - (This Super-Ministry is
Dedicated to the Overall Societal Growth and Human Development as it
relates to the entire Province and includes the Departments of:
8
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT RE-ORGANIZATlION
SEVENTEEN MINISTRIES PLUS VARIOUS OFFICES
AND 81251.6 CIVIL SERVANTS
T O
FIVE. MINISTRIES INCLUDING TWENTY - FOUR "DEPARTMENTS"
MI NI STRY OF SOCl AL
AND
COMMUNI TY DEVELOPMENT
PLUS
SIX DEPARTMENTS
I
14,152 CI VI L SERVANTS
1
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE,
AND
ENVI RONMENTAL PROTECTI ON
PLUS
FOUR DEPARTMENTS
36,758 CI VI L SERVANTS
MI NI STRY OF URBAN
AND
ECONOMI C DEVELOPMENT NATURAL RESOURCE
PLUS
P L U S
SI X DEPARTMENTS FI VE DEPARTMENTS
14,352 CI VI L SERVANTS 7,482 CI VI L SERVANTS
Education, Colleges and Universities
Community and Social Services
Culture and Citizenship
Francophone Affairs
Womens Issues
Childrens Issues
e) Ministry of Justice, Health, Safety & Environmental Protection - (This
Super-Ministry is Dedicated to the Overall Health and Safety of All of the
People of Ontario and to the Conservation and Protection of Ontarios
Natural Environment and includes the Departments of:
Attorney General
Solicitor General & Correctional Services
Health (Human)
Natural Environment Protection
2. Decentralize as much of the provincial bureaucracy (staff), and the services they
deliver, to the municipal level(s) of government.
3. Expand and Strengthen the authority and ability of Local Municipal Governments to
provide one stop shopping of a wide range of Municipal and Provincial public
services currently provided to the taxpayers within their local community.
4. Consolidate, Re-organize, Streamline, & Downsize all Ontario Regional, County,
Local Municipal Governments, and their Special Purpose Bodies (no Provincially
funded or Provincially controlled government body will be overlooked).
5. Eliminate ALMOST all of the current 49 Region/County/Districts and their related
Governments and Special Purpose Bodies as now constituted. This includes all 165
School Boards both the Public and Separate.
6. Eliminate many other non Region/County/District Special Purpose Bodies as presently
now constituted including:
a) Most of the 307 Local Hydro-Electric Commissions (not more than 20
new Consolidated HEC will be established);
b) Some of the 38 Conservation Authorities (approximately 17 CA will be
established).
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
Establish not more than 20 new Provincial - Municipal Government Administrative
Districts (PMGAD) across most of Ontario whose primary purpose shall be to bridge
the current Political Policy Gap between the Local Municipality level of Government
and the Provincial Level of Government and to ensure that all Provincial and
Municipal government services are provided in the most efficient, effective, and
coordinated manner possible.
Establish, and/or adjust the responsibilities, authorities and boundaries of all
remaining: Area and Regional/County Governments; Police Services Boards; School
Boards; Hydroelectric Commissions; Conservation Authorities; and Provincial
Administrative Bodies and Districts.
Re-examine what services should be provided by Ontarios Governments and what
services should be discontinued, sold, or transferred to the private sector.
Establish which Government services can be delivered on a Public - Private
Partnership basis (the private sector).
Establish which Government services can be delivered on a Partnership basis with
another Public sector body (Federal).
Change the manner in which many government services at both the Provincial and
Municipal level are funded.
Focus the computerization of Information at the PMGAD level with direct networks
to both the Local Municipalities and the Province.
Encourage a return to Non-partisan Participatory Government in Ontario by
introducing Legislation to:
a) Permit Referenda Questions (subject to Provincial approval) to be held at same
time as each Municipal Election Year (every 3 years) as a regular means for
the public to express its desire concerning both important Municipal and
Provincial matters; and
b) Change the manner in which Ontario residents elect Municipal and Provincial
officials i.e. establish a weighted voting system where each voter can indicate
hi/her first choice (5 votes), second choice (3 votes) and third choice (1 vote).
Try to accomplish as much of the Downsizing of Government with the Cooperation
of the Civil Service and through attrition wherever possible.
10
A
PROPOSED
ORGANIZATIONAL --- GOVERNANCE MODEL
FOR THE
AND ITS
C OM M I T T E E S
PROPOSED ORGANIZATION
OF THE
PROVINCIAL - MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICTS
PMGAD
Each PMGAD shall be established by an Act of the Legislature after consulting with the
a p propriate government bodies, affected parties and the public.
PURPOSE OF THE PMGAD
1. To provide the Government Institutional Structure to bridge the Gap between the Municipal
and Provincial Levels of Government.
2. To provide Economies of Scale in the Planning, Administration, Coordination and Delivery
of needed Public Services and Infrastructure to citizens of the District.
3. To Oversee the Administration and Implementation of all Authorities and Responsibilities,
Assigned and/or Delegated by the Province to the Local Municipalities, so as to ensure that
all proposed Development and Infrastructure within the PMGAD is processed, evaluated, and
adjudicated in accordance with:
a) Relevant Provincial Legislation, Regulations, and Delegation Orders;
b) Relevant Provincial Plans, Policy Statements, and Guidelines;
c) The PMGAD Policy Plan and Guidelines;
d) PMGAD Council Bylaws, Policies and Procedures;
e) Relevant Area Municipality Official Plans and Zoning Bylaws.
4. To Maximize the Assets and Strengths of the Provincial and Local Municipality Governments.
5. To Coordinate Provincial efforts and better deliver Provincial Objectives at the Local
Municipality level.
6. To Resolve Problems and Disputes within and between the Local Municipalities.
11
PMGAD GOVERNANCE
1. Each PMGAD shall be Governed by a Board of Council whose membership will consist
of one representative member from each of the Local Municipalities (preferably the Mayor
or Reeve) plus those Members of the Provincial Parliament who represent the District.
2. The Board of Council, of each PMGAD shall meet approximately once a month and shall
consist of not more than 50 members based on the following:
i) All Those Provincial MPPs whose Riding (or part thereof) is located in the
PMGAD;
ii) All Area Municipality Mayors and Reeves (or his/her acting);
3. Each Board of Council Member, Mayor, Reeve or MPP who is selected to attend the
PMGAD Board of Council Meeting, shall be entitled to caste votes on the basis of the
following:
a) Any Mayor, Reeve or MPP who sits on the Board of Council as a participating
Member Who Represents a Riding Population of:
not less than 1,000 and not more than 20,000 may cast = 1 vote
not less than 20,000 and not more than 35,000 may cast = 2 votes
12
POSSIBLE PMGAD ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
COMMI TTEE OF
COMMI TTEE OF PUBLI C
PUBLIC & SEPARATE -EDUCATION ,
ADMINISTRATION AND FINANCE
COMMI TTEE OF PUBLI C
COMMITTEE OF HEALTH AND COMMI TTEE OF PLANNI NG
PROTECTION AND EMERGENCY COMMUNITY & SOCIAL SERVICES
INFRASTRUCTURE & PUBLIC WORKS
4. Establish Special Purpose Committees consisting of elected members from the Local Council
and MPPs, to assist in its role as Policy Maker for the District.
PMGAD CIVIL SERVICE
1. The PMGAD shall be Administered and Operated by a newly formed group of Civil Servants
who will initially be staffed by all existing Local and County - Region Government employees
currently employed and located within the PMGAD. Certain Special Purpose Body staff and
certain Provincial Government staff who provide a function/service which should be delivered
in the PMGAD will be transferred to the PMGAD at different points in time.
2 A new PMGAD Management group - CAO and Commissioners - will be selected by the
Board of Council and who will report to the Board.
3. The PMGAD Management shall oversee all PMGAD staff and shall ensure the Delivery of
all PMGAD services across the District most of which will be provided locally at the
existing Area Municipality Offices and Facilities and the Implementation of the Councils
Policy.
PMGAD AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY
1. All of the currently assigned and optional services provided by each County or Region (i.e.
their legislated - mandated responsibilities) will be transferred (assigned) to the Local
Municipality of the Province. The Contract provider of the service, however, will be the
PMGAD Municipal Service Provider. The Province will assume responsibility for the
following:
a) Health
b) Social Services
c) Provincial Planning at the PMGAD
13
2. The PMGAD shall enter into an Agreements with constituent Local Municipalities on the
Provision and cost of:
a) Base Services to be provided throughout the entire Local Municipality,
b) Base Services to be provided to the Local Municipality Urban Areas Only;
c) Base Services to be provided to the Rural Area Only; and
d) Enhanced or Extra Service Deliveries,
3. District Planning will be undertaken at the PMGAD however the PMGAD Plan will be a
Broad Policy Plan
TRANSFER OF REGION AND COUNTY ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
1. All of the real estate property, buildings and infrastructure of the former County or Region
will be transferred to the appropriate Local Municipality.
2. All of the debt and liabilities of the former County or Region will be Transferred to the
PMGAD.
3. Once created the Constituent Local municipalities and the Province will be responsible for
all liabilities established by the PMGAD.
PROPERTY TAXATION
1. All property taxes shall be assessed on a uniform District wide basis using Land Area and
Building Size, and Land Use.
2. All Industrial & Commercial property taxes will be assessed a uniform District tax basis the
revenue from which will be shared at least 66% being retained by the Local Municipality and
33% for the other PMGAD Municipalities on the basis of their respective populations.
TRANSITION PERIOD
1. Initially all current Region and County Governments within the PMGAD will be retained and
will only be disbanded one the PMGAD for the area has been created.
2. Initially all current Local Municipalities within each PMGAD will be retained, however
the number size and boundaries of each Local Municipality will be reviewed by the
Province.
14
3.
THE
An Implementation Plan will be prepared for each District confirming which Local
Municipalities will be in which PMGAD.
17 PROPOSED PROVINCIAL PMGADs
The Attached Proposed PMGAD Map 1 shows 17 PMGADs based on certain combinations -
consolidations of the existing Counties, Regions and Districts. Although there are some advantages
to the 17 PMGAD Combinations indicated on Map 1, the Final Approved PMGADs will only be
decided after public consultation with all concerned. Map 2 has been provided in an effort to
generate further discussion on the possibilities of slightly different configuration of areas and
populations.
A chart is attached explaining the key information for each PMGAD and the amount of savings that
can be accrued to the Ontario taxpayer as the result of just a 2 % Downsizing of the PMGAD Civil
Service each year that the Program is in existence. A 2% Downsizing Target has been chosen to
take advantage of the normal staff retirement and attrition that occurs on an ongoing basis.
Downsizing through attrition is the most cost effective manner to Downsize as it will save the
Ontario taxpayer the expense of costly staff buy out packages that often happen when organizations
downsize. These Totals include an estimate of the annual personnel savings that could be accrued
by the consolidation of the Municipal, Hydroelectric and School Board staff but does not include all
those accrued personnel savings that may be accrued due to the consolidation and downsizing of other
Special Purpose Bodies and Provincial Ministries.
The Annual 2% Downsizing in the Civil Service is made possible due to the large Consolidation of
the Civil Service (pooling of staff and resources) within each PMGAD. Economies of scale in the
operation of the new PMGAD, (various capital expenses, office space, computers etc.) will inevitably
occur as the result of the Consolidations. These Nonstaff savings have not been factored into the
totals outlined in the attached charts. The possible additional savings to the taxpayer as the result
of large reductions in the total number of Civil Servants could actually exceed that of the actual
savings in staff personnel costs (salary/wages and benefits).
The Political Organization of each PMGAD may vary however it is recommended that all Local
Municipal Councillors be encouraged to sit on the various PMGAD Committees so that Local
Council views are represented. The Province may re-consider Direct Election of certain Officials
e.g. School Board Trustees, in favour of a system which allows the Local Councillors to sit on a
wide variety of PMGAD Committees. Since each Municipality has only one seat on the PMGAD,
and since the Mayor or Reeve may not always be available to sit at the PMGAD, the Local Councils,
with the Mayors/Reeves agreement, may wish to rotate certain Local Councillors to sit at the Board
of Council or to attend a Board of Council Meeting to present or provide specific information to the
Board.
The Province is prepared to consider various ways to improve Local Councillor involvement in the
decision making that affects a wide range of Municipal, Provincial and Special Purpose Body
matters.
15
STAGE 2
INITIAL
SIMILIAR
STAGE 3
CONSOLIDATION OF ALL
MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
STAGE 1 DISCUSSING AND DECIDING ON A PLAN OF ACTION
STAGE 2 INITIAL CONSOLIDATION OF IDENTICAL DEPARTMENTs/FUNCTIONS
STAGE 3 INITIAL CONSOLIDATION OF ALL SIMILIAR EMPLOYEES
STAGE 4 CREATION OF NEW DISTRICTS AND CONSOLIDATION OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
STAGE 5 CONSOLIDATION WITH SELECT PROVINCIAL EMPLOYEES
STAGE 4
CREATI ON OF NEW DI STRI CTS AND
CONSOLIDATION OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
STAGE 1
STAGE 2-
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
STAGE 6
STAGE 7
DISCUSSING AND DECIDING ON A PLAN OF ACTION
INITIAL CONSOLIDATION OF IDENTICAL DEPARTMENTS/FUNCTIONS
INITIAL CONSOLIDATION OF ALL "SIMILIAR" EMPLOYEES
CREATION OF NEW DISTRICTS AND CONSOLIDATION OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES
CONSOLIDATION WITH SELECT PROVINCIAL EMPLOYEES
LOCAL MUNICIPALlTY CONSOLIDATION
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATION
T H E H AL T ON - P E E L
PROVINCIAL - MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATIVE DISTRICT
A GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP
CONSISTING OF
THE P ROVI NCE OF
AND
ONTARI O
THE CITY OF BURLINGTON
THE TOWN OF OAKVILLE
THE TOWN OF MILTON .
THE TOWN OF GEORGETOWN
THE TOWN OF ACTON
THE CITY OF MISSISSAUGA
THE CITY OF BRAMPTON
THE TOWN OF CALEDON
HALTON - PEEL PMGAD (REGIONS) AS AN EXAMPLE
Year One - Consolidation of Halton
A. Municipal Staff (1 Region and 4 Area Municipalities)
Burlington staff = 745
Oakville staff = 729
Milton staff = 105
Halton Hills staff = 154
Halton Region staff = 1,483
Total Halton Municipal staff = 3,216 Staff
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Halton Total Staff to 3,152.
B. Hydroelectric Commission Staff (4 Area Municipalities)
Burlington staff = 128
Oakville staff = 107
Milton staff = 33
Halton Hills staff = 38
Total Halton HEC staff = 306 Staff
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Halton Total Staff to 300
C. School Board Staff (2 Boards - Public and Catholic)
Public staff = 5,000
Catholic staff = 1,400
Total School staff = 6,400
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Halton Total Staff to
6,272.
Total Halton Municipal, Hydro and School staff Downsized from 9,922 to 9,724
16
EXISTING HALTON REGION & HALTON AREA MUNICI PALI TI ES
TOTAL 4 MPP + 1 CHAIRMAN + 4 MAYORS + 51 COUNCILLORS + 3,216 CIVIL SERVANTS
CITY OF BURLINGTON
I
MAYOR +
1 6 L O C A L C O U NC I L L O R S
AS S E T S
7 4 5
LI ABI LI TI Es
E MP L OY E E S
I ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
STORM SEWERS DRAINAGE
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
SOLID WASTE COLLECTION
PARKS AND RECREATION
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
BUILDING & FIRE CODE PERMITs
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANSIT
R EGiON oF HALTON
CHAI RMAN +
24 REGIONAL COUNCILLORS
ASSETS
1,483
LIABILITIEs
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANcE
REGION PLANNING
WATER SUPPLY
SANITARY SEWERs
REGION ROADS
P O LICE P R OTECTI ON
SOLID WASTE LANDFILL
SOCIAL SERVICES
B USI NESS D E V EL O P M E N T
HEALTH
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUM
HOME CARE NURSI NG
HOUSING
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
MAYOR +
1 2 LOCAL C O UN C I L LO R S
ASSETS
729
LIABILITIEs
EMPLOYEES
ADMI NISTRATI ON
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
BUSINESS D EVELOPMENT
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
TOWN
OF MILTON
MAYoR +
11 LOCAL COUNCILLORS
ASSETS
105
LIABILITIEs
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
B USINESS DEVELOPMENT
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
TOWN OF HALTON HILLS
MAYOR +
ASSETS
154
LIABILITIEs
EMPLoY
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
PARKs AND RECREATION
BUILDING & FIRE CODE PERMITS
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANSIT
ANlMAL CONTROL
Year One Consolidation of Peel
A. Municipal Staff (l Region plus 3 Area Municipalises) -Year One
Mississauga staff =
Brampton staff =
Caledon staff =
Peel Region staff =
2,545
1,203
129
3,772
Total Peel Municipal staff = 7,649
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Peel Total Staff to 7,496
B. Hydroelectric Commission Staff (3 Area Municipalities)
Mississauga staff =
Brampton staff =
Caledon staff =
318
200
0
Total Peel HEPC staff = 518
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Peel Total Staff to 508
C. School Board Staff (2 Boards - Public and Catholic)
Public staff = 9,071
Catholic staff = 6,500
Totol Peel School staff = 15,571
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Peel Total Staff to 15,260
Total Peel Municipal, Hydro and School staff Downsized from 23,738 to 23,264
17
N E W H A L T O N D I S T R I C T & H A L T O N A R E A MU N I C I P A L I T I E S
STAGE ONE HALTON MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES CONSOLIDATION
TOTAL 4 M P P
II CITY OF BURLI NGTON
r
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
11
+ 1 CHAIRMAN + 4 MAYORS + 51 COUNCILLORS + 3,152 CIVIL SERVANTS
DI STRI CT OF HALTON
CHAIRMAN +
24 DI STRI CT COUNCI LLORS
ASSETS 3,112
LIABILITIES EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
REGION & LOCAL PLANNING
WATER SUPPLY
SANITARY & STORM SEWERS
REGION & LOCAL ROADS
POLICE PROTECTION
SOCIAL SERVICES
HEALTH
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUM
HOME CARE NURSING
HOUSING
PARKING
FIRE PROTECTION
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
NEW PEEL DI STRI CT & PEEL AREA
I TOWN OF HALTON HILLS 1
MAYOR +
ASSETS 10
ADMINISTRATION
MUNICIPALITIES
STAGE ONE PEEL MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES CONSOLIDATlON
DISTRICT OF PEEL
CHAIRMAN +
ASSETS 7,466
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
REGION & LOCAL PLANNING
WATER SUPPLY
REGION & LOCAL ROADS
POLICE PROTECTION
SOCIAL SERVICES
HEALTH
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUM
HOME CARE NURSING
HOUSING
PARKING
FIRE PROTECTION
BUILDING & FIRE C ODE PERMITS
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
ClTY OF MISSISSAUGA
MAYOR +
9 LOCAL COUNCI LLORS
ASSETS
2,545
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
SOLID WASTE COLLECTION ,,
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
REGI ON OF PEEL
CHAIRMAN +
ASSETS
3, 772
LlABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
REGION PLANNING
WATER SUPPLY
SANITARY SEWERS
REGION ROADS
POLICE PROTECTION
SOCIAL SERVICES
HEALTH
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUM
HOME CARE NURSING
HOUSING
CITY OF BRAMPTON
MAYOR +
ASSETS
1,203
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANcE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
TOWN OF CALEDON
MAYOR +
ASSETS
129
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANcE
LOCAL PLANNING
PARKING
STORM SEWERS - DRAINAGE
LOCAL ROADS
FIRE PROTECTION
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUMS
TRANsIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
NEW HALTON
PEEL DI STRI CT & AREA MUNI CI PALI TI ES
STAGE TWO PEEL & HALTON MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES CONSOLIDATION
CITY OF BURLINGTON
!
MAYOR +
ASSETS
10
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
DISTRICT OF HALTON PEEL
CHAIRMAN +
24 DISTRICT COUNCILLORS
ASSETS
10,365
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
DISTRICT & LOCAL PLANNING
WATER SUPPLY
DISTRICT & LOCAL ROADS
POLICE PROTECTION
SOCIAL SERVICES
HEALTH
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUM
HOME CARE NURSING
HOUSING
PARKING
FIRE PROTECTION
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
TOWN OF MI LTON
MAYOR +
ASSETS
10
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
TOWN OF GEORGETOWN
MAYOR +
8 LOCAL COUNCILLORS
ASSETS
5
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
TOWN OF ACTON
MAYOR +
4 LOCAL COUNCILLORS
ASSETS
5
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
CITY OF BRAMPTON
MAYOR +
ASSETS
10
LIABILITIES
EMPLOYEES
ADMINISTRATION
Year Two - Consolidation, Streamlining and Re-organization at the PMGAD
1. Halton - Peel Total Municipal Staff - End of Year Two = 10,801
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Halton - Peel Total Staff to 10,585
2. Halton - Peel Total HEPC Staff - End of Year Two = 808
A 2% Downsizing would reduce this Halton - Peel Total Staff to 792
3. Halton - Peel Total School Staff - End of Year Two = 21,532
Total Halton - Peel Municipal, Hydro and School staff Downsized from 32,988 to 32,478
Year Three - Re-organization and Downsize of all Existing Halton - Peel Staff
1. Total Halton - Peel Municipal, Hydro and School staff = 32,478
Year Four - Bring in all Other Ontario Staff that could be Re-assigned to the PMGAD
1. Re-Organize, Streamline and Downsize
2. Begin discussions with the Federal Government
HALTON - PEEL IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY
Stage 1 Planning and Initial Consolidation of Like Local & Regional Departments
Stage 2 Streamline - Re-examine what you do, why, where (Local) and how you do it
Stage 3 Consolidate with certain Special Purpose Bodies staff and Streamline
Stage 4 Re-organize after Sorting Out what Expertise you need - functions and areas
Stage 5 Downsizing - Attrition - Re-location
Stage 6 Centralization and Decentralization - To new PMGAD
Stage 7 Merge Some Federal services with the PMGAD
18
NEW HALTON PEEL PMGAD DI STRI CT & AREA MUNI CI PALI TI ES
STAGE THREE PEEL & HALTON MUNICIPAL, HYDRO & SCHOOL EMPLOYEES CONSOLIDATION
DISTRICT OF HAL T ON PEEL
CITY OF BURLINGTON
MAYOR +
ASSETS 10
ADMINISTRATION
TOWN OF OAKVILLE
MAYOR +
I
ASSETS 10 I
ADMINISTRATION
.
CITY OF MISSISSAUGA
MAYOR +
1
TOWN OF CALEDON
MAYOR +
9 LOCAL COUNCILLORS
ASSETS 10
ADMINISTRATION
CHAIRMAN +
24 DISTRICT COUNCILLORS
ASSETS 31,759
ADMINISTRATION
CLERKS
LEGAL
PROPERTY
FINANCE
DISTRICT & LOCAL PLANNING
WATER SUPPLY
DISTRICT & LOCAL ROADS
POLICE PROTECTION
SOCIAL SERVICES
HEALTH
TAX COLLECTION
MUNICIPAL LICENSING
MUSEUM
HOME CARE - NURSING
HOUSING
PARKING
FIRE PROTECTION
TRANSIT
ANIMAL CONTROL
TOWN OF MI LTON
MAYOR +
ASSETS 10
ADMINISTRATION
I
TOWN OF GEORGETOWN
MAYOR +
8 LOCAL COUNCILLORS
ASSETS 5
ADMINISTRATION
TOWN OF ACTON
MAYOR +
A S S E T S 5
ADMINISTRATION
CITY OF BRAMPTON
MAYOR +
ASSETS 10
ADMINISTRATION
4
NEW HALTON PEEL PM GAD DI STRI CT & AREA MUNI CI PALI TI ES
STAGE FOUR PEEL & HALTON MUNICIPAL, HYDRO, SCHOOL& PROVINCIAL EMPLOYEES CONSOLIDATION
STAGE FI VE PEEL & HALTON MUNI CI PAL, HYDRO, SCHOOL, PROVI NCI AL & FEDERAL EMPLOYEES CONSOLI DATI ON
TOTAL 11 MPP + 1 CHAI RMAN + 8 MAYORS + 85 CO UNCI LLORS + 32, 508 CI VI L SERVANT S
ASSETS 10
I
ADMINISTRATION
\
\
GTA APPROACH
Each of the PMGADs is a Partnership of Local Municipalities with the Province. The Three
PMGADs of Toronto - York, Halton - Peel, and Durham - Victoria will establish a GTA
Partnership with the Province. The GTA Partnership body will be administered by a GTA
Coordinating Committee consisting of three PMGAD Members from each District (regardless as to
population served) plus the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The GTACC will work
with the Province on the establishment of AN APPROPRIATE GTA PLAN which will be
approved by the Province as a separate Provincial Policy Statement. The three PMGADs in the
GTA will be charged with the responsibility of ensuring implementation of the GTA Plan once it has
been approved.
The GTA Plan will be prepared within an Overall Provincial Policy Statement for the entire
Province. The Ontario Policy Statement, the GTA Policy Statement, the Parkway Belt West Plan,
and the Niagara Escarpment Plan will be implemented by the Province. The MMA will be charged
with the responsibility of ensuring that the 17 PMGAD Official Plans conform to - or possibly do
not in conflict with the Provincial Policy Statements (Plans).
The GTCC will also establish which PMGAD services can be provided in an overall GTA structure,
e.g. Transit, in a fashion similar to that established by each PMGAD. Before an agreement is
entered into between all Municipalities and the Province, each PMGAD Board of Council should
debate and agree on what public services are to be provided by the PMGAD Civil Service.
Partnerships with Local Municipalities outside the GTA (e.g. Hamilton) may also be
possible/desirable. Each Local Municipality Council must decide on the level of service to be
provided in their particular Municipality with the cost of any enhanced level of service to be borne
by the local taxpayers.
THE CONSERVATION AUTHORITIES
Also attached as Map 3 is a proposed Consolidation of 38 Conservation Authorities into 17 Large
Conservation Authorities (CA). These 17 proposed CAS take into consideration not only watershed
boundaries but also the proposed PMGAD boundaries.
The Province is prepared to discuss the
further Re-arrangement of the PMGADs and the Conservation Authority watershed areas to reflect
a better matching of geographic areas with the local communities, their populations, live - work
patterns and areas of employment assessment.
The Conservation Authorities should be required to
report through the PMGAD and the Civil Servants working for the Conservation authorities could
be consolidated into an appropriate PMGAD.
The new Consolidated Conservation Authorities are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Essex - Lower Thames Valley - St. Clair Region
Ausable/Bayfield - Upper Thames River - Kettle Creek - Catfish Creek
Maitland Valley - Saugeen Valley -Grey Sauble
Grand River - Long Point Region
Niagara Peninsula
Hamilton - Halton Region
Credit Valley
Nottawasaga Valley - Lake Simcoe
Metro Toronto and Region
Central Lake Ontario - Kawartha - Otonabee - Ganaraska Region
Prince Edward - Lower Trent - Crowe Valley - Moira River
Napanee - Mississippi Valley
Cataraqui - Rideau
South Nation River - Raisin Region
North Bay/Mattawa - Sault St. Marie- Nickel - Mattagami River
Lakehead
20
PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
ACTION PLAN FOR
,,
ALL OF THE
.. ..
.
ACTION PLAN FOR
RE - INVENTING
NTARIO
INTRODUCTION
The following Proposed ACTION PLAN outlines a Proposed Strategy on how the Government of
Ontario can deal with the issue of Governance, Downsizing of the Public Service, and Budget
Reductions. The Action Plan is based on a Proposed Strategy for Re-inventing the Government and
Special Purpose Bodies of Ontario which is attached to this Action Plan.
The Purpose of the Action Plan is to outline how the Government intends to deal with the many
stakeholders involved in this important Process of a Change in Governance. Hopefully it will result
in a product we all want and will be proud of i.e.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Less Government
Less Expensive Government
More
More
More
Efficient Government
Effective Government
Accountable
Customer Focused
Government
Government
Government That We All Can Understand
21
AN ACTION PLAN ON GOVERNANCE (DOWNSIZING & THE BUDGET)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
The following (proposed) Action Plan and attached Proposed Strategy on Governa
be agreed to by the new Cabinet. It is recommended that this matter be one of the t
government priorities as it impacts on the Governments Common Sense Revolu
will also have a substantial impact on the Golden Commission- and should be u
reference document which would enable the GTA to be established within an
Provincial perspective.
The new Cabinet Discusses and Agrees on the (an) Action Plan (How Government w
the issue of Governance, Downsizing, the Budget and the Golden Commission).
The Premier and Cabinet decides on Who is to Champion this Project.
The Premier and Appropriate Minister Confers with the Golden Commission regard
present Terms of Reference and asks whether the Commission would be interested a
to also take on the job of spearheading the Governments new Proposed Governanc
for all of Ontario.
The Premier and Assigned Minister Determine if the Golden Commission and its
Members would be the appropriate body/group to handle the job.
IF the answer to 5 above is yes, the Golden Commissions TOR are revised and
members from outside the GTA, are added to the Commission. The Commission w
re-organized into three distinct teams headed by Golden i.e. the GTA; the Southwes
Northeast.
If not a new Commission of 6 Members plus a new Chair is established with new T
a mandate to review the Governance issues outside the GTA.
The Premier Announces the Governments Action Plan on Governance and the at
RE - INVENTING
ALL THE GOVERNMENTS AND SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES OF
ONTARIO
Premier introduces the Minister and Commission Members responsible to Imple
Action Plan, and requests that written comments on the Proposed
the Commission within 100 days from the date of announcement.
Strategy be submitted to
22
10. Goldens three teams will hear submissions both oral and written across Ontario.
11 The Commission will analyze the submissions and submit its report to Cabinet within 180
days from the date of announcement.
PUBLIC CONSULTATION OF THE PROPOSED STRATEGY BY GOLDEN
1. Golden establishes the Commissions Organizational Work Plan (establishes 3 sub-
Commission hearing groups i.e. the GTA, the South West, and the North East) and
establishes the framework and schedule to hear submissions within the Cabinet established
time frames.
2. The 3 Golden Commissions hear the delegations, receive their submissions, and analyze the
Sector comments.
3. The 3 Sectors Meet and discuss and analyze the submissions and comments.
4. The Golden Commission prepares its Consolidated and Sectoral Report and
Recommendations.
5. The Golden Commission Publishes its Report and Recommendations and Submits its Report
to Cabinet.
CABINET CONSIDERATION
1. Cabinet allows 45 days for additional Submissions to Cabinet during which time Cabinet
Analyses and Discusses the Golden Report.
2. Cabinet Considers the Golden Report and all new submissions to Cabinet.
3. Cabinet decides on the Governments Strategy on Governance.
4. The Premier and Minister announce the Governments Decision.
5. The Minister is Directed to begin Implementation of the Plan within the established time
frames.
23
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation will happen in Stages over the next 4 Years and will run simultaneously at both the
Provincial and Municipal levels.
The Existing Regions and Counties will be used as the interim
base for Consolidation. The Goal is achieve most of the Downsizing and Re-organization in time
for the next Provincial election which should be no
Implementation Stages by Year are as follows:
YEAR ONE - Consolidate, Re-organize & Streamline
sooner than the spring of 1999. The
Existing Staff & Organizations:
Any Necessary Enabling Legislation is drafted;
Provincial Consolidation, Streamlining, and Downsizing Begins; and
Municipal Consolidation, Streamlining, and Downsizing Begins.
YEAR TWO - Create new PMGAD & Begin the Transfer of Municipal & Provincial staff:
Transfer Assets to Locals;
Transfer Region and County Liabilities to PMGAD; and
Prepare for Implementation of Board of Council after 1997 Municipal Election.
YEAR THREE - Streamline & Re-Organize - Begin Downsize:
Transfer Special Purpose Staff; and
Create PMGAD - Policy Advisory Committees;
YEAR FOUR - Establish Final Organizational Structure & Make Final Downsize
Fine tune; and
Begin Discussions on Bringing in the Federal Government.
24
CONCLUSION
Although some students of governance might argue that much of what is presented in this Proposed
Strategy is not new (some aspects have been published in numerous public forums over the last 50
years) most would agree that Re-inventing Ontario reconciles the long standing debate between
those who argue for the Centralization of Government with those who argue for De-centralization.
It is important to remember that arguments as to which Local Municipalities should be partnered in
which PMGAD or which Ministries should be consolidated is not as important as is the job of
actually restructuring and downsizing our Civil Service. This is because it is through the
rationalization of the Civil Service, (followed by the elimination of many unnecessary government
activities), that we will achieve savings of Billions of taxpayer dollars.
A good example of this debate is found in Halton Region. A strong case can be made that the City
of Burlington should be partnered with the Hamilton PMGAD and that the Town of Acton
should be partnered in the Waterloo - Wellington PMGAD. It also can be argued that the Ministries
of the Attorney General and the Solicitor General should be grouped with the Social Ministries.
What is needed most at both the Municipal and Provincial level is not a final solution but rather a
common focus point around which consolidation and downsizing can begin. Once the 5 Super
Ministries and the 17 PMGADs have been created and once the Civil Service has been
Rationalized within the new structure, it will then be possible to transfer Civil Service staff from one
Super Ministry or PMGAD to another.
Much more work on Downsizing and rationalization can be accomplished by the Political arm of
government once the Civil Service arm has been consolidated, streamlined, and downsized. The
secondary task of Re-inventing all of our Local Municipalities is an ongoing affair (best left to
politicians) that is the natural consequence of our local communities evolution and growth. Re-
engineering, Re-inventing, and Changing peoples Perceptions about their governments will not
happen over night, particularly for those of us who have been around for a while. Nevertheless we
must not lose sight of our goal to reduce the overall cost of our governments, to increase their
efficiency, improve their effectiveness and to provide a much better level of customer service. This
task can, and must be, accomplished because if we fail it will be our children who will suffer,
consequently it is our obligation to provide the tools necessary to address the upcoming challenges.
Despite its advantages, Re-inventing Ontario does not claim to have all the answers required to
Fix all of our Broke(n) Governments and their Special Purpose Bodies. It does provide the one
key - essential ingredient currently missing in our governance debate - a Practical Framework for
the Re-organization of the entire Province. Without this type of framework, it will be extremely
difficult, if not impossible, for all Ontario stakeholders to work together to solve our many problems.
I would like to acknowledge the contributions of the hundreds of authors, scholars and everyday
people (too numerous to mention here) who have inspired the contents of this Proposed Strategy.
Robert Murray White M. C.I. P. R.P. P.
25
OUR NEW RE-INVENTED
ONTARIO
I
. ! . . . . , * :
.-.
APPENDIX - REFERENCE MATERIALS
KEY REFERENCE MATERIAL
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11
12.
13.
14.
to
RE-INVENTING
The Peel-Halton Local Government Review
O N T A R I O
(The Plunkett Report), September 1966,
