Toronto's plan to freeze budget blasted by community groups

Toronto's budget committee voted Thursday to push ahead with a plan to freeze city spending in 2018, despite dire warnings from several community groups.

Mayor John Tory's executive committee will be the next to debate the idea, though he has already voiced support for it — at least as a starting point for the months-long budget process.

• Facing $343M budget gap, Toronto could freeze spending in 2018

Tory, who spoke with reporters following a news conference about road repairs, said some arms of the city may get funding increases by the end of the process

"I think it is the right kind of approach in times where a lot of people face uncertainty in their own finances," he said.

Staff are recommending the freeze as the city tries to find some $343 million to balance its budget, something it's required to do by provincial law, while keeping residential property tax increases at the rate of inflation.

Councillors Shelley Carroll and Mike Layton put forward motions to exempt some areas, like the Shelter, Support and Housing Administration, from having to try and hold spending, but those were unsuccessful.

Layton said it will be a "waste of time" for the shelter department to study potential cuts when a growing demand for service is clear.

However Coun. Justin Di Ciano said while he heard the warnings from shelter operators who rely on city funding, the city's spending in that area should be held up for the same scrutiny as others.

"The fact that we hear those warnings tells us nothing about how a division is managing itself," he said.

Di Ciano rejected the idea the process will lead to an automatic cut, calling that "ludicrous."

'Budgeting backwards'

Sean Meagher, the head of Social Planning Toronto, delivered a letter to Tory's office signed by the leaders of more than 50 community organizations opposed to the idea of a budget freeze.

Meagher, one of more than a dozen people to warn councillors about the potentially dire affects of the plan, said it amounts to "budgeting backwards."

"Know what you need and make sure you budget for those things," Meagher said.

Toby Nicol, an outreach worker with St. Stephen's Community House, says the people who need the city's help most are already struggling to find support. 

"Four of my clients passed away in the past year," he told the committee.

Nicol also said he's tried to take clients to shelters, only to find them closed. He said the city's referral point sometimes lets people in need sleep on the floor, but then forces them out at daybreak.

The shelter system appears to be at a "breaking point," he said, before asking: "wouldn't it be smart for you guys to invest more?"

Critics warn plan will polarize council

Coun. Kristyn Wong-Tam called the idea of a freeze a "disaster" that will damage city services.

"If we start from there we're going to have a totally different budget conversation," she told CBC Toronto.

"We're actually, effectively, starting to defund services."

Wong-Tam says the direction, provided by the city's top bureaucrats, will also polarize city council. What she'd prefer is for the city to lay out its goals, and provide the funding to match.

The downtown councillor also said the city needs to gain the "political courage" to put its own financial house in order, something that may involve raising residential property taxes above the rate of inflation, or about two per cent.

Coun. Joe Mihevc agrees, saying he'd be in favour of a funding mix that includes a modest property tax increase, more funding from the province and the use of more revenue tools.

"I think Torontonians are ready for that conversation," Mihevc said.

Tory has repeatedly said property taxes weren't designed to fund major infrastructure projects in areas like transit and social housing. 

The city's budget isn't expected to be finalized until next February.