At the start of January 1998, Toronto's six municipal governments were amalgamated into one megacity, but a decade later, financial problems still exist.
 
The idea of amalgamation came with promises of huge cost savings, even cuts in property tax, but that never happened. Many blame the amalgamation for financial problems the city still faces today. 
 
Mel Lastman was sworn in as the megacity's first mayor in January of 1998 and the financial turmoil became apparent to him soon after taking office.

Lastman says the city was broke. He compared it with his wedding day more than 50 years ago.

"No furniture, no nothing. And here I was in the same situation. No money. No nothing. The province had taken it all away," he recalled.

The Conservative government of Mike Harris promised amalgamation wouldn't hurt the new city financially.

But Lastman, academics and later current Mayor David Miller, all say it did.
 
Toronto's costs rose fast, but revenue didn't. The promised savings never materialized, nor did property tax decreases.

Harris later said Toronto failed to make the necessary cuts. But others say Harris failed to realize how expensive such a large government would become.

Property tax revenue barely budged, yet the cost of wages, social services and other programs skyrocketed.
 
Over the following years, Toronto sunk deeper and deeper into a financial hole.

Miller says the amalgamated city was set up to fail.

"Ever since amalgamation, this city has been struggling to survive. [It] hasn't been able to focus on city building. [In] 2007, we started to do that and I think it's the most important accomplishment of the year," said Miller.

Miller's recent optimism comes from what he sees as the start of a rebalancing.

Toronto now has new tax revenue coming in and it is hoped that this spring the provincial government may once again start paying for the expensive social programs cities were handed at amalgamation.