Rob Ford: Land transfer tax will be reduced next year

Mayor Rob Ford says the land transfer tax will be reduced next year, perhaps by 25 per cent.

During his election campaign, Ford promised to abolish the tax immediately upon taking office. Late in the campaign, he said he might have to wait until 2012. He has hedged further as mayor, promising to abolish the tax by the end of his four-year term.

In an interview with CP24’s Stephen LeDrew on Thursday morning, he said, “We’re going to start working on that this year.”

“I can’t say we’re gonna wipe it out this year, but it might be a quarter this year, a half next year, or — you know, but we’re gonna do it piece by piece. You’re gonna see a portion of the land transfer tax, I don’t know how much right now, be gone by the end of next year,” Ford said.

Ford has repeatedly argued that Toronto does not have the money to pay for its programs and services even with the lucrative tax, which is expected to generate about $300 million in 2011. He will face stiff council resistance if he attempts to reduce it.

“That would be fiscally irresponsible,” said Councillor Josh Matlow, a centrist swing vote. “If Mr. Ford could show me a way to do it that would not force cuts to the services that Torontonians value and rely on, I would consider it. I do not believe he could make an argument, that would be honest, like that, given the fact that we have $300 million from the land transfer tax this year and there are still proposed cuts to services across the city.”

Left-leaning Councillor Gord Perks said Ford had “lost touch with reality.”

“On Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays he tells us we’re broke. On Thursdays and Fridays he tells us to cut our income. He doesn’t know how to govern,” Perks said.

In the interview, Ford said he believed work on a Sheppard subway extension could begin rapidly. “We're gonna get shovels in the ground, hopefully this year or next year, on Sheppard,” he said.

That timeline, however, appears highly unrealistic. A preliminary business plan for Sheppard, originally expected by Christmas, has not yet been completed because of a lack of money. Ford’s point man on the project, Gordon Chong, said Tuesday that it would take a year, and between $5 million and $10 million in funding, to do the work necessary to craft a complete business plan.

Ford’s council critics say the $4.7 billion Sheppard extension will never be built at all. While Ford has insisted that the private sector will cover most of the cost, Chong said companies would only pay for 10 to 30 per cent; governments would have to contribute at least $3.3 billion.

“To get this going will take public support — I think that’s building — and political support, and a certain amount of intestinal fortitude to move forward,” Chong said Tuesday. “The question is how long I stay if we didn’t make any progress.”

LeDrew also asked Ford whether he would attend any Pride events in 2012. Ford, who controversially declined to take part in this year’s gay and lesbian festival, refused to commit even when LeDrew asked whether he would attend events that did not conflict with family commitments.

Ford skipped this year’s Pride parade to take part in an annual family weekend at a Muskoka cottage. He has said he did not attend any other events during the 10-day festival because of scheduling conflicts.

“Everything depends on my schedule,” he told LeDrew. “Like I said, I get 30, 40 invitations a night. If I can make it, I’ll make it. But I can’t commit to saying what I’ll do tomorrow or even the next day, so going six months down the line? I don’t want to commit to anything right now.”

Origin
Source: Star