The Assassination of Toronto's Finances By the Coward Rob Ford

[bcholmes]

Okay. Flashback. It's last November. And because my birthday is in November, I I hafta deal with stuff like renewing my license plates. Now, a mere few weeks earlier, our city was dealt a significant municipal blow in the form of drunk-driving mayor Rob Ford.

One of Ford's campaign promises was to repeal a recently-implemented $60 municipal levy on licence plate renewals in Toronto. (Now the levy on your chevy, it is sayin' goodbye) I typically renew my plates for two years at a time, because I can't be arsed to go stand in line every year, so I've had to pay an extra 120 bucks. And this year, I was faced with the same prospect.

The woman at the ministry of transport service desk could not process the idea that I was going to prepay the following year's levy, given how Ford was obviously going to axe it. But, for me, this boils down to two things. One: I can't be arsed to stand in line at the MTO every year, as previously noted. Two: I actually believe that taxes are a Good Thing, and I like the idea that Toronto's services are well-funded.

Well, one of the things I didn't count on was that our Honourable wife-beating mayor would decide to refund the pre-paid 2011 levies. Today I got a cheque in the mail for $60. So: now I hafta decide. Do I send this to the campaign office of my local City Councillor, Mike Layton? (And is that even viable when there's no election underway?) Do I send it to a Toronto service, and if so, which one? Can I buy a model train and some mix for instant gravy?