However, she took me totally by surprise in suggesting that David Miller had a positive, long term vision of the city and that Toronto is one of the better fiscally managed cities in Canada. She also indicated that Toronto's debt has been managed very well compared to other cities in Canada.
Needless to say, I was dumbfounded. While I didn't want to take her to task over this -- being well aware of the ballooning budget -- I decided to not say anything about the debt level until I could present to her the actual numbers. So, this is what I pulled up.
Toronto - 2003
- Debt: $2.1 Billion
- Annual Budget: $6 Billion
Toronto - 2010
- Debt: $3.1 Billion
- Annual Budget: $9 Billion
In case it doesn't jump out at you right away, these numbers indicate that both the debt level of the city and the annual budget post-Miller is 150% of what it was pre-Miller. And let's not forget that Toronto is now pulling in approximately $750 Million more each year with the new Land Transfer Tax and Vehicle Registration Tax.
And when we compare Toronto to other cities, the picture isn't pretty either. Toronto has the third largest debt per capita of any Canadian city:
- Montreal = $8,274
- Calgary = $3,843
- Toronto = $2,671
This kind of lays to rest any discussion on whether or not Toronto has been well-managed. It's not like David Miller was mayor for 30 years; he was in power for 7. To increase the debt and budget size of the city that significantly in that short of a time... it's almost imperceptible.
David Miller may go down as the most destructive mayor the city of Toronto ever had. One need only look at his spineless approach to unions in capitulating to their each and every wage demand...
...his ridiculous approach to poverty and community housing by giving away property...
...his mindless approach to the homeless in not even trying to figure out who they are, how many there are and coming up with a concise plan based on real numbers...
...his approach to roads in the city that have left businesses in ruins...
...and his complete disregard of the taxpayers' money.
Toronto is in sore shape right now. Thankfully we have somebody who is ready to give the city the shock therapy it so sorely needs. Let's hope that Rob Ford is able to enact the changes he plans. Toronto is on the brink. If Ford can do for Toronto what Rudy Giuliani did for New York, we may enter a new Golden Age for the city. And if anybody has the cojones to do it, it's Rob Ford.
UPDATE * * *
As pointed out in the comments section, my debt figures in the trillions of dollars is incorrect. As it is, I was using figures from the City of Toronto's website in which they quote their figures as being in millions.
The gross outstanding debt in 2010 is 3,063,064 (millions). Clearly, if the base value is in millions, that number becomes $3,063,064,000,000 or roughly $3.063 Trillion. However, Toronto's gross debt is actually $3.063 Billion. That would mean their base value is in the thousands: 3,063,064 (thousands) = $3,063,640,000
I've correct the debt figures back to being in the billions. Surprise, surprise that the City of Toronto's finances are so screwed up that they can't even quote financial figures on their website correctly.
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4 comments:
You mean $2.1 billion and $3.1 billion. If that were trillions of dollars, the Toronto government would owe more than the national GDP.
The City’s net debt has increased by a compound annual rate of 12.54 per cent over the last four years, attributable to increases in long-term debt to third parties and in long-term employee benefit liabilities. The significant growth in long-term debt has been driven mainly by the need to finance transit capital expenditures. The growth of employee benefit liabilities has been driven by an aging demographic (employees and retirees), increased utilization of the plan, increased cost of drugs and services and de-regulation of government sponsored benefits which are transferred to private benefit plans.
Gross Outstanding Debt 2.1 B 2003 is correct.
Gross Outstanding Debt 3.1 B 2007 correct.
http://www.toronto.ca/finance/pdf/2009fr.pdf
Net Debt 2003 1,476,788 (Millions)
Net Debt 2007 2,382,132 (Millions)
http://www.toronto.ca/finance/debt.htm
Sorry, my mistake based on their mistake. I took my numbers from the same source.
As you listed, they have the word millions in parenthesis which typically indicates that the base value for their figures is $1 million. The figure you listed as:
1,476,788 (Millions) = $1,476,788,000,000
Obviously, the figure should be multiplied by thousands:
1,476,788 (thousands) - $1,476,788,000
I have corrected the numbers above.
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