Mississauga is poised to take on debt for the first time in three decades, thereby becoming a real city

Toronto’s right-wing councillors will soon have one fewer reason to be jealous of Mississauga (although ’sauga does have the Big Smoke beat in the charismatic mayor category): the city will soon begin borrowing money to help fix crumbling infrastructure, a move that ends Mayor Hazel McCallion’s debt-free streak. Not to mention that the Toronto Star reports the city is considering a nearly 11 per cent property tax increase (a number the City of Mississauga disputes, stating that the figure was never actually under consideration), along with approving a transit fare hike and “substantial transit service cuts.” This all sounds pretty familiar. And it (somehow) gets worse: the planned $450 million in loans still leaves Mississauga with a more than $1 billion funding gap for infrastructure renewal over the next two decades. The Star quotes Mississauga’s director of finance, Patti Elliott-Spencer, as saying, “Every city that matures finds itself in this situation.” That may be true. So to Mississauga, we offer a friendly welcome to the big leagues. UPDATE:  Read the entire story [Toronto Star] »