A new year, and a new post. Maybe I should have made a new year's resolution to update the blog more often, but I don't like making resolutions that I can't keep.

While on my way home, I heard on the radio that the City of Toronto is looking to extend the Yonge-University-Spadina line to go into Richmond Hill. While this may be a great idea in theory, it carries a hefty price tag that Toronto taxpayers will likely be stuck with.

While the province may provide funding for the construction, the City of Toronto inevitably will have difficulty making ends meet with the new subway line, and I doubt York Region will jump in and provide assistance. As the City of Toronto has shown time and time again, even with new taxes, it cannot manage a budget. It boils down simply to this: Taxpayers from the City of Toronto will be paying for a subway line that helps York Region commuters go to work in Toronto and use our other public services.

My question here is why we are extending the subway into York Region, another municipality, rather than extending it into other parts of Toronto that need the service first. On weekends, a bus route near my office only comes once an hour, but people from Richmond Hill will be enjoying frequent subway service while tax paying homeowners near my office will be freezing in the cold for an hour while they wait for a bus, which may or may not get there.

The Sheppard subway line has shown that development and property values will likely increase if it is near a subway line. By extending into other parts of Toronto, development and property values will increase, leading to greater property tax assessments and more tax dollars for the City of Toronto. But extending the subway into York Region will improve property values out there, but it will not result in greater property tax revenues for the City of Toronto, who is ultimately footing the bill. Why not extend the subway into regions of Etobicoke and Scarborough where transit is needed for lower income families?

With all the additional taxes that residents in the City of Toronto pay, you would think that city hall would be serving it's constituents first. It's clear where loyalty at city hall lies.

        

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion