2008 Capital Budget will invest in infrastructure
City Council approved the 2008 Capital Budget of $1.610 billion, which is part of an $8.355 billion Five-Year Capital Plan (2008-2012). The Capital Budget provides investment and re-investment in the City's infrastructure for roads and bridges, public squares, libraries, parks, community centres and transit. Toronto is a city that moves people by transit and 47 per cent of the Capital Budget is dedicated to the TTC, which will include the purchase of new buses including hybrids, Wheel-Trans buses, and a down payment on new subway cars. The budget includes $112.5 million for road and bridge construction projects. An investment in 3-1-1 technology will provide residents with better access to City services when the 3-1-1 centre launches in late 2008. The City's recycling programs will benefit from $59.7 million to be invested in new, larger recycling carts and green-bin programs for apartment buildings.

Revitalizing Union Station
Union Station, a critical piece of transit infrastructure for Toronto, will be revitalized through an approach that received Council approval. The plan will lead to an improved experience for rail passengers. The City will retain ownership of Union Station, and create a vast new retail space that will be leased out to a private sector partner to recoup the costs. Also to be built is a concourse area for GO Transit. Funds will also be dedicated to restoring the structure, which welcomes rail passengers from GO, VIA, and TTC trains.

Tax incentive program approved to attract industry and jobs to Toronto
Council approved the creation of a new tax incentive program for key industries to draw investment and jobs to the city in key economic sectors. The Tax Increment Equivalent Growth program will provide tax incentives over a five-year period to attract investment in such industries as the life sciences - biotechnology, information technology, environmentally-friendly products, tourism, the film and other screen based industries, and manufacturing. The program will give priority to projects that use green building standards such as LEED.

Council will stop purchasing Blue Jays tickets starting the 2008 season
Council voted not to purchase Toronto Blue Jays tickets for the 2008 season, forgoing the seats which were located in a private box. The City paid for the tickets, as well as a nominal fee for use of the box. The $95,000 in savings will be referred to the Budget Committee for recommendation on how it can be invested into programming in priority neighbourhoods. Many Council members had used the tickets to provide an outing for disadvantaged youth and charitable causes. The City will ask Rogers Centre to donate the tickets to Blue Jays games for such purposes in 2008.

Airport taxis and limousines must have a City licence to pick up Toronto passengers
Effective February 1, 2008 the City will begin enforcement against taxis and limousines that are picking up passengers in Toronto, but do not have a City licence to do so. Council approved changes to language in the City bylaws to improve clarity on this issue. Bylaw officers from Municipal Licensing & Standards and the Toronto Police Service will work in partnership on the enforcement.

Two west-end police divisions will move to expanded facilities
A pair of police divisions will get the expanded facility space they require with the purchase of two properties from the Toronto District School Board. The Toronto Police Service has acquired property at 2054 Davenport Rd. to relocate 11 Division from 209 Mavety St., and 11 St. Annes Rd. to relocated 14 Division from 150 Harrison Rd. The City is spending $14.8 million to acquire the properties. Acquiring new facilities for the police divisions was a top capital priority for the Toronto Police Service. The need for new sites was identified in 1999, but finding locations with the necessary land mass for new divisions within the catchment boundaries of the divisions proved challenging.

Councillor expense policies to be consolidated
Council approved a motion from Mayor David Miller instructing the City Clerk to consolidate the current policies on councillor office expenses into one, to improve clarity of the rules and the ability to enforce them. The recommended policy is expected for the April 2008 Council meeting.

Three new affordable housing projects approved
Three affordable and transitional housing projects were approved by Council, which will use $8.2 million in federal funding from the Homelessness Partnership Initiative. This will create 68 new affordable homes for people who have experienced homelessness in Toronto. The organizations that were successful through the request for proposal process were the Parkdale United Church Foundation for a site at 1355 King St. W., WoodGreen Community Housing for a site at 650 Queen St. E., and, Alternative Living Solutions for a site at 1908 Gerrard St. E.

Report 'Tied In Knots' identifies ways to improve affordable housing in Toronto
The City is looking to unlock the potential of Toronto's social housing communities with recommendations for improvements. Among them is a call on the provincial government to upload the full operating and capital costs of maintaining the current housing stock, and for the federal government to reinvest funds from federal social housing agreements back into social housing to ensure its viability. Council also requested the Toronto Community Housing Corporation to initiate a program displaying the current poor state of the City's social housing stock, and the link to inadequate funding support from the provincial and federal governments.

Additional funding provided for Lobbyist Registrar
Council approved an additional $284,000 for operations, annualizing the budget to $711,000 to ensure the office is functional and can begin its work of registering lobbyists in 2008.

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