The city is one council vote away from committing up to $1.46 billion to Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack project, despite concerns the plan to finance the venture is risky and untried. Councillors on the mayor’s executive committee voted Tuesday to approve funding for the rail project, which consists of six new stops on GO Transit lines within Toronto to be branded as “SmartTrack” stations. “This is a very significant step forward,” Tory told the committee. He predicted the project will “make a very significant contribution to the well-being of this city and getting people out of their cars and reducing congestion.” The funding plan will go to council next week for a decisive vote. The six new stations are expected to cost up to $268 million more than a previous estimate of about $1.2 billion. The additional money would be for station components like bus bays and bridges the city believes are required to link the stops to surrounding communities and the TTC network.The federal government is expected to contribute $585 million, leaving the city on the hook for $878 million. Some councillors at the meeting expressed doubt about the proposed financing plan, which would require the city to borrow money to fund SmartTrack and then pay off a portion of the debt through a method called tax increment financing, or TIF. Under the plan, the city would designate areas around stations on the GO lines as TIF zones, and then use some of the property tax money generated by new development attracted to those areas by SmartTrack to pay the debt charges over time.The city is planning to raise $292 million for SmartTrack through TIF over 25 years. During his 2014 campaign, Tory pledged that TIF could be used to pay the entire cost of his transit plan, which at that time was estimated at $2.7 billion. TIF has never been used in Canada to fund a major infrastructure project, and a consultant’s review of the city’s plan warned ...
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