Re: Budget Chief Eyes City Sales Tax, Nov. 5.

This article incorrectly states that I support the sales tax plan put forward by Toronto’s budget chief, Shelley Carroll, and it misrepresents my views on municipal taxation.

I was mayor of Winnipeg when we proposed a 1% sales tax as replacement revenue for a 50% cut in property taxes as part of a larger plan developed to modernize city finances and reduce the overall tax burden. That plan was developed over two years in partnership with business, labour and community organizations.

There is no plan or partnership in Toronto to reform city government; instead city hall seems to believe that every problem can be fixed by adding or increasing a tax.

When I proposed a sales tax as part of a new tax system, Winnipeg had already made very tough decisions including cutting the city debt in half, reducing property taxes, shrinking the city government and reducing the size of the bureaucracy. The opposite has been happening in Toronto.

I believe in building the tax base, not the tax burden.

Glen Murray, CEO, Canadian Urban Institute, Toronto.

http://www.financialpost.com/scripts/story.html?id=2191889

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