Nicholas Dahir, a research officer at the C.D. Howe Institute, criticizes Toronto's proposed 6.9% property tax increase for 2025, calling the city budget an 'opaque mess'. He argues that the budget lacks transparency, violates democratic principles, and presents a misleading picture of the city's financial health. Dahir suggests that Toronto should adopt public-sector accounting standards and provide clearer, more timely budget information.
Nicholas Dahir is a research officer at the C.D. Howe Institute, where William Robson serves as president and chief executive officer.
To start with, councillors should ask to see the 2025 budget alongside the city’s actual results for 2023 and its projections for the 2024 results that will come out later this year. That is information well-run businesses and not-for-profits provide, and it is information that is readily available for other governments, notably the Ontario government. We should be seeing historical and projected key numbers – revenues, expenses and resulting bottom line – on a consistent basis.
Toronto could show those comparative numbers in its budget, but it does not, because it presents its budget using different accounting than it uses in its financial statements. Toronto’s financial statements follow public-sector accounting standards. That means that they consolidate everything the city controls to produce one statement of revenues, expenses and the bottom line.
BUDGET TAXATION DEMOCRACY ACCOUNTING TORONTO
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