A Blueprint for Local Government Re-organization Association of Ontario Counties
- September 14, 1967.
Community Planning and Local Government by Ralph Krueger, 1968.
Report, November 1969.
Report of the Commission on the
Guidelines for Action - A report
Local Government Review. The Steele Commission
Reform of Property Taxation in Ontario, March 1970.
by the 1971 Special Study Committee of ACRO, the
Association of Counties and Regions of Ontario -April 6, 1971.
The Steele Commission Report, 1971
Decentralization of Government Administration Management Services Division -
Treasury Board, December 1, 1971.
Proposals for Local Government Reform in the Area West of Metropolitan Toronto -
T. E. I. G. A., January 1973.
A Position Paper on Public Finance - The Honorable John White, Treasurer of Ontario
and Minister of Economics and Intergovernmental Affairs. OCT. 1973
County Restructuring Studies Program Guidelines Ministry of Treasury, Economics and
Intergovernmental Affairs - February 1974.
Developments in the Management of Local Government - T. E. I.G.A. - Dec. 1995
Regional Government in Perspective: A Financial Review T. E. I. G. A., May 1976.
Discussion Paper No. 71: The Demand and Supply of Government: What We Want
and What We Get - by Scott Gordon, February 1977.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
Report of The Commission on the Reform of Property Taxation in Ontario - March 1977
The Region of Halton - A Partner in Local Government - R.B. Morrow - Sept. 1977
Report of the Bill 151 Committee 1978- The Regional Municipality of Halton Act. *
Local Government Finance in Ontario - MMA, November 1983.
A New Distribution of Responsibilities - Ian A. Stewart, August 30, 1984.
The Little Brother Approach - Pierre A.H. Frauche, August 31, 1984.
Regulations and the Orwellian State - Tony Campbell, August 30, 1984.
Commercialization of Public Services: A Positive Tool to Promote Wealth - A.R.
Bailey. August 1984
Boards That Make a Difference - John Carver. April 1990
Ottawa-Carleton Regional Review 1990
The Hopcroft Report - August 1991.
Haldimand-Norfolk Regional Review 1991
Re-inventing Government - David Osborne and Ted Gaebler. - February 1993
VARIOUS MAGAZINE & NEWSPAPER ARTICLES REGARDING GOVERNANCE ARE
INCLUDED WITHIN THE ATTACHED THREE SEPARATE BINDERS AND ARE
SORTED INTO BY SEVERAL RELEVANT CATEGORIES.
JOHN CARVER
BOARDS THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
(Governance is about Values, Strategic Leadership, Dreaming - creating worlds)
The Board is an owner is a trustee acting on behalf of its shareholders
Principle 1
Principle 2
it owns the business it is not there to help staff
it is not a volunteer
The board owns the organization (as trustee) for some ownership
to whom the board owes primary responsibility
legal, moral, total accountability is with the Board
all organization action
the main difference the Board is trying to make is regarding Ends
the Board should decide:
What good
Which people
What cost
Who is better off
Always Prescribe the ends but stay out of the means
Too much emphasis on the means can result in missing
Council sets the ends, .. the boundaries..
The means of the Board the Board owns
Policy
Instruction to CEO - 1 Ends
2 Means
Boards own Means - 1 Governance Process
2 Board - Staff Relationship (monitoring)
Mission - Big ends question vs
Small ends - Box within boxes
Board starts with the biggest box
the ends
Principle 3
Principle 4
Principle 5
Principle 6
Principle 7
Principle 8
Monitoring
Decide the largest issue in each category before smaller issues in
any category
Board establishes the context of decisions
Come into smaller issues at will but only in one issue at a time
The Board must ask Are we willing to let staff make any
reasonable interpretation of the Boards stated policy.
Board must establish the limits of interpretation
Board and CEO must ensure they dont cross the line
Board is responsible for governing
Board must know what characteristics it needs in the people on the
Board
Board must be responsible for its own development
Board must let staff take on its role - it must be responsible - it
must realize it is making the decision
Members of Board must realize which hat they are wearing -
decision hat or helper hat (doer) - these must be kept separate
Chair role is to ensure that the Board gets the job done
Make sure you do not confuse customers with shareholders
Board must be disciplined - know its role and acts accordingly
Renegade Board members must be controlled by the Board
Board as a whole must act
Board is obligated to protect staff from individual Board members
Boards must stay out of the details KISS Principle - Broad Issues
Higher level - big issues - not the little
Few succinct policies with bounds
Board must understand the diversity of values/ideas
The Board has only one voice or not at all!
Board Committees are to help the Board do its job not the staff
Board Committees give options and implications to the whole
Board
Types of information necessary for the Board to make good
decisions
Monitoring of staff - did we get the job done
Most Boards get too much info
Incidental info is not info, it crowds out - hides important info
Principle 9
Only monitor against criteria previously set
Always observe the sequence
1. Expectation/Criterion
2. Assessment/Judgement
Monitoring methods -
1. Executive report
Problem usually is Board has no
criteria
every quarter & answers the Board
criterion (is it met?)
2. External report - 3rd party
3. Direct inspection - by the Board a crude measure of the
right thing than a right measure of the wrong thing
Board Job Products
1. Linkage with Ownership
2. Written Governing Policies
3. Assurance of Executive Performance
Board
Board
Principle 10 - Board
7 or 8
Board
Principle 11
Governance is about Values,
Job Description is not the perpetual Agenda
must evaluate its own performance on a periodic basis
speaks through the CEO
pages of staff limitations
should not do long range planning it does do visioning
Board should concentrate on ends and linking with ownership
Partial Implementation can be a problem
Strategic Leadership, Dreaming - creating worlds
REINVENTING GOVERNMENT - DAVID OSBORNE AND TED GAEBLER
We must:
1. Change the bureaucratic
inefficient and ineffective
How do we do this:
government structures built up over the years - it is fat,
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Begin steering vs rowing - (end driven not means driven)
Community owned government - empowering rather than serving
good citizens (not clients) make good
communities
Competitive Government - Injecting competition service delivery
Mission Driven
around mission)
Results Oriented
obligations)
Governments - Transforming rule driven organizations (reorganize
Government Funding Outputs not inputs (reward success and mutual
Customer Driven Government - Adapt to customer needs
Enterprising Government - earning rather than spending
Anticipatory Government - Prevention rather than cure - foresight
Decentralize Government - Reward Participation and teamwork - top managers
Market Oriented Government - create incentives to move people as to where the
community wants to go
Strategic Planning
(Strategy - Greek word [army & leader])
SP - is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide
what an organization is, what it does and why it doesnt.
Why do it - It allows decision makers within an organization to see how the organization fits,
and does not fit, into the grand scheme of things. By so doing it enables decision
makers to design strategies on how it should act.
Comprehensive Planning - Community/Area based Plan taking into consideration
1. mandate - responsibilities
2. existing conditions (issues) and trends
3. possible alternative futures
4. goals and objectives of Halton residents
5. plan, policies
Strategic Planning is
Harvard -
and actions necessary to achieve the end vision required
Organization based
best fit between the organization and environment?
Stakeholder - any group or individual who is affected by or has an interest in the corporation
SP - is a tool to
8 Step Process
1. Agree on
help us make good decisions
Process
2. Identify our mandates - responsibilities, obligations
3. Clarify our mission
l
and values
2
4. Assess External Environment - SWOT
5. Assess Internal Environment - SWOT
6. Identify Strategic Issues (key to our existence and success)
7. Devise Good Strategies
8. Establish and Communicate/Indoctrinate the Vision!
What is Haltons Mission? (Inspiring)
To provide what?
Questions that need to be answered
1. Who are we as an organization (or community)?
2. What are the basic social or political needs we exist to fill, or the problem we are to
solve?
3. What do we do regarding 2?
4. How should we respond to our key stakeholders?
5. What is our philosophy and core values?
6. What makes us distinctive or unique?
13.
I
/
A further advantage of the common regional centres and the adjacent
location of a number of government offices would be that senior
officers in the various departments would be able to form regional
committees to discuss problems that cut across departmental boundaries;
While this is already happening in a number of areas, it is recommended
that such an approach be given formal recognition and that the senior
departmental officers in each region be members of the regional
15.
ccmmittee. These committees would provide policy input to depart-
mental head offices and would serve to solve many problems at the
local level. These committees would have an administrative chair-
man, but in no sense would one department be superior to another,
for a hierarchical committee structure would not be valid for
decision making purposes. Such committees would also serve as a
means of communication between the government and local citizens.
This pattern which has been proposed is somewhat similar to that
which has been developed in recent years in the Federal Government
of the United States. The U.S. experience is outlined in Appendix
c.
16.
it performs functions or provides services to
clientele in a particular region of the Province
other than Toronto;
it is engaged in operations to carry out well
defined policies and programs which require only
limited day-to-day headquarters supervision;
it is a regional district or other field office
(it is worthy of note that a number of depart-
ments have field forces serving the Province who
are located in Toronto) ;
it provides large scale supporting services of a
relatively repetitive or routine nature, such as
records maintenance, procurement and inventory
control, training includinq the operation of
Schools
r
administration of real property and
related engineering services, manufacturing,
financial accounting and disbursinq activities,
or statistics and data collection and related
fact gathering and processing operations;
it is a review function or administrative service
activity which could be performed equally well by
field offices exercising general supervision over
operating offices;
it operates in a relatively self-sufficient manner
which does not require it to have close intra-
departmental or inter-departmental working relation-
ships;
18.
1. )
2. )
3.)
4.)
5. )
19.
Legislature, or non-governmental agencies or
individuals located in the Toronto area;
6.) the cost of dispersal including replacement of
specialized physical facilities (loss of personnel
with specialized skills, special training,
relocation, travel, communications and disruption
of current operations) would outweigh benefits to
be gained;
7.) workload would not justify development of additional
specialized staff solely in order to achieve dis-
persal or regionalization.
20.
The costs of re location, both in real and implicit term must be
determine d. The two following lists are presented to indicate
which departments and agencies might be included i n a study list.
.-
Correctional Services
Education
Environment
OWRC
21.
22.
Revenue (entire department except the Toronto
regional office)
Social and Family Services (elements of Family
Benefits Branch, Child Welfare Division , etc. )
Transportation and Communications (central
regional offices and district six offices)
Tourism and Information (entire head office)
This list is only meant to suggest areas for further studies.
There are undoubtedly reasons why some of these departments and
agencies or segments thereof, could not be dispersed or extensively
reqionalized. Neverthe less it is thought that some 8,000 employees
now located in Toronto could be relocated elsewhere.
23.
1.
2 .
3 .
4 .
5 .
6 .
7 .
8 .
9 .
1 0 .
11.
Authority be
of the civil
increasingly decentralized to the lower levels
service.
Strategic policy formulation must remain the prerogative of
Ministers assisted by their senior officers.
Opportunities for dispersal be studied in depth in selected
departments and agencies.
Organization structures of operating departments be modified
to recognize the primacy of regions in the delivery of
government services.
Operating departments be instructed to deliver services on a
regional basis.
All operating departments have common regions with co-
terminous boundaries.
Only one administrative centre be established in each reqion.
Inter-departmental regional office
which are covenient for t h e public
An inter-departmental committee on
buildings be established
and highly visible.
decentralization reporting
to Treasury Board be established to recommend policy.
TWO or three departments be selected for in-depth study to
develop methodology for general application.
Management Services be responsible for the development work
and the co-ordination of studies in co-operation with workinq
groups from the selected departments.
24.
12. Managment Services reports and recommendations be made to
the inter-departmental committee and to Treasury Board.
2 5 .
Reasons for Regional Government
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
Drainage areas - servicing requiring agreements between municipalities
uniform building code - better ensure housing in accordance with proper planning p.
shared assessment means housing in appropriate locations
need integrated transportation and traffic control
industrialization and assessment linkage (shared)
wider approach to planning and land use - is the Commissions view the single most
impt. contribution
planning should be directors possibility of the Council (Region)
Association of Ontario Counties - A Blueprint for Local Government Reorganization 1967
(Regional Govt Committee) 37 Counties
This association which includes both the elected or appointed county government
officials of this province accepts the fact that government was created to serve the
people. Our concern is not with the preservation of a term of government merely
because it is historic, nor with the maintenance of the status quo because its familiar
and comfortable. Rather, we are concerned that the best possible job is done by the most
appropriate level of government in the most economic fashion.
PUBLIC WORKSHOP PRESENTATION ON THE
DRAFT NEW HALTON REGION OFFICIAL PLAN
MAY 8TH 1993
PAST, PRESENT, & EMERGING PROVINCIAL POLICIES
R. M. White May 71993
THE HISTORY OF HALTON
Canada was first settled by the aboriginal people who lived off, and fought over, the land.
Then came the French and English . . . who also fought,... and in 1763... (230 years ago)...
established Canada, a new Colony subject to British Common Law.
From 1788 to 1853 most of Halton was governed by Crown Appointed Officials. These Crown
Appointed Officials were of course good loyal subjects who could be counted on to enforce
Crown Policy throughout Halton.
In 1791, Upper and Lower Canada,
were separated and various forms of representative
government were established... at the Provincial level.
In 1805 and 1819 the Crown bought all of Halton from the Massasauga Indians. The land was
surveyed and then given or sold to United Empire Loyalists and Europeans.
The people in Halton of course flourished and multiplied.
Various Villages and Settlements
began to spring up resulting in increasing demands for local self government and to some degree
the Rebellion of 1837.
In 1849 Ontario passed the (Baldwin) Municipal Act thereby enabling the incorporation of
numerous cities, towns, villages, townships, and counties and the establishment of Local
representative government throughout Halton.
In 1853 HALTON COUNTY was created by the Province as a separate entity.
In 1867 Britain enacted the British North America Act thereby creating the Dominion of Canada
and the Provinces . . . The effect of this legislation on Halton was two fold. First, the
PROVINCES GOT RESPONSIBILITY AND CONTROL OVER THE LAND and
RESOURCES. Second, Canadian Municipalities exist solely at the pleasure of the Province.
A fact that is still true today.
CURRENT
In 1946 the Province enacted THE PLANNING ACT. This legislation is much the same as the
Planning Act we have today. As such it enables... not directs . . . . Municipalities,.. and not the
Province . . . to prepare and adopt Official Plans controlling development within their respective
Planning Areas.
At first glance the Planning Act appears to give municipalities almost unlimited Planning
authority. However the Province did not give Municipalities a free reign over their territories.
Official Plans can only become statutory on ApprovaI by the Province. Furthermore the
legislation ensures that the Province has the right to require municipalities to have regard for
matters of Provincial interest. By so doing the Province was ensuring that Provincial Policies
and Provincial Interests are being secured through Local Official Plans.
In 1955 the Province approved the Town of Burlington Official Plan. Apparently this was the
first Provincially approved Official Plan outside of Metro Toronto.
Official Plans were also approved by the Province for the remaining areas of Halton as follows:
Trafalgar Township, and Towns of Georgetown, & Milton -1957
Town of Acton -1958
Town of Oakville -1961
Nassagewaya Township -1967
Esquesing Township -1973
In the late 1960s and early 70s there was a flurry of Provincial Planning Activity. At that time
it seemed that the Province finally woke up to the fact that as there was no Provincial Plan it
was extremely difficult for the Province to tell Local Municipalities exactly what provincial
policies should be included in their Official Plans.
The Provincial need to coordinate and control local planning resulted in such major Provincial
Planning efforts as:
THE TCR PLAN -1970 which set out a framework for decentralizing growth east and
out from Toronto within three Planning Zones;
THE COLUC PLAN -1974 which set out the two levels or tiers of urban development
south of the 401 in Halton including the proposed new urban areas of North Burlington
and North Oakville now referred to as Milton east and Milton west;
THE ONTARIO PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT ACT which,.. for the first
time,.. enabled the Province to essentially do Local Planning on a Provincial scale. The
end result of this particular legislation was the approval of the Parkway Belt West Plan
in 1978;
THE NEPDA - which enabled the Province to Prepare the NEP which was approved in
1985; and finally.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL GOVERNMENTS which, at that time, was
viewed by the Province as the best level of government to give effect to Provincial
Planning policies.
In 1974 the Province created Halton Region and the four Area Municipalities. Under the
Regional Municipality of Halton Act the Region was directed,... not enabled... directed... to
prepare an Official Plan. Unfortunately the Halton Act did not define what was Regional
Planning, That was left up to the Region to decide, in consultation with the Province and Area
Municipalities.
This same Act also requires all Area Municipality Official Plans and Zoning Bylaws to conform
to the Regional Official Plan. This ensures that Provincial Policy interests are also secured in
area Municipality Official Plans.
The Regions first and current Official Plan was approved by the Province in 1980. It
recognizes the Toronto Centred Region Plan and Parkway Belt West Plan, but not the
communities of North Burlington and North Oakville, and it includes many Provincial Policy
interests of that day such as the Foodland Guidelines.
Since Provincial approval of the Halton Region Official Plan, the Province has also approved
the following Local Municipality Official Plans:
The Towns of Oakville and Milton in 1984 and
The Town of Halton Hills in 1985
In 1988 the Province, through Ministers Order, brought the Regional Plan in conformity with
the NEP.
The 1980s was a decade of schizophrenia for the province.
In 1983 the Province made major changes to the Planning Act. The new 1983 Act was prepared
at a time when the Province was retreating from those Provincial Planning initiatives set in
motion in the 60s and 70s. The TCR Plan was abandoned. Large parcels of land previously
bought by the Province and set aside for future development were sold. Even the Parkway Belt
West Plan languished.
The Provincial attitude at that time was low key and one of general non interference. The
Province decided, with the encouragement from the municipalities, that it should not intrude into
local planning and that good planning was best left to be decided by each Municipality.
On the Other hand, the 1983 Planning Act also gave new and special recognition to Provincial
Planning Policy previously not included in the old act. Section 2 of the 1983 Act describes the
Provincial interest as including, .... among other matters:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
the natural environment and resources and agricultural resource base;
significant natural, architectural, historic or archaeological features;
energy supply and conservation;
major communication, servicing and transportation facilities;
equitable distribution of educational, health and other social facilities;
coordination of planning activities;
resolution of planning conflicts;
health and safety;
provincial and municipal economic and financial well being; and
the provision of a range of housing types;
This extremely broad and all encompassing list leaves the Provincial policy door wide open for
the Province.
Furthermore Section 3 of the 1983 Planning Act provides for the special recognition of Specific
Provincial Policy Statements, adopted by Cabinet, which all municipalities must have regard for.
To date, 4 Policy Statements have been approved by Cabinet:
1. Mineral Aggregate Resources -1986
2. Flood Plain Planning -1988
3. Land Use Planning for Housing -1989 and
4. Wetlands -1992
There is a fifth PROPOSED PROVINCIAL POLICY STATEMENT - FOODLAND
PRESERVATION - which was drafted in 1986 but is still not yet approved.
EMERGING PROVINCIAL POLICIES
In addition to these Provincial Policy statements, various provincial Ministries and agencies have
adopted numerous Plans, policies, programs and guidelines which municipalities are constantly
being encouraged to adhere to. A good example is the Ministry of Natural Resources
Cambridge District Strategy of 1983. A more recent example is the 1992 Ministry of Municipal
Affairs new Policy guideline, called Growth and Settlement. This Guideline, oddly enough, was
approved by Cabinet and is to apply to all land use decisions that are covered by the Planning
Act including the review of official plans...
At last count the Region has reviewed, or is still reviewing over 30 new proposed Provincial
policy initiatives.
FUTURE PROVINCIAL POLICY STATEMENTS OR GUIDELINES could include:
1. THE LAKE ONTARIO WATERFRONT
2. GREENLANDS AND WATERSHED PLANNING
3. CUMULATIVE IMPACT AND ECOSYSTEM PLANNING
4. HEALTHY COMMUNITIES PLANNING
5. and last but not least is THE GREATER TORONTO AREA POLICY
STATEMENT.
Trying to make sense of all this Provincial PLANNING Policy and how it relates to Regional
and Local Planning policies is not an easy task. It is no wonder that the Province has once again
tried to get everyone re-focused by establishing the Commission on Planning and Development
Reform in Ontario.
Judging by the Sewell Commissions just released Draft Report requiring Compliance with
Provincial Policy Statements and the mandatory inclusion of items that must be addressed within
Official plans, it appears that the new resurgence of Provincial P1anning will not be over for
quite some time. Given the History of Provincial development and Planning in Ontario, and the
problems we are encountering, I personally do not find this development surprising.
At the beginning of my presentation I asked the question what is Provincial Planning? My
answer is that there is no simple or final answer. Provincial Policies can cover whatever the
Province wants, and depending on the philosophy, concerns, and mood of the Province at the
time, are constantly changing. Given recent events at the Province I believe that Bob Rae, with
his Social Contract and Budget cuts. has proven quite emphatically to all concerned that the real
power and control is at the Province.
RMW
1 9 9 1
CHAPTER THREE
PROPOSED REALIGNMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES BASED ON PRINCIPLES
3.1 Background
The principles developed in Chapter Two suggest that, to the
extent that it is workable,
local government should have
clearly assigned functions for which it is accountable, as
well as access to sufficient revenues to be able to carry
out those functions. The Province should endeavour to
establish a legislative framework for municipalities which
is consistent and promotes accountability in decision
making. Although the Province must retain its ability to
address its priorities, local autonomy is highly desirable.
Based on these principles, the Committee examined a list of
functions with some current degree of municipal involvement.
The Committee
s
consensus on a possible new division of
responsibilities are presented in chart 3-1 and should serve
as a blueprint for further analysis specific to individual
services. For definitions of the function categories used,
see Appendix 1.
The Committee categorized each dimension of service
responsibility in the following manner: municipal,
predominantly municipal, shared,
predominantly provincial,
or provincial. Policy/service management determines the
level of government best suited to make policy and service
management decisions regarding the level and nature of the
service and the manner in which it is delivered.
Service
delivery determines the level of government best suited to
actually deliver the service and entails very little scope
for management decisions. Service funding indicates the
extent to which each level of government should finance the
service related to the function.
- 33
Chart 3- 1
THE DIVIS1ON OF RESPONSIBILITIES BETUEEN MUNICIPAL AND PROVINCIAL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT Current Perc ent a g e of Exp end i t ul .
0 . 5 1.5 0 . 7
0 . 2 1.1 0 . 3
12.0 1. 0 11. 7
55. 5 0 . 0 4 9 . 8
0 . 7 1 . 8 0 . 8
34. 3 44. 0 3 9 . 9
6 . 4
67. 3
22. 4
0 . 7
53. 0
0 . 2
74.3
6-$.9
0 . 0
1. 9
4 . 4
4 . 8
2 . 4
20. 4
1 . 0
3 4 -
Chart 3-1 b
KEY FOR COMMITTEE RESPONSES
Decision Criteria
c ommittee members were asked to evaluate each of the
functions according to the questions listed below:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
Is the programs objective income redistributive in
nat ur e? ( Y=Yes or N=No)
Does the provision of the service produce spillovers?
(l=few or none, 2=some spillovers, or 3=significant
spillovers)
Which level of government can produce the service most
economically? (M=municipal, S=shared or p=provincial)
Which level of government can deliver the service most
effectively? (M=municipal,
S=shared or P=Provincial)
Is there a need for uniform standards? (I=few or no
standards required, 2=some standards required, or
3=many standards required)
Service provision by which level of government will
foster accountability? (M=municipal S=shared or
P=Provincial)
Recommended Responsibility
Based on their rating of each function using the above
criteria, Committee members were asked to assign
responsibility for policy/service management, delivery and
funding:
Policy/service management determines the level of
government best suited to make policy and service
management decisions.
These are decisions regarding
the level and nature of the service and the manner in
which it is delivered.
Service delivery determines the level of government
best suited to actually deliver the function and
entails very little scope for management decisions.
Service funding indicates to what extent each level of
government should be responsible for financing the
function.
For each dimension of responsibility,
functions were rated
as being most properly: M Municipal; pM - predominantly
M u n i c i p a l ; S - Sh a r e d ; PP -
Predominantly Provincial; or
P Provincial.
35
3 . 2 Municipal Responsibilities
The Committee determined that the provision of the following
functions should be either solely or predominantly municipal
responsibilities in terms of policy/service management and
financing: general government, fire, local roadways, local
winter control, parking, street lighting, local storm sewer
systems, sanitary sewer-collection, water works-
distribution, garbage collection, public health inspections,
cemeteries, parks and recreation, libraries, planning and
zoning, economic development, agriculture and reforestation,
and community services. These are functions where the group
that benefits can be identified as being predominantly, if
not totally, local. In such cases, allocating these
services at the municipal level promotes efficiency because
the services provided by each municipality will more closely
correspond to the preferences of local residents than would
be the case if provided province-wide.
For these services,
municipalities would act as local providers of services.
The Committee also identified several functions for which
policy/service management should be either solely or
predominantly a municipal responsibility but for which
financing should be a shared responsibility. These
functions are transit, waterworks-plant and cultural
activities.
3.3 Shared Responsibilities
As a co-provider of a service, a municipalitys scope for
local decisions regarding management and delivery may vary
significantly depending on the service. Similarly,
Provincial involvement may also vary significantly.
36 -
The following services are those that the Committee believes
should be a shared responsibility with the municipal sector
acting as a co-provider of services with the Province:
police; conservation authorities; collector, county,
arterial and regional roadways; collector, county, arterial
and regional winter control; transit for the disabled;
cultural activities; sanitary sewerplant; collector,
county, arterial and regional storm sewer system; and
garbage disposal. In the case of protective inspection and
control, the Committee felt that policy/service management
should be a shared responsibility but funding should be a
municipal responsibility.
3.4 Provincial Responsibilities
S e r v i c e s w i t h s i g n i f i c a n t s p i l l o v e r s a n d / o r a s t r o n g n e e d
f o r p r o v i n c i a l s t a n d a r d s a r e mo s t - a p p r o p r i a t e l y p r o v i n c i a l
r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . Un i f o r m a n d p r o v i n c e - wi d e a c c e s s i s
g e n e r a l l y a n i mp o r t a n t f e a t u r e o f t h e s e t y p e s o f s e r v i c e s
a n d a s a r e s u l t t h e y a r e u s u a l l y c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y t i g h t
l e g i s l a t i v e o r r e g u l a t o r y c o n t r o l .
Co n s e q u e n t l y , t h e
mu n i c i p a l s e c t o r c a n e x e r c i s e l i t t l e a u t h o r i t y o r c o n t r o l
a n d s h o u l d b e r e l i e v e d o f f i n a n c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r t h e s e
s e r v i c e s . I d e a l l y , t h e P r o v i n c e wo u l d a c t a s t h e p o l i c y
ma k e r / s e r v i c e ma n a g e r , c h o o s i n g t h e d e l i v e r y me t h o d s a n d
a l l o c a t i n g i t s a v a i l a b l e r e s o u r c e s a mo n g p r o g r a ms a n d
d e l i v e r y a g e n t s . Th e mu n i c i p a l s e c t o r wo u l d e i t h e r h a v e n o
r o l e o r b e r e s t r i c t e d t o t h a t o f l o c a l s e r v i c e d e l i v e r y
a g e n t .
Similarly, services that have income redistribution or
stabilization as their major purpose should be a provincial
and/or national responsibility because of the economies of
37
scale involved and the ability to fund such programs from
income-based revenue sources such as corporate and personal
income taxes. These types of service cannot be performed
adequately at the local level as the ability to finance them
varies greatly from municipality to municipality. For
instance, if a plant closes in a single-industry town,
municipal government is least able to afford general welfare
assistance costs at the time they are needed most.
Alternatively, since the provinces economy is the aggregate
of a number of regional economies,
it has greater scope for
income redistribution than any individual municipality.
The Committee has determined that the Province should be
predominantly or solely responsible for policy/service
management and financing in the following services: air
transportation, public health services, hospitals, ambulance
services, general welfare assistance, childrens welfare,
assistance to the aged (homes), child care, assisted
housing, tile drainage and shoreline assistance.
Perhaps the most significant changes indicated by the
application of the Committees principles emerge in the area
of health and social services,
including general welfare
assistance. The Committee argues that the provision of
these services and their funding is most appropriately the
exclusive responsibility of
are significant benefits to
administration.
the Province, except where there
be gained from local
In the case of health services, the Committee notes the
potential for spillover effects in this service. The
importance of establishing preventative health measures with
a view toward improving the general wellbeing of the
population is not logically a local responsibility as there
38
is a social value to having a healthy population.
Therefore, in most instances, the need for uniform
provincial standards was deemed to outweigh the benefits of
local discretion in the provision of these services.
I n t h e c a s e
assistance,
of social services, including general welfare
the Committees position is that these services
are i mpor t a nt i nc ome r e di s t r i but i on me c ha ni s ms a nd t he r e f or e
s h o u l d b e a p r o v i n c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .
T h e p r o v i s i o n o f s e r v i c e s t o t h e e l d e r l y p e r mi t t h e e l d e r l y
t o l i v e a s i n d e p e n d e n t l y a s p o s s i b l e i n c o mmu n i t i e s
t h r o u g h o u t On t a r i o . I t i s a f u n c t i o n t h a t mu n i c i p a l i t i e s
h a v e b e e n i n v o l v e d i n f o r a s i g n i f i c a n t p e r i o d o f t i me .
Mu n i c i p a l i t i e s h a v e a l s o h a d a ma n d a t o r y r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t o
a d mi n i s t e r h o me s f o r t h e a g e d .
I n n o r t h e r n On t a r i o t h e r e
are di st ri ct boards t o admi ni st er homes for the aged.
Discretionary involvement exists in such areas as home-
makers and nursing services, elderly persons' centres, and
home support services.
However, given the redistributive nature of elderly
assistance and the need for uniform standards, the Committee
decided that the responsibility for homes for the aged and
non-community based services for the elderly should be
predominantly provincial, although it concluded that these
services should be delivered locally. There are significant
benefits to be gained in local administration, particularly
in homes for the aged. In addition, it was recognized that
homes for the aged may be effectively delivered by a variety
of non-government organizations.
The Committee
odds with the
notes that some of its recommendations are at
findings of the Social Assistance Review
39 -
Commi t t ee ( SARC) and the Provincial Municipal Social
Services Review (PMSSR) . These differences are likely due
to the limited mandate afforded PMSSR when compared to this
exercise, rather than to true differences in philosophical
approach. PMSSR examined the realignment of services but
was effectively limited to recommending changes that did not
increase costs to either level of government.
On the other hand, this Committee had the latitude to
