Toronto capital budget targets transit
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 5:06 PM ET
CBC News
Instead of major new initiatives, the City of Toronto's capital budget for 2010 will be largely devoted to previously announced transit, infrastructure and road maintenance projects.
The city's capital spending for 2010 will be $2.4 billion, followed by budgets of $2.5 billion for each of the next two years.
The capital budget governs expenditures in roads, community centres and transit, not day-to-day operational costs. The operating budget — which determines property taxes and personnel decisions — won't be introduced until February.
The spending comes as part of the city's $25.7 billion capital budget plan for the next 10 years, which the city hopes will create or save 300,000 jobs.
Much of that money will be spent in the next three years on projects like the Union Station revamp, as the city tries to take advantage of federal stimulus funds, which Ottawa says must be spent quickly.
Some of next year's expenditures include:
- $217.6 million on new subway cars.
- $72 million on new buses.
- $22.6 million on new bike lanes.
The city also hopes to cut $600 million from its current $2.4 billion debt by renegotiating loans to 30-year terms instead of 10-year terms on large projects like the Spadina subway extension.
"Unless you're extremely wealthy, if you were building a new house you wouldn't pay for it today, you'd get a mortgage and you would pay for it over time," said Toronto Mayor David Miller. "And that's the right thing to do. That's what private business does."
