Transit Advocacy Group: TTC Should Tax Toronto Parking Areas
Feb 13, 2023
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Transit advocacy group TTCRiders called for a new levy on parking spaces in Toronto. Their push comes ahead of the city council’s approval of the Toronto Transit Commission’s (TTC) 2023 operating budget.
The transit organization believes that if the council had implemented the taxes in 2016, Toronto could have raised hundreds of millions of dollars. The group encouraged the council to add parking taxes when they reviewed the 2023 budget.
Shelagh Pizey-Allen, director of the TTCRiders, said new taxes could be a transformative tool that could produce hundreds of millions of dollars every year for the city. The group is calling for the new levy in place of the proposed service cuts in this year’s TTC budget.
In 2016, a report from accounting company KPMG estimated that the new taxes could raise between $192 and $575 million. The estimates are based on taxing the owners of the lots from $0.50 to $1.50 per day per parking spot.
Unfortunately, this type of levy also comes with certain consequences. The 2016 report warned that there could be adverse consequences for retailers if Toronto were to adopt the tax.
However, Pizey-Allen believed the tax could be helpful and would not harm small businesses in certain areas of the city if deployed strategically. TTCRiders encouraged council staff to study these concerns.
Councillor Chris Moise stated that he plans to ask city staff to consider the tax and study how it could work in Toronto. He believed the city should not ignore any potential options for new revenue.
Moise said the government has to be creative in how it can generate revenue. He believed that the commercial tax levy was one way to do that.
The parking levy has the potential to stave off future cuts that can impact people who depend on transit and cannot afford fare hikes, Moise added.
This year, Mayor John Tory and budget committee chair Gary Crawford are pushing for $53 million in new funding. The proposed grant includes fare hikes and service cuts.
Under the 2023 budget, the commission will provide 164,200 total hours of service. Last year, the TTC had a budget for 180,200 service hours. If approved, there will also be a 10-cent cash fare hike, which increases single cash fares to $3.35.
According to officials, the higher fares will be allocated for a suite of new programs to address safety and service issues.
During a recent news conference, the mayor outlined the following initiatives he was hoping would be passed as part of the budget:
- Expand eligibility to the Fair Pass Transit Discount program
- Fund service upgrades in neighbourhood improvement areas
- Hire more TTC special constables
- Hire more program outreach workers who can help homeless people and those with mental health issues
- Expand cleaning in streetcars
Tory and Crawford and TTC chair Jon Burnside defended the cash fare hike. The mayor said the price increase could provide the funding that would help the government protect the transit system.
The mayor also voiced his disfavour of the proposed tax. He said the new levy on parking spaces was too complicated and could harm businesses.
Businesses and citizens concerned about how the tax will affect them can hire a CPA in Toronto. Professional accountants can help organizations and individuals prepare their finances before tax season.
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