recommend changes in the context of the full provincial-
municipal partnership. If PMSSRS framework had been less
restrictive, the Committee believes that the question of a
municipal contribution towards the costs of administration
for general welfare assistance, family benefits allowance,
supplementary aid and special assistance would likely have
been resolved.
The Committee also notes that it is at odds with the PMSSR
on assigning the responsibility for child care. PMSSR
concluded that the level and type of child care facilities
need not be uniform across the province and that it would be
appropriate for municipalities to assume the role of service
manager. This means that municipalities would decide
whether child care would be provided, and if so, how to
deliver the service (directly, through non-profit agencies
and/or the private sector) . They would also carry out
licensing and monitoring of facilities.
This Committee, on the other hand, determined that the
overall provision of child care should be a provincial
responsibility. However, a service-specific analysis would
likely examine the subsidy and program elements of child
care separately. It was felt that child care subsidies
represent a substantial income redistribution mechanism and
40 -
as such are not an appropriate municipal function.
However,
the effective delivery of this service may be provided by a
variety of agents.
Committee Recommendation
2* The Committee's proposed f r a m e w or k should be adopted by the
P r o v i n c e a s a g u i d e f o r r e a l i g n i n g p r o v i n c i a l - mu n i c i p a l
r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s .
3*5 Expenditure Implications of Realiqning
Responsibilities
Table 3-1 summarizes the impact that the Committee
s
proposed realignment of expenditure responsibilities would
have on the municipal sector.
See Appendix 2 for the
methodology used and analysis of the proposed realignment by
sector. In general, the Committee felt that where
municipalities have sole responsibility for providing a
service, they should incur 100 per cent of the costs
associated with the provision of that service.
In the case
of a wholly provincial responsibility, there should be no
municipal contribution.
If municipalities act as delivery
agents, they should do so on a fee for service basis.
For the purposes of this analysis,
a 50 per cent transfer
rate was applied to those functions that are most properly a
shared funding responsibility.
This transfer rate was
applied to total expenditures except in the case of transit,
where the transfer rate was applied after user fees.
This
recognizes the unique role that user fees play in the
provision of transit services.
41
The 50 per cent transfer rate
was applied to both operating
This approach recognizes that
between capital and operating
for shared responsibilities
and capital expenditures.
to some extent the division
expenditures is artificial.
Capital expenditures can dictate the level of operating
expenditures required to provide a service and conversely,
operating expenditures can often act as a substitute for
capital expenditures. Therefore, transfer rates which vary
between capital and operating purposes may distort the
decision making process. An exception to this general rule
was made in the area of water and sewer expenditures. In
recognition of initiatives toward cost recovery through
greater use of user fees, no provincial transfers were
applied to water and sewer operating expenditures.
T o t a l ( 7 0 9 , 0 6 4 ) ( 1 7 , 9 8 8 ) ( 7 2 7 , 0 5 2 )
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
* Net of transfers
As may be expected, the proposed realignment of
responsibilities would have significant impacts on the
municipal sector as a whole, as well as on individual
sectors. It is expected that net municipal expenditures
(net of transfers) would decrease by about $709 million in
operating expenditures and $18 million in capital
expenditures for a total decrease in net municipal
42
expenditure responsibilities of $727 million.
This decrease
in net municipal expenditures would result in an equivalent
increase in provincial expenditure responsibilities.
However, this analysis should be viewed with some caution as
it does not consider whether it is appropriate that
municipal revenues increase or decrease.
On a sectoral basis, Metropolitan Torontos net expenditure
responsibilities would decrease by the greatest amount, $494
million. This would be largely due to reduced policing and
general welfare assistance operating costs.
Counties would
experience the largest increase in expenditure
responsibilities, $187 million. This would be for the most
part due to increased local roadway operating and capital
costs.
3.6 The Role of Special Purpose Bodies
.
The Committee has found that, in general, accountability
would be better served with fewer special purpose bodies.
The issue here is not special purpose bodies that are
directly accountable to municipal council; the Committee
feels that the number and scope of these types of boards and
commissions should remain a local decision.
The problem
arises from provincially mandated special purpose bodies
where both political and financial accountability are beyond
the reach of municipal council.
Political accountability is absent in that the majority of
members of these bodies are often not elected municipal
officials. Financial accountability is absent because these
bodies can requisition funding from municipalities without
obtaining councils approval.
In other words,
municipalities have less authority over the daily operations
and budgets of these bodies than their financial
contribution would suggest. This violates the pay for say
n
principle.
Since there are a significant number of special purpose
bodies, large portions of the municipal budget are fixed by
requisitions from these groups. This limits a
municipalitys ability to tailor services to best meet the
needs of its citizens.
A key exampl e of t hi s pr obl em occur s wi t h pol i ce
c ommi s s i ons . Mu n i c i p a l i t i e s t h a t p r o v i d e t h e i r o wn p o l i c e
s e r v i c e a r e r e q u i r e d t o h a v e a p o l i c e c o mmi s s i o n c o n s i s t i n g
o f a ma j o r i t y o f p r o v i n c i a l l y a p p o i n t e d r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s .
Thi s c ommi s s i on a nnua l l y de t e r mi ne s t he numbe r of pol i c e
o f f i c e r s a n d t h e s t a n d a r d o f s e r v i c e t o b e d e l i v e r e d . I t
n e g o t i a t e s s t a f f wa g e s a n d b e n e f i t s , s t r i k e s i t s o wn b u d g e t
and requisitions the funds from council accordingly.
Although there is every reason to believe the commission
does this judiciously and prudently, council has no direct
authority to overrule its decisions.
In situations where council disagrees with decisions made by
a p o l i c e C O m m i S S i O n ,
its only recourse is to appeal to the
Ontario Police Commission. However, this bodys predominant
interest is adequate and effective police services in
accordance with the needs of the municipality, rather than
with the associated costs. Under these conditions, it is
highly unusual for a municipality to win an appeal. This
leaves municipalities with no recourse but to raise the
required funds and be held accountable by the ratepayers for
the decisions made by another body.
44 -
Committee Recommendation
3 . Each level of government should have representation on
special purpose bodies commensurate with their
responsibility and accountability for that service.
3.7 Responsibility for Education
The assignment of responsibility for financing Ontarios
educational system is beyond the mandate of the Committee.
However, given that municipalities and school boards share
the property tax base, and that this tax base is the major
own-source revenue for each body, municipal financing
matters cannot be effectively discussed without giving some
attention to the financing of education. As a result, the
Committee reviewed the work of the Select Committee on
Education and the Commission on the Financing of Elementary
and Secondary Education in Ontario (the MacDonald
Commission) . In particular, the Committee noted the
MacDonald Commissions proposal that an education property
tax credit be established.
The Committee agreed that the
proposal is worthy of further pursuit by the Ministry of
Education.
Total education expenditures in Ontario, both mandated and
non-mandated, are expected to be roughly $12 billion in
1990. The property tax is expected to fund almost 55 per
cent of these expenditures compared to less than 47 per cent
of total education expenditures financed from the property
tax in 1978. This 8 per cent increase is equal to a $950
million increase in the share of education expenditures
funded from the property tax in 1990 alone.
45
Table 32 shows how the proportion of property tax revenues
used for education purposes has grown over time across
Ontario. This increasing use of the property tax base for
education purposes has significant implications for
municipalities as these revenues are now shared on a roughly
equal basis. As educations share increases, there will be
less room for municipalities to raise revenues for their own
purposes from the property tax.
Table 3-2
Education Taxes as a Percentage of Total Property
Tax
1978 1988
---------------------------------------------------
% %
Metro 50.3 53.3
Regions 48.8 53.6
co. Cities 44.1 47.6
Dis. Cities 46.1 48.3
Counties 54.4 57.3
Districts 46.5 49.5
Total 49.3 53.0
---------------------------------------------------
Although the Committee acknowledges that it would be
financially and administratively impractical to move to a
system where the Province funds 100 per cent of education
costs, it recognizes that the growing trend of increasingly
financing education from the property tax undermines the
effectiveness of this revenue source to fund municipal
services. Education is a broad based service benefiting
all society and as such it should be funded from more
progressive revenue sources.
Committee Recommendations
4 . The share of the property tax base used to support
provincially mandated education programs should be decreased
46
by increasing provincial funding, thereby lifting some of
the load off property taxes.
5. The Committee endorses a number of recommendations made by
the Select Committee on Education:
. Th e Mi n i s t r y o f Ed u c a t i o n s h o u l d c o n s u l t wi t h t h e
k e y p a r t n e r s i n e d u c a t i o n a s s o o n a s p o s s i b l e i n
o r d e r t o :
- determine a clear and understandable mode of
calculating the cost of providing the education
services mandated in the Education Act and identifying
the basic components of recognized
expenditure; and
- develop a rational means of updating these cost
calculations and ceiling determinations within a
realistic expenditure framework.
. In reviewing the overall calculation and adequacy
of provincial operating and capital transfers, the
Minister of Education and key partners in
education should examine how to improve equitable
access to education resources throughout the
province.
. The Minister of Education should establish a task
force to examine options to make the tax base for
education funding more progressive.
. The Ministry of Education should conduct all
policy reviews with the goal of simplifying the
structure of education finance.
4 7
REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSIONERS OF ONTARIO
Comments
on
A Reformed Manning Process
in Ontario
DELIVERING PROVINCIAL POLICIES
1 An important mandate of Regional Governments is to ensure that planning
c a n b e
undertaken on a wider and more comprehensive scale. Recent reviews of this role
(e.g. Sewell, Crombie, Ottawa-Carleton Review) have confirmed its increasing
importance and the need for a direct delivery mechanism to translate policies into
action.
2 The subdivision approvad process is the most important planning tool t o ensur e
pr ovincial policies ar e deliver ed in t he ar eas of ur ban gr owt h, int ensificat ion,
affor dable housing and envir onment al pr ot ect ion.
3 Given br oad pr ovincial plannin g object ives, t he r ole of Regional Planning is t o
est ablish Regional Plans t hat pr ovide a Iodized context for the Local Plans to
express their individuality while ensur ing Pr ovincial policies ar e at t ended t o.
INTRINSIC NEED FOR UPPER-TIER PLANNING
4 The delegation of the approval of Official Plans, Official Plan Amendments and plans
of subdivision are best maintained at the upper tier level to ensure that matters of
region-wide importance and upper-tier concerns are addressed in accordance with
the legislative mandates.
6 Plans for growth depend on capital investment and the provision of urban services.
The Regional Municipalities responsible for these areas must be able to make the
integrated decisions related to growth, phasing of growth and the designation of
urban boundaries.
7 The G.T. A. planning exercise examined the complex issues of water and wastewater
infrastructure, transportation, live/work relationships, watershed planning, greenlands
systems and rural development across the G.T. A. While these matters are patently
difficult to co-ordinate, the G.T.A. exercise has proven that it is possible to
achieve co-ordination by working with the five Regions. It is highly improbable
that such co-ordination could be achieved among 35 local municipalities.
ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION
8 The current lengthy development approval system is seen as being a major detriment
to economic growth. A central theme of the latest Provincial review of planning is
that the planning system in Ontario needs to be streamlined so that planning decisions
can be undertaken faster without compromising the natural environment or due
process. Clear Provincial @icy direction will certainly speed up the planning
process; however, if there are 35 different interpretations of a Provincial policy in the
G. T. A., it will negate much of the advantage expected by the development industry.
Strong Regional policies reflecting local desires and circumstances and delivered
through the development approval system is the most efficient means of facilitating
9 In the past Provincial Ministries have taken the brunt of criticism with respect to
delaying the pl
anning process; however, a true analysis of the problem areas in the
approval system would show t hat local municipal delays have been an even greater
problem. The planning process in Ontario needs strong administrative leadership in
addition to strong policy leadership.
The Regional Governments in Ontario have a
proven track record in the delivery of such leader ship. The economic vit alit y of
Ontario depends on a planning administ
ration that can deliver development
approvals in a timely fashion.
REDUCING ADMINITRATIVE cosTs
10 All governments are being asked to do more with less. It is difficult to imagine that
the delegation of subdivision approval, using the G.T. A. as an example, from five
jurisdictions to 35 jurisdictions will result in a cost saving. The administrative
strictures necessary to properly manage and track the development approval function
is already established and running well in all five G.T. A. Regions, and in other
Regions throughout the Province. It is a costly system to operate even with the
substantial economies of scale that are possible at the Regional level. Replicating
this administ rative structure and cost by a factor of seven will benefit neither the
taxpayer nor the economic growth of the G.T.A.
11 Regional planning approvals are, for the most part, delegated to Senior staff. This
results in major time saving and avoids unnecessary duplication of political debate.
The present system has the advantages of allowing for load political and public
input during the process and receiving a quick administrative approval at the end
of the process.
MEMO TO JOHN BURKE
FEBRUARY 1995
FROM R. M. WHITE
Further to our conversation regarding Regional Councils Governance Resolution of February
1, 1995, I have prepared the following comments and recommendations for your consideration.
At our last SPCC Meeting we established the following Halton Region Strategic Objective:
To Redefine Haltons Role in the provision of Government Services in cooperation
with others.
I think youll agree with me that the intent of both the above Strategic Objective and Regional
Councils February 1st Resolution is essentially one and the same. Both directives express
our collective desire to answer the big question as to who (what government body or agency)
is best suited to do what in the way of providing Government Services in Halton.
Furthermore both directives recognize the necessity for cooperation amongst the various
stakeholders in order to sort it all out.
Despite this similarity in their intent, there are two major distinctions between the two
directions. The first is that the SPCC Strategic Objective is Staff Driven and assumes that
Halton Region, as a Corporation, will continue to exist (in one form or another). The Bob
Brechin Resolution is of course Politically Driven and appears to make no assumptions other
than that a change in Governance is required and that we should get on with it as quickly
as possible i.e. consider a report on the matter no later than the end of April 1995.
We all know that achievement of the above Strategic Objective will not be an easy task, even
if we eliminate Bob Brechins end of April 1995 deadline. The tangled complexity of this
subject matter, the fact that it involves so many stakeholders all of whom have a legitimate
vested interest, coupled with the realization that we dont really have direct control over the end
result, is sufficient to dissuade all but the foolhardy from tackling this problem.
Those of us who are oldtimers (familiar with Haltons History of governance) remember the
controversy and difficulty the Province of Ontario experienced in creating the current Region
of Halton, its constituent Area Municipalities and School Boards. At that time:
the very existence of this Region and Area Municipalities;
the establishment of political boundaries;
the assignment of areas of responsibilities
and
between the Region and Area Municipalities;
t he establishment of political accountability,
were then, as they are now, the subject of much acrimonious debate. I believe you would agree
with me that many of the findings, conclusions and recommendations contained in those initial
(pre-1974) reports on Halton Governance, (and elsewhere in Ontario), are just as valid today as
they were then.
I think its extremely important that we not forget the insights contained in those initial Halton
Governance Reports. Furthermore we should not ignore the valuable governance lessons learned
by both staff and politicians over the last 21 years of the Regions existence. I think Regional
Council realized this fact when it decided to review past Reports and Recommendations of the
Regional Review Committee. I think too that this is one of the reasons why you and your
cohorts are currently involved in your Streamlining Initiatives.
Obviously we should all try to build on our past knowledge and experiences on what works and
what doesnt in our collective efforts to Re-define and Re-invigorate our government
organization(s).
Probably the most important lesson that I have learned about governance over the last twenty
five years is that its an unbelievably complex subject. Before one can Define or Redefine
what public service (business) the Regional Municipality of Halton should be in, one must
clearly understand, and Define, what public service (business) both the Area Municipalities
and the Province should be in. To Define what public service (business) the Province should
be in, presupposes that one also clearly understands what public service business the Federal
Government should be in. Finally, this whole governance exercise pre-supposes that we all have
a clear understanding and agreement on what should be (and what should not be) a government
provided service. The sheer scope of this task can be mind boggling to say the least.
It is unfortunate that we cant approach this whole governance problem from the same business
perspective as the private sector i.e. Where/How can Halton Region make the most money?
Whether we all agree on the purpose of specific government bodies, or not, the Corporation of
the Regional Municipality of Halton, like all other government agencies (except maybe the
Lotteries), was created by the Province not to make money but rather to better provide
necessary public services and to better solve certain Halton geographic area problems than
was previously the case (pre 1974).
The term better is obviously a relative term. From my perspective Money is still at the heart
of this better comparison (as it was when the Region was first created). Now more than ever
before financial considerations are clearly front and centre stage. We all know what is coming
and we all know that it is our current Federal and Provincial financial crisis with the Public
Debt and Deficits which will plunge us all into a Municipal Budget Crisis in 1996.
After considering this issue for sometime, I have come to the conclusion that there can never
be a final right or wrong answer to the question of governance, here or anywhere else.
The History of Governance in Halton has proven (time and time again) that the best we can hope
for is the odd periodic (every twenty to thirty years?) Re-engineering of our organizations by
the Province followed by long periods of continual tinkering by the Halton governments and
agencies themselves to try and make the re-engineered solutions work better.
I dont need to tell you that regardless of what final solution is decided upon by the political
powers that be, there will always be a group of people, both in and outside government, who
will argue that we/they didnt get it right and that we should change it all again. It has been
my observation that this often happens even when there is nothing seriously wrong with the
current political governance system. I suspect this tendency to constantly re-examine the who,
what, where, when, how, and why, is our human desire to put our own stamp on things and to
convince ourselves that we are actually advancing or improving the sate of the art and thereby
making a positive contribution to society.
In the next few months we will have a new Provincial government. The NDP sponsored Golden
Commission has been instructed to report on the GTA Governance scene within the next 18
months. Both the Liberals and the Conservatives say they will act on this matter much more
quickly (the Conservatives are talking about a decision within a short few months of taking
office). It is abundantly clear that regardless of which Political Party is elected, Halton Region
and its constituent governments and agencies will be forced to justify:
1. their very existence;
2. their current areas of responsibility within the overall context of the GTA
(whatever form and boundaries that might become); and
3. their political accountability.
In light of these observations you might well ask: Why should Halton and its constituent
governments and agencies even want to discuss this matter at this time? After all it may be
pointless and possibly even counterproductive for us to consider re-arranging the furniture when
we may end up selling the house and moving to different city.
Like it or not change is coming. The public demands it, the political decision makers (including
many senior government staff,) believe in it, and the people who control the money will make
it happen. Either we get out in front and lead the parade or we follow along behind (those
claiming they know whats best for all Halton residents and taxpayers).
I think this new ground swell - uprising for change in governance - is best exemplified by the
often heard slogan There is only one taxpayer!
To me this slogan best summarizes what you and your cohorts are trying to achieve through your
Streamlining Initiatives. This Slogan makes such clear economic sense it would be ludicrous
for us to ignore its message. We all (all the government bodies and agencies who provide
government services in Halton must recognize this paradigm shift to the right and we must be
SEEN as understanding and agreeing with its logical conclusions.
For a long time now the Regional Planning and Development Department has recognized this
new reality. Over the last several years we have tried to better streamline our operations with
those of our local government brethren. We have tried to work with our customers to better
identify how we can avoid duplication of work and thereby reduce government costs. We have
worked with our neighboring Regions/County and the Province to try and steer this issue in a
direction favorable to the interests of the Halton Region Corporation and our community.
We all have a lot to lear n on how t o better cooperate with one another in order to save total
public tax dollars. In this regard both the government staff and the politicians must be SEEN
as constantly trying to maximize t he ut ilit y of all exist ing (and fut ur e) Halt on area government
resources and facilities for the benefit of all taxpayers.
This is why I believe Bob Br echins Resolut ion (which r equir es immediat e act ion) fit s in quit e
nicely wit h our current ongoing Streamlining Initiatives.
When you consider the length of time it will likely take the Province to make up its mind on the
Entire GTA Governance Issue, coupled with the immediate need to address the upcoming 1996
Municipal Budget Crisis, there is much logic in having all Provincially created local
government bodies and agencies in Halton (particularly those dependent on the property tax
base) to cooperate with one another and to re-examine how we can better serve our
communities and customers. Whats best about the timing of Brechins Resolution is that
to accomplish this task we (Halton) has already investigated (and established) an appropriate
implementation mechanism to address this issue.
As you well know over the last few years Halton Region has been carefully examining the issue
of Partnerships, particular Public - Private Partnerships as it relates to the HUSP. On April 26th
our two key standing Committees will consider this issue.
It is my contention that to survive in 1996 Halton Region and its other constituent municipalities
and agencies will need to cooperate like they have never cooperated before. To accomplish this
I Recommend that we all agree (all political bodies in Halton) to establish Formal Public -
Public Partnerships amongst ourselves. To this end the CAOS of each government
body/agency could cooperatively draft up a Manifesto or Agreement of Understanding outlining
the General Purpose and Principles of this Halton Cooperation Agreement (amongst all
signatures) and its Goals, and likely Outcomes. This Broad Agreement should then be followed
by a Directive that all Public Commissioners and/or Departments in Halton who provide similar
public services or who might be able to provide assistance to one another, be required to meet
and discuss how to go about accomplishing - implementing the Agreement. Individual Detailed
Reports and Separate Formal Agreements could then follow from each public service sector
thereby providing categorical proof to the Province and any naysayers that we (both the elected
officials and staff) are acting on this problem.
The beauty of this proposal is that it enables the politicians to have a direct say in the change
they want to see happen while at the same time ensuring that the appropriate government staff
(the people who really know what is going on and what is possible) have sufficient time to work
it all out to their mutual benefit. Should these Agreements prove successful we could then
expand them to include Agreements with neighboring Regions and Municipalities, the Province
etc. Finally we could then explore the Public - Private Agreements which we all know will
involve some very complicated Public Discussion and Legal consideration.
By approaching the governance issue in this way at this time I think that we, both the Public
Servants and Elected Officials, could have a significant impact on the final governance
decision by the Province for all Halton Region area government organizations.
RMW
FROM Richard Whitehead TO 4163271516 P.02
From The Office Of:
Richard Whitehead
Regional Councillor
Region of Peel/ Town of Caledon
Date: September 26, 1995
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
Dear Anne
Subject; G.T.A, Reform
As requested, lam enclosing a copy of my discussion paper regarding a position for Caledon and Peel in the
future Greater Toronto Region. I want to emphasize that the positions put forward here are mine and not necessarily
those of Peel or Caledon. You will find, however, that some of the text and many of the conclusions are similar to, or
the same as, the Caledon proposal since I have participated in the process and have had the benefit of having some
of my text included in the Towns position.
You will recall that 1 was one 01 the Council speakers at the Region of Peel meeting with you and also at the
meeting you had with the joint Conservation authorities in my role as a Board and Executive member of the
M.T. R.C.A, It might also interest you to know that I was the last Deputy Reeve for the Village of Bolton in the County
of Peel and Boltons first Regional Councillor in the Region of Peel. Currently I represent the rural areas, villages and
settlement areas of the East side of the Town of Caledon. I served as a member of the transitional team that took
Peel into Regional government in 1973 and 1974. I was also the first President of the Peel Non Profit Housing
Corporation (Region of Peel) and a Board member and Chair of the Peel Regional Housing Authority (Ontario
Housing Coloration).
My experience in local and regional government and at the agency and Board levels is extensive and varied
giving mea broad and focused perspective of municipal and agency governance. I believe that I am also capable of
providing a high level of objectivity to the issues at hand.
Please call on me at any time that I can be of further assistance to the process.
Yours truly
Richard Whitehead B.A., A. M.C.T. (A)
18820 The Gore Road
R.R. # 3, Caledon East
Ontario, LON 1EO
Phone/Fax:
Office/Res (905) 880-o911
.
Office/Fax (905) 880-2386
SEP 26 95 16 : 51
II-I
Facsimile Cover Sheet
To:
Company:
Phone:
Fax:
From:
Organization:
Phone:
Fax:
Date:
Pages including this
cover page:
Anne Golden
Greater Toronto and Area Task
Force
(416) 327-1515
(416) 327-1516
Richard Whitehead,
Regional Councillor
Town of Caledon / Region of Peel
(905) 880-0911
(905) 880-2385
9/26/95
Comments: Attached find a copy of my submission with
covering letter
4163271516 P.03
Caledon and G.T.A. Reform
For Discussion Purposes
prepared by:
RICHARD WHITEHEAD
Regional Councillor
(Town of Caledon / Region of Peel)
Date: September 11,1995
SEP 26 95 16 : 52
Discussion:
Some months ago the O.M.B, held hearings in Caledon regarding the need to
restructure the electoral wards within Caledon. It was evident, at the end of a
lengthy process, that there is a high level of satisfaction with our municipal
government and Caledons partnership in the Region of Peel. Speaker after
speaker pointed with pride to our community of communities and our ability to
cooperate and enrich our natural heritage. There was very little support for
substantial structural change but an eagerness to carry on with the evolutionary
model created over the last twenty years. People have a genuine feeling that
we have reached a point where it is all starting to work. Caledon has gained a
threshold where its relatively large size has become physically manageable and
financial stability is becoming achievable with careful planning and
management,
In the last few years substantial progress has been made in community planning
and environmental awareness. The community has worked together on
common goals and objectives while internally maintaining the characteristic and
unique differences within Caledon and externally in the context of living with the
large urban partners in Peel and the G.T.A.
Even though Caledon is a large rural and environmentally rich area, the majority
of its population live in urban serviced communities, villages, hamlets and
settlement areas. The three main urban communities and most of the serviced
industrial areas are part of the South Peel system for sanitary sewers. A large
majority of Caledon residents are on piped municipal water provided by the
Region of Peel. The Regional roads and provincial highways system are
essential to Caledon being the host for large volumes of through traffic not only
from north to south for employment and shopping but from south to north for
recreation and leisure opportunities. Caledon does not rely on its neighbors in
Halton, Dufferin and York for any essential services other than for reciprocal
emergency services and boundary road shared costs typical of any local inter-
municipal partnership.
SEP 26 95 16 : 53
1 416 B8D2385 PAGE .005
Conclusion:
Peel is not much more than half way through the growth cycle envisioned over
twenty years ago. In the next twenty to thirty years it will grow to a mature state
of about 1.4 million. Caledon is slated to grow from 40,000 to over 80,000
people, The new Regional official plan and strategic plan provide the blueprint
for growth and change.
Increasingly, Caledon is seen as the steward for Peels substantial natural
heritage. Depending on Peels large infrastructure and financial resources,
Caledons role is to husband and enrich the fragile environment that provides
the green space, agricultural reserve, fresh water and open areas so essential
for healthy communities. Caledon is at the leading edge in environmental and
rural community planning. Suggestions that the large urban areas of Peel
should be restructured to exclude the rural areas to the north are not practical
solutions. Environmental well being is not well served if headwaters areas are
politically separated from the lake.
While the political decision in the 1970s to amalgamate Peels rural
municipalities to form the Town of Caledon was correct for planning, economic,
social and environmental reasons, it is a fact that its sheer size has always been -
a logistical problem that has had to be managed carefully. Any suggestion that
Caledon, or any other local municipality in the G. T.A., should be made even
larger should be reviewed very caution.
Change to bring about needed reform and improvements in effectiveness and
affordability is desirable, but, change just for the sake of change should be
avoided. We must be conscious of the substantial reasons for reform and keep
these objectives clearly before us as we look at the options. Municipal reform
brings its own price tag in cost, dislocation and reorientation. Twenty years is
not a long time in municipal life.
Some change in Caledon and Peel is necessary and required. A form of
modification and not a major overhaul of municipal government in Peel is the
preferred option.
Conclusion: - 3
SEP 26 95 16 : 54
The Golden Commission or the Government of Ontario may want to choose a
more radical option for local government reform and look for even greater
consolidations in the Greater Toronto Area. If this is to be the ultimate direction,
Peel and Caledon can serve as the anchors for new and larger structures. The
recommendations following offer twO other options.
The first option would see Peel expand its external boundaries to provide
more growth infrastructure for West York while maintaining the
advantage of having only three local area municipalities, Caledon would
merge with King West of the 400 highway and a small portion of North
West Vaughan to maintain a municipality dedicated to the preservation
and enrichment of rural and small communities. Brampton would absorb
the remainder of Vaughan West of highway 27 providing a host for
extensive and continuing urbanization from the South Peel water and
sanitary sewer system.
The second option would fit a scenario contemplating an expanded
Metropolitan Toronto containing Mississauga, Brampton Oakville, Milton,
and Vaughan but not containing the other suburban areas in Halton,
Peel West York and South Simcoe. In this model a new Head Waters
Region would be formed in an expanded G.T.A. The new Region,
bounded on the East by the 400 highway, would consist of four new area
municipalities. Caledon and West King would merge. Halton Hills, Erin
and Erin Township would merge. Orangeville, Mono, East Garafraxa,
