People travelling through Canada's busiest airport seem destined to pay more because of a measure in the provincial budget.
In the government spending plan released last week, the Liberals said they are planning a review of payments in lieu of property taxes paid by airports to their host municipalities.
The formula that assigns a monetary value to every passenger has not been changed since 2001.
Bonnie Crombie, mayor of Mississauga which hosts Pearson International Airport says the formula does not reflect the current reality at the hub which counted more than 47 million travellers last year.
"It's not fair for the city of Mississauga, it is not fair to other business owners and other residents who do pay their fair share of taxes," Crombie told NEWSTALK 1010 this week.
While the province has not yet set the parameters for the review, Crombie wants to see the per passenger rate paid by the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) which runs Pearson nearly doubled, from 94 cents to $1.90.
Crombie says the extra cash could be used to improve infrastructure and MiWay service and to deal with the wear and tear on roads from the cargo moving in and out of Pearson.
Scott Armstrong, Director of Communications for the GTAA says the change Mississauga wants would push their annual payments to the city from just under $35-million to $70 million.
"Like any business we'd have to look at how to recover the cost and most likely, that cost would be borne by passengers," Armstrong said.
He could not say which costs may go up or by how much but stresses Canadian airports are not for profit.
While the GTAA does not object to paying its fair share, Armstrong suggests it is contributing in ways that won't show up on a balance sheet.
"Jobs created directly related to the airport equal about 330,000. All of those people are paying taxes, are buying groceries, are buying gas in the region so, it's a bit of a circular argument. Not that we're going to say that we're the chicken to the egg but if people aren't working, then they're not paying taxes. We help people get employment."