Ontario Premier Doug Ford weighed in on Toronto’s proposed 2026 budget, saying the province does more than its share for the city. <\/p>\n
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he has no plans to provide Toronto with new revenue tools through discussions on the next phase of the new deal between the city and the province. <\/p>\n
\u201cRevenue tools are called taxes. They want to tax the pants off you. They\u2019ve taxed us to death in Toronto. Enough, enough of these taxes,\u201d Ford told reporters at Queen\u2019s Park on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs I say, government doesn\u2019t have an income problem. They have a revenue problem. Stop spending money. Start focusing on areas that you can drive efficiencies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ford\u2019s office later confirmed the province is not exploring the possibility of providing the city with new revenue tools. <\/p>\n
Last week the city unveiled its proposed $18.9 billion operating budget<\/a> for 2026, including a small 2.2 per cent tax hike for residential property owners<\/a>, the smallest proposed increase of Mayor Olivia Chow\u2019s term.<\/p>\n In part, that smaller increase was possible thanks to the 2023 new deal agreement between the province and the city, which included the upload of the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley parkway. <\/p>\n Asked last week about discussions around the next phase of the deal, City Manager Paul Johnson said they would focus on revenue tools that grow with the economy. <\/p>\n \u201cThis constant churn of having to go back and have this discussion (about funding) is in no one\u2019s interest, including the province\u2019s,\u201d Johnson said last week. \u201cIt\u2019d just be better to solve it. The straightest path is to figure out ways that we can have predictable revenue streams that we can model as they grow with the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cThat said, you know, there are many ways to get to where we need to. It could be dedicated funding that has a cost-of-living increase included in it, or some way of making sure that it grows.\u201d<\/p>\n During his budget presentation, Toronto CFO Stephen Conforti cited the example of Taylor Swift\u2019s hugely successful concert series in Toronto, saying that despite the boost to the economy, Toronto saw very little of that revenue as it doesn\u2019t have access to revenue streams like sales tax. <\/p>\n Budget Chief Shelley Carroll also suggested in an interview with Newstalk 1010 that the city needs to look at revenue options that grow with the economy so that the city is not constantly short on change, and that could include new taxation powers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is about that conversation that\u2019s been going on for 25 years now, which is that we did amalgamation, but now we have this large beast, the megacity of Toronto, and it needs a sustainability factor,\u201d Carroll said. <\/p>\n \u201cIf it had small access to the economy, like other orders of government, then we would be able to rebuild reserves in good times and not have to come cap in hand whenever there are hard times.\u201d<\/p>\n She said that would be the focus of the next phase of discussions with the province as the initial three-year new deal comes to an end. <\/p>\n We can build off the success of the New Deal by working together with the province to bolster Toronto\u2019s ability to deliver services people need.<\/p>\n No one is interested in new taxes. That\u2019s not on the table. Not for us or the Premier. Not even discussing it.<\/p>\n We\u2019re just looking for\u2026 https:\/\/t.co\/DOm4j2PZkk<\/a><\/p>\n