Luther, Grand Valley and Amaranth would merge. New Techumseh,
Adjala and Tosorontio would merge. A similar new Region would be
formed on the East side of the G.T.A. using highway 400 as the Western
boundary.
This new Region, dedicated to environmental protection and rural living,
would belong to a new G.T.A. and require special financial consideration
in the absence of sharing higher commercial and industrial assessment
or infrastructure caused by substantial urbanization. The advantage of
creating these two new suburban G.T.A. Regions in this way would be to
reduce the need for a feeding frenzy of constant growth in
assessment to survive financially,
Conclusion; B 4
Recommendations:
Municipal Structure:
Two tier municipal government should be retained throughout
the G.T.A with close ties between the upper tier and the lower tier
within the same region and with a clear and defined protocol for
discussing and resolvlng Inter regional Issues. For Instance, all
members of the upper tier council should also be members of the
lower tier council by running at large in wards structured to elect
members to sit on both tiers. Where necessary and where
effective, lower tier municipalities should be further rationalized.
The structure of the two tier municipal system must continue to
be flexible allowlng each region and each area municipality to
maintain a custom built system to meet the special needs of the
various communities.
. Region Of Peel
Ideally, The Region of Peel, one of the most rationalized Regions,
should be retained as it is currently structured with the three
local area municipalities of Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.
Alternatively, Peel could be expanded to include Vaughan West
of Highway 27 and King West of Highway 400 increasing the size
of Brampton and CaIedon and permitting the extension of the
South Peel Water and Sanitary System into West York.
Alternatively, Peel could be disbanded with Mississauga and
Brampton joining Metropolitan Toronto and Caledon forming part
of a new Headwaters Region.
. Town of Caledon
Ideally, The Town of Caledon, the G.T.A.'s largest municipality
geographically, should be retained at Its current size and
composition.
Caledon and G.T.A. Reform Recommendations: . 5
Alternatively, in an expanded Peel, Caledon would merge with
West King and Rural Vaughan to form a new rural and small
community municipality retaining its five seats on the new
Regional Council and thereby its political viability.
Alternatively, in a new Headwaters Region, Caledon and West
King form one of four new area municipalities.
These
municipalities would be as follows:
Humber Credit Highlands (Caledon and King West of
400)
Halton Highlands (Halton Hills, Erln, Erin Township)
Dufferin Highlands (Orangeville, Mono, East Garafraxa,
Luther, Grand Valley, Amaranth)
the
Simcoe Highlands (New Techumseh, AdJala, Tosorontio)
Local Agencies and Boards:
B Educat i on
The whole structure, financing and service delivery of education
at the elementary and secondary level should be reviewed
including the relevance of retaining school boards.
Municipalities should play a greater role in capital programs to
build and maintain facilities.
Provincial revenues, and not
property taxes, should
function.
B Hydro Commissions
be used to support the actual educational
Hydro services should be a regional responsibility pulling
together the big three utilities of water, sanitary sewers and
Hydro Into one combined and consolidated urban program
planned, financed and operated by the upper tier municipality.
Recommendations; B 6
B Public Housing Authorities
Municipal and provincial housing authorities should be merged
in each Region into upper tier authorities. Greater reliance
should be placed on rent supplement agreements with the
private sector providing the physical shelter opportunities.
. Library Boards
Library Boards should be abolished but retention of advisory
committees, in smaller municipalities or easily identified
communities within larger municipalities should be seen as a
means of maintaining optimum use of dedicated volunteers.
Approval of budgets and financing of capital projects should be
solely the responsibility of local area municipal councils.
. Police
Policing should remain the responsibility of Regional
Government. Pollee Service Boards should either be eliminated
or all or at least the majority of the members should be Regional
Councillors selected by the Regional Council. Where there are
separate policing arrangements within one region, as is the case
in Caledon with the O. P.P., and where there are pollee services
boards, a separate board shall be set up for each separate
arrangement and the membership of each board shall be from
the area served.
Trans Regional Bodies:
B The G.T.A
Assuming that there will be a retention of the two tier municipal
government system and the area will be served by several
different regions, the G.T.A. should still be a visible entity for the
purposes of provincial, Inter-regional and inter municipal
planning, service coordination and service delivery.
The
boundaries of the G.T.A. should be expanded to include a wider
area with respect to watersheds, transportation corridors,
environmental and resource management and urban growth and
development.
Recommendations; B 7
B G.T.A Advlsory Committee
This committee should replace the G.T.A. Mayors Committee
and be a non Institutional forum designed to formulate
solutions to inter municipal servicing issues and discuss G.T.A
wide development and infrastructure priorities. Since most of
the issues will be regional and provincial in nature, the core of
the forums membership should come from the province and the
Regional or County Councils on an agreed formula. A Local area
municipality, not represented on the core membership, would be
invited to participate fully on specific issues related to the
mandate of that municipality and its Council.
. Conservation Authorities
Watershed management and related environmental and resource
management is a very special area of service that is trans
regional and key to the principles of ecosystem management.
The role and purpose of this type of environmental protection are
best maintained through the retention of the concept of a
conservation authority. Gaps In regulatory powers and
duplication of service are best resolved by strengthening the
powers and responsibilities of the authority though a further
delegation of federal and provincial responsibilities and
maintenance of the Board membership coming principally from
the upper tier municipalities.
B Niagara Escarpment Commission
This Commission should be retained for the foreseeable future
given the Importance of retaining and protecting the Integrity the
Niagara Escarpment.
. Go Transit
Either this agency must be given more authority to regulate
levels of service or efficiencies In the area of inter-regional and
Inter municipal transit and required to provide minimum service
levels to the outlying areas or a better model must be found to
deal with these issues.
Service Delivery:
. Peel & Caledon or any two tier option
Assessment and Taxation
. Assessment
Ontario needs to Introduce and regulate meaningful and Ongoing
assessment reform. Regions should be delegated the task of
implementing provincial assessment policies once approved
through a consultative process with all levels of government.
Municipal tax reform begins with placing a much higher
percentage of the municipal tax bill In the exclusive control the
municipal government. Direct costs of education should be
removed from property taxes. In return for this reform municipal
governments should be prepared to rely much lesson provincial,
direct or indirect, subsidies for services that are purely
municipal. The tax structure and tax sharing structure is far too
complex and inequitable.
October 12, 1995
VIA FAX 416-327-1516
Dr. Anne Golden
TAXI REGULATION AND INDUSTRY CONCERNS WITH CONVERSION FROM
TORONTO LICENCES TO GREATER TORONTO LICENCES
I am a Chartered Accountant operating my public practice in
Newmarket, Ontario. However, I still have maintaned my licence to
operate a taxicab in Toronto (from my University of Toronto days)
and still act as agent for my late fathers Metro taxicab plates.
My education and first hand knowledge of the industry combined
with my study of economic regulation should give this task force
a realistic look at the problems in conversion CO a single GTA
TAXICAB LICENCE AND GTA TAXI OWNERS LICENCE.
Driver Training
a) Driver training is a joke under the present Toronto system.
Drivers can not spell and/or speak english. Almost 20% of the
cabs are lost when given the major intersections in the Toronto
area. Also, 5-10% of the cabs do not have proper map books that
are up to date and can find streets when asked to look them up.
Therefore, if these cabs do not have a working knowledge of
Toronto what happens if they try to work in another city???
Solutions
The GTA agency to have a driver training facility and each
city would have a minimum 10 hours of training per city
of 100,000 or less in population. If the cities have a population
which is over this 100,000 threshold a 1 hr training per every
10,000 people would be required (ie a city with a population of
3,500,000 would require 350 hours of training which translates
into 10 weeks of classroom time) , This would ensure the licensing
system is fair and drivers have proper training based upon the
complexity of the city within the GTA in which they select
operation. Under this system each taxi driver would have a GTA
licence issued for each city he is trained for (ie GTA-Richmond
Hill).
The fees and costs for each course would be based on the length
of the course to ensure the smaller cities are fairly treated as
it should cost more to train a driver in a larger city than a
smaller one.
cont. ..2
OCT 11 95 14: 43
2
Conversion of Owner Plates to GTA
Presently, each city has a different market value for a plate. I
believe that plates should be looked at in a similar fashion to a
franchise. Thus, plates have market value and it is based upon
operating location. Toronto has the highest value and Airport
plates are even higher. This concept of value is established in
most cities and the licence values in major US cities are
similiar to the established Toronto values. Therefore, the
smaller cities in the GTA must raise the values of the plates to
say $75,000 before a conversion could take place. In order to
achieve this a plate freeze (even buyback in smaller towns may
need to happen) and meter increases should occur in the smaller
cities until the plate values are all within $2,000 of the
established value. The established value should be $75,000 in
1995 dollars and indexed to inflation.
The above recommendations would balance the operating costs and
demand differences as the plate value represents the return on
investment after reasonable wages and operating costs. The
smaller cities would have improved working conditions as plate
values are too low reflecting too many cabs on the road.
Also,
these changes would create stability in the entire region for the
cab industry and is one of the major reasons for regulation in
the first place. If the above recommendation occurs then no
incentive would be to flood a region with too many cabs at the
expense of another since everybody would be concentrating
serving their own area of training.
GTA Vehicle Safety
The current Toronto system is far to complex. To simplify
on
the
issue the GTA enforcement should consist of two annual safety
certificates that must occur in January and July and delivered to
the GTA commission. Also, street enforcement should consist of
inspection for clean vehicles and in good repair. The commission
inspectors should be able to demand a physical and mechanical
check with the power to remove the owner plate for 24 hours if
the repair is not done in 48 hours.
If the plate is pulled twice
in any twelve month period a automatic 14 day suspension should
occur. If a third offence occurs in twelve months a 60 day
automatic suspension to occur.
This is fair and the focus would
be on the bad operators with a consistent and simple penalty.
3
OCT 1 1 9s 14:4!-4
3
What happens when the taxi supply is to be increased for
increased population growth??
I believe that my plate value formulae iE fair and once plates
increase above $75,000 (1995 value- indexed to inflation
thereafter) an increase in supply is justified.
How do we increase the supply?? This is a difficult question.
Does the GTA sell the plates at 100% market value to any
interested buyer?? Does the GTA provide financing???
Do we reward long-term drivers (ie those with 20 years of more
experience) with first shot at the increase in supply??
My recommendation
The formation of a new list would be based upon the first date
the taxi driver or owner licence was issued for those taxi
drivers and owners that are not owned directly or indirectly a
taxi plate in the last twenty years.
This new list would then allow any long-term taxi driver to
purchase a plate at 90% of the indexed established value being
$75,000 of the 1995 value indexed to inflation. The GTA is also
to provide a loan guarantee (for a fee) to those drivers that do
not have financing. This will ensure that the drivers can have
access to financing.
The issue of new GTA plates should pay for most of the GTA
commission costs that are associated with its operation. If more
money is needed the annual fee per GTA taxi owner plate should be
at a maximum of $500.00 per year (1995 value indexed to
inflation). This recommendation will ensure efficient operation
of the commission and it will also prosper through the entire
growth of the area. This is built in incentive to the commission
to keep red tape at a minimum and try to ensure that government
over-regulation or gouging of it does not happen.
When to Issue NEW GTA PLATES
The only time a plate can be issued is if the GTA plates sell for
more than $10,000 above the GTA established value of $75,000
(1995 year indexed to inflation). This is to prevent owner
excessive profits and allow for minor blips in demand. This helps
to create future stability of this industry as it allows
predictable end controlled working environment for the drivers
and efficient public service which is the main reason for
economic regulation.
cont. . .4
OCT 1 1 95 14:44
1 905 836 1677 PAGE.17G14
Wu d
4
Airport GTA Taxi Service
The main loser of these recommendations are the Airport cabs as
they sell for more than the $75,000 1995 established value
indexed to inflation. The Toronto Airport should be opened up to
all in the GTA. This should improve service to the Airport and be
fair to of the other municipalities and taxi cab owner and
operators. The City of Toronto is the onlv major citv that is
not served by its local cabs. Mississauga cabs serve the airport
and not Toronto taxicabs. Before the airport is opened up any cab
wishing to serve the airport a special Airport Training Course
must be completed to ensure proper street guides and GTA
knowledge has been obtained by those drivers wishing to take
passengers from Pearson. The RCMP can effectively check the GTA
licence of drivers for enforcement.
If any questions arise or further comment or input is needed,
please feel free to call me at 905-898-3355. I will attend in
person for a submission on October 18, 1995 if further
clarification is needed or if someone would like me to attend.
Your very truly
Peter A. Wiesner BComm CA
cc John Duffy, Publisher Taxi News
Dennis Fortinos office
Metro Clerk, Rosalind Vyers
OCT 1 1 9 5 1 4 : 4 4
THE CORPORATI ON OF THE CI TY OF YORK
-- the unilateral decision to def er construction of the
Eglinton Subway Line with devastating effects on Yorks and
Metro's planning and economic development objectives.
-- the pos s i ble cancellation of the City Centre GO Transit
station again with devastating impact on the City Centre
development, in spite of a signed Memorandum of Understanding.
-- the possible withdrawal of funding for the new Humber
College campus and the closing of the Keelesdale campus, with
no consultation. Humber College is an essential component of
our Citys skills training and economic development strategy.
2.
--the recommendations that a number of hospitals will be
closed specifically, Northwestern Hospital in the City of York
--the suggestion from the Sweeney Report on School Board
Reduction that the Board of Education for the City of York b e
amalgamated with the Toronto School Board along with the East
York Board of Education, thus making the newly created Board
larger than the recommended size in the report.
Areas where provincial/municipal interface needs
to be
st r eamlined:
- .
Ministry of Environment and ENERGY delays on
comments/approvals. Timelines need be es t ablis h ed for
response to the Municipality to avoid protracted length of
time for response.
--Provincial approva1s to Official Plan amendments, again
timelines need to be established to avoid documents getting
lost in the shuffle. It should be ticked that some positive
steps have been t aken at better co-ordination amongst
Ministries through efforts of the Provincial Facilitator.
--t h er e h a s
governmental
to be a more defined process for an inter-
consultation process
Frances Nunziata
Mayor
City of York
A Creative Response to the Challenge
The City of York s Submission
to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force
Contents
PART 1 FINDINGS& RECOMMENDATIONS
FINDINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .1
WhyYorkWorks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Focus Of The Submission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
PART 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The U.S. Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
The Canadian Model... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Options for Property Tax Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
RECOMMENDATIONS AT A GLANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
PART 3 YORK: RESPONDING WITH ENERGY& INNOVATION
METRO TORONTO: ECONOMICALLY VULNERABLE:.. . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....11
DIMENSIONS OFTHE CHALLENGE FACINGTHETASKFORCE ONTHEGREATER TORONTOAREA....11
Certain Needs Know No Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Municipal Winners and Losers.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
ONTARIO HAS LED THE WAY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
A Successful & Evolving Federation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
SHARING HAS WORKED.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , 14
Principle of Shared Responsibility
Robarts Commission: Bounda ry Changes Recommended . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..........16
York: Primary immigrant Reception Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....17
YORK DEMONSTRATES INNOVATIVE LOCALGOVERNANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ......18
i) Multi-Agency &Comm unity-Based initiatives... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
ii) initiatives Taken By City Departments and Local GovernmentAgencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Cost-Effective&Responsive LocaI Administration.........., . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Service Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
22
Yorks Human Service Delivery System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .........24
THE YORK EXPERIENCE: A MODEL FOR THE GTA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
SIX PRINCIPLES FOR EVALUATING CHANGES TOTHE WAY THE GTA OPERATES . . . . . . . . .
.2 5
Sharing
An Equitable, Understandable &Flexible Tax Base . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
C I T Y OF Y OR K 9 5
PART 4 CONCLUSIONS& RECOMMENDATIONS
SHARED RESOURCES EQUAL SHARED BENEFITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1. Strengthen Pooling Arrangements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2. Strengthen Revenue Sharing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..27
Options for GTA Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
REVIEWINGTHEOPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ;:
l) incremental Changes to Existing Arrangements... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2) A GreaterToronto Area Authority . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
3) A Revised Provincial Grant Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
5) Local Boundary Adjustments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ACHIEVING TAX BASE EQUITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Assessing Alternative Approaches to Reassessment . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...........35
I) Market Value Assessment (MVA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....-35
2) Factored (Partial) Market Value Reassessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 6
3) Unit Assessment Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
TAX SHIFTS &WAYS TO ADDRESS THEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
PropertyTaxRelief .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Ontario PropertyTaxCredit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...............40
The Experiences of Others... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .............40
APPENDIX A SUBMISSION TO THE GTA TASK FORCE:WHAT WE DID... 41
APPENDIX B REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
C I T Y OF Y OR K 9 5
THE CORPORATI ON OF THE CI TY OF YORK
2700 Eglinton Avenue West, City of York, Ontario M6M IVI Tel. [416] 394-2607
Fax [ 416] 394- 2782
PLANNING AND
Edward R. Sajecki. P. Eng. . MCIP.
CommIssloner
September, 1995
Mayor & Members of Council,
I am pIeased to present for Councils consideration, the final report of the City of Yorks GTA Steering
Committee for submission to the Greater Toronto Area Task Force.
City Council, in the spring of this year, appointed a Steering Committee consisting of members of Council
(Mayor Nunziata, Councillors McDonald, Mihevc and Saundercook), and City staff (Bob Hamilton, Karen Hen,
Ron Maurice, Wendy Tysall and Ed Sajecki) to develop the Citys position. The Committee was supplemented
by consultant assistance in the areas of municipal organization and finance, and maintained close liaison with
all City Departments, as well as Boards and Commissions.
Our work included a review of relevant background material on governance and municipal finance, and
specifically assessment data and other relevant statistical information for York. This included the work of
previous Royal Commissions; approaches to municipal finance and municipal organization in other jurisdictions
across North America; submissions as they became available; and key issues derived from the extensive
research knowledge and experience brought by our consultants - Dr. Frances Frisken of York Universitys Urban
Studies Program, and Carla Nell and David Powell of Municipal Tax Equity Consultants Inc. The Director of
Finance & City Treasurer, Wendy Tysall, worked closely with the financial consultants in coordinating Yorks
position on municipal finance reform.
I wish to thank all who assisted in the preparation of this report, in particular the members of the Steering
Committee and our consultants. I would be remiss if I did not specifically recognize the special contribution of
Dr. Frisken in the research and writing of this report.
Most invaluable was the support of Department Heads and their staff, as well as the Citys Boards and
Commissions.
Additional thanks to the community and business participants who once again answered the call to assist the
City by participating in the focus group sessions and whose insights greatly contributed to developing the
submissions principles; to those individuals who provided input during the process; and to our focus group and
public meeting facilitator, Bill Tranter of Co-Design Training Services Inc., whose assistance was so valuable
in drawing out discussion.
A special thanks to Jim Hoshko, Bill Davis and Bob Windsor who contributed many evenings and weekends to
this project. And to Brian Green, Vera Elliott and Sharon Ramer for their extra efforts.
Finally, on behalf of the Steering Committee, I wish to express my thanks to the Mayor and members of Council
for their support during the total project.
Commission; of Planning
& Economic Development
GTA Project Coordinator
The Greater Toronto Area Task Force was
established by the provincial government to
consider what structure and form of government
would work best to manage the communities both
within Metropolitan Toronto and the surrounding
areas (such as Oshawa, Burlington, Mississauga,
etc.). Individuals, groups and communities have
been invited to make recommendations to the
Task Force. This is the City of Yorks submission.
FINDINGS
The Toronto area has avoided the serious
problems that afflict many large urban regions in
the United States, Consequently, it has a
worldwide reputation for effective governance.
The governing arrangements to which it owes that
reputation should not be discarded lightly, nor
should their achievements be ignored. At the
same time, the growth that is occurring in the
areas surrounding Metro, together with the
increasing complexity of change within Metro,
suggest a need for adjustments.
Our findings show that the City of York has
responded to the challenges of economic and
social change with energy and imagination. The
City has responded effectively to a complex and
changing community despite a tightly constrained
budget. It leads all other GTA municipalities in
providing housing and local services to
newcomers to Canada.
York works as an efficient and responsive unit of
local government. According to municipal financial
data from the province, York has consistently had
among the lowest local government overhead
costs per household in Metropolitan Toronto and
the GTA. For the most recent years that data is
available (1990-1 993), Yorks overhead has been
the lowest in three of the four years in Metro, and
third lowest in the GTA in 1993. Thus York has
made impressive progress toward making local
governance more cost-effective. The reasons for
its achievement deserve to be taken seriously.
RECOMMENDATIONS
AT A GLANCE
York should continue as a self -
governing municipality
Reaffirm principle of area-wide
responsibility as a GTA
cornerstone
Strengthen arrangements for tax
pooling
Keep two-tier system or replace
with another process that spreads
costs for services based on ability
to pay
Make local government more cost
effective, more accountable & more
understandable
Establish intermunicipal working
group on boundaries with
representation from York, Toronto
and North York
Move to GTA.wide Market Value
Assessment (MVA)
Phase-in over 5 years
Use Ontario Property Tax Credit
to cushion impacts
Take steps to stop erosion of Metro
tax base resulting from assessment
appeals
Obtain both local & external
reaction to GTA Task Force
proposals
CITY OF YORK 95
1
Wh y York Work s
a) Its relatively small size. York is still small
enough to allow for ongoing interaction among
City officials, business leaders, community
organizations and private citizens. Its local
government displays many of the
characteristics that private corporations now
seek by breaking up large bureaucracies into
smaller operations. These characteristics
include co-operative relationships among
different parts of the civic administration;
avoidance of excessive specialization;
accessibility and accountability to
constituents.
b) A well-developed sense of community.
City of York programs have benefitted greatly
from the dedicated work of community
organizations and the contributions of a large
number of local volunteers.
c) A context that promotes the sharing of
local resources for regional benefit.
Services provided to York residents by
Metropolitan Toronto are financed out of
pooled local taxes to which municipalities
contribute according to their ability to pay. As
a low assessment community with a high level
of need, York has been a net beneficiary of
Metro spending on social services and public
education.
A collective approach to financing regional
services is essential to ensure that the City of
York and other municipalities remain healthy
and vibrant communities within a healthy and
vibrant urban region. There are two serious
obstacles to maintaining or strengthening a
collective approach, however:
1) The large inequities that characterize the
existing system of property taxation in the
GTA; and,
2) The financial hardships some taxpayers
will experience if that system is changed.
The existing system of local governance needs
immediate adjustments to make it more cost
effective, and there needs to be regular review
to keep it that way. Erratic local boundaries
cause problems for some taxpayers and add to
local administrative costs. While upper-tier and
lower-tier government functions tend to
complement rather than duplicate each other,
there are areas of conflict or overlap. Lines of
accountability are not clearly drawn. There is
not always co-operation either within or between
levels of government. The two-tier system is not
well understood by most area residents.
Focus of the Submission
This submission focuses on three issues of
particular concern to the City of York:
1) How to finance local services in an urban
region composed of municipalities that
differ in wealth, population characteristics
and stages of development;
2) How to make local government more
efficient while keeping it responsive to
local residents; and,
3) How to approach property tax reform.
While it regards property tax reform as
necessary to maintain the financial health of
core municipalities and ensure equity in the local
revenue system, it also acknowledges the
difficulties of implementing it. It does not
address issues, like the business occupancy
tax, alternatives to the property tax, and special
purposes bodies, that are dealt with adequately
in other submissions.
To prepare this report and develop the
recommendations, civic staff and consultants
have drawn on past studies of the Citys
administrative structure, meetings with and
submissions from officials of City and
community agencies, focus group discussions
among representatives of community and
business organizations, the comments of
citizens attending public meetings, and a large
body of published information about the way
urban regions evolve.
2
CITY OF YORK 9 5
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The City of York should continue as a self-
-governing municipality with the legal
authority to respond to the needs of its
culturally diverse population. York is a
lean, efficient and effective administrative
unit which should be assured the financial
means to respond effectively.
2. The Task Force should reaffirm the principle
of area-wide responsibility for services of
area-wide benefit, as stated by Lorne
Cumming and Carl Goldenberg, and make it
a cornerstone of its recommendations for
GTA governance.
3. The Task Force should recommend
measures to strengthen arrangements for
pooling local property tax and provincial
income tax revenues to fund local services
that benefit the entire Greater Toronto
Area.
4. In keeping with the principle of area-wide
responsibility for services of area-wide
benefit, the Task Force should recommend
either:
a) that the present two-tier system of local
government continue; or,
b) that it be replaced by a system that
spreads the local costs of public
education, general welfare assistance
and other services of regional benefit
among all GTA municipalities according
to their ability to pay.
5. If the Task Force recommends retention of
the present system of local governance, it
should identify ways to make that system
more cost-effective and more accountable
and understandable to GTA residents and
taxpayers. These should include ways to
eliminate service overlaps and duplication,
promote intra and inter-governmental co-
operation, and streamline operations.
6. The provincial government should
establish an intermunicipal working group
comprised of representatives of the Cities
of York, Toronto and North York to
recommend ways to make their shared
boundaries less erratic and more
considerate of local taxpayers.
7. A GTA-wide market value reassessment
would provide the most equitable basis for
local tax base sharing either in the existing
or in a revised system of GTA governance.
Because it would cause some hardships,
however, it should be accompanied by:
a) measures to phase-in large property tax
increases over a period no longer than
the period leading to the next regular
reassessment (five years or less); and,
b) changes to the Ontario Property Tax
Credit system to assist local ratepayers
for whom reassessment results in
property tax increases that outstrip their
ability to pay.
8. The GTA Task Force should recommend
measures to stem the erosion of the Metro
tax base resulting from assessment
appeals. Such measures might include a
temporary freeze on appeals.
9. The Task Force and the government
should solicit local and external reactions
to Task Force recommendations before
making substantial changes in the GTAs
system of governance.
CITY OF YORK 95 3
The Toronto area has so far avoided the severe
economic and social problems that afflict many
large urban regions in the United States. It will
go on doing so only if its system of governance
continues to integrate three different concepts of
.
B
as sites of economic
production having
interdependent and interactive
parts;
the second depicts them as
administrative units with
boundaries and responsibilities
prescribed by law;
the third emphasizes their
importance as sites of social
interaction, communities or
collections of communities
whose members are linked by
shared interests, concerns and
aspirations.
The Canadian Model
The Ontario Government moved away from an
approach based on municipal self-reliance when
it created Metropolitan Toronto in 1953. It
authorized Metro agencies to provide area-wide
services out of a pool of tax revenues collected
from local municipalities according to the size of
MAI NTAI N A
COLLECTIVE
APPROACH TO
GTA
GOVERNANCE
The approach taken to municipal finance will
either link or fail to link these concepts, and thus
determine whether or not an urban region can
function as a cohesive whole.
The U.S. Approach
The more divisive approach gives priority to the
concept of the urban place as a legally-defined
administrative unit, and requires all such units to
take care of most local needs out of locally-
raised revenues. In urban regions made up of
many local units, this approach leads to fierce
inter-local competition for new assessment, jobs
and amenities. Municipal losers in the
competitive struggle experience economic
decline accompanied by social deterioration,
which gradually spreads to all parts of the
region. This approach is widely used in the
United States and is often blamed for many of
that countrys urban problems.
their assessments; that is, according
to their ability to pay. This collective
approach recognized the Toronto area
as an interdependent economy and a
regional community to which all
municipalities contributed in different
ways, even though some were
wealthier than others.
The government adhered to that
approach when it made Metropolitan
Toronto and regional governments
responsible for local welfare and most
public education costs between 1967
and 1974. It also based some of its
grant programs on formulae that took
account of variations in local fiscal capacity and
local need.
Within a context that promotes a sharing of local
tax returns, Metro and its member municipalities
have done well in comparison to core
municipalities in many other North American
urban regions. The City of York therefore asks
the GTA Task Force to reaffirm the importance
of maintaining a collective approach to GTA
governance.
Because of its history, its location within the
Toronto area, and its dependence on a shrinking
manufacturing base for much of its non-
residential assessment, Yorks per capita
assessment has been declining relative to the
Metro average since the 1960s. During the
same period, York has evolved into the GTAs
primary immigrant reception area.
In comparison to other GTA municipalities, the
CITY OF YORK 9 5
5
City of York has a higher proportion of residents
with a mother tongue other than English or
French; a higher proportion of residents with
less than Grade 9 education; a lower average
family income; and higher rates of
unemployment for both men and women.
York has responded vigorously to the
challenges of economic and social change with:
.
.
.
B
the development of a mixed use City

