As one of the seven members on Toronto City Council’s budget committee, I was handed four thick binders stretching hundreds of pages each. These were used as road maps for four months of deliberations.
Managing a $9.6 billion budget-making process in a city with 2.7 million people is no easy task. We listened carefully to hundreds of deputants. Although city building is our main goal, I also worked to make sure the budget funded important new projects for Ward 10.
For the first time in decades Wilson Avenue between Bathurst Street and Wilson Heights Boulevard will be repaved. This $2.5 million project will include a beautified streetscape with new trees, benches and flowers. Also in the budget is $175,000 in new public art for the 401 overpass at Bathurst Street and Wilson Avenue.
Hidden Trail Park will get a $300,000 facelift with a stunning new design, and Wilson Heights Park improvements will be completed. New traffic lights will be installed just west of Bathurst Street and Finch Avenue and new police officers will be hired.
Ward 10 will also see new resources for storm clean up, the arts and more articulated busses along Bathurst Street as well as new water and sewage repairs to prevent flooding. In order to protect seniors and young families, the property tax rate will rise only 1.73 per cent plus 0.5 per cent for transit construction. Toronto remains the lowest taxed city in the GTA. I also worked with my colleagues to give more support to the city auditor to identify waste and fraud. After all, it is taxpayers’ money, and we must be careful and prudent with every dollar.
