Toronto: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) responded today to Mayor Miller's 'More Taxes' Campaign repeating its call for the creation of a 'Creative Solutions' panel to provide recommendations on how to take the city forward. CTF Ontario Director Kevin Gaudet said, "Toronto needs creative solutions to complicated problems not more taxes. A panel could look at all ideas leaving no rock unturned".
During his press conference the Mayor stated he was interested in receiving constructive recommendations.
The panel's mandate could cover the following areas:
Expenditure savings:- Alternative revenue other than tax increases;
- Priority allocation of revenue growth; and,
- Province-city efficiencies and growth-based provincial funding.
The city of Winnipeg recently completed such an undertaking with an eight member panel comprised of; current and former city councillors, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the President of the Chamber of Commerce (a tax accountant), the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the city's tourism group (Destination Winnipeg), the Women's Enterprise Centre, and the Manitoba Heavy Construction Association.
Gaudet concluded, "the mayor sees only two tracks tax hikes or service cuts, but there is a better way. There are many resources in Toronto he could utilize to assist in such an undertaking."
There are a number of areas the panel could investigate including:- Public private partnerships;
- Outsourcing;
- Activity based costing and operational efficiencies;
- Fee-based cost-recovery for some services
- Commissioning a forensic accounting of provincial services funded by Toronto;
- Use of municipal assets and the possible creation of an endowment fund; and,
- Increased partnerships with not-for profits (the Casa Loma model).