Corporate and Residential Centre linked to
rapid transit;
a Community Economic Development
Program to build on Yorks multicultural
character and its potential links to international
markets;
a Learning Enrichment Foundation (LEF)
that operates programs to retrain workers and
help newcomers participate effectively in
Canadian society;
York Community Services (YCS), a
multidisciplinary, multi-agency social service
centre that provides York residents with one-
stop shopping for health, legal and
community services; and,
the York Community and Agency Social
Planning Council (YCASP), which conducts
research, trains volunteers and promotes
interaction and understanding among Yorks
agencies and the Citys diverse population.
City of York agencies have also acted
individually to enhance their accessibility to the
community, reduce operating costs, or both. A
number of their initiatives have won awards;
some have served as models for municipalities
elsewhere.
These initiatives and achievements are Yorks
contributions to the GTAs economic, fiscal and
social well-being. The City can make these
contributions because its membership in the
Metro federation helps to offset its economic
disadvantages, and because it can draw on
Metro, provincial and federal resources to
supplement its own spending and the many and
varied contributions of local agencies,
community organizations, and individual
volunteers.
Yorks experience suggests five principles the
GTA Task Force should use in evaluating
options for modernizing the areas system of
local governance:
B
B
B
B
Principle #1: Shared contributions and
shared benefits require a sharing of local
resources.
Principle #2: Local systems of government
should be structured in a way that allows for
frequent interactions and a sharing of ideas
among local public officials, community
organizations and local residents.
Principle #3: Local programs that benefit the
larger community (regional, provincial or
national) should be able to draw most of their
funding from the pooled resources of all
municipalities in the metropolitan area, and
from federal and provincial sources.
Principle #4: Revised arrangements for local
finance and local governance in the GTA
should aim 1) to make government simpler
and easier to understand and 2) to reduce
government costs by eliminating unnecessary
duplication of effort where it exists, and by
promoting cooperation and coordination
among public and private agencies with
overlapping concerns.
Principle #5: It is imperative to consider the
long-term as well as the short-term
implications of changes in GTA governance
for the financial and social health of the GTA
and its municipal members.
In Table 2.1 we apply these five principles to
five options for GTA governance:
1) modifying the status quo;
2) creation of a GTA Authority;
3) a revised role for the provincial
government based on clear distinctions
between provincial and local responsibilities;
4) provincially-administered local tax base
pooling; and,
5) a revision of local boundaries to make GTA
municipalities more equal in population size
and assessment.
6 CITY OF YORK 95
No option is clearly superior to all others in
satisfying the five principles, although
provincially-administered tax base pooling might
be less difficult to implement than major
structural change. It would also be easier to
adapt to future growth patterns.
Nonetheless, accepting the principles is more
important than the way they are put into effect.
A sixth principle deals with the challenge of
devising an equitable basis for local revenue
sharing.
Principle #6: While the basis for sharing local
tax revenues should be made as equitable and
understandable as possible, it should also allow
for measures to alleviate damaging impacts of
tax reform on financially-vulnerable taxpayers.
Options for Property Tax Reform
We considered the likely impacts on the City of
York of three alternative approaches to property
tax reform:
B Full market value reassessment (Section 63
of The Assessrnenf Act), which would shift
some of the Citys tax burden from the
commercial/ industrial to the residential sector,
as well as causing tax shifts among residential
taxpayers.
In considering full market value
assessment it must be emphasized that
tax shifts are already occurring as a result
of assessment appeals, but in an
unsystematic and uncontrolled way.
CITY OF YORK: 8TH
LARGEST IN THE GTA
1991
Municipality Population
1 Toronto
635,400
2 North York
562,560
3 Scarborough
524,600
4 Mississauga
463,390
5 Etobicoke 309,990
6 Brampton 234,450
9 Burlington 129,580
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
Oshawa
Oakville
Vaughan
East York
Richmond Hill
Pickering
Whitby
Ajax
Clarington
Newmarket
Halton Hills
Caledon
Milton
Georgina
Aurora
East Gwillimbury
Whitchurch-Stouffville
King
Scugog
Uxbridge
Brock
129;340
114,670
111,360
102,700
80,140
68,630
61,280
57,350
49,480
45,470
36,820
34,970
32,080
29,750
29,450
18,370
18,360
18,120
17,810
14,090
11,060
B
o
Partial market value reassessment (Section
58 of The Assessment Act), which would
result in tax shifts within property classes but
not between them.
Unit value reassessment, which would use
physical characteristics (possibly
supplemented by a rental factor to
differentiate among differently-located
properties) to determine assessed values.
A full market value reassessment across the
GTA is the approach most likely to make the
property tax system more comprehensible,
more uniformly administered and more
equitable than the system currently in place,
CITY OF YORK 9 5
7
Table 2.1 Application of Principles
to Evaluate Options for GTA Governance
Modified Status A Greater Toronto A Revised Role Tax Base Pooling Local Boundary
Quo Area Authority for the Provincial Adjustments
Government
Principles
Evaluating
Changes
#1 Shared Metropolitan and Extent of sharing More sharing of Could be done by a Robarts Report
contributions and regional depends on the locally-raised GTA authority or by (1977) proposals
shared benefits governments authoritys income taxes if the provincial would bring Yorks
require a sharing of already pool local structure, province assumed
local resources.
government. non-residential
resources for responsibilities and full responsibility assessment to 1/2
physical and social financial for welfare and Extent of sharing Metro average and
services. arrangements. public education; depends on which 2/3 suburban
reduced conditional and what average.
grants, use proportion of local
unconditional taxes were shared. Other possibilities
grants to equalize available.
local spending
capacity.
#2 Local Existing system Established Established Established Would need a
government allows interaction, patterns of local patterns of local patterns of local period of
systems must allow though more easily interaction could interaction could interaction could
interaction and
readjustment and
at the local than at continue. continue. continue if local community
sharing ideas. the regional level. municipalities redefinition. New
remained as they
Municipal size may
patterns of
are.
be a factor.
interaction would
have to be
established.
#3 Local programs Cuts in Metro and Division of Would help Would depend on Inter-1ocal
benefiting larger provincial support responsibilities maintain a what proportion of disparities in
communities are endangering would have to be relatively uniform local taxes are
should be financed
spending capacity
Yorks programs to worked out. quality of local
out of pooled local
pooled, and how would likely be
strengthen its services throughout they are used. reduced but not
resources and/or economy, assist the GTA. eliminated. Funding
provincial or federal recent immigrants Effect on grant and administering
grants. and maintain social programs not area-wide services
cohesion. known. still need to be
determined.
#4 Changes in Existing system Would likely be Existing conditional Simple, easy to Confusing for
governance should works, but is not less complex, more grant structure understand. affected local
reduce complexity, well understood, accessible and gives rise to residents at start.
eliminate There are few more conducive to duplication of effort
duplication and
Inter-1ocal
areas of inter-local and competition cooperation an Some affected
promote duplication, cooperation than among local inherent feature. local governments
cooperation. Inter-1ocal use of special agencies and local may not cooperate.
cooperation exists purpose agencies governments
but could be to deliver regional
improved. services.
#5 Consider the Allows pooling of Allows pooling of Local governments Funding distribution The restructured
long term economic resources and resources and would have little or change as local tax units are likely to
and social provision of provision of no say in bases change. A diverge in taxable
implications of any area-wide services area-wide services developing social flexible option. wealth as their
proposed changes. within Metro and within the GTA. and education separate
regions but not policies. As area grows, economies expand,
among them. Not easily altered provincial
to accommodate Provincial
stabilize or decline.
Inter-regional
government could
future expansion. government would add municipalities If boundary
disparities likely to have little or no to the pooling changes are
increase. influence over the arrangement. inter-regional,
quantity or quality inter-regional
of locally-funded differences would
services. persist.
8 CITY 0 F YORK 9 5
It would also help reduce differentials in the
taxes paid by commercial and industrial property
owners inside and outside Metro, and so help
stem the exodus of businesses and jobs from
Reassessment will result in shifts in the burden
from the commercial/industrial to the residential
sector in the City of York and from some
residential taxpayers to others. Consequently,
York taxpayers likely to experience the largest
percentage tax increases as a result of
reassessment are the owners of lower-priced
single family homes. Large tax increases could
jeopardize the ability of these owners to keep
their homes, thereby causing individual hardship
and threatening neighborhood stability.
RECOMMENDATIONS
AT A GLANCE
a
B
e
@
.
e
B
.
*
York should continue as a self-governing
municipality
Reaffirm principle of area-wide
responsibility as a GTA cornerstone
Strengthen arrangements for tax pooling
Keep two-tier system or replace with another
process that spreads costs for services based
on ability to pay
Make local government more cost effective,
more accountable & more understandable
Establish intermunicipal working group on
boundaries with representation from York,
Toronto and North York
Move to GTA-wide Market Value Assessment
(MVA)
Phase-in over 5 years
Use Ontario Property Tax Credit to
cushion impacts
Take steps to stop erosion of Metro tax base
resulting from assessment appeals
Obtain both local & external reaction to
GTA Task Force proposals
CITY OF YORK 9 5
9
METRO TORONTO:
ECONOMICALLY
VULNERABLE
The Greater Toronto Area, and more specifically
Metropolitan Toronto, has dealt more
successfully with the problems of large city
growth and suburban expansion, than most
other city regions in North America. It enjoys its
good reputation because it has avoided the
severe financial and social deterioration that
.
afflict core cities and inner suburbs of large city
regions in the United States.
Now, however, there is the realization that
ongoing decentralization of industry and
*
population is sapping the economic and social
vitality of the GTAs inner municipalities.
The City of York applauds the priority given by
the GTA Task Force to attacking (the apparent
and potential further decline in economic
.
attractiveness of the core of the GTA. It does
so not only as the core municipality most
immediately vulnerable to the serious effects of
fiscal and social decline but also as a
municipality long compelled by circumstances to
pursue a second Task Force objective: that of
DIMENSIONS OF THE
CHALLENGE FACING THE
TASK FORCE ON THE
To devise an effective and efficient form of GTA
governance, the GTA Task Force must
reconcile three competing concepts of the
The first stresses the role of urban places as
sites of economic production and major
contributors to regional and national
economies.
The second defines them as administrative
units with rights and obligations to raise
revenues, provide services and regulate
specified activities within legally-defined
boundaries.
The third emphasizes their importance as
sites of social interaction, communities or
collections of communities whose members
are linked by shared interests, concerns and
aspirations.
keeping the costs of local governance as low as
Distinctions among these concepts often
possible.
become blurred in discussions about urban
Yorks recent initiatives to deal with the effects
growth patterns and the administrative problems
they create. Nonetheless, distinctions do exist
of rapid economic and social change illustrate
the capacity for initiative and innovation that
and come into conflict when trying to develop a
already exists within the municipal sector. It
workable approach to local/regional governance.
The task of reconciling them is not easy.
also shows how complex is the challenge of
devising a system of governance that will help
that capacity survive in a time of government
austerity.
CITY OF YORK 95
1 1
Municipal Financial Arrangements
The current concern with dangers posed to
Metros municipalities by rapid peripheral growth
is more than a concern with what growth trends
imply for the regions strength as an
interdependent economy. It is also a concern
with what they mean for the future of the GTA as
a cohesive community, and for the economic
and social health of the various communities
within it.
This concern is not new to the Toronto area. It
was present in analyses of social and economic
trends that preceded the formation of
Metropolitan Toronto, and in subsequent
changes in its structure and responsibilities.
interdependent unit to which all local
governments contribute in important ways,
though not necessarily in ways that bring them
equivalent financial benefits. This approach
works against the development of a regional
community by pitting one local municipality
against another in fierce competition to generate
new assessment and other types of resources.
Municipalities may compete by trying to keep
out those types of businesses and households
considered burdensome to the local tax base or
incompatible with a preferred community
character.
Inevitably some municipalities are able to
compete more successfully than others, with the
result that some get richer, while others get
The same concern has dominated the many
poorer;
studies of city/regional problems in
other North American urban regions
throughout this century - studies that
have seldom led state governments
to make changes in the way
municipalities are governed or
financed, and have never resulted in
changes as comprehensive as those
introduced by the Ontario
government between 1953 and
1974.
Experience gained from the different
ways in which provincial and state
governments have dealt with the
problems of local/regional
governance shows the crucial role of
municipal finance in linking, or failing
to link, competing concepts into a
successful approach to governance. The
approach taken to municipal finance is also
THE
FEDERATED
ARRANGEMENT
PROVED
REMARKABLY
SUCCESSFUL
IN
EQUALIZING
SERVICES
important for the well-being of an areas
separate municipalities and neighborhoods
Certain Needs Know No
Boundaries
One approach to municipal finance gives
precedence to the concept of urban places as
legally-constituted administrative units, which
makes those units responsible for providing all
or most local services from locally-raised
revenues.
It implicitly denies that the area is a functionally
12
CITY OF YORK 9 5
some remain socially cohesive, while
others become burdened with social
tensions.
Since municipalities largest share of
revenues comes from property
taxation, the ones most hurt by
competition are those that have few of
the locational advantages that
investors are seeking (and these can
change as the economy changes), or
that are experiencing a decline in
property values because of neglect or
abandonment.
To perform their legally-mandated
responsibilities, these municipalities
have to raise taxes, reduce services, or
both. Either response makes locations
in these municipalities still less
attractive to business and residents,
causing some of them to leave.
Those left behind are more likely to need the
services that their governments find increasingly
hard to provide, and social decay sets in.
History has many lessons . . .
Municipal Self Reliance -
A U.S. Approach
An approach to local/regional governance based
on municipal self-reliance was the one followed
by Ontario and other provincial governments
until the 1930s.
To varying degrees it still predominates in the
municipal policies of many U.S. states, where it
has resulted in noticeable disparities in the
quality of public services and communal life for
residents of different municipalities within single
urban regions. Consequently it is frequently
linked to many of the serious social problems
associated with urban life in the United States:
problems initially identified with central cities but
now found in many suburbs as well.
Nonetheless this approach has its defenders,
who argue that it contributes to economic growth
by stimulating local governments to take
initiatives to improve the financial well-being of
their municipalities. Moreover, they claim, it is
the most democratic way to manage urban
regions because it allows businesses and
residents to choose from among a variety of
locations offering distinctively different mixes of
taxes and local services.
Less often stated is that it provides senior
governments with a rationale for placing both
the costs and the blame for local problems onto
local governments, even when many of those
problems can be traced to senior government
policies.
Municipal Winners and Losers...
critics of municipal self-reliance emphasize the
high economic and social costs associated with
the economic decline and communal decay
experienced by municipal losers in the
competitive struggle.
They also claim that it increases choice only for
those citizens and businesses who can afford to
move freely from one municipality to another.
The others are likely to see their choices
diminish as jobs and recreational activities
disperse, and as public services, including
public transit, are curtailed or eliminated.
York and others in the GTA are faced with this
possibility.
ONTARIO HAS LED THE WAY...
Ontario made a significant move away from this
policy when it created Metropolitan Toronto in
1953. Underlying the change of direction was
the principle spelled out by Ontario Municipal
Board Chairman Lorne Cumming:
The basic problem to be solved in the
Toronto metropolitan area is indicated in the
significant contrast between the underlying
social and economic unity of the area on the
one hand, and the illogical and inequitable
but extremely rigid divisions of political
jurisdiction and available taxable resources
011 the other (Ontario Municipal Board 1953, 43)
Cumming maintained not only that the areas
problems were common problems, but that
most were related to circumstances quite
beyond the control of the local councils. He
depicted the areas municipal units as members
of a single regional economy to which they
contributed in various ways and from which they
realized various types of costs and benefits.
A Successful and Evolving
Federation...
The federated arrangement that Cumming
recommended proved remarkably successful in
furthering the construction of new schools and
major public works. It was much less successful
in reducing wide disparities in local revenues
and in spending on social and community
services and education.
According to Carl Goldenberg, the Royal
Commissioner who studied the Metropolitan
Toronto system in the mid-1960s, While the
equalizing influence of Metro [had] prevented far
greater inequalities from developing, the spread
between the lowest and highest taxed
municipalities [had] tended to widen. (The Royal
Commission on Metropolitan Toronto 1965,
CITY OF YORK 95
13
172). He recommended that the thirteen
municipalities be amalgamated into four cities as
a way of giving local units more equal
assessment bases from which to pay for their
shares of social services.
The government decided to reduce the number
of municipalities to six rather than four. It also
transferred responsibility for social services and
school financing to the Metropolitan Toronto
Council and the Metropolitan Toronto School
Board.
These changes meant that Metros member
municipalities would contribute to the local share
of those services according to their ability to pay.
Eventually Five Regional
Municipalities...
While changes implemented in 1967
fell short of Goldenbergs
recommendation, they still
represented an attack on the
sanctity of local boundaries virtually
unheard of anywhere else in North
America.
The provincial government acted
similarly when it surrounded Metro
Toronto with regional governments in
the 1970s. Between 1967 and 1974
the number of municipalities in what is
now defined as the Greater Toronto
Area was reduced from 66 to 30.
urbanizing regions as social communities, not
simply as interdependent economies, had been
embraced.
Consequently the government vested
responsibility for financing schools and social
services in regional school boards and regional
councils, just as it had done in Metropolitan
Toronto.
Local government restructuring was not the only
way by which the government acted on the idea
that shared participation in an urban economy
implies shared responsibility for the needs of the
urban community.
This same idea was implicit in government
P R O P E R T Y
TAX AND
GRANT
REFORM ARE
NOW AT THE
TOP OF THE
LIST OF ISSUES
decisions during the 1950s, 60s
and 70s to make or increase
contributions to public welfare
assistance, public education, social
housing, urban public transit and
other local services.
It influenced government decisions
to base some of its contributions
(most notably grants for education)
on municipal ability to pay and
various measures of municipal need.
It was also used in government
attempts to reform local property
taxation and the local municipal
grant structure in the 1970s.
Because attempts to reform the
municipal finance system were
largely unsuccessful, property tax and grant
An important objective of regional government
reform are now at the top of the list of issues the
was to spread the costs of servicing the
provinces growing urban populations over
expanded local tax bases. However, in
restructuring local government into regions, the
provincial government stopped short of treating
the entire Metro Toronto area as a regional
community. Instead, it assigned responsibility
for regional services to five separate upper-tier
units, each with its own set of boundaries and
legally-mandated responsibilities.
Certain Needs Require Shared
Responsibility...
By the time the regional governments were
created, however, the principle of viewing
GTA Task Force must address.
SHARING HAS WORKED...
Provincial grant policies shifted some of the
costs of local services to the provincial income
tax, thereby making Metro taxpayers, with their
relatively high incomes, net contributors to
services provided residents in many other parts
of the province, including residents of regions
surrounding Metro.
The policies also left Metros municipalities, with
their relatively high assessments, more reliant
on their own resources and less reliant on
provincial grants than most other municipalities.
14
CITY OF YORK 95
Even so, in a policy context influenced by the
principle of shared responsibility, Metro and its
six municipal members have fared well, in
comparison to core municipalities in other North
American urban regions.
The principle of shared responsibility has
recently come under attack from provincial and
municipal officials, some of them inside Metro.
These critics argue for a system of GTA
governance based primarily on the principle of
municipal self-reliance, for a weakening or
elimination of upper-tier governments, and for
limiting the provincial governments role in the
administration of local services.
The City of York does not support this position.
In Yorks view, the principle of municipal self-
reliance in policies for GTA governance or
finance would make Metros economic decline
difficult or impossible to reverse.
It would also lead to serious erosion in the
quality of life in the City of York and in other
GTA municipalities.
Thus, it would contribute to the gradual
disappearance of those characteristics that have
won the Metro Toronto area admiration, not just
in North America but throughout the world.
Principle of Shared Responsibility
The City of York therefore urges the GTA Task
Force to reaffirm the principle of shared
responsibility stated by Cumming and
Golden berg and to use it as the basis for
evaluating alternative proposals for restructuring
the present system of municipal finance and
local governance.
At the same time, it asks the Task Force to
recognize that individual municipalities have
unique characteristics which allow them to
make distinctive and important contributions
to the economic and social health of the
GTA, and to recommend a system of
governance that will enable them to go on
doing so.
What it favours is a system of governance
that allows for municipal self-realization
within a context of shared resources and
responsibilities.
This position comes from an historical
assessment of the way the Citys economy and
social structure have evolved within the regional
context, and from a sense of pride in recent
community initiatives to deal with the challenges
of economic restructuring and rapid
demographic and cultural change.
Municipal Financial Arrangements
Critical
At the time of Metros creation the Township of
York, with a population of over 100,000, was the
second largest of the areas thirteen
municipalities. It received fewer advantages
from Metros large investments in new capital
works than did the outer suburbs because it
already had some of the services Metro was
created to provide, and because it had less land
available for new development.
Nonetheless York did benefit from Metro
improvements to the areas water supply and
arterial road systems, and from Metros
decisions to support the construction and
extension of an east-west subway along Bloor
Street.
Despite a 25% increase in population between
1953 and 1963 and a 44.5%. increase in total
taxable assessment, Yorks total assessment
per capita declined in relation to the Metro
average, from 76.2% to 68.5% (Table 3.1).
Large and persistent disparities in the per capita
assessments of Metros thirteen municipalities
prompted Commissioner Goldenberg to
recommend the restructuring of Metro into four
municipalities.
His proposal called for the amalgamation of the
Townships of York and East York, the Town of
Leaside, and the Villages of Forest Hill and
Swansea with the City of Toronto.
The provincial government opted instead for six
municipalities. It enlarged the Township slightly
by amalgamating it with the Village of Weston,
thereby creating the Borough of York. The
change meant a slight improvement in Yorks
total and non-residential assessment per capita
in relation to the Metro average.
CITY OF YORK 95
15
Table 3.1
Per Capital Assessment in the City of York 1954-1994
Total
Assessment
per capita
as % of
Metro
average
Non .
residential
assessment
per capita as
% of Metro
average
Non -
residential
assessment
as % of total
assessment
Non -
Total
Assessment
per capita
assessment
per capita
1580.98
1817.05
76.2 28.9
68.5 31.8
+
1967 141,562
1974 142,297
1909.98
2115.69
72.7
70.0
32.5
30.7
2382.78 56.5
1) Goldenberg
526,61 29.0
(1965), 11, 79-01 and (2) Jarrett, G
22.1
old & Elliot, 3,
13; and supplied by (3) Ontario Ministry of Finance, Regional Assessment Office
Welfare & Education
Financing...Regional
Responsibilities
Since 1989, the twin forces of world wide
recession and economic restructuring have
resulted in the loss of 176,000 jobs, or more
than 8% of all jobs in the GTA. By early 1994,
the number of unemployed in the Toronto
Census Metropolitan Area reached 233,000, or
just under 12%. In Metro the number of persons
receiving general welfare assistance soared to
over 220,000 (lO
O
/. of Metros population) in the
same period, with case-loads tripling since
1989, from 40,000 to 120,000.
At the peak of the recession, over 36 million sq.
ft. (over one square mile) of floor space was
empty in industrial buildings in Metro. In the
GTA as a whole, over 80 million sq. ft. of
industrial space lay empty at the end of 1993.
Vacancy rates within Metro and the GTA have,
however, steadily declined since early 1994. At
a vacancy rate of 9.4%, Yorks rate is the
second lowest in Metro (Torontos is at 8%).
Scarborough and Etobicoke are each about
15%; and North York and East York are 130A.
Across the GTA, vacancy rates run from highs
of 23% in Pickering and 15% in Burlington, to
lows of 7% in Brampton, Vaughan and
Markham.
In York, approximately 1.6 million sq. ft. of
industrial space, out of an inventory of 17 million
sq. ft., is presently vacant. Much of this vacant
space is in large buildings which are more than
30 years old. These larger spaces are
considered by the brokerage community to be
functionally non-competitive. However, there
has been surprising activity in the adaptive re-
Of much greater significance for York and other
Metro municipalities long term well-being,
however, were government decisions to transfer
responsibility for general welfare assistance and
public school financing to the Metropolitan
Toronto Council and the Metropolitan Toronto
School Board.
These changes meant that the quality of these
services provided to residents of York, which
registered the lowest average family income and
the lowest assessment per capita in Metro,
would be roughly equivalent to those provided in
other parts of Metro.
Robarts Commission: Boundary
Changes Recommended
Improvements in Yorks assessment resulting
from reorganization proved to be short-lived. By
1973 Yorks assessment per capita had fallen in
relation to the Metro average. The second
Royal Commission on Metropolitan Toronto (the
Robarts Commission), after noting continuing
disparities in local assessments, recommended
that York and East York be enlarged by adding
to them parts of North York, Toronto and
Scarborough. The proposed boundary changes
would have meant population increases for
Metros two smallest municipalities and
16
CITY OF YORK 9 5
use of such buildings.
Very recently, large buildings which had been
vacated by major local companies that either left
or closed down, are being converted for creative
re-use. Two current examples are the new
International Food Trades Centre on St. Clair
Ave. W., and the proposal to convert the former
Cooper Canada building into an International
Trade Centre for small businesses.
The losses in manufacturing employment may
have hit its peak through the worst of the
recession, as job loss between 1993 and 1994
was less than 2%. Increasingly, however, the
Metropolitan Toronto and York economies are
depending on smaller, non-manufacturing
service businesses. Today, over 60% of Yorks
companies are small, having less than 10
employees. This is a trend that is
expected to continue in York and
across Metro and other parts of the
GTA. It is vital that new employment
sectors to replace Yorks traditional
manufacturing base be aggressively
pursued.
Small retailing is a particularly
important sector in York. The
percentage of Yorks employment
devoted to retailing is substantially
higher than for Metro as a whole -
26% of the total jobs in York, versus
16% for Metro. This sector has a
strong multi-cultural and multi-ethnic
base which mirrors the residential
population of the City. York Council
Subway. In very recent meetings with the
Provincial Government, the City has received
assurances that the July announcement on the
subway by the Minister of Finance is a deferral,
and that the subway will be re-commenced.
York: Primary Immigrant
Reception Area
York is a primary reception area for immigrants
and refugees in Canada. While Yorks
importance as a site of manufacturing
employment has been declining, the City has
been fulfilling an equally important but less
productive role in terms of providing jobs and
generating assessment in the Toronto area
economy: that of accommodating immigrants and
refugees to Canada and helping them adapt to
YORK ISA
PRIMARY
RECEPTION
AREA FOR
IMMIGRANTS
AND
REFUGEES IN
CANADA
the Canadian economy and society.
Just as Metro attracts a higher
proportion of new immigrants than any
other Canadian city, so York attracts a
higher proportion of immigrants than any
other Metro municipality.
Just over 50% of the Citys population in
1991 was born outside Canada (City of
York Community and Agency Social
Planning Council 1994, 6). Many
immigrants and refugees begin their stay
in York. As they become established
and move on, their places are taken by
other newcomers.
Thus York has experienced a gradual
has targeted retailing as a key component of
decline in the proportion of its residents who trace
community economic development-and renewal.
Employment in the office sector has remained
relatively stable, with losses of less than 400
employees in this sector through the recession.
By 1990, office employment actually increased
from the mid- 1980s level by about 25%, but
declined by almost the same amount during the
recessionary period between 1991 and 1993.
Between 1993 and 1994, office employment in
the City of York has actually increased by nearly
4%, while Metro has declined by almost the
same amount. However, any significant
increase in this sector will be dependent on the
progress of the York City Centre and the re-
starting of construction of the Eglinton West
their origins to the United Kingdom and Europe,
and a gradual increase in the proportion of
residents who trace their origins to Latin America,
the Caribbean and Bermuda, India, Asia and
Africa.
There are a number of reasons why York has
become the GTAs primary immigrant reception
area.
The most important is probably its location, which
gives its residents relatively good bus access to
most other parts of Metro, and thus to ethnic
support groups and institutions and to a range of
job possibilities. Housing prices are lower in the
City of York than other parts of Metro, adding to
the advantages of Yorks central location.
CITY OF YORK 95
17
Table 3.2
Selected Characteristics of GTA Municipalities
Municipality % Mother % Housing
Tongue other rented rather
than English or than owned,
French. 1991 1991
Average census
family income,
1991
% families with
Income above
the O atinnal
average
% pnpulation Unempl oyment Unempl oyment
with less than rate, males rate, females.
Grade 9
education, 1991
9.5
9.5
10.0
9.1
30.7 54.9
35.2
43.3
42,3
-
50.7
$55,434
$61932
S63,394
$54,612
$65.116
$50,619
10.5
9.8
7.8
8.7
11.4
12.4
8
16. 1
9.7
9.1
8.6
10.5
33.4
37.8
42. 7
41.2
62.2
5 3 . 9
10.7
12. 2
$62.646
848,265
$59,496
$54,386
$67,669
$6(3.911
$68,278
$67.660
18
11
14
8
6 A 6.4
6.4
8.7
9.9
19.1
18.8
16.7
37.2
16.2
16.5
22.2
23.6
5.5
6.5
9.1
5.6
5.4
5.0
6.3
12
29
6.6
11.1
24
$69,365
$65,428
$70,802
$81,094
6.3
6.4
5.7
5.1
6.5
6.6
4.7
6.5
11.5 28.6
9.3 22.1
9.6 22.7
18.9 24.1
8.3
6.4
8.3
23.9
15.2
32,5
27.4
13.5
35.0
$61,332
$76,907
$63.565
13
40
20
3.0
4.8
7.7
7.0
7.3
5.3
9.0
4.9
10.6 22.5
8.8 12.6
7.8 19.9
$77.329
$68.170
$51,398
$86.891
$79,729
$68,279
$72,464
19.2
31.6
10.9
31.5
46.0
16.3
15.9 4.9
4.0
6.3
13.0
7.1
6.3
6.1
8.2
23.1
23.5
10.1 $75,165
7.2 4,4 5.6
11.1 22,0 $71,769 37
Post. Canadian Markets, 1994.
Whatever the reasons, the large number of
.
immigrants settling in York, in conjunction with
York has the highest percentage of residents
in the GTA with less than a Grade 9
education.
The unemployment rates for both males and
females in York is the highest in the GTA.
Yorks continuing role as a residential
community for industrial workers, has created
special challenges for Yorks municipal/
.
educational institutions, social agencies and
community groups.
The nature of those challenges can be inferred
YORK DEMONSTRATES
from a comparison of Yorks population
INNOVATIVE LOCAL
characteristics with those of other GTA
municipalities (Table 3.2):
GOVERNANCE
Average family income in the City of York in
York is responding simultaneously to severe
1991 was the second lowest in the GTA.
challenges to its economy and to its
cohesiveness as a community,
Only 3% of York families have incomes above
the national average.
These challenges stem from factors over which
the City of York has had virtually no control: its
Nearly 43% of York residents have a mother
geographic location within the GTA; the
tongue other than English and French.
movement to the suburbs of industries seeking
.
.
.
18 CITY OF YORK 9 5
more space, cheaper land or lower taxes;
federally-negotiated free trade agreements that
have led some local industries to relocate to the
United States and Mexico, others to cease
operations altogether; and federal immigration
policy.
Nonetheless the City of York, as a
community and as an administrative unit,
has responded with energy and imagination
in two ways:
B through collaborative efforts among City
departments, volunteer agencies and
members of the community; and,
B through actions taken by individual agencies.
i) Multi-Agency & Community-
Based Initiatives
.
B
Development of a mixed use City
Corporate and Residential Centre in the
geographic heart of the City linked to rapid
transit. Spearheaded by the Citys Planning
and Economic Development Department, and
involving other City agencies, businesses and
residents in a City Centre Working Committee
and a Transportation and Regulatory Task
Force, it will help York attract a larger share of
the service jobs that are becoming an
increasingly important component of the Metro
economy. It will also help strengthen the
Citys non-residential tax base.
Community Economic Development
Program based on recommendations made
by a Community Economic Development
Advisory Committee (CEDAC) that completed
its work in June, 1995, after a comprehensive
community consultation process. Described
as quietly developing Greater Torontos
most innovative and potentially most
effective economic development strategy
(Globe & Mail, Barber 1995), CEDACS 24
recommended action plans are based on four
strategic directions, or programs to: 1)
provide support to small local businesses; 2)
encourage businesses to stay in York and
attract new business; 3) develop effective use
of community resources by identifying
promising business niches, building on Yorks
multicultural nature and the links it provides to
international markets, and providing
appropriate training to community residents;
and, 4) foster ongoing consultation and
collaboration between the community and its
local government.
One of CEDACS early accomplishments was an
agreement among the City of York, the City of
Toronto and the Province of Ontario with the
potential of creating a two million dollar package
of incentives for the specialty food industry.
(City of York Community Economic
Development Advisory Committee 1995, 24-25).
.
.
.
The Learning Enrichment Foundation
(LEF), established 16 years ago to address
the educational and training needs of Yorks
population, was involved in the following
activities in 1995: 1 ) an employment
counseling centre that provides services in
more than twenty languages; 2) the York
Business Opportunities Centre and several
self-employment training programs to foster
self-employment and local job creation; 3) 15
day care centres and nursery programs for
more than 600 children of parents who work
or are in job training; 4) a variety of skill
training courses ranging in length from eight
hours to 26 weeks, as well as courses in
English as a Second Language for
newcomers to Canada. (The Learning
Enrichment Foundation 1995).
York Community Services (YCS), a
multidisciplinary, multi-service centre, headed
by a community board, provides York
residents with one-stop shopping for health,
legal and community services. YCS has
worked to develop programs that address the
needs of a wide range of cultural groups. For
example, it initiated the first program in Metro
for the Somali community, and has developed
close working relationships with the
Vietnamese and Tamil communities. With the
help of a large group of volunteers it provides
services in 17 languages.
The York Community and Agency Social
Planning Council (YCASP), one of Metros
newest Social Planning Councils, conducts
research on the Citys social characteristics,
which it publishes in an annual Community
Profile of the City of York; works with the City
and the United Way to train volunteers for
social agencies; operates a program to
combat racism among young children; works
CITY OF YORK 9 5
1 9
to improve relations between the police and
community youth; and brings together
community groups to plan and coordinate
services. A recent outcome of its coordination
role is the Program Without Walls, run by a
committee representing eight different mental
health agencies who are trying to eliminate
service overlaps (thereby cutting costs) while
ensuring that clients receive the type of
services they need.
ii) Initiatives Taken By City
Departments and Local
Government Agencies
Some of Yorks collaborative initiatives are
unique within Metro, while others have served
as models for other communities. The same
can be said for initiatives taken by City
departments to improve service, reduce costs,
or both.
.
.
.
.
The Works Department was the first in
Canada to adopt the inlet control
method of flood control Introduced in
Denmark, it allows storm water to be stored in
large underground tanks until the storm is
over and water can be released into the sewer
system at a controlled rate. This technique
solved a serious flooding problem much
earlier than if the City had constructed
separate storm sewers, and at considerable
savings. The method was subsequently
sanctioned by the Ministry of the Environment
for widespread use.
Yorks Works Department was the first in
Metro to introduce the Blue Box Recycling
Program.
Through innovative programs in the Sanitation
Division, the Works Department now has the
lowest solid waste collection costs in
The turnaround time for development
approvals through Yorks Planning &
Economic Development Department is
among the fastest in the GTA. Yorks size
allows for issues to be worked out with all
Departments and the community at an early
stage, before they become problems and
result in delay.
Yorks Planning & Economic Development
Department was one of the first in Canada
to fast-track
]
large development projects
by hiring outside planning consultants to
assist in their processing. Charging back
these costs to applicants resulted in savings
to the City of over $500,000 in 1992/1993.
The Economic Development Division has won
awards from the American Economic
Development Council, Economic Developers
Association of Canada and the Economic
Developers Council of Ontario. The 1995
Royal Bank Community Economic
Development Award was presented to the
City and its Community Economic
Development Advisory Committee (CEDAC)
for inovation, creating partnerships and results
Because of its small size and modest
budget, it has had to do more with less,
and has mobilized assistance from
hundreds of volunteers (e.g. CEDAC,
Humber College, business seminars, joint
trade show exhibits, etc.)
Yorks Legal Department was the first in the
GTA to obtain warrants to inspect for
occupancy zoning infractions, pursuant to
provincial Bill 120.
Yorks Animal Control Section opened the first
Wildlife Rehab and Transfer Station in Metro,
and took leadership in establishing a Metro-
wide database to share information on lost
and found animals. In addition, it opened the
first municipal low-cost sterilization clinic in
Canada and the first municipal rabies
vaccination clinic in Metro ; and was the first
animal shelter in Metro to provide the Board of
Education with animal patrols of school
property and educational programs for
students.
The Fire Departments response time is the
fastest in the Metropolitan Toronto area. Its
Policy and Operational Guidelines Manual,
including a Career Path Manual, is considered
innovative and progressive.
The Clerks Department reduced the cost of
running the Municipal Election from $430,000
to $225,000 in the last election.
The Health Units York Centre for Health is
Ontarios only drop-in health promotion
20 CITY OF YORK 9 5
B
facility. The Units Basic She/f Cookbook

