Toronto council passes $9.2B operating budget

Toronto city council has approved its 2010 operating budget, which includes a residential property tax increase of 2.9 per cent.

The budget, which is balanced, totals $9.2 billion. 

According to Mayor David Miller the budget protects services and programs for this year and next, but problems still exist. 

"It remains important to solve the city's structural operating budget challenge through a return of cost sharing with the province for the operation of the TTC," he said in a statement.

In last month's provincial budget the province said it was delaying the money ear-marked for Toronto’s Transit City project — which would see a number of new light rail lines built across the city.

On Thursday, the TTC began running public service announcements with Miller calling on riders to call Premier Dalton McGuinty or their local MPP and "urge them to restore funding and save Transit City."

About 70 per cent of Toronto's $9 billion goes to services that are difficult to trim: police, fire, TTC, ambulance, health and social services.

Employment and social services costs are the largest item in the 2010 budget, adding up to  $1.35 billion.

The Toronto Police Service gets $953.8 million.