With Files from Hayley Cooper
Toronto Mayor John Tory presented the city's latest financial snapshot Tuesday, with the city projecting a $1.35 billion year-end loss after finding savings.
Tory said the city's been able to find $514 million, cutting into what would've been a $1.9 billion shortfall by the end of the year.
However, he says without immediate financial assistance from other orders of government, the city would be forced into hard decisions, from cutting services to potentially hiking taxes.
"When confronted with this financial disaster, I did not simply put my hand out to Ottawa and Queen's Park and say 'please fix this for us,'" Tory said about the city finding savings of over $500 million.
Lost revenue at the TTC is driving the financial impact, with ridership losses peaking at 86 per cent below budget in late-April. It is projected to be 80 per cent below budget through the summer.
"We believe it would be the wrong approach to take, that we should not and must not cut services that would fall disproportionately on our most vulnerable citizens in order to make up for this shortfall which was no fault of the city government," he said. "To generate $1.9 billion in revenue, a 60 per cent residential property tax increase would be required. I think it's obvious from the struggles people are having already, young and old, this would not be a proper solution to this problem."
NEWSTALK1010 has reached out to the mayor's office to ask if any property rate increase would be considered.
Possible measures to address the deficit will be included in a report authored by the city manager that will be presented to council in September.
After the numbers came out, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said ongoing discussions between the premiers and the federal government over a municipal funding plan had progressed and an agreement was "very, very close."
"Hopefully by the end of this week myself and all the other premiers will agree on a deal," he said.
Back in April, the Federation of Canadin Municipalities called for the federal government to provide $10 to $15 billion in funding to deal with the impacts of the pandemic.
Ford said negotiations have come a long way, where even a week ago he said they weren't close to a deal.
"We're working very well with the federal government, I'm talking to the deputy prime minister every day almost," he said. "But as I tell her, I'd rather make no deal than a bad deal."