Contentious 'made-in-Toronto sales tax' goes before council

Toronto's grim fiscal outlook takes centre stage at city council today, with a raft of possible new taxes and fees up for consideration to avert the crisis.

Toronto's grim fiscal outlook takes centre stage at city council today, with a raft of possible new taxes and fees up for consideration to avert the crisis.

All 25 city councillors will get their first chance to debate — and potentially change — measures city staff recommended last month to address what they called an "unprecedented financial crisis." Civil servants have laid out possible tax hikes including increases to the municipal land transfer tax, vacant home tax, and the creation of a parking levy to raise hundreds of millions in new revenue.

Councillors will also be faced with a staff recommendation to create a municipal sales tax, which could generate as much as $1 billion per year for the city. That, however, would require provincial approval and an amendment of the City of Toronto Act.