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Mayor Chow's City Budget: PASSED!
- sabinehill04
- Feb 11
- 2 min read
Updated: 20 hours ago
The Mayor’s Budget passed at our Special City Council meeting with very few amendments. You can CLICK HERE to read more about the local and city-wide investments included this year, but I want to highlight a few new wins that happened this month that directly benefit Willowdale.
The Mayor provided:
$35,000 to address the shortfall facing the Yonge North York BIA in organizing our long-standing Canada Day celebration at Mel Lastman Square. This support ensures the event can proceed as planned.
$45,000 to support the implementation of a previously approved motion to bring public art to Little Iran. In light of recent protests and violence in Iran, this investment is a meaningful show of solidarity with the Iranian community.
These are not enormous sums in the context of a $18.9 Billion budget. But locally, they matter. They bring colour. They foster connection. They strengthen the community.
Some may reasonably ask: What lies on the other side of this below-inflation operating budget increase?
The City remains in active discussions with the Province on what we are calling New Deal 2.0. Many will recall that New Deal 1.0 resulted in the upload of the Gardiner and the DVP, saving the City hundreds of millions of dollars that are now being directed toward our State of Good Repair backlog that has benefited infrastructure across the city, including Mel Lastman Square. That was a significant win. But the larger opportunity lies ahead.
Toronto, and cities across Canada, are operating within a fiscal framework that no longer reflects reality. Our population is growing. Our economy is expanding. Yet our revenue tools have not kept pace. Global cities such as Tokyo, Madrid, and New York have revenue tools that grow with their economies. Toronto needs the same, alongside a strong, sustained partnership with provincial and federal governments. A modernized financial framework would allow us to plan responsibly, invest confidently, and build a sustainable budget without placing undue pressure on property taxpayers.
