Toronto: As deliberations on the Toronto budget continue at Toronto City Hall, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation condemned the City of Toronto for proposing to balance the books by selling assets and raiding the reserve funds to the tune of $20 million.

"Instead of taking a hard look at spending, city council chose to sell the store to pay the rent. It makes no sense whatsoever," said CTF Ontario Director Tasha Kheiriddin. "It also won't save taxpayers money - because ultimately they're the ones picking up the tab. Where does the city think the province gets the funds to take over the land of the Ontario Science Centre In the end, there is just one taxpayer."

In its budget submission to City Council the CTF advised the city to focus on essential services, such as fire, police and infrastructure, and reduce non-essential spending on items like culture until core commitments were met. The CTF also advise the city to reexamine whether taxpayers are getting value for their dollar, or whether work could be performed more cost-effectively by outsourcing services like garbage collection and street cleaning. It cited several examples of American cities, such as Phoenix, Arizona, where contracting out waste management saved taxpayers millions of dollars.

"Funding unnecessary and expensive projects like the Clean and Beautiful City Initiative, when you can't fill potholes, is like doing cosmetic surgery on a patient with a terminal disease," said Kheiriddin. "Mayor Miller has his priorities wrong - and now he's selling Toronto to pay for his mistakes."

The full CTF Toronto budget submission, "Living Within Our Means" can be viewed at www.taxpayer.com/pdf/City_of_Toronto_deputation_February_2005.pdf