Toronto is being pushed to fulfill a 10-year-old pledge to boost funding to the arts as part of the city’s 2013 operating budget.

Back in 2003, city council resolved to increase arts funding from what was then $14 per capita to $25 — the same as Montreal. Today, Toronto has moved up to $19 per capita while Montreal is at $55, says the Toronto Arts Council.

Representatives of the arts council and local arts organizations were prominent among speakers who appeared before the city budget committee Monday to highlight their priorities.

Realtors urged the city to scrap the land transfer tax, housing and child care advocates were looking for millions, and there was even some support to reinstate the $60 car tax that Mayor Rob Ford killed shortly after taking office in late 2010.

Councillors on the budget committee were also urged to fund budget increases requested by police and scrap plans to permanently cut five fire trucks and close a fire hall on Runnymede Rd.

After being repeatedly told there was no extra money for the arts, groups pushed former mayor David Miller’s administration to create a billboard tax, formally called the third-party sign tax, and advocated to devote the money to the arts.

“There was no question in anybody’s mind, when they voted for the billboard tax back in 2009, that it was for the arts,” said Claire Hopkins, the art council’s executive director.

“There’s a tremendous feeling that it was a promise and a moral obligation to the arts community.”

It would take about $17 million to increase per capita funding to $25 in Toronto, and the arts council believes it could happen by allocating billboard tax revenues.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Real Estate Board cited surveys showing that the majority of Torontonians oppose the land transfer tax, which is expected to bring in $315 million this year.

Mayor Ford has said he wants to phase out the tax, while city officials have indicated the money is needed to balance the budget.

The land transfer tax, introduced in 2008, has dampened home sales, according to real estate board president-elect Dianne Usher.

“It’s no surprise since this tax is a very substantial upfront cost,” about $10,000 for an average detached home in Toronto, Usher said. “That is enough to impact the economic decisions of many people.”

Councillor Mike Del Grande, who chairs the committee, kept a running tally of funding requests made by presenters Monday, which he claimed would increase the city’s proposed operating budget by about $800 million.

Fulfilling the police request for an increase of $19.1 million would hike property taxes by almost 1 percentage point. In total, the requests for increased funding or decreased taxes would require a property tax hit of more than 30 per cent, Del Grande said.

“If we were to acquiesce to all those requests, that’s where we’re at,” he told reporters. “When you add it all up at the end of the day, it’s a long way from 1.95 per cent.”

The proposed budget contains a residential tax increase of 1.95 per cent, or $48 on an average home assessed at $474,366.

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Del Grande’s numbers were vigorously disputed by Councillor Gord Perks, who estimated that fully restoring services would cost about $300 million.

Council is to finalize the proposed $9.4 billion operating budget in mid-January.