Mississauga says ‘yes’ to most transit tax options, and fie on Ford

Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion and her council colleagues had some strong words for Toronto on the issue of transit funding: Don’t expect the “905” to subsidize the “416.”

At Wednesday’s council meeting, McCallion and other councillors also criticized Mayor Rob Ford for rejecting all of Metrolinx’s proposed funding tools and pushing Toronto’s executive committee to defer the issue until it’s too late to have any input into the final recommendations.

“I’m a little concerned with Mayor Ford’s position,” said Councillor Bonnie Crombie. “He’s going to oppose anything that comes from taxes, tolls and levies.”

She said there is an “inherent tension between the 905 and the 416.”

Ford’s position left Mississauga councillors asking where the $50 billion to ease the GTHA’s chronic traffic congestion will come from.

They repeatedly stated that Toronto had better not expect surrounding regions to cover more than their fair share of the bill.

“We don’t have two-way, all-day GO (train) service,” said Councillor Pat Saito, who questioned how, under Metrolinx’s 11 proposed revenue tools, it could fairly include parking lot levies at the same rate across the board.

“We have these huge corporations with all these employees, with no transit to get them here.”

Meanwhile, downtown Toronto has the best access to transit in the province, she argued, so why shouldn’t the parking levy be higher there?

Amid calls from councillors to take many of the proposed revenue-generating tools off the table, McCallion was trying to be the voice of reason.

“There’s going to be opposition to everything,” she said. “They have enough negativity with the mayor of Toronto being opposed to new revenues. My position is, it is completely premature for us to take a stand before we have all the facts.”

McCallion said Metrolinx should be given the chance to make its final proposal in the coming months, and taxpayers should be given a proper opportunity to weigh in on which tools are acceptable.

She did, however, make it clear that in her view, property tax increases and transit fare increases are off the table.

Council unanimously supported a staff report that left the other nine funding tools appearing on Metrolinx’s short list as potential options it will recommend pursuing.

The list also includes a regional sales tax, gas taxes, possible highway tolls or HOT (high-occupancy toll) lanes, higher development charges, a payroll tax, and unusual mechanisms such as “land value capture” and a kilometres-travelled tax.

McCallion told the Star she has a meeting scheduled in Mississauga with Premier Kathleen Wynne within the next couple of weeks.

“The appropriate question,” she said, “is to find out how all these projects are going to be funded.”

McCallion has made no secret of the pressure she’s exerting to get Mississauga’s estimated $1.5 billion LRT project along Hurontario St. at the top of the list under Metrolinx’s second wave of funded projects, following Toronto’s transit expansion.

“I don’t know what the (funding) formula is,” she said. “How will the money, wherever it comes from, how will it be distributed?”

Asked if she had spoken with Ford on the transit funding issue, McCallion responded: “No I haven’t. I’ve just made my position very clear publicly. We have a choice of doing nothing and letting the gridlock grow every day, or to do something and help pick up the tab for it.”