City hall – every city hall – is blowing your money.
It is not what they do, it is how they do it.
It isn’t that they’re wasting money on some projects – although they undoubtedly do – as much as they are wasting money as a matter of course in practically everything they do.
Although Toronto was recently subjected to the largest tax hike in recent memory, there are those who got their brains wet during the recent rainstorm who are pushing for a “rain tax.”
They call it a fee as if that is really any different.
The idea is to tax people who have driveways and parking lots for the fact that rain runs off those surfaces, rather than permeating the ground.
So, if city hall just had more money, they could fix this issue. They are smart enough, you see. They care. But skinflint citizens with driveways are not paying their fair share.
What happened to all that money collected from mayor John Miller’s 10% water fee and the additional eight years of mayor Rob Ford’s 8% fee?
Some work has been done and there are fewer slogged basements than in the past, but another tax is lazy thinking.
It all comes down to mindset and the best example of the problem was told to me by mayor Ford’s former chief of staff, Mark Towhey.
Suppose we had a crew of four working to repair potholes. An efficiency expert points out the work could be efficiently done by three workers on a crew.
Ordinary people – let’s call them thinkers – would cheer a 25% efficiency.
But others – let’s call them bureaucrats and elected officials – call that a 25% cut in service.
The latter will demonize the politician who suggests the cut, painting that person as not caring if the streets fall into total disrepair.
Too many people will fall for that argument, with too high a cohort of them being my colleagues in the media.
As a result we are overloaded with public workers.
There are too many “little things” that add up to a big total.
Toronto council recently spent time and money foisting an unwanted renaming of a square.
A councillor wants to temporarily name a street after Taylor Swift when she is in the city.
Credit to Ms. Swift, she isn’t bribing the city and running politicians around like Pinocchio on a string as is happening with the 2026 World Cup. She will be an economic benefit.
But does a councillor not think ahead? How long will a $100 street sign last with Taylor’s name emblazoned on it? Fifteen minutes? Can we put a cop under every sign 24/7?
That is an automatic souvenir.
Hundreds of positions are unfilled at the start of each year, but the budget is put in place as if they were hired.
It takes six months to get from the beginning of the year to managers being handed the money to do the hiring.
Meanwhile, many others have quit or retired. They don’t need the money.
If we can get along without workers for six months, it is safe to say we don’t need a high percentage of them. That’s several hundred million dollars taken from the taxpayers and not properly allocated in places like rainwater mitigation.
And don’t look condescendingly at Toronto from elsewhere. Look to your own council.