and a companion volume, the Food
Experience Teaching Manual are being
widely used by other units across Canada.
Its board game for school children, Sexual
Jeopardy, based on a popular TV game show,
is also used by other units.
York Hydro was the first major electrical
utility in Ontario to complete a conversion
of its system to a distribution voltage of
27,600 volts. The conversion allowed it to
eliminate 18 municipal transformer
substations while improving operating
efficiency through a significant reduction in
energy losses. York Hydro possesses the
best safety record of any electrical utility in the
province including Ontario Hydro. The utility
recorded its last lost time accident on
February 24, 1989 and to date, has
accumulated a remarkable total of 1,223,942
no lost time consecutive hours.
The Library Board has received the Angus
Mowat Award of Merit from the Ministry of
Citizenship and Culture for its software
lending services. It was also the first board
in the province to circulate CD-ROMS.
Cost-Effective & Responsive Local
Administration
Strained circumstances and reductions in
provincial government funding have made it
necessary for the City of York to adapt to
economic and social change with less
money. The Citys per capita spending has
declined since 1992, as it has in five of Metros
six municipalities (Table 3.3), and the City has
not raised property taxes for the past two years.
York has used a number of techniques to
reduce costs while maintaining or improving
services, including:
i)
ii)
changes to streamline departmental
operations (in 1992 the Citys General
Government overhead expenditures per
household were the lowest in Metro and
seventh best in the GTA - see Table 3.4);
staff reductions (the City has had the largest
percentage reduction in civic staff of any Metro
municipality since 1983- see Table 3.5);
Table 3.3
Per Capita Spending in Metros
Six Municipalities, 1991 and 1995
1992
I I
1995
Expenditure Expenditure
Municipality per capita Rank per capita Rank
East York 517,55 2 570.25 5
Et.abicOke 589.82 5 436.13 2
NmttIYork I 566.02 I 4 j 467.70 I 4 I
SXIdxm gh I 452.42 I 1 I 406,66 I 1 1
Source: City of York Finance Depatiment
Table 3.5
Changes to Area Municipality and
Metro Staff, 1983-1993
East York 455 443 (2.6)
Etobicoke 1,746 1,665 (3.5)
North York 2,524 2,744 6.7
Metro 8,886 13,140 47.9
All 22,133 27,219 23.0
* 1966 figure as 1963 not available
Source: City of York Human Resources Services Department
Table 3.6
Comparative Performance of Local Public Library
Systems in Metropolitan Toronto, 1993
Municipality Local Circulation Circulation
support per capita per dollar
per capita spent
East York
32.72 9.55 0.26
Etobicoke
40.08 12.86 0.28
North York 56.25 10.32 0.16
Scarborough
38.02 11.87 0.28
Toronto 49.60 11.96 0.21
Source: The City of York Public Library
CITY OF YORK 9 5 2 1
Table 3.4
Overhead Costs of Local Government
per Household in the GTA, 1992*
In 1993, unpublished information shows York lowest in Metro and third lowest in the GTA
source: Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs -1992 Municipal Financial Information
City of York Finance Department
September, 1995
iii) effective safety programs that have
reduced costs associated with accidents and
lost time due to injuries;
iv) cooperative arrangements for service
v)
provision e.g. with York Hydro performing
administrative services for the Citys water
customers and with City departments
cooperating with other local governments in
purchasing, insurance services, information
sharing agreements, and pension fund
management; and,
extensive use of community volunteers on
task forces and committees and in the actual
provision of services. For example, the
Health Unit is now using a train the trainer
model of program delivery to teach community
members to help others, thereby reducing
demands on Health Unit personnel.
Presently the City is in the final stages of an
administrative reorganization of all
departments aimed at further efficiencies
and cost reductions. The management
consultant has stated that Yorks local
government displays many of the characteristics
that private corporations now seek by breaking
up large bureaucracies into smaller operations.
These characteristics include co-operative
relationships among different parts of the civic
administration; avoidance of excessive
specialization; and accessibility and
accountability to constituents.
York is doing a good job and positioning itself to
be even better. It is a lean, effective and
efficient organization. Its size allows it to use
the close to the customer approach now being
followed by private enterprise. Over the past
four years, the City undertook a review of its
governance procedures and has since put in
place more than thirty specific changes.
Service Levels
While controlling costs, City of York
departments and agencies have managed to
improve the quality of local services and
responsiveness to the community.
A computerized library cataloging and
circulation control system installed in 1990, for
example, allows York residents to access the
library catalogue from home. The library had
the lowest level of per capita funding but the
22
CITY OF YORK 95
highest circulation per dollar in Metro in
1 9 9 3 (Table 3.6).
Board of Education and City facilities
resulting in large savings to the taxpayer.
York Hydro is implementing a new computerized
control and data acquisition system which will
oversee the Citys entire electrical network from
a central control room to identify and deal with
problems quickly.
York Hydro has the lowest residential rates and
among the lowest commercial rates in the GTA.
Cost Efficiencies Through
Partnerships
Inter-municipal and inter-agency agreements
can be a highly effective way of achieving cost
efficiencies. The following are striking examples
available of where this is happening in the City
In 1995, York Hydro reduced its retail rates by of York:
2.5%, the largest reduction in Metro
Toronto.
The Citys high proportion of low
income residents and recent
immigrants makes it particularly
difficult for the Health Unit to reduce
costs while maintaining an
appropriate level of service.
In recent years the City has had
among the highest rates of
tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea,
chlamydia and teen age pregnancy
in Ontario, resulting in a higher per
capita cost than in more wealthy
I N T E R MU N I C I P AL
AND
INTERAGENcY
AGREEMENTS
CAN ACHIEVE
COST
EFFICIENCY
,. .
a) Board of Education
The Citys Parks and Recreation
Department has extensive shared-
use agreements with the City of York
Board of Education for use of City and
Board facilities. A Committee of
Mutual Concerns has also been set
up which monitors existing shared
use and it is continuously looking at
additional opportunities and
efficiencies. The Parks & Recreation
Department, in working with the
Board on this joint use model, is a
leading edge example of making
municipalities. Nonetheless, at 5% of total things work for the taxpayer.
expenditures, the Health Units
administrative costs are lower than those of b) City of York and other Governments
Even with limited resources, the City of York
has successfully leveraged additional
resources by effectively partnering with other
cities and levels of government to attain
mutually beneficial goals in a cost-efficient
manner. This has included forging
partnerships to undertake planning and
economic development studies and programs.
Examples of these partnerships include:
the recent Memorandum of Understanding
between the Province and the Cities of York
and Toronto in developing initiatives that
would create over 2000 jobs in the food
processing sector.
the City of York/City of North York
Intermunicipal Industrial Study, where the two
cities, with the strong participation of local
private businesses, formed an alliance to
develop a strategic plan for an aging, yet
viable, industrial district that crosses the
border between the two municipalities.
B the City of York and the City of Toronto jointly
funded a study of policies and procedures
relating to the storage, delivery and
commercial sales of propane.
Yorks Human Service Delivery
System
Because of the nature and demographics of the
York - low literacy and educational attainment, a
primary immigrant receiving area, a re-
industrialized economy and historically a
bedroom suburb for the City of Toronto - a
middle class leadership strata did not evolve in
the community until recently. The result of this
leadership vacuum was that the community-
based human service delivery system did not
evolve as it did in other parts of
Metro. While on a province-wide
basis during the 1970s and 1980s a
massive expansion of the human
service delivery system occurred,
only one major Human Service
Agency developed in the City of
York.
In response to the incredible needs
of the community, local government
bodies - the Board of Education,
Board of Health and Council -
stepped in. The reality is that much
of the human service delivery system
in York is financed or sustained by
the property tax base.
Local government has not only financed and
attempted to fill the void left by other levels of
government but actively provides the leadership
and training for human service organizations in
the community.
THE YORK EXPERIENCE: A
MODEL FOR THE GTA
It is clear from the City of Yorks experience that
there is an impressive capacity for local initiative
and innovation in the GTAs present system of
local governance.
In Yorks case, the Citys relatively small size
has contributed to these qualities by making it
easier for officials and volunteer agencies to
THERE IS AN
IMPRESSIVE
CAPACITY FOR
LOCAL INITIATIVE
AND INNOVATION IN
THE GTAs
PRESENT SYSTEM OF
LOCAL GOVERNANCE
keep abreast of the rapid changes
taking place, maintain formal and
informal public consultations, and
establish cooperative arrangements
among different Departments.
Yorks initiatives have been
helped by the financial support
and cooperation of other
governments.
For example, the City Corporate and
Residential Centre was a joint
planning effort among the City,
Metro and the province, with private
sector partners. The development is
designed to tie into the Eglinton subway line
and a new Transportation Gateway/GO Transit
Most of Yorks community resources for
childrens mental health services exists in the
student services department of the Board of
Education. Much of the local services for
seniors are financed through Parks and
Recreation, Board of Health, and Board of
Education programs. Yorks sole provider of
literacy training for adults is the York Board of
Education. YCASP and the Community
Information Centre for the City of York exist only
because of the core funding that York City
Council provides.
As York developed over the late 1980s and
1990s, the level of social capital increased.
Interest in serving on community-based agency
boards is extremely high. Unfortunately, last in
means first to be cut, and many York agencies
have struggled to survive provincial funding cuts.
station, and culminated in a tri-party
Memorandum of Understanding.
Provincial government employment programs
have provided CEDAC with some support. LEF
operates with a large budget supported by
federal, provincial and municipal grants, fees
charged to clients, local fund-raising activities
and private donations.
A large proportion of the YCS budget comes
from the Province, which has supported the
agencys commitment to maintaining program
flexibility and working closely with
neighbourhoods. YCASP works with a relatively
small budget derived from grants from the City
and the provincial government, plus a large staff
of volunteers.
24
CITY OF YORK 95
Many of Yorks initiatives have brought together
representatives of different community agencies
and organizations and have used a variety of
means to involve local residents and community
groups in program planning and initiation.
The City of York continues to be a leader in its
efforts to respond effectively to the needs of a
rapidly-changing urban society. In doing so, it
has also worked to reduce the costs
associated with overlapping programs and
inter-agency competition for scarce resources.
It has managed to cultivate a positive sense of
community within a highly diverse population
while acting as a fiscally responsible unit of
local administration. It has also made an
important contribution to the social cohesion
of the GTA by helping newcomers participate
fully and effectively in the regional economy.
York asks the GTA Task Force to devise a system
.of governance for the region that builds on Yorks
experience in ways which allow York and other
GTA municipalities to go on contributing actively
and effectively to the regions social and economic
health, regardless of the relative strength of their
local economies.
SIX PRINCIPLES FOR
EVALUATING CHANGES TO THE
WAY THE GTA OPERATES
Sharing
Yorks experience suggests six principles the GTA
Task Force should use in evaluating options for
modernizing the areas system of local governance.
Principle #1. Shared contributions and shared
benefits require a sharing of local resources.
Yorks experience illustrates the importance of
maintaining a system of areawide governance that
recognizes the linkage between the well-being of
the entire area and the well-being of its individual
municipalities.
Principle #2: Local systems of government
should be structured in a way that allows for
frequent interactions and a sharing of ideas
among local public officials, community
organizations and local residents.
Yorks experience also illustrates the potential for
innovation and community-building that can exist
in municipalities defined by long-standing legal
boundaries.
While such boundaries may deny local
administrative units and community organizations
access to the local revenues needed to function
more effectively entirely on their own, they may
also generate a sense of communal identity and
responsibility.
In the case of the City of York, the municipalitys
relatively small size has helped local agencies
devise community- based responses to
economic change and the needs of a diverse
population by facilitating interaction among
Iocal public officials, community groups and
private citizens.
Outside Help, Flexibly Administered
Principle #3: Local programs that benefit the
larger community (regional, provincial or
national) should be able to draw most of their
funding from the pooled resources of all
municipalities in the metropolitan area, and
from federal and provincial sources. At the
same time, external funding agencies should
administer their programs in ways that permit
or encourage municipal initiative and
innovation, and that allow for differences in the
social and economic characteristics of
different municipalities.
Many of the City of Yorks achievements were
made possible by the ability of its local
government and volunteer agencies to secure
funds or technical advice from Metropolitan
Toronto and from provincial and federal
government sources. York organizations would
be unable to finance and administer many of their
programs without help from outside the
community.
Smallness, Interaction & Ideas
CITY OF YORK 9 5
2 5
Simpler & Cheaper Government,
No Duplication
Principle #4: Revised arrangements for local
finance and local governance in the GTA
should aim 1) to make government simpler
and easier to understand and 2) to reduce
government costs by eliminating
unnecessary duplication of effort where it
exists, and by promoting cooperation and
coordination among public and private
agencies with overlapping concerns.
Despite the substantial base of community
support that underlies the City of Yorks self-help
programs, there is widespread opposition in
York, as there is in the rest of the GTA, to any
increase in government costs or complexities.
Participants in Yorks programs attribute some
of those costs and complexities to inadequate
communication between different government
agencies, both locally and intergovernmentally,
or to an unwillingness on the part of some
agencies to cooperate with others.
Consider the Future
Principle #5: It is imperative to consider the
long-term as well as the short-term
implications of changes in GTA governance
for the financial and social health of the GTA
and its municipal members.
In the present economic and political climate
there is a danger that the urge to cut
government costs or eliminate duplication of
effort may override a concern with achieving
other goals, including that of maintaining the
economic and social health of the GTAs core.
In Yorks case, the elimination of programs that
help sustain local economic development and
maintain socially-cohesive communities are
likely to bring an end to such programs.
An Equitable, Understandable &
Flexible Tax Base
Principle #6. While the basis for sharing
local tax revenues should be made as
equitable and understandable as possible, it
should also allow for measures to alleviate
damaging impacts of tax reform on
financially-vulnerable taxpayers.
The likelihood that there will be further cuts in
provincial spending adds to the importance of
sharing locally generated revenues among GTA
municipalities in ways that allow all of them to
help build a strong GTA economy and a socially-
cohesive regional community.
A sharing of local revenues implies that
municipalities with larger per capita
assessments will have to contribute more
(relative to the size of their populations) than
municipalities with lower ones.
It is important that the basis for sharing
resources is widely seen to be equitable in its
treatment of municipal tax bases and individual
taxpayers.
It is also important, however, to recognize that a
system of local taxation designed to achieve
fairness in the treatment of municipal
governments and taxpayers may impose
hardships on some municipalities or individual
taxpayers, and that these hardships call for
remedial measures during the implementation of
local tax reform.
In the next section we use these six principles
as a basis for assessing the implications for the
City of York of alternative approaches to local
finance and GTA governance.
The result could be increased social tensions
and public health problems among those
segments of the citys population that are
struggling to get established during a difficult
time. Such problems could quickly spread into
other parts of Metro and beyond.
CITY OF YORK 95
SHARED RESOURCES EQUAL
SHARED BENEFITS
In Part 3 we emphasized two points:
1) that for reasons having to do with its history and
location, with trends in the global economy, and
with the policies of other governments, the City
of York is under-resourced relative to other
Metropolitan Toronto municipalities.
2) that despite financial constraints, the City of
York is making valuable contributions to the
GTA economic and social well-being(i) by
promoting innovative, community-based
programs to strengthen the local and the
GTA economies and (ii) by providing a
hospitable and supportive environment for
recent immigrants. Because Yorks economic
development programs emerge out of
interactions with the citys multicultural
population, they enhance the GTAs potential to
develop economic links with other nations.
They also help newcomers acquire the
knowledge and skills to participate fully and
effectively in Canadian society.
The City of York has been able to respond
vigorously to economic and social change
because services vital to the citys well-being,
particularly public education and general welfare
assistance, are funded both by provincial grants
and out of the pooled tax revenues of Metros six
municipalities.
York can continue to perform a constructive role in
the GTA as long as these revenue sharing
mechanisms remain in place or are enhanced.
1. Strengthen Pooling Arrangements
Recommendation: The GTA Task Force
should recommend measures to strengthen
arrangements for pooling local property tax
and provincial income tax revenues to fund
local services that benefit the entire Greater
Toronto Area.
The City of Yorks responses to economic and
social change have been timely, innovative,
adaptive to the changing needs and
characteristics of the Iocal population, and
conducive to widespread community
involvement in their design and
implementation. Because York has always
known budget constraints, its agencies have kept
down costs by working closely with each other and
by making extensive use of community volunteers.
Yorks relatively small size has made it easier for
local agencies to operate in this way.
2. Strengthen Revenue Sharing
Recommendation: The City of York should
continue as a self-governing municipality with
the legal authority to respond to the needs of
its culturally diverse population. York is a
lean, efficient and effective administrative unit
which should be assured the financial means
to respond effectively.
Recommendation: The Task Force should
reaffirm the principle of area wide
responsibility for services of area wide benefit,
as stated by Lorne Cumming and Carl
Goldenberg, and make it a cornerstone of its
recommendations for GTA governance.
These recommendations tie-in with a context
where the costs of services of benefit to the entire
GTA are shared among all GTA municipalities.
CITY OF YORK 95
27
Options for GTA Governance
Among the revenue-sharing mechanisms the
GTA Task Force is likely to consider are:
1) maintenance of existing two-tier arrangements
for local government (i.e. maintenance of
the status quo) with small changes to
enhance efficiency;
2) creation of a single Greater Toronto Area
by replacement of the five upper-tier local
governments (Metropolitan Toronto and the
regional governments of Durham, York, Peel
and Halton);
3) a revised role for the provincial
government based on clear
distinctions between
provincial and local
responsibilities;
4) provincially-administered
local tax base pooling;
and
5) a revision of local
boundaries to make GTA
municipalities more equal in
population size and
assessment, could be
adopted either in conjunction
with or as an alternative to
any of the other four.
Because the revised boundary
mechanism conflicts with the
Citys desire to retain its
present identity, York would
THE CITY OF
YORK BENEFITS
BOTH DIRECTLY
AND
INDIRECTLY
FROM ITS
PARTICIPATION
IN
METROPOLITAN
TORONTO
regard it as a serious option only if it were the
only way to ensure that York residents would
continue to receive services of similar quality to
those available in other parts of the GTA, and at
similar cost to its taxpayers.
Time and resource limitations prevent us from
analyzing these options in depth. The following
discussion, which uses available data, simply
points out some of the more obvious
advantages and disadvantages of each of them
from Yorks perspective. It is our understanding
that these options are being investigated in
more detail by the Task Force.
REVIEWING THE OPTIONS
1) Incremental Changes to Existing
Arrangements
The City of Toronto has asked the provincial
government to dissolve the Municipality of
Metropolitan Toronto and replace it with an
Urban Toronto Regional Services Board
composed of the mayors of Metros six
municipalities.
This Board would administer only those services
agreed to by at least four of the areas six
municipalities containing 60% or more of the
regions population.
The City of York joins the Borough of East York
in opposing this proposal. York sees it as 1)
potentially damaging to the Citys interests and
2) likely to lead to increasing fiscal and service
disparities among the six municipalities over
time. Thus adoption of Torontos proposal could
lead to a gradual breakdown of Metros ability to
function as a cohesive, socially integrated
community.
The City of York benefits both directly and
indirectly from its participation in Metropolitan
Toronto.
a)
b)
Directly, it is a net beneficiary of those
services funded out of Metros assessment-
based levies on member municipalities (Table
4.1). With 6.2% of Metros population in 1993
York contributed 3.6% of Metros budget. The
disparity in the figures relates to the Citys two
dominant characteristics: a low per capita
assessment and a population made up of a
high proportion of blue collar workers and
recent immigrants. Because York had the
highest proportion (13%) of its population
drawing General Welfare Assistance in Metro
in 1993, it accounted for the highest per capita
share of Metros welfare spending (8.7%),
20% of which is financed by Metro (Figure A).
York also receives from the Metropolitan
Toronto School Board more than it pays into
the Metro education levy (Figure B).
Because York does not have to pay the full
local cost of services that Metro provides to its
residents, York has more to spend on its own
services. As Table 4.2 shows, Yorks current
28
CITY OF YORK 95
Table 4.1
Percentage of Population and Percentage of
Metros Six Municipalities, 1993
(e.g. policing, public transit) among GTA
municipalities according to need and their
ability-to-pay.
Municipality % of Metros % of Metro
1983 Assessed Levy 1993
Population
East York 4.5 3.1
Etobicoke 13.8 13.7
22.6
Toronto 27.8 41.5
York 6.2 3.6
Figure A
GWA Funding& Expenditure Ratios
(1993)
1
Toronto Scarborough North York Etobicoke
York East York
spending per capita is slightly higher than the
average per capita spending of the five
suburban municipalities, even though its total
assessment per capita is only 70% and its
property tax returns per capita are 74/0 of the
suburban averages (1994 data).
For York to continue to deal effectively with
the challenges it faces, therefore, it is
essential that the present two-tier system
either remain or be replaced by a system that
similarly spreads the local costs of public
education, general welfare assistance and
other services presently provided by Metro
York officials worry about the high potential
costs (financial and otherwise) of changes to
current arrangements. They suggest if the City
of York or specific functions performed by the
City of York were to be amalgamated with other
units, service costs would rise, service
providers would be less responsive to the needs
of Yorks culturally diverse population, and local
decision-makers would become less accessible
to local residents.
Recommendation: In keeping with the
principle of area-wide responsibility for
services of area-wide benefit, the Task Force
should recommend either a) that the present
two-tier system of local government
continue orb) that it be replaced by a
system that spreads the local costs of public
education, general welfare assistance and
other services of regional benefit among all
GTA municipalities according to their ability
to pay.
In general, City of York officials believe the
Metro system works well, and that Metro
services supplement rather than duplicate local
services. Figure C sets out the Metro and City
responsibilities.
The administrative changes officials would like
to see are incremental adjustments to existing
arrangements, not radical restructuring. They
usually involve increased use of inter-local
cooperative agreements to cut costs.
A few such agreements already exist, including
cooperative purchasing arrangements among
local finance departments; the sharing of a
dental director by four local health units; the
sharing of some insurance services; and
common management of pension funds.
Other areas where cooperative arrangements
are possible include computer operations;
firefighter recruiting; staff training and
development; safety training; legal services; use
of common insurance carriers for worker
benefits; and local property tax administration.
CITY OF YORK 95
29
Table 4.2
Total Assessment, Taxes and Spending Per Capita for Metro Municipalities
Munic. As %
M.T.
average
As % Of Total
suburban Txes/cap
average 1995
($)
As % Of AS Of Total
M.T. suburban Current
average average Expend./
cap.
1992
as % of as % of
Metro suburban
average average
East York
Etobi coke
North York
Scarboro
Toronto
York
2762
4224
3831
2809
5762
2289
68
104
95
69
142
5 7
84 1358
128 1985
116 1804
85 1356
175 2927
70 1168
69 87 518
100 126 590
91 115 568
68 86 452
148 186 1113
5 9 74 519
75
85
82
65
161
7 5
101
115
111
88
217
101
M. T.
mu n i c . av g 4045 100
81
123 1979 100 126 691
79 100 514
100 134
5 suburbs
average 3290 100 1570 74 100
Source: Based on figures compiled by Municipal Tax Equity Consultants Inc, and supplied by the City of York Finance Department
Figure B
2 ) A Greater Toronto Area
Authority
Several submissions to the GTA Task Force
Education Funding & Expenditure Ratios
have argued for the replacement of Metropolitan
Toronto and the four regional governments with
some kind of Greater Toronto Area authority.
While different submissions have assigned
different names, structures and purposes to
such an authority, they have generally tended to
depict it as a mechanism for funding and
delivering major public utilities (e.g. public
transit, waste disposal, water supply and water
pollution control) or for promoting the GTA as an
attractive place to do business. They give less
attention to what such an authority might do to
offset disparities in local taxable wealth.
This omission may stem from an assumption
that the province will take over full financial
responsibility for education and general welfare
assistance. York does not think this is likely to
1
Toronto Scarborough North York Etobicoke Y o r k E a s t Y o r k
source: Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, Borough of East York, June,
1995, Review of Metropolitan Toronto Government
Recommendation: lf the Task Force
recommends retention of the present system
happen.
of local governance, it should identify ways
to make that system more cost effective and
Thus York cannot support the replacement of
more accountable and more understandable
the Metropolitan Toronto and regional
to GTA residents and taxpayers. These
governments with a Greater Toronto Area
should include ways to eliminate service
authority unless the latter is made responsible
overlaps and duplication, promote intra and
for redistributing a substantial portion of local tax
inter-governmental co-operation, and
revenues used for public education, public
streamline operations.
30 CITY OF YORK 95
Figure C
Who is Responsible for What?
METRO YORK
B Metro Police fire protection
B TTC B hydro
B Metro Ambulance B health services
B WheelTrans B marriage
B social services licenses
B traffic control * local libraries
B maj or roads B collection of
B regional parks garbage &
B welfare assistance recycl abl e
B sewer & water B dog licensing &
service pound services
B child care B zoning
B reference libraries B sidewalks
B homes for the aged B street lighting
B garbage disposal B parking lots &
B processing of permits
recyclable B traffic
B Metro Zoo regulations
B business licensing B pedestrian
B municipal golf cross-overs
courses local parks
B expressways & their B recreation &
lighting community
B Exhibition Place centres
B Toronto Islands/ B tax collection
ferry service B building
B OKeefe Centre by-laws
B non-profit housing B residental
streets
B collection of
water bills
SHARED RESPONSIBILITIES
B parks
B planning
B roads
B sewage disposal
B water supply
B solid waste management
B libraries
B licensing & inspection
B economic development
B snow removal
B traffic signs
B collection of fines
B storm drainage
B property management
welfare assistance and other social services on
the basis of local need and ability to pay.
3 ) A Revised Provincial Grant
Structure
An alternative to recommending a GTA authority
is to ask the provincial government to assume
the full costs of public education and general
welfare assistance while leaving municipal
councils and school boards responsible for
administering these services.
To balance the shift of costs to the province,
municipalities would become fully responsible
for other functions now partially funded by
conditional grants.
This process of disentangling local and
provincial responsibilities is viewed as a way to
make local administration simpler and therefore
less costly, and to strengthen municipal
governments by giving them full control over
virtually all local functions except those that
clearly involve income redistribution or that can
be delivered more effectively and efficiently on
an areawide scale.
Yorks Concerns...
York sees three problems with this proposal.
a) First, it is unlikely that the provincial
government will agree to expand its
responsibilities as long as it remains
preoccupied with reducing government
expenditures.
b) Second, in the event that the government did
move in this direction, it is unlikely that
municipalities would continue to have much
influence over social programs to which they
did not contribute financially. At the very
least it would become difficult and time-
consuming for local public officials and
community groups to initiate or change
programs in response to changing local
needs. Moreover, if municipal governments
lacked either the responsibility or the
authority to respond to social and educational
needs within their communities, an important
source of program innovation and renewal
would disappear from the management of
local affairs.
CI TY OF YORK 9 5
31
Table 4.3
Impact of Provincial Unconditional Grants on
the Revenues of Metro Toronto Municipalities
