85 replies to this topic

[Shwa]

I'm wondering about IT... oh... well, here it is:

$90M budget.

I wonder if Dash Domi could get the City a deal and save some money on the IT budget. I am sure Jacobek and Ford are fast friends. Jacobek could be the intermediary...

[Wild Bill]

If the pointy hat fits...

Toronto had a deficit before Miller took office. So, unless he had eliminated it at some point before dipping back into the red, your claim that Miller caused the deficit is completely false.

Now, a person who was actually interested in looking at this topic instead of scoring partisan political points for his team would argue Miller made it worse and show exactly how, but that would require getting really into details about the city's finances and we all know how boring that stuff is and how much better it is to reduce complex issues to bumper-sticker length soundbites.

Question: if Ford can't get out from the deficit in four years, does it become Ford's problem or do you get to hang this on Miller forever and ever amen?

Toronto is a foreign city to a kid from the Hammer and I avoid the place like the plague but that being said, when they talk about "one time monies" are they talking about bailouts from other governments?

Perhaps you know better than I. That's why I'm asking. Has Toronto been self-sustaining with its budgets or has it been surviving on bailouts paid by taxpayers that don't even live there and/or never go there, except maybe once a season to watch the Leafs lose, yet again.

Outside of the GTA media this is a popular viewpoint and I truly am not sure if it is true or not. One thing I do know, if it is true it is one more reason to resent Toronto.

[Black Dog]

Toronto is a foreign city to a kid from the Hammer and I avoid the place like the plague but that being said, when they talk about "one time monies" are they talking about bailouts from other governments?

I think it means money from annual budget surpluses.

[Shwa]

Good article on the actuals and what we are actually talking about. And seriously, former Mayor Miller must be chuckling.

From $350 million surplus to $774 million deficit in one Ford year?

We’ve heard a lot recently from Mayor Rob Ford and his supporters about how the city is facing a $774 million budget hole. This crisis is used to explain why we need to consider the possibility of slashing snow removal, contracting out garbage collection and stopping the practice of fluoridating the water.

But wait! Here comes Councillor Gord Perks, who sat on the budget committee of David Miller (and alongside Shelley Carroll and Kyle Rae, did most of the heavy lifting of actually writing those last few David Miller budgets) to argue with the math. As he was quoted in Torontoist, without much context, my old friend and former colleague Perks says:

The mayor’s allies are profoundly misleading Torontonians. [...] In 2010 we ran a $350 [million] surplus. I don’t understand how in one year that becomes a $774 million deficit. The important thing is though, that water and garbage are not on the property tax, so none of the cuts to things like environment days or fluoridation or any of that has a single thing to do with your property taxes.

Enjoy the chuckle...

[Wild Bill]

Good article on the actuals and what we are actually talking about. And seriously, former Mayor Miller must be chuckling.

From $350 million surplus to $774 million deficit in one Ford year?



Enjoy the chuckle...

I'm chuckling that someone would consider a man who sat in that position with those other players to be an unbiased source!

Is it not perhaps possible that he might want to deliberately make Ford look bad?

[Shwa]

I'm chuckling that someone would consider a man who sat in that position with those other players to be an unbiased source!

Is it not perhaps possible that he might want to deliberately make Ford look bad?

It might be if he had omitted to illustrate a process - a well known process - and left it at mere opinion. But the process remains a fact and his opinion of Mayor Ford is neither here nor there. I don't think you have to be of any particular ideology to see how the process works and how it is being clumsily manipulated.

[Boges]

I had a lil chuckle yesterday when I hear people are going to protest the offices of KPMG. Some people need obtain lives.

You dare you accept money to do an audit!!!!

[treehugger]

Good article on the actuals and what we are actually talking about. And seriously, former Mayor Miller must be chuckling.

From $350 million surplus to $774 million deficit in one Ford year?



Enjoy the chuckle...

350 million surplus my foot. With all of the crap that miller had going on the taxpayers money there is no way there was a surplus. If he is chuckling away it's because he has a loose screw, he just gave and gave to all that wanted.
So many stupid things to get rid of and one of them was paying one woman to sit in a city park to look after the kids that came there to play. She got $26,000 for that a year.
Sending out young people at $18.00 per hour to knock on doors to see if they had a cat or dog for licenses. The license program cost more to run then what the city is bringing in.

[punked]

350 million surplus my foot. With all of the crap that miller had going on the taxpayers money there is no way there was a surplus. If he is chuckling away it's because he has a loose screw, he just gave and gave to all that wanted.
So many stupid things to get rid of and one of them was paying one woman to sit in a city park to look after the kids that came there to play. She got $26,000 for that a year.
Sending out young people at $18.00 per hour to knock on doors to see if they had a cat or dog for licenses. The license program cost more to run then what the city is bringing in.

HAHAHAHAHA typical of a right winger. I refuse to believe the truth unless it is the truth I want. You should go find Shady you two will get along just fine.

[treehugger]

HAHAHAHAHA typical of a right winger. I refuse to believe the truth unless it is the truth I want. You should go find Shady you two will get along just fine.

Put your information where your mouth is!

[Michael Hardner]

So many stupid things to get rid of and one of them was paying one woman to sit in a city park to look after the kids that came there to play. She got $26,000 for that a year.
Sending out young people at $18.00 per hour to knock on doors to see if they had a cat or dog for licenses. The license program cost more to run then what the city is bringing in.

Interesting, but Ford is mayor now - so where are these stories ? Did KPMG find them ? Are we going to get our $700M from these nickle and dime things ?

[Shwa]

350 million surplus my foot. With all of the crap that miller had going on the taxpayers money there is no way there was a surplus. If he is chuckling away it's because he has a loose screw, he just gave and gave to all that wanted.
So many stupid things to get rid of and one of them was paying one woman to sit in a city park to look after the kids that came there to play. She got $26,000 for that a year.
Sending out young people at $18.00 per hour to knock on doors to see if they had a cat or dog for licenses. The license program cost more to run then what the city is bringing in.

Well, I did cite the article and now you are disputing it, so could you kindly provide some legitimate sources (and than your own vaunted opinion please) and show there wasn't a $350 million dollar surplus?

What's that? You can't?

Didn't think so.

[treehugger]

Interesting, but Ford is mayor now - so where are these stories ? Did KPMG find them ? Are we going to get our $700M from these nickle and dime things ?

I wouldn't consider $30,000 here or $100,000 there, nickels and dimes because these amounts really add up.
I guess you haven't read the papers or seen the news for the last while but city council is working now on the overspending that ocurred
before Ford was mayor.Everyone was invited to city hall to give their opinions on what should take place to get rid of the debt.

[Michael Hardner]

I wouldn't consider $30,000 here or $100,000 there, nickels and dimes because these amounts really add up.

Evidently not, because we still haven't breached the gap.

I guess you haven't read the papers or seen the news for the last while but city council is working now on the overspending that ocurred
before Ford was mayor.Everyone was invited to city hall to give their opinions on what should take place to get rid of the debt.

Ford did an online survey of the people to find out what they wanted to cut but he didn't like the results so he's ignoring them, from what I hear.

[Shwa]

Evidently not, because we still haven't breached the gap.

Ford did an online survey of the people to find out what they wanted to cut but he didn't like the results so he's ignoring them, from what I hear.

I heard that Ford hired a $350,000 consultant because he didn't like what he heard.

$350,000! That's a lot of money! Imagine all the dog licenses that could have been collected, or old ladies babysitting in the park.