The City of Toronto has a revenue problem, not a spending problem, says a U of T think-tank report that turns Mayor Rob Ford’s mantra on its head.

The report from the Institute of Municipal Finance & Government concludes the city needs new taxes, plus annual residential property-tax hikes, to maintain current services and repair crumbling infrastructure.

Toronto’s spending is virtually unchanged in the past decade given population growth and inflation, and compares favourably to that of other cities, says the institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs.

“Recent studies suggest there is little room to find further ‘efficiencies’ without reducing services,” the authors conclude.

But the repair bill for public housing, transit and other aging assets will hit almost $2.5 billion within six years.

“Queen’s Park and Ottawa have a role to play, but the City cannot simply wait for its pleas for funding to be answered,” the report says. “Toronto needs access to new taxes to grow as a world-class city.”

Examples include a dedicated sales tax or a slice of income taxes.

Toronto’s financial health is like “an aging Maple Leafs defenceman: he may be a solid performer on the ice and well cared for by training staff, but he is increasingly expensive and in need of major knee surgery.”

City manager Joe Pennachetti said the report is accurate. He hopes senior governments relieve some of the pressure by finally agreeing to help fund social housing and TTC operations.

“We don’t have all the revenues that are probably needed to build and grow a city that we all want,” Pennachetti said.

As part of his re-election bid Ford has promised property tax hikes “a lot lower” than inflation, which was 2.4 per cent in June. Rival John Tory is promising hikes at or below inflation; Olivia Chow “in line with” or “around inflation”; and Karen Stintz “within” the rate. David Soknacki said his policy pledges require increases “running to within a percentage point of inflation.”

Any increase will be on top of the Scarborough subway extension levy — 0.5 per cent this year rising to 1.6 per cent in 2016 and staying at that level for about 30 years. Soknacki and Chow are promising to scrap the subway and revert to fully funded light rail.

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Ford, elected in 2010 saying the city has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, responded in a release: “The reality is, my administration brought the City of Toronto back from the edge of a fiscal cliff.”

Not true, said Pennachetti. “We’ve had a double-A credit rating for the last 10 years. We have never been on a fiscal cliff.”

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