Municipality Unconditional As% of Total Res. & As% of Total Taxes/capita As% of
grants/capita Metro Comm. Taxes Metro + uncond, grant per Metro
1994 average per capita average capita average
East York 16.65 125 1414.60 69 1431.25 69
Etobicoke 9.20 69 2034.66 99 2043.66 98
North York 9.31 70 1848.52 90 1857.83 89
Scarborough 11.36 85 1400.73 68 1412.11 68
Toronto 16.38 123 3147.26 153 3163.66 152
York 30.63 231 1216.27 59 1247,10 60
Metro 13.35 2062.93 2076.28
Source: Figures provided by the City of York Finance Department
c) Third, an alignment that made local
government= fully responsible for funding
most local services would allow municipalities
with large per capita assessments to offer a
much broader range of services, and services
of much higher quality, than less-well-
endowed municipalities. Moreover, residential
taxes in municipalities with large commercial/
industrial assessments would likely be
considerably lower than residential taxes in
municipalities (like the City of York) with little
commercial/industrial assessment.
Tax and service disparities, already a problem in
the GTA, could increase to the point where
some municipalities would suffer a serious
decline in their quality of life. They would also
experience further erosion of their tax bases as
their more mobile residents joined industries in
moving to municipalities with more attractive tax
and service combinations.
Modify Grant Structure...
One way the provincial government could
prevent the appearance of large disparities in
local tax bills and the quality of municipal
services would be to modify and enhance the
unconditional grant structure, thereby using
income tax returns to redistribute wealth from
richer to poorer communities. In principle this
could benefit York, which gets the largest
amount per capita of any Metro municipality
from this source at the present time (Table 4.3).
When the total amount per capita received from
unconditional grants is added to the per capita
amount raised from property taxes, however,
there is only a one percent difference in Yorks
spending capacity. The difference in the
spending capacity of other Metro municipalities
is even smaller.
Moreover the amount
York has received from
the province in
unconditional grants has
dropped by more than
$2,000,000, or 34%, since
1991, and seems unlikely
to rise again in the near
future.
Thus it seems advisable
to look for a more locally-
based approach to the challenge of keeping
GTA municipalities from drifting further apart
both financially and socially.
4 ) Local Tax Base Pooling
The Minneapolis-St. Paul Experience...
The State of Minnesota won admiration from
urban analysts for its use of local tax base
pooling to reduce inter-local disparities in a large
urban region (Peirce 1994).
Since 1971, Minnesota law has required the
pooling of 40% of the net gain in revenues
generated by all new commercial and industrial
development in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.
The pooled funds are redistributed using a
formula weighted by each local jurisdictions
population and fiscal capacity (Martin 1993, 228).
Minnesotas experience suggests that tax base
pooling may be more adaptable to changing
circumstances than local government
restructuring. In the early years the areas two
central cities were net beneficiaries of the
arrangement. As downtown redevelopment
brought an improvement in the financial situation
of these cities, however, the bulk of pooled
revenues went to the suburbs with little or no
industry (Martin 1993, 228).
The provincial government could similarly decide
to pool some portion of local tax revenues
(properly and provincial income tax) and then
redistribute the funds to municipalities on the
basis of relative need, much as the federal
government uses a portion of income tax
revenues to make equalization grants to the
provinces.
32
CITY OF YORK 9 5
Less comprehensive forms of tax base pooling
are already in use in the Toronto area. The
provincial Ministry of Education uses a formula
that pools commercial/industrial assessment
when calculating grants to help finance
education expenditures approved by the
Ministry. A pooling of local taxes for urban/
regional functions has always been a
characteristic of metropolitan and regional
governments, as we discussed earlier.
In Metropolitan Toronto, portions of the
commercial/industrial assessment bases are
shared between the Metropolitan Toronto
School Board and the Metropolitan Separate
School Board. In Peel region, non-residential
assessment is pooled in the interest of
protecting the environment and preserving
green spaces in Caledon while promoting
intensification in Brampton and Mississauga.
Thus there is a body of local information with
which to evaluate the effectiveness of this
device and the feasibility of using it more
comprehensively.
Recommendation: The Task Force should
recommend measures to strengthen
arrangements for pooling local property tax
and provincial income tax revenues to fund
local services that benefit the entire Greater
Toronto Area.
5 ) Local Boundary Adjustments
The option that would have most immediate and
disruptive impacts on the City of York would be
major local boundary changes, either inside
Metro or throughout the GTA, to make GTA
municipalities more equal in population size and
commercial/industrial assessment.
While a consideration of the range of possible
changes is beyond the scope of this paper, we
have examined the implications for the
distribution of commercial/industrial assessment
within Metropolitan Toronto of one possible set
of boundary changes: that recommended by the
1977 Royal Commission on Metropolitan
Toronto (the Robarts Commission). The results
of this analysis are summarized in Tables 4.4
and 4.5. They indicate that:
If the changes recommended by the Robarts
Commission were made today and
commercial\industrial mill rates remained the
same, Toronto, York and East York would
gain an increase in tax returns from their
commercial/industrial assessment base;
Scarborough and North York would
experience a decrease; and there would be no
change in Etobicoke, which would keep its
present boundaries. Because there would
also be population gains and losses in the
affected municipalities, however, every
municipality except Etobicoke would
experience a per capita increase in
commercial/industrial tax revenues.
Increasing the size of York under the Robarts
proposal also would have given a more even
distribution of population, improved servicing
efficiencies, and provided a stronger political
voice for York within the Metro federation. It
would also likely have resulted in administrative
cost savings on a per capita basis. The largest
percentage increases in commercial/industrial
tax revenues per capita would occur in East
York and York, currently the municipalities with
the lowest commercial/industrial assessments
per capita in Metro. Scarborough, the third-
from-the-bottom municipality, would also gain,
but to a lesser degree than the two smaller
municipalities.
CITY OF YORK 9 5
3 3
Table 4.5
Distribution of Commercial/Industrial Assessment Metropolitan Toronto if Local Boundaries were as
Recommended by the Robarts Commission (1977)
East York
Et obi coke
North York
Scarborough
Toronto
Yor k
Metro Total
Population
230,530
302,451
411,479
406,480
585,956
214,361
2,151,257
New
Comm/lndust.
Assessment ($)
194,646,135
549,124,078
622,749,087
461,528,418
1,935,065,434
172, 088, 404
3,935,201,556
New Commerci al
Taxes ($)
108,314,735
282,678,093
323,5-49,288
246,853,090
1,058,035,727
99, 463, 656
2,118,894,589
New
Commerci al taxes
per capita ($)
469,85
934.62
786.31
60729
1,805.66
464. 00
984.96
Percent
change in
commerci al taxes
per capita
30.67
O.00
2.47
12.31
1.26
52, 45
New Commercial
Taxes/capita as
percent of M.T.
average
48
95
80
62
183
4 7
Despite the gains experienced by the less-well-
endowed municipalities, there would continue to
be wide disparities in the per capita returns from
commercial/industrial taxes in the six
municipalities. While York and East York would
experience the largest gains, their per capita
revenues from this source would still be less
than 509. of the average for all Metro
municipalities and two thirds of the average for
the five suburbs.
If the government were to act on the 1977
recommendation of the Robarts Commission,
therefore, Metros three poorest municipalities
would be somewhat better off in terms of
access to commercial/industrial taxes than they
are now but large tax base disparities would still
exist. Because the Robarts Commission made
its recommendation nearly twenty years ago, it
is possible that the criteria it used in deciding
what boundary changes to recommend may no
longer apply. Choosing a different set of
boundaries could yield different results.
The improvement in commercial tax returns
experienced by Metros three poorest
municipalities under the Robarts plan would
require relatively large changes in the population
of those municipalities most affected by
boundary readjustment. The populations of
York and East York would increase by 60% and
134% respectively. The population of
Scarborough would decrease by 20% and that
of North York would drop by 25% for only
12.3% and 2.5% gains in commercial taxation
per capita.
Such changes in population size imply major
alterations in the characteristics of these
municipalities as communities, or as collections
of sub-communities, and thus would likely propel
then into a prolonged period of community
redefinition and adjustment.
For York this period of adjustment could mean a
loss or disruption of the sense of community and
the spirit of cooperation that local officials and
community groups have worked hard to build,
and thus a loss of momentum for the citys self-
help programs.
For these reasons the City of York would prefer
the Task Force to urge the government to deal
with inter-local tax base disparities in some
other way.
However, there does remain the need to
address existing boundary discrepancies York
has with North York and Toronto such as: 1)
much of the northerly boundary with North York
and the boundary indentations in the vicinity of
Jane Street and Denisen Road; and 2) the
southerly boundary with Toronto which cuts
through half or partial blocks (vicinity of Jane
and Bloor Streets; along Jane Street and St.
Clair Avenue). Elimination of these anomalies
would create more clearly defined boundaries,
and resultant service efficiencies - a desirable
goal.
Recommendation: The provincial
government should establish an
intermunicipal working group comprised of
representatives of the Cities of York, Toronto
and North York to recommend ways to make
their shared boundaries less erratic and
more considerate of local taxpayers.
34
CITY OF YORK 9 5
ACHIEVING TAX BASE EQUITY
If the GTA is to have a system of governance in
which resources are shared on the basis of
ability to pay and services of areawide benefit
are provided on the basis of need, it must also
have a way of determining local wealth that is
easily understood, uniformly administered, and
equitable in its results. The existing system of
assessing property for taxation purposes does
not adequately meet these criteria.
After considering alternative ways to correct this
problem, the City of York has concluded that the
implementation of full market value assessment
(MVA) throughout the whole of the GTA is the
best approach. Moreover, reducing differentials
in the taxes paid by commercial and industrial
property owners and other ratepayer groups
would also help to stem the exodus of business
and jobs from Metropolitan Toronto.
Recommendation:A GTA-wide market value
reassessment would provide the most
equitable basis for local tax base sharing
either in the existing or in a revised system
of GTA governance. Because it would cause
some hardships, however, it should be
accompanied by:
a) measures to phase in large property tax
increases over a period no longer than the
period leading to the next regular
reassessment (five years or less);
b) changes to the Ontario Property Tax Credit
system to assist local ratepayers for whom
reassessment results in property tax
increases that outstrip their ability to pay.
The ensuing discussion details how York arrived
at this recommendation.
Assessing Alternative Approaches
to Reassessment
1) Market Value Assessment
(MVA)
Current market value for assessment purposes,
as defined in The Assessment Act is ...the
amount that the land (which includes buildings
on the land) might be expected to realize if sold
in an open market by a willing seller to a willing
buyer (The Assessment Act, RS0 1990).
Under the terms of the Act, Regional
Assessment Commissioners have the authority
to reassess all property in the province at full
market value, based on values existing in a
specified year, in any municipality or territory
without municipal organization (The
Assessrnenf Act, RS0 7990). In practice,
however, Regional Assessment Commissioners
will not reassess a municipality until asked to do
so by its municipal council.
The City of York contends that GTA-wide
property assessment using the full market value
standard is the best way to reduce or remove
the tax gaps and inequities that currently exist
both within and between classes of property
throughout the GTA region. Ideally, full MVA
would eliminate the following types of disparities
that are now entrenched within the existing
property tax system:
1) within classes of property, i.e. similar
properties are presently not assessed at the
same percentage of market value;
2) between classes of property, i.e. significant
tax gaps are apparent between the
assessment levels of low density residential
and non-residential property classes in Metro;
and,
3) among municipalities, i.e. businesses in
Metro pay far higher tax rates than their
counterparts in other regions in the GTA
(Slack, 1995, 8); taxes on non-residential
space in Metro are between 35A and 80%
higher than throughout the rest of the GTA
(The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto,
1994).
Full market value would put all real property
throughout the GTA on a level playing field,
thereby ensuring that similar properties would
be paying similar taxes (Kitchen, 1989, 20). It
would also mean that municipalities would
contribute to, or extract from, a revenue pool for
area-wide services according to a uniformly
applied basis for assessing this type of local and
personal wealth.
CITY OF YORK 95
35
Tax Shifts
Opponents of MVA typically refer to the tax
shifts that occur upon its implementation. When
assessed values are brought in line with market
values, taxes on some properties will go up
while those on others go down.
The introduction of full market value
reassessment in Metro would result in tax shifts
of two types:
1) between c/asses ofpropetiy (i.e. single
family residential, multiple unit residential and
non-residential properties); and,
2) within property c/asses (Le. between
individual owners of similar type properties).
Between-class shifts will occur because
Metros multi-unit residential and commercial/
industrial properties are currently assessed at
significantly higher proportions of market value
than are single family homes and
condominiums. At present, businesses in Metro
pay 57% of all property taxes collected in Metro
even though they account for only 30% of the
total market value of property in the region.
Furthermore, multi-residential taxpayers
shoulder 14% of the tax burden even though
they amount to only 8% of the market value of
property in Metro.
Conversely, low density residential ratepayers
pay less than 30% of Metros taxes, but account
for more than 60% of the current market value of
all real property in Metropolitan Toronto (The
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto, 1994,
7).
As a result, non- and multi-residential properties
cross-subsidize the relatively low tax rates
enjoyed by single family residential taxpayers by
shouldering a disproportionately large share of
Metros tax burden.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto
(1994, 11) has documented that if all real
property in Metro were reassessed to 100% of
its full market value, and single unit residences
were to bear their fair share of the tax burden,
businesses in the Metro region would receive on
average a 31% reduction in their taxes, and
multi-unit residential ratepayers would be
entitled to an overall tax decrease of
approximately 51%.
Yorks Situation...
Figures compiled for the City of York are
consistent with these observations.
A stratified sample of both residential and non-
residential properties of various classes in the
City revealed that low density residential
properties were significantly under-assessed
relative to other non-residential property types
based on established 1988 market values. The
single family residences included in the sample
account for approximately 25% of the total 1988
market value of all of the sample properties, yet
they generate only 6% of the revenue collected
from the sample group. On the other hand, the
non-residential properties included in the survey
contribute 91% of the tax revenue collected from
the sample properties but account for only 70%
of their total 1988 market value.
The introduction of full market value assessment
would effectively eliminate the inequities that are
apparent between these property classes.
2) Factored (Partial) Market Value
Reassessment
Under Ontario law, municipalities can avoid
shifting a portion of the tax burden from one
class of property owners to another by
requesting partial market value reassessment
based on the terms of Section 58 of The
Assessment Act (RSO 7990). This section
provides for a form of market value
reassessment that uses class factors to
remove the inequities within established
property classes.
While factored market value reassessment
removes assessment differentials between
properties in a single class of property, it does
not allow for the redistribution of the tax burden
that is currently shouldered by the various
classes. Consequently, cross-subsidies that
exist between classes of property are
perpetuated by this form of market value
assessment.
36
CITY OF YORK 95
Within the context of Metro, and more
specifically York, businesses and multiple
unit residential taxpayers would continue to
pay a disproportionately large share of the
local tax bill.
It should be noted however that even factored
(i.e. within class) reassessment will not satisfy
those who oppose market value assessment on
the basis that it will result in tax shifts. Although
tax shifts are not permitted between property
classes, the tax burden is redistributed among
similar types of real property (i.e. within
classes).
A study of the impacts of partial (1988) market
value reassessment on a representative sample
of residential and non-residential properties in
the City of York showed that 70% of the single
family homeowners included in the test group
would have experienced tax increases had the
Metropolitan Toronto Interim Reassessment
plan, as adopted by Metro Council in October of
1992, been implemented. The remaining 30% of
the low density residential properties would have
been awarded tax decreases.
Conversely, 70% of the multiple-unit residential
properties would have experienced tax
decreases under this reassessment program;
the remaining 30% of the sample properties in
this category would have witnessed tax
increases. Of the commercial/industrial
properties examined, 85% would have benefited
from reductions in their taxes, while the
remainder (15%) would have had to
compensate for this and absorb tax increases.
relative to other similar real properties.
A dramatic increase in the number of
assessment appeals in Metropolitan Toronto
between 1989 and 1994 contributed to a 5%
decrease in the total value of Metro Torontos
assessment base (The Board of Trade of
Metropolitan Toronto, 1994). Unfortunately, in
the absence of systematic reassessment, this
trend adversely affects all rate payers within the
region for the following reason.
Taxes are the result of assessed values,
multiplied by the mill rate that is levied against
them. The mill rate is calculated according to
the total value of the municipal assessment
base, and the amount of revenue that is
required from that base to provide services
within a municipality or region. When the total
value of the assessment base decreases, which
results when ratepayers win assessment
abatements because of unfairly inflated
assessment levels, or they migrate to lower tax
areas, the mill rate has to be raised to
compensate for the loss in total assessed value.
In short, the amount of funds required to
maintain service levels within a municipality
remains relatively constant, but the tax rates
that are applied against the assessed value of
properties must now be increased to make up
for the assessment shortfall.
As a consequence, taxpayers are forced to pay
increasing amounts of property tax because of
higher mill rates, or they must accept reductions
in the level of services that are available to
them. Thus, the appeal process has the indirect
In addition, this unofficial form of reassessment
is not systematic, nor does it affect all properties
in a uniform way. Because of the nature of the
appeal process, assessed values are usually
only amended on properties that are over-
assessed; the appeal process is seldom used to
increase the assessment values on properties
that are under-assessed. Finally, it is unlikely
that assessment reductions which are achieved
through the appeal process at the expense of
other ratepayers will effectively change the
perception of Metro as a place where
businesses pay high taxes.
Recommendation: The GTA Task Force
shoul d recommend measures to stem the
erosion of the Metro tax base resulting from
assessment appeals. Such measures might
include a temporary freeze on appeals.
3) Unit Assessment Value
Nonetheless, there is still considerable
reluctance on the part of many local officials to
risk the political fallout of initiating full market
value reassessment. As an alternative, an
assessment system based on unit value has
been suggested.
Unit value assessment (UVA) uses physical
measurements as the basis for assigning
assessed values to real property. To determine
an appropriate assessment value, assessors
take into account: (1) the size of building(s) and
the dimensions of the lot; (2) the type of
building; (3) the geographic location of the
property; and (4) the values per square foot of
property and improvements as determined by
their type and relative location.
According to proponents of UVA, assessment
values based on the afore-mentioned criteria will
be simpler to administer, understand and
reproduce than those prepared using a market
value standard.
Critics of unit value systems of assessment
dispute these contentions. They maintain that:
B People are generally aware of the market
value of their property, and thus would find it
much more difficult to understand the sense of
determining their tax liability by measuring the
size of their house and lot, categorizing their
home, and then applying a formula depending
on where they live (Brooks, 1990, 1024),
Large tax differences could result from
arbi trari l y drawn boundari es to del i neate
areas of similarity (i.e. residential
neighborhoods or industrial districts). As a
result, there could be significant differences
the values assigned to properties located in
close proximity to one another.
Conversely, properties of the same type,
and of similar building and lot proportions
and location classifications, would have
identical assessments even if their market
values were vastly different. UVA does not
take into account neighborhood amenities
relative locational factors that either contribu
to or detract from the value of property. In
Metro, for example, taxpayers owning
properties of the same size and class, and
located within similarly designated districts
would be assessed at the same rate even i
the properties have very different market
values. This uniformity of application would
place York residents at a considerable
disadvantage because housing prices in th
City of York are at present 10% to 35% lowe
than housing prices throughout the rest of
Metropolitan Toronto (The Metropolitan
Toronto Real Estate Board, 1995).
By failing to recognize that similar
properties can differ greatly in value
depending on their location and other
factors, unit value assessment neglects
the principle of ability-to-pay as reflected
in real estate wealth. This means that
ratepayers in York, who earn on average 20
less than residents elsewhere in Metro (City
York Community and Agency Social Planni
Council, 1994) would pay larger shares of
their incomes in property taxes than many
other Metro ratepayers. Thus, a unit value
system could make property taxation in Met
more rather than less regressive.
Unit value assessment could place
additional obstacles in the way of
redeveloping commercial and industrial
properties in the City of York if it meant that
taxes on those properties were similar to
taxes on commercial and industrial propertie
in municipalities offering more locational
advantages. Thus, unit value based
assessments could act as tax disincentives
38 CITY OF YORK 95
which would not only deter the redevelopment
of the Citys commercial and industrial sector,
but it could even hasten the departure of
existing businesses to other areas within the
GTA.
The introduction of a unit value
assessment system is also problematic
because of a trend towards commercial
and industrial downsizing. As the physical
size of businesses decreases, their realty and
business assessments will also shrink if
assessed values are determined primarily by
the measurement of square feet of occupied
building and lot space. This would further
reduce the amount of commercial and
industrial tax revenue available to
municipalities.
Because unit value assessment reflects
only the value of property in its current
use, municipalities will not benefit from
taxes levied on the potential value of real
property as determined by the market.
Thus, for example, the City of York would not
benefit from increases in the market value of
land due to speculation that may result from
its programs to foster commercial and
industrial redevelopment. Lower assessed
values would remain in place on land targeted
for redevelopment until the current use
changed. Furthermore, unit value
assessment could even delay redevelopment
by encouraging owners to keep land off the
market for longer periods of time. This could
deny others the right to put property to use,
effectively undermining the Citys carefully
planned development initiatives.
The City of Toronto and the Fair Tax
Commission have addressed some of the
criticisms of unit value assessment by proposing
the addition of a rental factor to the unit value
model. The assumption is made that assessors
could use variations in property rental values to
determine the assessed values for land and
buildings because rental values are influenced
by locational circumstances that affect property
value.
Unfortunately, incorporating rental values into a
unit value system would immediately make it
less simple and probably less fair. Because
many types of property are never rented,
obtaining accurate and complete information
about rental values would be difficult at best -
certainly more difficult than acquiring information
about selling price - and thus, a myriad of
difficulties would be created for those who would
have to administer and be assessed based on
this system. Moreover, rental values are in part
both a consequence of, and influenced by,
market value which reflects location advantages
and/or disadvantages. As a result, the proposed
modifications make UVA increasingly more like
MVA.
There are several reasons to conclude then that
unit value assessrnenf would be less equitable
and far more difficult to administer and
understand than market value assessment.
TAX SHIFTS & WAYS TO
ADDRESS THEM
While endorsing full market value assessment
as the best way to make the GTA tax system
more equitable, understandable and easier to
administer, the City of York asks the Task
Force to recommend that measures be put in
p/ace to soften the impact of reassessment
on those taxpayers for whom property tax
increases will cause considerable hardship.
Variable Mill Rates
One way to address the problem of tax shifts is
to apply variable mill rates to different classes
of property, or to different types of property
within a class. The Province already allows
municipalities to impose tax rates on non-
residential properties that are 15% higher than
those levied on residential properties.
Therefore, to choose this course of action would
simply mean making greater use of an accepted
instrument for differentiating among taxpayers.
There are however a number of reasons that
argue against the use of split or variable mill
rates for this purpose.
First, their continued use could mean that
commercial properties in York would remain
over-assessed relative to their market values,
and thus would be at a disadvantage relative to
similar properties in lower-tax districts.
CITY OF YORK 95
39
Second, mill rates that are varied between
classes treat all property within the given class in
a uniform way. As a result, properties within a
class (e.g. some single family residences) that
have already had their taxes reduced under
reassessment would gain additional tax relief
because of the abated mill rates.
The use of variable mill rates within a single class
to avoid imposing financial hardships on certain
individual ratepayers causes distortions among
similar properties. Furthermore, the option to use
them may also lead to pressure being exerted on
local officials to lower rates on selected
properties and thus may lead to the preferential
treatment of some ratepayers. This partiality
works against achieving an equitable distribution
of the tax burden within property classes.
Phase-in Mechanisms
Because of the potential for problems with
variable mill rates, the City of York would prefer
that phase-in mechanisms be employed to
alleviate the financial hardship that may result
from shifts in the tax burden.
A move to higher assessed values could be
delayed by instituting more moderate but
predetermined increases over a clearly specified
phase-in period. However, because it is
important to update assessments at regular
intervals to maintain a close relationship between
assessed values and market values, the phasing
in of full market value assessments should be
completed before the next update cycle (i.e.
within three to five years).
Recommendation: Municipalities should be
allowed to phase-in large property tax
increases resulting from reassessment over
a period not longer than the period leading
up to the next regular reassessment (five
years or less).
Property Tax Relief . . .
Ontario Property Tax Credit
There may be cases where a tax increase
resulting from reassessment will significantly
outstrip a ratepayers ability to pay, and thus
jeopardize that individuals ability to keep their
home and remain in their neighborhood.
In the interest of helping low and fixed income
families and elderly persons to retain their
homes, and to maintain stability in lower income
neighbourhoods, property tax relief schemes,
i.e. the Ontario Property Tax Credit, should be
put in place to offset any significant impacts of
reassessment on lower income homeowners.
Recommendation: An Ontario Property Tax
Relief Credit should be designed to assist
local ratepayers for whom reassessment
results in property tax increases that outstrip
their ability to pay.
The Experiences of Others...
Municipal financial arrangements are seen as the
most pressing and urgent problem facing the region.
Property tax reform, and how it is phased in, is
crucial to Yorks businesses and residents and to
the entire GTA. Changes to municipal
government structure and boundaries should not
be rushed and, in any event, should only
proceed in the context of wide public discussion.
In view of the new schedule for reporting, a
process and timeframe is needed to allow
municipalities, and their businesses and
residents, to adequately respond to the
recommendations of the Task Force.
Before taking any action on the
recommendations of the GTA Task Force, we
ask the Government and the Task Force to
coordinate the holding of an international forum in
Toronto to deal with the Task Forces
recommendations. There is much to learn
worldwide from the experiences of others, in
terms of what they are doing and have not done
in this important area, and their implications.
Recommendation: The Task Force and the
government should solicit local and external
reactions to Task Force recommendations
before making substantial changes in the
GTAs system of governance.
Toronto has a reputation worldwide as the city
that works. City of York Council urges that we
all work together in a careful and cautious
manner to ensure that, once again, Ontario is
the leader, and the GTA the model worldwide,
as we restructure our financial and governance
frameworks.
40
CITY OF YORK 95
1. SETUP A STEERING COMMITTEE
To co-ordinate the development of Yorks
position, City Council appointed a Steering
Committee consisting of:
B
Mayor Frances Nunziata

