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The City of Toronto has tried for years to be all things to all people.

Public transit service, social housing landlord, garbage collector, fire, police and ambulance service, a safety net for the homeless, welfare provider, refugee support service.

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Toronto council now spends more than several provincial governments – $13 billion including operating, garbage and water, plus more for capital, some $17 billion in total.

Years of living beyond its means, however, has caught up to a council that faces a growing budget gap – as much as $1.42 billion within five years, according to a recent report by departing city manager Peter Wallace that detailed options for a long-term fiscal plan.

Wallace identifies four major concerns – growing risk from volatile revenue sources such as the Municipal Land Transfer Tax; the need to modernize Toronto’s public service and services; the disproportionate share Toronto pays for provincially mandated services such as public housing and council’s growing appetite to spend public money.