Toronto’s new land transfer tax may have met its revised revenue target of $155 million in 2008, but Mayor David Miller is staying mum on whether the tax, touted as an answer to the city’s budget woes, will even come close to doing the job this year.
Yesterday, Miller told opposition Coun. Michael Thompson, pressing for answers on whether the tax will yield the hoped-for $240 million amid a deteriorating economy, to wait for new projections coming Feb. 10.
Thompson told the Toronto Star he fears the tax may be slowing the housing market and hurting sales of furniture and appliances.
He thinks the city should scrap it and seek the province’s permission for a one per cent city sales tax, which could bring in $400 million or more a year.
“We are facing a crisis like we have never faced, certainly in our elected lifetime,” Coun. Joe Mihevc told the committee.