Councillors Michael McDonald, Joe Mihevc,
Bill Saundercook
Mayors Executive Assistant
Senior City Commissioner
Director of Council Services& City Clerk
Director of Finance& City Treasurer
Commissioner of Planning& Economic
Development (Committee Chair & Project
Coordinator)
We met to define the scope and timing of the
workplan. Meetings were held bi-weekly
through the spring and the early part of the
summer to discuss the status of the work,
identify emerging issues, and agree on a
process for public consultation.
Given the accelerated timeframe for the GTA
Task Force to report (November, 1995 rather
than September, 1996), we modified our
workplan and accelerated our efforts to meet the
Task Forces September 30, 1995 deadline for
submissions.
2. SET UP A PROJECT TEAM
The Steering Committees work was
supplemented by consultant assistance in the
areas of municipal assessment reform and
governance, and it maintained close liaison with
all City Departments, as well as Boards and
Commissions.
Municipal Tax Equity Consultants Inc. worked
with the Citys Finance Department on property
tax and assessment issues. Dr. Frances
Frisken of York Universitys Urban Studies
Program, was retained to advise on the issues
of metropolitan change and the implications for
public policy, and to write much of the report.
3. MET WITH FOCUS GROUPS
At the very beginning, two focus groups
comprised of a cross-section of business,
resident and community service participants,
brainstormed about issues and questions York
should address in its submission to the GTA
Task Force.
Two sessions were held
One :
CB Commercial; Caroles Cheesecake
Company; COSTI; DUMEZ Real Estate North
America; Facelle, A Division of Proctor&
Gamble Inc.; International Food Trades Centre;
Kodak Canada; Learning Enrichment
Foundation; Silvano Colour Labs; Warren Park
Ratepayers Association; York Business
Opportunities Centre.
Two:
Art Starts; Coats Patons; Emmess Equities Inc.;
Goulds Drug Store Ltd.; Humewood Ratepayers
Association; Learning Enrichment Foundation;
Old Millside Residents Association; Weston
Ratepayers Association; York Community and
Agency Social Planning Council; York
Community Services; York Libraty Board; Zidner
Real Estate.
The sessions provided the Steering Committee
with questions and ultimately a set of principles.
CITY OF YORK 95
41
4. ESTABLISHED A MUNICIPAL
FINANCE WORKING GROUP
The Director of Finance & City Treasurer, with
the consultants, coordinated Yorks position on
municipal finance reform.
5. EXAMINED INTERNAL SERVICE
DELlVERY
We met with the Heads of City Departments,
Boards and Commissions and asked that each
respond about services provided and, where
possible, provide benchmarks of Yorks
effectiveness, efficiencies and costs compared
to other GTA municipalities.
Each was asked to identify where duplication
exists at the local, regional and provincial levels,
and to indicate what services should continue to
be provided locally.
6. GATHERED AND REVIEWED
MATERIAL
We reviewed relevant background material on
governance and municipal finance, and
specifically assessment data and other relevant
statistical information for York.
This included the work of previous Royal
Commissions; approaches to municipal finance
and municipal organization in other jurisdictions
across North America; submissions as they
became available; and key issues derived from
the extensive research knowledge and
experience brought by Dr. Frisken and by
Municipal Tax Equity Consultants Inc.
7. FROM KEY ISSUES AND IDEAS TO
PRINCIPLES
We related our observations and findings to a
set of principles which flowed out of the
brainstorming sessions with the focus groups.
These principles formed the basis for assessing
the implications for the City of York of alternative
approaches to local finance and GTA
governance.
8. MET AGAIN WITH THE FOCUS
GROUPS
We sent draft copies of this report to the focus
group participants. With the assistance of a
facilitator, we went through our draft findings
and recommendations to ensure that the input of
the focus groups was reflected in this
submission.
9. STEERING COMMITTEE AND
COUNCIL WORKING SESSIONS
Before Dr. Golden met with York Council in
April, 1995, Council members informally
discussed a preliminary set of principles for GTA
reform.
The Steering Committee ultimately prepared
recommendations. An informal working session
was held to elicit Councils vision, prior to
finalizing this submission.
10. CONTINUE COMMUNITY
CONSULTATION
City Council in wanting to encourage public
discussion of this document and seek further
input on its recommendations, held a public
meeting on September 20, 1995. Several
residents urged that the City boundaries be
expanded to reflect the Robarts Commission
proposal.
11. REPORT OUR FINDINGS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Input from the working session was incorporated
into this submission and the report formally
presented to City Council on September
29,1995. It will be forwarded to the GTA Task
Force to meet the September 30, 1995 deadline.
42
CITY OF YORK 95
The Assessment Act.. September 1992.
Revised Statutes of Ontario, 7990. Chapter
A.31. Toronto: Queens Printer for Ontario.
Barber, John. 1995. York Bands Togefher to
Rebuild Economy. The Globe and Mail, April 19.
The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto.
1994. Killing the Golden Goose: How High
Business Property Taxes are Suppressing
Metropolitan Torontos Economic Recovery&
What Needs to be Done About/t. Toronto: The
Board of Trade of Metropolitan Toronto.
Boylen, J.C. (1954). York Township, An
Historical Summary. The Municipal Corporation
of the Township of York and The Board of
Education of the Township of York.
Brooks, N. 1992. Commissioners Personal
Comments: Neil Brooks. Fair Taxation in a Changing
World: Report of the Ontario Fair Tax Commission.
Toronto: University of Toronto Press
City of York Community and Agency Social
Planning Council (YCASP). 1994. Community
Profile of City of York.
City of York Community Economic Development
Advisory Committee (CEDAC), 1995. Our
Economy, Our Future.
Final Report, City of York Planning and
Economic Development Department 1993.
Economic Statement. Submitted to Metropolitan
Toronto Economic Summit.
Duffy, A. 1992. Toronto businesses fear slow
death. The Toronto Star,, p. A6. October 30.
Ferguson, D. 1992. Province kills Metro tax
reform. The Toronto Star, p. A.1. December 9.
The Financial Post Datagroup. 1994. Canadian
Markets 1994. Toronto: The Financial Post
Datagroup.
Kitchen, H. 1992. Property Taxation in Canada.
Canadian Tax Paper No. 92. Toronto: Canadian
Tax Foundation.
Kitchen, H. 1989. Alternative Methods of
Taxation and Assessment. A Report prepared
for the Task Force on Reassessment in
Jarrett, Goold and Elliott. 1975. A Financial
Profile of Metropolitan Toronto and its
Constituent Municipalities. Toronto: The Royal
Commission on Metropolitan Toronto, 1975.
The Learning Enrichment Foundation. 1995.
Report.
Martin, Judith A. 1993. In Fits and Starts: The
Twin Cities Metropolitan Framework. In
Metropolitan Governance: American/Canadian
lnfergovernmental Perspectives. (Berkeley, CA,
Institute of Governmental Studies Press,
University of California, Berkeley; and Kingston,
Ont. Institute of Intergovernmental Relations,
Queens University), 205-243.
Metropolitan Toronto Real Estate Board. 1995.
Real Estate Trends Database. Scarborough,
Ont. Moore Data Management.
Ontario Fair Tax Commission. 1993. Fair
Taxation in a Changing World: Report of the
Ontario Fair Tax Commission. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press.
Ontario Ministry of Education and Training.
1995. Per Pupil Survey Statistics and Board
Financial Statements -1994 Estimates.
/formation for the Golden Commission Meeting.
Mississauga, Ont,: Peel Board of Education.
Ontario Municipal Board. 1953. /n the Matter of
Sections 20 and 22 of the Municipal Act.
Decisions and Recommendations of the Board.
Toronto: Queens Printer.
Peirce, Neal R., Curtis Johnson and Jim Hall,
Citistates: How an Urban Region Can Prosper in
a Competitive World, 1994.
The Royal Commission on Metropolitan Toronto
(Carl Golden berg, Commissioner). 1965.
Report. Toronto
The Royal Commission on Metropolitan Toronto
(John Robarts, Commissioner). 1977. Report.
(Two volumes). Toronto
Slack, E. 1995. Principles of a Municipal
Finance System. A background report prepared
by Enid Slack Consulting Inc. Toronto: Chief
Administrators Office of the Municipality of
Walker, J. and J. Grad. 1993. Ontario Property
Tax Assessment Handbook. Aurora, Ont.:
Canada Law Book Inc.
In addition, this report has used input submitted
to Mr. Edward R. Sajecki, Commissionner of
Planning and Economic Development for the
City of York, by senior officers of the following
local agencies and departments:
The City of York Building Department
The City of York Clerks Department
The City of York Finance Department
The City of York Fire Department
The City of York Heatth Unit
The City of York Human Resource Services Department
The City of York Legal Department
The City of York Parks&Recreation Department
The City of York Public Library Board;
The City of York Works Department;
The City of York Hydro-Electric Commission
Anik II
44
CITY OF YORK 9 5
THE BOARD
OF EDUCATI ON
FOR THE CI TY
OF YORK
BONNIE TAYLOR
Chairperson
PETE J, KARAGEORGOS, B. A
Vice-Chairperson
ED BLACKSTOCK, Ph D
ELIZABETH HILL
CARL MILLER
JOE MORRIELLO
BOB THOMSON
SAM WALES, B A A
A. AMO, B A. M A, M Ed
Senior Superintenent of Personnel
1995102
John Sweeney
Ontario School Board Reduction Task Force
101 Bloor Street West
13th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1P7
Dear Mr. Sweeney:
RESPONSE TO THE INTERIM REPORT OF THE
ONTARIO SCHOOL BOARD REDUCTION TASK FORCE
Enclosed for your attention is a copy of the Response of The Board
of Education for the City of York to the Interim Report of the Ontario
School Board Reduction Task Force.
As stated in our previous correspondence to you, the deliberations
of the Task Force will affect the lives of thousands of learners, educators,
support staff, parents and community members in the City of York and in
the Province. We emplore you to seriously consider the contents of this
Boards response to the recommendations in your Report.
The Board of Education for the City of York has nothing but the
best interests of all of the learners in Ontario in mind in submitting this
response. Please consider its contents carefully.
Cc.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Norman Ahmet
and
Secretary-Treasurer
Honorable J. Snobelen
Anne Golden
Bob Rae
Michael Colle
Isabel Bassett
2 Trethewey Drive
City of York, Ontario M6M 4A8
(416) 394-2270
THE BOARD
OF EDUCATI ON
FOR THE CI TY
OF YORK
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR THE CITY OF YORK
RESPONSE TO THE INTERIM REPORT
OF THE ONTARIO SCHOOL BOARD REDUCTION TASK FORCE
Bonnie Taylor
Chairperson of the Board
Pete Karageorgos
Vice-chairperson of the Board
Norman Ahmet
Dr. Ed Blackstock
Trustee Ward 1
Pete Karageorgos
Trustee Ward 2
Sam Wales
Trustee Ward 3
Elizabeth Hill
Trustee Ward 4
TRUSTEES
Joe Morriello
Trustee Ward 5
Bonnie Taylor
Trustee Ward 6
Bob Thomson
Trustee Ward 7
Carl Miller
Trustee Ward 8
The Board of Education for the City of York
2 Trethewey Drive,
City of York, Ontario
M6M 4A8
(416) 394-2270
THE BOARD OF EDUCATION FOR THE CITY OF YORK
RESPONSE TO THE INTERIM REPORT
OF THE ONTARIO SCHOOL BOARD REDUCTION TASK FORCE
I. IS AMALGAMATION OF SCHOOL BOARDS JUSTIFIED?
On February 22, 1995, the N.D.P. government established the Ontario School Board
Reduction Task Force, chaired by Mr. John Sweeney, to advise the Minister of
Education and Training on how best to reduce the number of school boards and trustees
in Ontario.
In directing the Task Force to focus on the amalgamation of boards of education, the
N.D.P. government made the assumption that a reduction in the current number of
school boards by between 40 and 50 percent and the elimination of a large number of
trustees would significantly reduce the costs associated with education. It was also
assumed that amalgamation of school boards would create greater equity in programs and
services among and between regions, would produce greater uniformity in the delivery
of services across the province and would create more accountable school boards.
In its submission, Bigger Is Not Better: The Case Against Amalgamation, to the
Sweeney Task Force in June, 1995, The Board of Education for the City of York
presented the results of an in-depth analysis concerning amalgamation. In its review of
the research related to this issue, the Board found no evidence to support the assumed
economic benefits of amalgamation except where very small boards were involved.
Furthermore, a large body of research identified several significant negative outcomes
of amalgamation, the most important being the harmful effect on the achievement of
students, especially those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
It must not be forgotten that the priority of all Boards of Education must be the provision
of quality education to all students. Boards must ensure that their students have the
greatest opportunity to reach their maximum potential. While Boards of Education strive
to provide needed services in a cost effective way, quality of education provided to
their students must not be compromised by inappropriate cost saving measures. The
fact that increasing school board size results in a decline in student achievement should
be reason enough for school board amalgamation to be rejected.
This Board has noted that similar research on amalgamation and board size has been
referenced in the submissions to the Task Force from other Boards of Education (e.g.,
Carleton Roman Catholic School Board). In addition, our findings are supported by a
review of the issues surrounding amalgamation prepared by Dr. Stephen Lawton in the
Department of Educational Administration at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education.
1
The original rationale for amalgamation cannot be supported. A significant body of
research on the issue of amalgamation and school board size does not support the
amalgamation of school boards; the Royal Commission on Learning does not support
amalgamation; and the Fact Finders who looked at the feasibility of amalgamation in
several Ontario Boards do not support amalgamation.
On the basis of this evidence, The Board of Education for the City of York feels that the
amalgamation of school boards must be rejected in the vast majority of cases as a
viable option for dealing with financial difficulties currently facing the provincial
government.
II. PROPOSED AMALGAMATION
In its Interim Report, the Ontario School Board Reduction Task Force has recommended
that The Board of Education for the City of York, The East York Board of Education
and The Toronto Board of Education be amalgamated.
Creation of a Mega-board
With a student population of 18,689 students, The Board of Education for the City of
York is currently larger than 80 percent of the 169 public and separate school boards in
Ontario. Amalgamating the City of York, East York and Toronto Boards of Education
would create a board with a student population of almost 113,000 students. The
amalgamated board would be larger than any other board of education in Canada.
Since 1989, the City of York and East York Boards of Education have experienced an
overall growth in enrolment of at least 20 percent; in the same time period, the Toronto
Boards enrolment has grown by almost 11 percent. With enrolment expected to
continue to increase, the size of the proposed amalgamated board would soon surpass the
current 113,000 students.
The Task Force has violated its own recommendation concerning maximum board size
with its proposal to amalgamate the City of York, East York and Toronto Boards of
Education. The recommendation to create a Board of 113,000, or more than twice the
maximum of 55,000 set by the Task Force, totally contradicts the Task Forces
guideline. No specific rationale has been provided for making this exception.
III. EFFECT OF BOARD AMALGAMATION ON THE CITY OF YORK COMMUNITY
(a)
Amalgamation of the The Board of Education for the City of York, The East York Board
of Education and The Toronto Board of Education will result in:
(a) a reduction in the quality of education provided to residents in the City of York
and
(b) increased operating costs.
Reduction in the Quality of Education
(i) Increased Difficult Identifying Needs and Delivering Needed Resources
Quality of education depends on how well board staff can deliver the appropriate services
to meet the specific needs of students. To do this well, staff must have a good
understanding of what the needs of students are and be able to access and deliver the
required resources in an efficient manner.
Researchers have found that larger school boards are not as efficient as smaller boards
in delivering services to their students. The larger the size of the board, the more
diverse are the needs of the clients being served by the board. In a smaller system, those
providing support services have more regular and closer contact with students and
parents, are better able to identify the specific needs of different students and take greater
responsibility for the achievement of individual pupils. These conditions allow smaller
boards to be more efficient and sensitive than larger boards in delivering the varied and
specific resources students need.
If the recommended amalgamation of the City of York, East York and Toronto Boards
of Education is acted upon, the needs of City of York residents would no longer be the
primary focus of trustees and staff in the new board of education. Our students and
communities would have to compete against a significantly larger number of diverse
communities for resources and services. The close relationships that students, members
of the community, staff and trustees of The Board of Education for the City of York
have developed would be lost as a result of the amalgamation of the three boards. In the
new mega-board, inequities in service would be harder to recognize and address.
Based on the evidence presented above, The Board of Education for the City of York
has serious concerns about the level of attention that City of York residents would
receive in the new mega-board.
(ii) Significantly Reduced Trustee Representation
Part of the responsibility of the trustees is to bring the concerns of their communities to
the board. Because of the manageable size of The Board of Education for the City of
York, trustees have been able to develop a good understanding of these concerns and
how they should be addressed. Consequently, this Board has been able to provide high
quality education that meets the specific needs of its students and other communities.
The importance of board size in maintaining quality education is supported by research.
Studies have found that trustees in small school boards tend to be better informed about
the preferences and conditions in the smaller number of schools and communities for
which they are responsible. The possibility for contact between community members and
elected board members is substantially greater in a small district. Furthermore, research
indicates that large boards over 40,000 students are in danger of losing their connection
to the community and should be reduced to a more human scale.
At the present time, The Board of Education for the City of York has 8 trustees
representing a population of around 140,000 people or about one trustee for every 17,500
people. In terms of students, each trustee now represents an average of 2,300 students.
The mega-board being proposed by the Task Force would be responsible for serving
a population of almost 880,000 people. The Task Force has recommend&d that the
maximum number of trustees for boards of 80,000 or more students should be limited
to 11 or 13. This would mean that there would be only one trustee for every 80,000
people (based on an 11 trustee board) or one trustee for more than 10,000 students.
In the new mega-board, City of York residents would be represented by only 2
trustees rather than the current 8. Consequently, amalgamation of the City of York,
East York and Toronto Boards of Education would result in significantly fewer elected
representatives speaking for larger more diverse communities. A reduction in trustee
representation for the City of York from 8 to 2 trustees is not fair and is not equitable
when compared to the trustee representation in other boards. Such a major reduction
would adversely affect the quality of representation now being received by City of York
residents and would, therefore, have a negative effect on the quality of education being
delivered.
Consequently, the proposed reduction in trustee representation from 8 to 2 trustees
is not acceptable to this Board of Education.
(iii) Lower Student Achievement
If academic achievement is used as a measure of quality of education, a significant body
of research has shown that, when socioeconomic status and per student expenditures are
taken into account, students in smaller school boards generally achieve better
academically than those in larger boards.
These findings indicate that the achievement of City of York students would likely
decline in the new mega-board created by the amalgamation of the City of York,
East York and Toronto
(iv) Creation of Inequities
Boards of Education.
One of the original mandates of the Ontario School Board Reduction Task Force was to
ensure greater equity across boards. However, in choosing to amalgamate certain boards
the Task Force has itself managed to create significant inequities between boards.
Obvious inequities have been created in the average size of public and separate school
boards located in southern Ontario that the Task Force has recommended for
amalgamation. The average enrolment of the amalgamated English-language Public
School Boards would be approximately 42,000 students if all of the recommended
amalgamations were to be approved. On the other hand, the average size of
amalgamated boards in the English-language Roman Catholic Separate School Boards
would be around 22,000 students, just slightly larger than the present size of the Board
of Education for the City of York.
On the basis of the research outlined above concerning board size and achievement,
students in the larger Public school boards would be disadvantaged compared to
students in the Separate school boards.
(v) Adverse Impact on Students during Transition Period
To carry out the proposed amalgamations, especially with boards the size of the City of
York, East York and Toronto, enormous amounts of time and energy would be required
from the board, administration, staff and the community to ensure the smoothest
transition possible. During the lengthy implementation period, attention that would
normally be focused on providing service to the students in the boards would be diverted
to issues not related to educating students. Although The Board of Education for the
City of York would do everything in its power to ensure that this would not happen,
students would likely receive a decreased level of service during this period.
5
(vi) Loss of Educational Programs and Services
(vii)
The Board of Education for the City of York has long been proactive and innovative in
meeting the needs of its community. Because of the nature of its community and because
the City of York has few community-based services, the Board has assumed a larger role
in meeting these needs. In addition to serving its 18,689 regular day school students, the
Board provides evening classes to almost 5,000 students. Summer day school programs
are provided for almost 1,200 secondary school students taking additional, remedial or
English as a Second Language courses, about 800 adults taking E.S.L. programs and
over 2,700 elementary school students taking remedial and upgrading courses.
In the area of Community Education, The Board of Education for the City of York
serves more than 2,400 students each year in its International Languages programs.
About 1,800 adults and seniors each year take advantage of Citizenship and Adult E.S.L.
programs provided by the Multicultural Education Department of the Board. The
Community Education Department of the Board serves more than 4,000 members of the
community annually through before and after-school programs for children, seniors
programs, family centres in schools offering parenting education for parents with pre-
school children and general interest courses for children. Most of these programs are
provided free or at minimal cost to the participants.
Many of these special services would be in jeopardy if The Board of Education for the
City of York were to be amalgamated with the East York and Toronto Boards of
Education.. Our Kindergarten classes would probably lose their full-time teacher aide.
The wide range of courses offered at no cost to its senior citizens would likely be
cancelled or require the payment of fees. The before and after school care programs
currently provided at very reasonable cost to working parents to ensure that City of York
students have a safe place to stay until their parents get home would no longer be
available through the board. Parents would have to pay significantly higher fees to other
agencies providing such services. Free supervision might no longer be available for
elementary school students on Professional Activity Days. Fees might have to be
charged for many Summer School Programs. Family Centres in schools might only
continue to exist if fees are charged for this service.
The loss of any of these services or an increase in fees would have a major
detrimental impact on those residents of the City of York who are least able to cope
with such losses or increased costs.
Reduction in Benefits of Parental Involvement
The Task Force has assumed that, because there will be fewer trustees and administrators
after amalgamation, there will be room - and need - for greater parental involvement
in the daily operations and activities of schools. Research on the impact of parental
6
involvement indicates that it is the assistance parents provide to students in the program
area and not the operation of the school that benefits students the most. Consequently,
the amalgamation of school boards could lead to less involvement of parents in the areas
that actually make a difference to the performance of students.
Furthermore, there is no evidence that, even if there is a demonstrated need for greater
parental involvement as a result of amalgamation, more will be forthcoming. Parental
involvement in schools has always been a hard sell except in all but the more affluent
communities. Experience has shown that despite the best efforts of educators and for
their part the community, most parents are either unwilling or unable to be involved in
their childrens schools because of other responsibilities and priorities.
(b) Increased Operating Costs
(i)
(ii)
Higher Per Pupil Costs
From the point of view of per pupil costs, there is no sound rationale for creating a
mega-board of 113,000 students. Research finds that the lowest costs per pupil are
reached between 4,000 and 27,000 students. After this point, the per pupil costs increase
dramatically.
With a student population of 18,689, the Board of Education for the City of York
currently falls within this optimum range. With a student population of 78,226, the
Toronto Board of Education is already much larger than the optimum student population
from a cost-effectiveness point of view. Currently, the cost to educate each student in
The Toronto Board is higher than in The Board of Education for the City of York.
An analysis of previous board amalgamations in Ontario and in the United States found
no cost savings as a result of amalgamation. In fact, educational spending increased
significantly after amalgamation.
Considering these findings, it can be concluded that costs would increase with
amalgamation of the City of York, East York and Toronto Boards of Education.
Loss of Efficiency
Based on 1993 data available from the Ministry of Education and Training concerning
the optimum board size for maximum administrative efficiency, boards with enrollments
of between 15,000 and 30,000 students were found to have the lowest administrative
costs per student. Administrative costs in boards with more than 100,000 students were
found to be 54 percent higher than the costs in the smaller boards. If the objective of
7
the Task Force is to produce greater administrative efficiencies through the amalgamation
of boards, based on the data described above, it would appear that the creation of a new
mega-board with over 113,000 students would not be the best way to achieve these
efficiencies.
Smaller boards tend to be more efficient than larger boards because many of the activities
required to operate and maintain a large board are not needed to run a smaller board.
As the size of the board increases, the size of the bureaucracy needed to operate the
board increases out of proportion to the size of the student population. This finding was
supported by information presented in a report from independent consultants who
investigated the purchasing/warehousing and computer operations in the public school
boards in Metro Toronto. This study showed that The Board of Education for the City
of York was significantly more efficient than The Toronto Board in these two areas.
It has also been found that any modest savings that might result from amalgamation
would be far outweighed by new or expanded costs due to the increased size of
operations. Examples of such costs include: increased distribution costs; decreased
efficiency in communication; increased paperwork; increased problems of coordination
and control; and less accountability.
Research shows that large boards with many bureaucratic layers are also less efficient in
the delivery of programs. Larger boards of education have been found to produce and
deliver an educational program of lower quality at higher cost than smaller boards of
education.
Based on the above, it can be concluded that, by amalgamating the City of York, East
York and Toronto Boards of Education, the size and associated costs of the
bureaucracy needed to run this new board would be substantial. Quality of
programs could also decline.
(iii) Higher Costs Resulting from Amalgamation Process
Research indicates that the process of unification of boards of education is generally quite
costly. Costs associated with standardizing educational programs, school facilities,
computer systems and equalizing labour agreements are significant. The key issue in a
cost benefit analysis of school board amalgamation is the effect of merging equivalent
labour groups with different salary, benefit and working condition packages.
IV. OTHER ISSUES
(a) Elimination of the Metropolitan Toronto School Board
The Metropolitan Toronto School Board is currently responsible for ensuring that the
revenues collected by the public school boards in Metropolitan Toronto through property
taxes are equitably distributed to all of the public boards in Metro Toronto. These
revenues are pooled and are then redistributed according to specific formulae to seven
Metro Boards of Education.
While The Board of Education for the City of York receives nearly six percent of the
Metro pool in order to operate the Board, only about half of this amount comes from
City of York property taxes.
Elimination of the Metro Toronto School Board would
require the implementation of some other equitable funding mechanism to prevent serious
consequences for The Board of Education for the City of York.
Unless such a funding mechanism is implemented, The Board of Education for the
City of York cannot support the elimination of the Metropolitan Toronto School
Board.
(b) Pooling and Redistribution of Property Tax Revenue
The goals of the Ministry of Education and Trainings Working Group on Education
Finance Reform include developing a system for ensuring a more equitable distribution
of available funds across Ontario so that, no matter where students live in the province
or what school they attend, they will receive equitable resources.
Provincial pooling of the commercial/industrial assessment would have serious
consequences for Boards of Education within Metropolitan Toronto. With provincial
pooling, the province would receive more than one billion from the commercial-industrial
assessment of Metropolitan Toronto but would only return about 600 million dollars in
grants to the Metropolitan Toronto School Board. This would represent a loss of 400
million dollars.
This loss in funding would have a significant detrimental effect on the quality of
education City of York residents now receive. An increased recognition through further
education finance reform of the special needs of students within Metropolitan Toronto
might help to lessen the impact of provincial pooling. However, The Board of Education
for the City of York has major concerns about whether the needs of its students would
be adequately recognized in any new provincial-wide funding system.
9
As indicated in the previous submission to the Task Force from this Board, The Board
of Education for the City of York serves a disadvantaged student population. Our
students come from a community where a high percentage of families live in poverty
(almost 20%), a high percentage of adults are not high school graduates (almost 20%)
and a high percentage of families are single-parent families (27%). Almost 41 percent
of City of York residents do not have English as their mother tongue. Finally, more than
16 percent of those under 24 years of age and almost 11 percent of those 25 years and
older are unemployed. These City of York figures are the highest of all the
municipalities in Metropolitan Toronto. They are also higher than the figures for Ontario
and Canada as a whole.
Researchers have found that schools serving students with these types of needs must work
harder to achieve the same level of performance as other schools whose students have
greater opportunities. The level of resources required will, as a result, be substantially
greater than in other schools where the difficulty of the educational task is less
daunting.
Based on this information, The Board of Education for the City of York cannot
support any education financial reform that would reduce the funds available for the
unique and significant needs of its students.
V. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
. A large body of evidence from a variety of sources shows conclusively that amalgamation
will not produce either the hoped for reductions in costs or increased efficiencies in
boards of education. More seriously, amalgamation of boards could do major harm to
the quality of education and achievement of students. Based on recent findings from
Statistics Canada that a high school diploma is no longer sufficient to guarantee students
a job and the fact that the City of York has been rated as the most inner-city area in
Metropolitan Toronto, City of York students can ill afford any kind of reduction in the
quality of education they receive.
On the basis of the very strong case against amalgamation, The Board of Education
for the City of York feels that amalgamation should be rejected as a means for
dealing with the governments financial difficulties.
. With respect to the proposed
-
amalgamation of the City of York, East York and Toronto
Boards of Education, this Board feels that it has proven itself to be viable and efficient
at its current size. Of greatest concern to this Board is that amalgamation will lower the
quality of education for City of York students as well as increasing operating costs.
10
No justification from a cost or quality point of view has been provided for
amalgamating the City of York, East York and Toronto Boards of Education.
Consequently, The Board of Education for the City of York cannot support this
recommendation.
. Amalgamation will result in the loss of important educational programs and services that
are provided by The Board of Education for the City of York to meet the special needs
of residents in the City. The new mega-board will be much less responsive to the
needs of City of York residents.
In recognition of these special needs, The Board of Education for the City of York
cannot support any recommendation that will disadvantage City of York residents
to a greater extent. Consequently, it cannot support the amalgamation of the City
of York, East York and Toronto Boards of Education.
. Amalgamation will result in significantly reduced political representation for City of York
residents. The Board does not believe that two trustees can adequately represent the
interests of City of York residents. The proposed reduction is not only unfair to City of
York residents, it is not equitable when compared to trustee representation in other
jurisdictions.
Good trustee representation is essential to protect the interests of City of York
residents. Therefore, The Board of Education for the City of York is unable to
support any recommendation that would reduce trustee representation for the City
of York from 8 to 2 trustees.
. The Metro Toronto School Board plays an important financial and coordinating role
within Metro Toronto that serves City of York residents well.
The Board of Education for the City of York cannot support the elimination of the
Metropolitan Toronto School Board unless a similar funding mechanism which
recognizes the unique needs of City of York students is developed.
. Without adequate consideration of the needs of students. within the City of York, any
provincial pooling of education revenues would likely reduce this Boards current level
of funding.
The Board of Education for the City of York cannot support any recommendation
for education funding reform that would make fewer resources available for our
students.
11
Recommendations:
Before the final report of the Task Force is written, The Board of Education for the City
of York recommends that:
(a) Research findings concerning all of the effects of amalgamation be given more
careful consideration.
(b) The effect of amalgamation on quality of education and student achievement be
given special attention.
(c) Additional costs related to implementing the amalgamation recommendations be
investigated thoroughly.
(d) Alternatives to amalgamation that would provide the needed financial
that would have the least negative impact on quality of education be
savings but
examined.
September 25, 1995
SENT VIA COURIER
Dr. Anne Golden
Chair
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1E6
TEL: (905) 895-1231
(705) 437-1617
(905) 773- 3004
(905) 731- 0201
FA X: (905) 895- 3031
Dear Dr. Golden:
It is with great pleasure that I forward for your review and consideration the position of Regional
Council in regard to matters within your Task Force mandate.
Accordingly, enclosed are copies of the following:
a) Resolution adopted by Regional Council at a Special Meeting convened on
September 14, 1995 (Council Minute No. 288).
b) A listing of critical components to each recommendation identified in the
aforementioned Council Minute No. 288 as adopted by Council at the Special
Meeting held on September 14, 1995.
c) Clause No. 1 of Report No. 2 of the Governance Review Committee and the
Legislation and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee which was considered by
Regional Council on September 14, 1995, entitled Delivery Options: Selected
Services in York Region. (Please note that the actual recommendations adopted
by Council have been yellow highlighted at the end of the subject report.)
In due process, the undersigned respectfully requests acknowledgement of this submission.
e
Region I Clerk
1
Attachs
T H E R E G I O NA L M U N I C I PA L I T Y O F Y O R K
SUBMISSION OF THE REGION OF YORK TO THE GOLDEN TASK
FORCE AND THE PREMIER OF ONTARIO
AS ADOPTED BY YORK REGION COUNCIL
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14, 1995
1. GTA GROWTH MANAGEMENT
B
population will double by 2021
Regional Official Plan is in place to manage growth
Region with the 9 area municipalities has a track record
of cooperative solutions and community responsiveness
If municipal boundary changes are to be considered,
existing communities must be retained and emerging
communities recognized
Infrastructure, financial and growth decisions need to be
coordinated
Growth
Management
D e c i s i o n s
RECOMMENDATION
A modified Regional and area municipal structure be established to
provide cost effective, efficient services to the citizens of York Region.
2. FAIR ASSESSMENT
Reform should first address the property tax imbalance in Metro,
then in the surrounding Regions
Ensure assessment equity in the GTA
Establish an updatable equitable assessment system which cannot
get out of balance again
RECOMMENDATION
The tax assessment system be reformed in Metro first, then an equitable
GTA property assessment system be developed that could apply to all
properties throughout the province.
3. SPECIAL PURPOSE BODIES
B
B
B
There is a need to examine special purpose bodies and
other legislated agencies, boards and commissions
Transfer administration to municipal governments to
l improve accountability by local e ected representatives
Exception may be the conservation authorities which
administer on a watershed basis with elected officials on the
authorities
RECOMMENDATION
Administration of some special purpose bodies be
municipal governments to improve accountability.
transferred to
EDUCATION
71% of Yorks property tax
goes to education
Funding of schools primarily
throug h property taxes
d shoul be reassessed
Other education options such
as purchase of services, par-
ent councils, more school
autonomy should be
examined
1995
Property Tax Dollar
RECOMMENDATION
Boards of Education and Trustee functions in the GTA be
reviewed by the province, and that the review look at removing
the burden of Education from the property tax base.
PROVINCIAL-MUNICIPAL RESPONSIBILITIES
Clarify functional responsibility and accountability for service
delivery
Need to disentangle funding
Distinguish between proerty tax supported services and
d provincial tax supporte services
An exchange of responsibilities is a good starting point.
RECOMMENDATION
Functional responsibility for service delivery be clarified and fund-
ing be accordingly disentangled.
6. MUNICIPAL ACT
B Reform the Municipal Act and related legislation
B permissive Acts should allow for flexible local solutions
RECOMMENDATION
The Municipal Act and related legislation must be simplified and
municipalities be empowered to pursue flexible local solutions.
7. PROVINCIAL ROLE
Need to eliminate Provincial monitoring, approval and
double checking
Eliminate role duplication b the Province as it does not add
l value and results in time de ays
Recognize opportunity to reduce the Provincial bureaucracy
l and save do Iars
RECOMMENDATION
provincial duplication be eliminated and bureaucrac
y
reduced.
8. GTA COORDINATION
B Establish a GTA Forum with representation from elected munici-
J pal representatives in GTA todevelop initiatives and coordinate
decisions
B The Forum address cross-boundary planning and co-ordination
issues such as, economic development, waste management,
sewer, water and transit.
B Need for coordination of Provincial Ministries and agencies in
the GTA
and problem solving
RECOMMENDATION
A GTA Forum be established and a Minister responsible for the GTA
appointed.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1
0
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
A modified Regional and area municipal structure be established to provide cost
effective, efficient services to the citizens of York Region.
The tax assessment system be reformed in Metro first, then an equitable
GTA property assessment system be developed that could apply to all
properties throughout the province.
Administration of some special purpose bodies be transferred to municipal
governments to improve accountability.
Boards of Education and Trustee functions in the GTA be reviewed by the
Province, and that the review look at removing the burden of Education
from the property tax base.
Functional responsibility for service delivery be clarified and funding be
accordingly disentangled.
The Municipal Act and related legislation must be simplified and municipalities be
empowered to pursue flexible local solutions.
provincial duplication be eliminated and bureaucracy reduced.
A GTA Forum be established and a Minister responsible for the GTA appointed.
THE EVOLVING REGION
B Region must continue to change and adapt
B The beginning of a process where more creative and practical
ideas need to be explored
Consider private sector service delivery
promote competition and entrepreneurial approaches
Focus on products/outcomes
Explore service bureau organization
partner with private sector and agencies
view the public as customers
WHAT WE ARE ALREADY DOING
between area municipalities and Region
B Review/Coordination of Fire Services delivery in Region
B Special Purpose Body review methodology
B Review of Municipal and other Acts - CAOS
OFFICE OF THE REGIONAL CHAIR
Oct ober 12, 1995
Mayor Pet er Rober t son
The Cor por at ion of The Cit y of Br ampt on
2 Wellingt on St r eet West
Br ampt on, Ont ar io
L6Y 4R2
THE REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY of YORK
I 7250 YON6E STREET, Box I 47
L3Y 621
TEL, (905) 895-1231, [905) 731-0201
FAX: (905) 89 S-1239
Dear Mayor Rober t son:
Re: St r eamlining i n t h e GTA
I am r eplying t o your memo of Oct ober 4, 1995 r egar ding Dr .
Goldens r equest t o ident ify key aspect s of t he pr ovincial-municipal
int er face t hat r equir e st r eamlining.
It is my view t hat many of t he pr oblems wit h t he pr ovincial-
municipal int er face and t he r esult ant non pr oduct ive pr ovincial
int er vent ions, r esult dir ect ly fr om clouded pr ogr am account abilit y
and finding. These key pr oblem ar eas ar e addr essed in det ail in t he
Regional Chair s Seven Point Plan t o Refor m t he GTA-Leading bv
Example wit h Meaningfu
l Change.
I n or d e r t o i l l u s t r a t e t h i s , we h a ve s e l e ct e d s e ve r a l
examples(at t ached) of pr ovincial int er vent ions t hat have led to delay
and/or confusion. In addit ion, we have ident ified sever al ar eas wher e
pr ovincial-municipal r esponsibilit ies should be clar ified.
YORK ADMIN.
@1003/008
Mayor Pet er Rober t son
The Cor por at ion of The Cit y of Br ampt on
Page 2
I hope t hese obser vat ions ar e a useful addit ion t o your list of
suggest ions for Dr . Golden. I would be pleased to discuss t hese ideas
wit h you fur t her .
Your s t r uly,
Eldr ed King
Regional Chair
EK;pa
Cc . Dr . A. Golden
Chair , GTA Task For ce
Mr. A. Wells
Deput y Chief Administ r at ive Officer
A P ROVI NCI AL I NTERVENTI ONS
The wor d int er vent ion implies hindr ance and ir r elevance. This is not ent ir ely
fair t o pr ovincial agencies since most feel t hey ar e fulfilling t heir mandat e or
pr ot ect ing t he public good. The key quest ion, in my view, is does t he r ole
played by agencies or minist r ies add value? Again, t he key pr oblem comes
back t o muddled account abilit y and financing, Following ar e sever al examples:
1. Offi ci a l P la n Ap p r ova ls
The Pr ovince r et ains r esponsibilit y for official plan
t ier municipalit ies as well as local municipalit ies
appr ovals for upper
out side of Regions.
These document s ar e cir culat ed by t he Pr ovince t o var ious comment ing
agencies (oft en dozens of agencies) t hen t he document s ar e modified as
pr ovided for in t he Planning Act .
The r esult of t his pr ocess is an appr oval cer t ificat e cont aining many
modificat ions. In t he case of t he Region of Yor ks Official Plan, t her e
wer e 99 modificat ions, The Region of Dur ham had 187, t he Cit y of
Vaughan Official Plan Amendment No. 400 had 236, and t he Town of
Mar khams new Official Plan had 66.
The comment ing syst em invit es subst ant ive as well as edit or ial
modificat ions r at her t han focusing on cor e r esponsibilit y ar eas. This is
oft en complicat ed by mult iple comment ing agencies for one t opical ar ea,
for inst ance, envir onment al mat t er s. These minor modificat ions ar e
t ime consumpt ive fr om sever al point s of view: pr epar at ion t ime
r equir ed by t he comment ing agency, assembly by t he Minist r y of
Municipal Affair s and r eview/negot iat ion t ime r equir ed by t he
municipalit y.
2 . Wa t er An d Sewa ge Syst ems Con t r ol
The Region of Yor k is r esponsible for t he management of t he r egional
sewage t r eat ment and wat er supply syst ems. In t he case of bot h
syst ems, t he Pr ovince t akes on a close super vision r ole which can
impede syst em management .
One example is t he Yor k Dur ham Sewage Syst em, The Minist r y of t he
Envir onment and Ener gy st aff t ake, in our view, an ult r a-conser vat ive
appr oach t o t he quest ion of assessing
Page 2
flow gener at ion t o be expect ed
from fut ur e development . As far as we have been able t o det er mine, t he
appr oach t hat t he Minist r y is using on Yor k-Dur ham is differ ent t han
t hat used anywher e else in t he Pr ovince. It does not comply wit h t heir
own policy on det er mining r esidual capacit y in syst ems. Their posit ion
is pr edicat ed on t heir view t hat t he Yor k Dur ham Syst em is unique in
t hat it was designed t o have no over flows, t hat peak flow gener at ion
r at es ar e higher t hen expect ed and t hat t heir conser vat ive appr oach is
mer it ed. We do not agr ee but have been unsuccessful in convincing
t hem t hat t heir appr oach is unr easonable. We ar e looking t o have t his
sit uat ion r esolved t hr ough a r evised YDSS Agr eement if not sooner .
Secondly, we have had some difficult ies wit h t he Minist r y of t he
Envir onment and Ener gy's Cent r al Region st aff in gaining t heir
accept ance of our consult ant s aquifer evaluat ion of t he Yonge St r eet
aquifer . While t his could be viewed as simply a t echnical ar gument , t he
fact is t hat it t ook well over a year t o r esolve. Development appr ovals
wer e wit hheld in t he meant ime, and t he ult imat e r esolut ion does not
have a lot of t echnical soundness. This was r eally a case of MOEE st aff
not being able t o see beyond t he shor t t er m and gr asp t hat , in t he longer
t er m, t he Region has t he will and t he abilit y t o make alt er nat e wat er
supplies available as gr oundwat er ser vices wane.
3. En vi r on men t a l Ap p r ova ls
Following ar e sever al examples of delays in appr ovals of envir onment al
pr oject s which ar e dir ect ly r elat ed t o development init iat ives:
The Ballant r ae/Musselmans Lake wat er supply syst em is an example.
In t his case, following t he complet ion of t he Class Envir onment al
Assessment Pr ocess, t her e was a bump-up r equest t o t he Minist er of t he
Envir onment . The Minist er , at t he t ime, accor ding t o t he Class
Envir onment al Assessment document , waS supposed t o r ender a decision
on t hat r equest in 45 days. Inst ead, t he r esponse t ook 30 mont hs,
cr eat ing a delay on t he pr oject in excess of 2 year s.
Fur t her , t her e have been significant delays in secur ing Per mit s t o Take
Wat er and Cer t ificat es of Appr oval fr om t he Minist r y of t he
Envir onment and Ener gy for some of our pr oject s. For each of t hr ee
r elat ively r out ine well pr oject s, Shar on/Queensvi

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NOTE

. . . may I say most definitely that our concept of planning is

- Provide efficient and cost-effective services

The fair market value of a property is intrinsic in its

Islington, ON. , M9A 1K1,

Education is and should be a provincial responsibility. AU Ontarians share a common

Fair Tax Commission Hearings, (Item 1, Report No. 7 of the

* Average rates for A quality industrial buiidings

Employment by Geographic Region

Drug Store A Sales (Region of Ontario) 1986-1992

METRO AND THE GTA

an equitable basis for levying

standards, rigorous measurement

identify a hierarchy of nodes and corridors

Homes for the aged;

assistance will be given to municipalities in drafting

full provision will. be made for public comment and response

forecast how much additional population and employment growth can be

Need to fix property tax

indicates that the relative share of the

water mains and water treatment

investment moves to where those skills are found.

Greater Toronto Area Task Force

the development of a mixed use City

facility. The Units Basic She/f Cookbook

Mayor Frances Nunziata

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