The Star: City hall misstep on sports fees

Published: February 06, 2008
Source: The Star
To read the article in The Star

Toronto's municipal leaders were busy distancing themselves yesterday from a staff recommendation urging an average 21.5 per cent hike in fees to use city rinks, fields, pools and recreation programs. And no wonder. Thousands of families risk being hit by this cash grab.

What remains unclear is why these startling increases received no mention when the budget was introduced last week.

It's not as if the public weren't interested. The impact of proposed permit fee increases would be felt from baseball diamonds to soccer fields, and by participants in children's swimming classes and adult fitness programs. A double-digit jump in the already high cost of ice time was especially troubling for hockey players and parents.

David Miller was unavailable yesterday, but spokesperson Stuart Green described the mayor as being "uncomfortable with some of the numbers." Changes are expected. "There will be some room to manoeuvre," Green said. "Frankly, there has to be on this one."

Providing recreational opportunities to young and old is a fundamental function of a progressive city. Such programs aren't luxuries; they are important to our well-being, especially with obesity approaching epidemic proportions in Canada. Raising fees – some by more than 10 times the rate of inflation – would block low-income families from having their children take part in healthy activities.

While the mayor and councillors are, understandably, making noises about rolling back the proposed increases, they should have disclosed them on the first day of the budget process. Green said the mayor was well aware of this staff proposal when he introduced the budget on Jan. 28. So was budget chief Shelley Carroll. She said the fee hikes weren't highlighted because politicians preferred talking about a different, earlier recreation policy. In retrospect, that was a mistake, Carroll said. "I'm not happy with the degree of clarity."

Neither are Toronto residents, especially those using recreation facilities and uncertain about what to expect next from city hall.

A timely highlighting of proposed fee increases would have given the public, especially this city's many sports teams, a chance to raise concerns at a budget committee hearing yesterday. But sports groups were almost totally unrepresented among 90 scheduled speakers at the hearing because news of the permit fee hikes came too late.

In short, the handling of this year's budget rollout was unworthy of Canada's sixth largest government.

The recommended recreation fee increase was supposed to raise $5.7 million for the city. If the fee increases are rolled back, one way to make up for the lost revenue would be for city councillors to surrender some of their perks. Taxpayers' money is being wasted on limo rides, bunny suits, a councillor's shoes, a coffee machine, expensive foreign travel and outrageous mileage claims.

Penny-pinching Councillor Doug Holyday came before the budget committee on Monday to suggest that councillors' expense allow-ances be cut to $25,000 from $53,000. This would involve stricter limits on food and mileage claims, bare-bones newsletters, and other reductions, and it would save a budgeted $1.2 million.

It is not clear if all of Holyday's suggested cuts would be desirable, but there is no doubt councillors could do better at reducing their collective bite from Toronto's budget. Such trimming should be done before there is any increase in the cost of a youth's ice time or a child's swimming lessons.